HOUSE
by
a
row
ot
wooden
posts,
generally
three
in
number,
resting
on
stone
bases,
'from
1
foot
6
inches
to
2
feet
in
diameter'
(^PEFSt,
1904,
115,
with
photo.).
The
same
method
was
adopted
for
the
roofs
of
large
public
buildings
(see
Bliss,
MouTid
of
Many
Cities,
91
f.,
with
plan),
and
Mr.
MacaUster
has
ingeniously
explained
Samson's
feat
at
the
temple
of
Dagon,
by
supposing
that
he
slid
two
of
the
massive
wooden
pillars
(Jg
16^9
'■)
supporting
the
portico
from
their
stone
supports,
thus
causing
its
collapse
(.Bible
Sidelights,
136
£f.
with
illust.).
The
roof
was
required
by
law
to
be
surrounded
by
a
battlement,
or
rather
a
parapet,
as
a
protection
against
accident
(Dt
22').
Access
to
the
roof
was
apparently
obtained,
as
at
the
present
day,
by
an
outside
stair
leading
from
the
court.
Our
EV
finds
winding
stairs
in
the
Temple
(1
K
68),
and
some
sort
ot
inner
stair
or
ladder
is
required
by
the
reference
to
the
secret
trap-
door
in
2
Mac
1".
The
roof
or
housetop
was
put
to
many
uses,
domestic
(Jos
2*)
and
other.
It
was
used,
in
particular,
for
recreation
(2
S
11^)
and
for
sleeping
(1
S
9^
'•),
also
for
prayer
and
meditation
(Ac
10'),
lamentation
(Is
15',
Jer
48"),
and
eyen
for
idolatrous
worship
(Jer
19",
Zeph
1').
For
these
and
other
purposes
a
tent
(2
S
16^2)
or
a
booth
(Neh
8'=)
might
be
provided,
or
a
permanent
roof
-chamber
might
be
erected.
Such
were
the
'chamber
with
walls'
(2
K
4'"
RVm)
erected
for
Elisha,
the
'summer
parlour'
(Jg
3",
lit.
as
RVm
'upper
chamber
of
cooUng')
of
Eglon,
and
the
'loft'
(RV
'chamber')
of
1
K
17".
Otherwise
the
houses
of
Palestine
were,
as
a
rule,
of
one
storey.
Exceptions
were
confined
to
the
houses
ot
the
great,
and
to
crowded
cities
like
Jerusalem
and
Samaria.
Ahaziah's
upper
chamber
in
the
latter
city
(2
K
12)
may
well
have
been
a
room
in
the
second
storey
of
the
royal
palace,
where
was
evidently
the
window
from
which
Jezebel
was
thrown
(9'').
The
same
may
be
said
of
the
'upper
room'
in
which
the
Last
Supper
was
held
(Mk
14i5||;
of.
Ac
1").
It
was
a
Greek
city,
however,
in
which
Eutychus
fell
from
a
window
in
the
'third
story'
(Ac
20'
RV).
6.
The
door
and
its
parts.
—
The
door
consisted
of
four
distinct
parts:
the
door
proper,
the
threshold,
the
lintel
(Ex
12'
RV),
and
the
two
doorposts.
The
first
of
these
was
of
wood,
and
was
hung
upon
projecting
pivots
of
wood,
the
hinges
of
Pr
26",
which
turned
in
correspond-ing
sockets
in
the
threshold
and
lintel
respectively.
Like
the
Egyptians
and
Babylonians,
the
Hebrews
probably
cased
the
pivots
and
sockets
of
heavy
doors
with
bronze;
those
of
the
Temple
doors
were
sheathed
in
gold
(IK
7*°)
.
In
the
Hauran,
doors
of
a
single
slab
of
stone
vrith
stone
pivots
are
still
found
in
situ.
Folding
doors
are
men-tioned
only
in
connexion
with
the
Temple
(1
K
6").
The
threshold
(Jg
19",
1
K
14"
etc.)
or
sill
must
have
been
invariably
of
stone.
Among
the
Hebrews,
as
among
so
many
other
peoples
of
antiquity,
a
special
sanctity
attached
to
the
threshold
(see
Trumbull,
The
Threshold
Covenant,
passim).
The
doorposts
or
jambs
were
square
posts
of
wood
(1
K
7',
Ezk
41'')
or
of
stone.
The
command
of
Dt
6°
11™
gave
rise
to
the
practice,
still
observed
in
all
Jewish
houses,
of
enclosing
a
piece
of
parchment
containing
the
words
of
Dt
6*-'
ll"-2i
in
a
small
case
of
metal
or
wood,
which
is
nailed
to
the
doorpost,
hence
its
modern
name
mezuzah
('
doorpost
').
Doors
were
locked
(Jg
3^
'•)
by
an
arrangement
similar
to
that
still
in
use
in
Syria
(see
the
illust.
in
Hastings'
DB
ii.
836).
This
consists
of
a
short
upright
piece
of
wood,
fastened
on
the
inside
of
the
door,
through
which
a
square
wooden
bolt
(Ca
6',
Neh
3'
RV,
for
AV
lock)
passes
at
right
angles
into
a
socket
in
the
jamb
of
the
door.
When
the
bolt
is
shot
by
the
hand,
three
to
six
small
iron
pins
drop
from
the
upright
into
holes
in
the
bolt,
which
is
hollow
at
this
part.
The
latter
cannot
now
be
drawn
back
without
the
proper
key.
This
is
a
flat
piece
of
wood^straight
or
bent
as
the
case
may
be
—
^into
the
upper
surface
of
which
pins
have
been
fixed
corresponding
exactly
in
number
and
HOUSE
position
to
the
holes
in
the
bolt.
