The pust-Sclciiridan [Kjllery of Palestine has not been as carefully studied as the earlier tyjies. The .Seleucidan tonus are similar to those lound at Alexandria. Khodian jar-handles stamped with Greek names are common. Koinan sites contain the well-known ribbed aiiiphor;e, and tiles with the stamp of the tenth legion: I.i;(;(I0) X. FHK- (TEXSIS), are common about Jerusalem. In Chris-
siiJir OF THE lOiii LF.aio.\'.
tian graves are found many closed lamps, stamped with elaborate patterns, sometimes showing crosses or a (ireek inscription, as ATXXAPIA K.\AA.
CIlltlSTlAX I.A511'.
The same general type extended to Arab times. I'inally, we have the Arab glazed ware, found in Crusailing sites, such as Blanche Garde at Tell es-Safi.
LlTBRATCRB.— Petne, Tell cl-IIegij \ Bliss, Mound t>/ ^fan!l CilU's ; Reports on the Kxoa\ titiona at Tell Z.akuriva, Tell es- Safl. nnd Tell cj-Ju<iei<leh, I'EKSl, tsl)9-190U ; also the (ortli- con)ili{; volume on these Excavation!).
F. J. Bllss.
Note, — The above illustrations are reproduced with the kind permii^siou of the Palestine Exploration Fund Committee.
POTTER'S
POTTKR.
FIELD. — See Akelhama and
POUND.- See Money, Wi:i(;iirs .\ni) Measuue.s.
j1. iii. p. 4iS', and
POVERTY. — A. In Or.n Testament. — The jiaucity of alistract terms in Hebrew is illus- traleil by the fact that the words translated ' poverty^ in KV occur chiefly in the liook of Proverbs, and other post-exilic works. These are (rt) from ncn, ' to lack ' :— i:ri, licap (cf. iin, ]*irr), IvSaa, iiariprifia, etc., etjf-iln.i, etc, ; (A) from c'n : — VK-!, c""i, t't, TTCKia, Cffe.stas, etc. The poor are freipiently nientione<l, the following terms being so tr:inslated : (c) iicn? [cf. ((()]; ('/) c'^, Jitcp. of cm (cf. {/>]], Wp!)!, TT-MX'Jt, etc., )i<iii/iir, etc.; (c) from n:y ' be boweil down ' :— iji' (Aram.), 'HI 'alllicted,' ' ])oor,' i}i ' humble,' 'lowly' (see art. Poou), Tror/t, TTTiiixo!, Trpadf, Tair^ivit, etc. , pilK/x'r, etc. ; {/) from n:K 'crave' : — p'3x 'needv,' Wvtjs, irruixAr, etc., pniijiir, etc.; (ff) from S>i 'liangdown': — hi 'weak, de- pressed,' in Gn 41" of /can cows, Wvtjs, jrrwxo', rairtiras, etc., piiiijici; etc.; (/() p^T (Aram.) tinly in
28
POVERTY
POVERTY
Ecclesiastes, and
esiastes, 'poor,' t/^t)!, pauper; (i) the obscure doubtful Ty^'^r,, n-i<;)-., in Ps lO^- 1»- ", perhaps ' liapless,' ir^njj, tttwxo', pauper.
The causes of poverty, apart from sloth, thought- lessness, and extravajjance, were specially — (i.) Failure of crops and loss of cattle through bad seasons ; thus the Shunainmite left her home- stead, by Elisha's advice, to avoid a famine (2 K 8'"', cf. Neh 5^). At such times the townsfolk ■would sutler from the high price of food, and the falling of!' of trade through the destitution of the farmers, (ii.) Hauls ancf invasions, (iii.) Loss of property through the violence of the nobles, sup- ported by corrupted law courts, e.g. Naboth s vineyard (1 K 21) and the appropriation of the Shunammite's land during her absence. (iv.) Kuinous taxation and forced labour (corv(e) (Neh 5*-'). (v.) Extortionate usury, which took ad- vantage of the distress caused by bad seasons and heavy taxes to lend at high interest on the security of land. In many instances the debtors could not pay, and forfeited land and liberty to their creditors (Neh 5'"').
In considering the character and extent of poverty, stress must be laid on the influence of polygamy and slavery. The almost universal habit of earlj- marriage which seems to have existed amongst freemen, together with concu- binage and polygamy, checked the growth of that destitution amongst unmarried women which is the most painful feature of modem poverty. Indeed, if the principles of family and clan life had been loyally carried out, a free Israelite could want only when the whole family or clan were destitute. But actual practice mostly fell far short of this ideal.
Again, with us, the last resort of the poor is either the workhouse, or crime, or slow starva- tion ; in ancient Israel, the destitute became slaves. Indeed, the class corresponding to the OT-eat bulk of our poorer workers for wages, both domestic and industrial, was the slave - class. Hence the article Slave deals with the con- dition of the greater portion of the poor. There were, however, slaves whose position was much more honourable and comfortable than that of English labourers, and there were poor who were not slaves. Tlie existence of slavery added to the resources of the poor man by enlarging his credit : he and his family could offer their persons as security for loans.
Again, the mere lack of means, if it did not amount to absolut« destitution, was far less dis- tressing than with us, because so little was needed in the way of house, furniture, clothes, firing, or even food.
The classes of the poor most often mentioned are\vidow8 and orphans, and the^mm, or resident aliens. The former suffered because the family ties were not as real as they were supposed to be, the latter because they had no actual family ties, and the bond of hospitality was soon strained to breaking point (Lv 19'", Dt 14» Ps 94', Jer 22», Zee 7'", Ma! 3'). See art. Ger.
As regards poverty, however, the conditions were very different in the four ^eat periods of OT history. (1) The Nomadic period. In a nomad tribe there were richer and poorer and slaves; but the bond of brotherhood in the tribe was kept alive by the constant necessity of mutual help and de- fence ; and distre.ssful poverty was possible for the individual only when the fortunes of the whole tribe were at a very low ebb.