The veil plays a much more important part in women's life in the East than in the West. No respectable woman in an Eastern village or city "oes out without it, and, if she does, she is in danger of being misjudged ; indeed, English and American missionaries in Egypt told the present writer that their own \vives and daughters when going about find it often best to wear the veil.
But it should be borne in mind that the ancient Egyptians were as much strangers to the face- veils as Europeans are, for on their paintings and scul ptures such veil s never appear. || || Nor were such veils worn by the ancient Ethiopians,!!! Greeks,*** or the primitive inhabitants of Asia Minor. ttt They are not worn at the present day in Egypt or Syria by slaves, by the very poor, by the Bedawin, nor in out-of-the-way places by any, as a rule. Tlie present writer stayed two days with the chief of Tobas, between Niblus and the Jordan : the wife, daughters, etc., wore no veils, and were quite free. The people who have been most influenced by Islamic culture are most observant of the veil, which is in favour of the belief that its use in the modern East, and also the institution of the harem, are due to Islam.
In early times the Israelites laid but little stress on the use of the veil by women. Neither Sarah nor Rebekah wore it on the occasions mentioned in Gn 12" and 24"'-, though Rebekah put it on
* Mt 27=1 II Mk 133S II Lk 23«. t 61» 93 1020.
t KeU ilikdash, cap. 7; quoted by Lightfoot (Worlu, Pit- man's ed. ix. '2S0>.
§ Loc. cit. II nor. Utb. Mt 27". ^ UeUig. .'iDS*.
•• Beth Uabbcchirah, cap. 4. ft MUi<L iv. 7.
J t Same passage. §§ See Drkss, voL L 628.
Ill Weiss, Kostumkvnd*, p. 13. «It fb- p. 66-
••• /i>. 318 ; cf. Liibke, Orutulritt der KvmttguehictiU (1879), L 149 ft. ni Weil* |7St
when she appeared before Isaac. When worn at all in Biblical times, it was mostly * as an orna- ment, as is the case now with Moslem women io the harem. Jewish women in Palestine — Jeru- salem, etc. — are not in the habit of wearing veils.
Gn 24^'- and 29-^'- show tliat it was customary among the early Israelites for betrothed maidena to veil themselves before their future husbands, and especially at the time of the wedding. Thij custom obtains in Egypt at the present day.t The use of the veil by betrothed maidens and brides may betoken subjection. St. Paul in 1 Co 2'''- so regards it.t
Kashi says, ' The Israelitish women in Arabia go out veiled (MSiy^), while those in India go out with a cloak fastened about the mouth' (nisn?). It has been inferred from Gn 38" that immoral women were to be known by the veU they wore ; § but probably Tamar wore the usual veil on the occasion referred to in order to escape recognition by her father-in-law, Judah. Nor does Ex 34^-" show that men as well as women wore veils. Moses when he descended from the mountain wore a "li??, i.e. a covering : a word not elsewhere used, though its cognate do is found,|| and has for parallel tiz}^ 'clothing,' 'garment.' .iiDol occurs m Is 25' "(AV ' vair) and 28-», and by RV it is rendered rightly ' covering.' iip?, nio, and n;;5 are general terms, and should never be tr. 'veil.' nio^ D;j'y in Gn 20" does not mean a veil, but a covering or blinding of the eyes by a gift ; cf. Dillm. cul loc, and vol. iii. p. 129*.
The following Heb. words appear to denote veils in a stricter sense :—
1. rh)p_." See art. MnTLERS. 2. The I'vy is what Rebekah wore before Isaac, tt and Tamar before her father-in-law. J t The word means what is ' doubled ' over.§§ We know that it covered the face. 11 II 3. rn'i is tr. by AV in Is 472, Ca 41- s 67 'locks' (of hair), but there can be little doubt that the word means some kind of veil. That like »]'yy it covered the face, is sU we know about it. 4. T^"! appears to have been a light gannent which covered the whole dress, ^^ as Jerome ••• and Schroder beld.ttt See Del. (on Is 3-), and art. Ua.ntls, vol. iii. p. 240». B. r^5 ^^^ ^ ^^^^ ^y Dehtzsch to have been a kind of veil or lightsummer outer garment. The Arabic word {sidn, sadcen) is explained by Freytag and Lane as ' veil ' ; but a veil in the English sense is hardly meant by the Hebrew or the Arabic word. It was probably a summer outer dress of fine mat«ri&l (cambric or muslin), and so, according to Is 323, capable of much adornment. See DeL on Pr 31'-".
LiTERATUUE. — In addition to the works cited above, cf. Dozy, Dirtfcm. ditailU d. noms des vHeinenta chfz U^ Arabes ; Weiss, Gfuch. der Tracht u)id des Gerdths der Volker df9 Alterihumt, Stvittg. 1S81 : and also the works on Biblical Archeology, especially that by Nowack. T. W. DaVIES.
VERMILION.— See Colours, vol. L p. 458". VERSIONS.—
Introductory. L General History : (a) oripin wid early history ; (6) i»