The houses of the poor in early days must always have been of a very primitive character. Verj' often they were built of clay (mud or sunburnt brick), ' whose foundation is in the dust' ; ' which are ready to become heaps' ; ' by slothfulness the roof sinketh in, and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh ' (Job 4'» 15=*, Ec 10", Is Q'"). These houses, as at the present day, were of a very unstable description, and if not instantly attended to were liable to be overthrown by heavy rainfall, hailstorm, and strong winds (Ezk 13""). Another inconvenience of mud houses is their liability to be ' dug through ' or broken into by thieves (Job 24'", Mt 6'" 24^).
In other instances houses might be built of stone with plaster (Lv 14*'-) and mortar (Ezk 13"), and wood of sycoinore, holm tree (but see Holm) and the oak (Is 9"*). These stone houses were al.so verj* insecurely built ; the mortar, frequently made with mud and slime instead of burnt lime- stone, becomes as slippery as soap during hea>'y rains, and whole villages have been known to bo overthrown in one night during bad weather (Lund (md the Book, ii. .57). In some parts of the country, however, the houses are very carefully built of squared stone throughout, owing to the total absence of wood ; and those houses do not readily decay, Mt 7^ (Iluckingham, Arab Tribes, 180, .320).
In the fenced cities the houses forming the walls are necessarily built solidly, 'great, and fenceil up to heaven' (l)t 1'^), but those within the city do not differ materially from those in villages, except that for want of space the roofs are maile mors u.se of. ami there are two storeys and often a court within the house. These houses, whether of mud or stone, are also very insecurely built, and are constantly falling down.
The peo]de congn-gateil, as thej- still do, for safety in villages and towns, and ilid not build isolated houses in the fields The houses o/ ihc
432
HOUSE
HOUSE
poor are quadrangular, usually of one storey in villa''es, and containing but one apartment, in which in cold weather the cattle also are housed ; the portion for the use of the fainilj' being raised on a dais some 2 ft. or more above that where the cattle are herded. On this raised platform are the beds, chests, cooking utensils (1 S 28" (?)). The light comes through the door, and when there are winujws they are merely apertures raised some height above the ground, sometimes wiih wooden gratings. There Is no chimney, and the smoke from the Ore liuds its way out through the holes in the building.
The roofs are u.sually flat, e.xcept where no wood is to be obtained. They are formed of rougli raftersorbouglisof trees with brushwood laid across, and over all a phister of mud, rolled flat in slioweiy weather with a stone roller. Upon the roofs are often temporary erections of straw or boughs of trees, for sleeping under, thougli in dry climates the roof is generally used witliout any covering except a quilt. It was i)rescribud bj' Dt 22* that a parapet ( E V ' battlement ') should be erected round the roof, for the protection of those using it for recreation or otlier purposes. A stairway outside the house frequently gave access to the roof with- out the necessity of passing throujrh the house. This arrangement is probably alluded to in onr Lord's words, ' Let him that is on the housetop not go down nor enter in to take anything out of his house' (Mk 13"). Kaliab hid the spies ' with the stalks of fla.x which she bad laid in order upon the roof {Jos 2*); Peter 'went up upon the housetop to pray ' (Ac 10*). For similar uses of the roof ef. Jg 16-'' (where see Moore's note), 1 S 9^'-, 2 S U- 16-, Is 22', Jer 19'-', Zeph 1», Neh 8'«.
A considerable amount of discussion has been occasioned by the narrative of the healing of the paralytic (Mt O^tr., Jik 23"-, Lk Sif^""-), and the means adopted by his four friends to brin^ hira into the presence of Jesus. Botli Mark and Luke imply that the sick man's bearers first made their way to the roof, which would be readily accessible by an outside stairway or a ladder. Their further proceedings are described thus in Mk 2-* ' they uncovered the roof where he was, and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed whereon the sick of the palsy lay ' ^uvlffriyeLffetit rijv ffnyriii oTotJ »)v, xcti i^opt^^etvTt; 3^aAii<r, to, K^ufiSaro^, x,r.K)', in Lk 519 'They let hira down through the tiles with his couch into the midst before Jesus ' (Sja vZv xtpoLUMi* x^Hxa* aiiTor evv iS xXivioim, *.T.>..). It is not quite clear whether Jesus was teaching in the ' upper room ' of a house with more than one storey , or on the ground floor of a one-storeyed house, or, as some think, in a gallery outside the house. In any case there would have been no dilHculty either in getting rid of the cover- ing of the roof or making an opening in the battlement that sur- rounded it. For a full discussion of the meaning of the passage the reader may refer to such works as Gould (on Mk 2^) and Plummer (on Lk fil^), both in Intemat. Crit. Comm. ; Bruce (on Mk 2*) in Expogitor^s Gr. NT ; Thomson, Land and the Book flSSO), p. 358 ; Tristram, EasUi-n Customs, 34 f.