and chariot-roads, and displacing the comforts of civilization by the rude and raw conditions of a barbarian life. Native two-wheeled clumsy carts were found in India by the British, and are still seen in rural sections. 270. War Horse.-The horse is mentioned about a hundred and forty times in Scripture. In the days of the sacred writers, as now, the horse was chiefly celebrated for his power in war, and as a terror in predatory excursions by brigands and lawless bands of the wild desert tribes rather than as useful in harness. The earliest mention of chariots and horses in the Bible relates, however, to a mission of mercy and peace.1 While the horse appears as a widely useful animal in Egypt as early as the time of Jacob and Joseph, yet from the comparatively late appearance of figures of the horse in Egyptian sculpture, some infer that it was not known in Egypt before the period of the Hyksos kings. When the Hebrews escaped from Egyptian bondage they were pursued by six hundred chosen chariots and by all the chariot horses and horsemen, or cavalry, of Egypt.2 The Canaanites had "chariots of iron" when Joshua attempted to conquer them.3 During the reign of the first Hebrew king (Saul) the Philistines warred against him with thirty thousand chariots and six thousand cavalry, that is, mounted horsemen. And the Syrians hired thirty-two thousand chariots and cavalry from Mesopotamia to war against David.5 The Hebrews did not at first use chariots or war horses in their warfare. The Deuteronomic law required of the king, "He shall not multiply horses to himself." So when David captured one thousand chariots and seven hundred horsemen (or cavalry) from the king of Zobah of Mesopotamia, he disabled the horses, reserving only a hundred for as many chariots. But Solomon, who fell into idolatry by alliance with Egypt, gathered fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand cavalry as a military body guard. Later, Israel was 1 Gen. 41: 43. Compare Gen. 45: 19-21; 46: 29; 50: 9. 2 Ex. 14: 7, 9. 41 Sam. 13: 5. 1 Kings 4: 26; 10: 26, 28, 29. stripped of these means of defense, having only fifty horses and ten chariots at the siege of Samaria.1 The prophets pronounced woes upon those who put their trust in horses, "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel."2 Again, in foretelling the destruction that should come to the people of Israel, the prophet said of the fury and power of the Chaldeans: "Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves," and of their horsemen he said, "They fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour." And in predicting the fall of Nineveh, the prophet gives this sublime but awful picture: "Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and rapine. . . . The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels, and prancing horses, and bounding chariots, the horsemen mounting (or 'charging'), and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and the great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies." But when prosperity and blessings were to come from Israel, it was the camel, and not the horse of Midian that would bring these great gifts.5 Does this imply that the camel was more common in Arabia than the horse at that period? The horses in Egypt seem to have come from the plains of Mesopotamia in early times. The monuments depict horses of a noble breed famed in early times in Syria. A horse not unlike the modern Arabian steed in his build is sculptured at Persepolis, with a string and bells upon his neck. This may illustrate the prophet's prediction, "In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holy unto Jehovah." There is no more lofty and magnificent description of the war horse than that given in the dramatic book of the Old Testament." 12 Kings 13: 7. 2 Isaiah 31: 1. Compare Ezek. 17: 15. 4 Nahum 3: 1-3. Job 39: 19-25. "Hast thou given the horse his might? Hast thou clothed his neck with the quivering mane? The glory of his snorting is terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength; He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage; The thunder of the captains, and the shouting." "1 271. The Camel-The “Ship of the Desert."-From time immemorial the camel has been the characteristic companion of the Oriental. Wherever you see the one you expect to see the other. In every scene in all history they are the peculiar type of Oriental lands, especially of Western Asia and of Africa. The elephant may be equally conspicuous in India, but his range is more limited, leaving the camel the undisputed and characteristic animal of the larger part of the Orient. The camel can scarcely be called a beautiful or a picturesque animal. Modern travelers who have had experience in riding upon it would generally approve of Mr. Russell's (war correspondent to the London Times) description: "An abomin ́ ably ugly necessary animal." The average life of the camel is reputed to be from forty to fifty years. In summer it is shorn of its hair, chiefly under the neck and the legs, and the hair is used for making sackcloth and garments for men. There are two kinds of camels: the one-humped or dromedary, and the two-humped or bactrian. The bactrian camel is seldom seen in Western Asia, but is common in Persia, China, Tartary, and Central Asia. The dromedary often designates a finer breed of the ordinary camel. In early times the camel was one of the chief sources of wealth of the patriarchs. Thus, Jacob gave Esau thirty milch camels with their colts. Job was said to have three thousand, and later, six thousand camels. The Egyptians lost their camels, among other beasts, in one of the ten plagues.3 The prophet Isaiah 1 Compare also Ps. 147: 10; Prov. 21: 31; Jer. 4: 13. describes the universal triumph of Christ's kingdom by depicting wild sons of the desert coming with their camels.1 Outside of its milk and the use made of its hair in clothing, the principal usefulness of the camel to the Oriental is in traveling. (See section on Traveling.) Isaiah 60: 6. XXIII. FISHING AND HUNTING. 272. Syrian Monopoly.-Among Orientals fishing is rarely a pastime; it is the means of livelihood. In some Oriental countries now fisheries are a monopoly, farmed out by the government for a fixed sum or tax. Thus, the center of the fish trade in Galilee is at Safed. The right and privileges of fishing at Et Tabigah and in that part of the Lake of Galilee is annually rented by a party in Safed, and another party in Damascus rents a similar right to fish in the lake near the plain Et Butaiha. The fishermen reside at Tiberias and other places along the lake, and are paid a percentage on the fish caught. These fish are sent daily on mules to the markets in Safed and elsewhere for sale.1 Naturalists note with special interest that the fish common in the Jordan and in the waters of Galilee, are very similar to those found in the Nile and in the lakes and canals of Egypt. Fish abound in the Jabbok and about the pools of Heshbon, as in olden times.2 Fish of the Lebanon streams and those about Damascus are allied to those now found in the streams of Asia Minor, rather than to those in the Nile. Oriental fishermen now, as from time immemorial, take fish in nets, either the cast-net or the drag, or drawnet. Sometimes hook and line are used, but obviously not as generally as in olden time. 273. Fish Nets.-Prof. Post furnishes a description of the nets used in the Eastern Mediterranean; similar nets are also used on the sea of Galilee. The cast-net is circular and weighted with pellets of lead upon the outer edge. The net is about ten feet in diameter, having a line attached to the He describes its use thus: "When the net is cast, ?Song of Sol. 7:4. center. 1 S. S. W., 1908, p. 94. |