The
person
wishing
to
enter
the
house
'
puts
in
his
hand
by
the
hole
of
the
door'
(Ca
5'),
and
inserts
the
key
into
the
hollow
part
of
the
bolt
in
such
a
way
that
the
pins
of
the
key
will
displace
those
in
the
holes
of
the
bolt,
which
is
then
easily
withdrawn
from
the
socket
and
the
door
is
open.
In
the
larger
houses
it
was
customary
to
have
a
man
(Mk
13^)
or
a
woman
(2
S
4«
RVm,
Jn
18")
to
act
as
a
doorkeeper
or
porter.
In
the
palaces
of
royalty
this
was
a
military
duty
(
1
K
14^')
and
an
office
of
distinction
(Est
2"
6^).
7.
Lighting
and
heating.
—
The
ancient
Hebrew
houses
must
have
been
very
imperfectly
Ughted.
Indeed,
it
is
almost
certain
that,
in
the
poorer
houses
at
least,
the
only
light
available
was
admitted
through
the
doorway
(cf
.
Sir
42"
[Heb.
text],
'
Let
there
be
no
casement
where
thy
daughter
dwells').
In
any
case,
such
windows
as
did
exist
were
placed
high
up
in
the
walls,
at
least
six
feet
from
the
ground,
according
to
the
Mishna.
We
have
no
certain
monumental
evidence
as
to
the
size
and
construction
of
the
windows
ot
Hebrew
houses
(but
see
for
a
probable
stone
window-frame,
20
inches
high,
BUss
and
MacaUster,
Excavs.
in
Palest.
143
and
pi.
73).
They
may,
however,
safely
be
assumed
to
have
been
much
smaller
than
those
to
which
we
are
accustomed
,
although
the
commonest
variety,
the
chalWn,
was
large
enough
to
allow
a
man
to
pass
out
(Jos
2",
1
S
19'^)
or
in
(Jl
2').
Another
variety
(
'arubbah)
was
evidently
smaller,
since
it
is
used
also
to
designate
the
holes
of
a
dovecot
(Is
60*
EV
'
windows
').
These
and
other
terms
are
rendered
in
our
versions
by
'window,'
lattice,
and
casement
(Pr
7«
AV
and
RV
'lattice').
None
of
these,
of
course,
was
filled
with
glass.
Like
the
windows
of
Egyptian
houses,
they
were
doubtless
closed
with
wood
or
lattice-work,
which
could
be
opened
when
necessary
(2
K
13").
An
obscure
expression
in
1
K
6'
is
rendered
by
RV,
'windows
of
fixed
lattice-work.'
During
the
hours
of
darkness,
light
was
suppUed
by
the
small
oil
lamp
which
was
kept
continually
burning
(see
Lamp).
.
Most
of
the
houses
excavated
show
i,
depression
of
varying
dimensions
in
the
floor,
either
in
the
centre
or
in
a
corner,
which,
from
the
obvious
traces
of
Are,
was
clearly
the
family
hearth
(Is
30").
Wood
was
the
chief
fuel
(see
Coal),
supplemented
by
withered
vegeta-tion
of
all
sorts
(Mt
6™),
and
probably,
as
at
the
present
day,
by
dried
cow
and
camel
dung
(Ezk
4")
.
The
pungent
smoke,
which
was
trying
to
the
eyes
(Pr
10^),
escaped
by
the
door
or
by
the
window,
for
the
chimney
of
Hos
13'
is
properly
'window'
or
'casement'
(.'arubbah,
see
above).
In
the
cold
season
the
upper
classes
warmed
their
rooms
by
means
of
a
brasier
(Jer
36^2
'•
RV),
or
fire-pan
(Zee
12'
RV).
8.
Furniture
of
the
house.
—
This
in
early
times
was
of
the
simplest
description.
Even
at
the
present
day
the
fellahin
sit
and
sleep
mostly
on
mats
and
mattresses
spread
upon
the
floor.
So
the
Hebrew
will
once
have
slept,
wrapped
in
his
simlah
or
cloak
as
'
his
only
covering
'
(Ex
22^'),
while
his
household
gear
will
have
consisted"
mainly
of
the
necessary
utensils
for
the
preparation
of
food,
to
which
the
following
section
is
devoted.
Under
the
monarchy,
however,
when
a
certain
'great
woman'
of
Shunem
proposed
to
furnish
'
a
little
chamber
over
the
wall'
for
Elisha,
she
named
'a
bed
and
a
table
and
a
stool
and
a
candlestick'
(2
K
4'"),
and
we
know
other-wise
that
While
the
poor
man
slept
on
a
simple
mat
of
straw
or
rushes
in
the
single
room
that
served
as
living
and
sleeping
room,
the
well-to-do
had
not
only
beds
but
bedchambers
(2
S
4',
2
K
11^,
Jth
16i»
etc.).
The
former
consisted
of
a
framework
of
wood,
on
which
were
laid
cushions
(Am
3'^
RV),
'carpets'
and
'striped
cloths'
(Pr
7"
RV).
We
hear
also
of
the
'bed's
head'
(Gn
47")
or
curved
end,
as
figured
by
Wilkinson,
Anc.
Egyp.
i.
416,
fig.
191
(where
note
the
steps
for
'going
up'
to
the
bed;
cf.
1
K
1<).
Bolsters
have
rightly
dis-appeared
from
RV,
which
renders
otherwise
(see
1
S
19"
26'
etc.);
the
pillow
also
from
Gn
28"-
"
and
Mk
4'8
