40
AGRICULTURE
AKELDAMA
natural >anil flimatic influences as drought, east wind, and mildew. Some of these will be separ- ately treated, and need not be dwelt upon now. But it may be convenient to say a few words at this stage regarding—
{/) The water supphj of the country. — Unlike Egj'pt, which owed its fertility exclusively to the Nile, Palestine had its time of rain (Dt ll'"- "■ ", Jer5-^etc.). The 'early rain' (n-iin) of the Bible is that of October, which precedes ploughing and sowing : the ' latter rain (iripS?) denotes the re- freshing showers that fall in March and April, and give much-needed moisture to the "rowing crops. The intervening period is marked by the heavy rains of winter (cipj), the wettest month being January. The rainfall is not uniform over the countrj'. In the Jordan Valley it is very slight ; at Jerusalem it averages about 20 inches annually ; in some other upland regions it is almost twice "as much. In the highest lying parts, as Lebanon, there is a considerable fall of snow. There are also many brooks and springs (Dt 8'), and irriga- tion is employed, especially in gardening, though naturally on a much smaller scale than in Egyj)t. The summer months are hot and rainless.
(g) Harvest. — Barley harvest CJ S 'Jl-'j began in Apiil or May, according ;i.s tlie district was early or late ; wheat and spolt -were ripe a few weeks after (Ex SH"' ^-). The grain was cut with a sickle (Jl 3", Dt 16», Mk 4^ ; see art. Sickle), or pulled up by the roots (Mishna, Pcah \v. 10). The latter method was followed both in Palestine and in Egypt, and is so still ; but the use of the sickle goes back to very early times, as the excavations at Tell el-Hesy have shown. Ordinarily the stalks were cut about a foot beneath the ear, but in some instances even higher (Job 24^). The reaper grasped them in handfuls (Ru 2'^), reaped them with his arm (Is 17^), and laid them behind him ; while the binder, following him, gathered them in his bosom (Ps 129'), tied them with straw into sheaves (Gn 37'), and set them in heaps (D"i-J'* Ru 2').
(A) Threshing. — The sheaves thus prepared were carried to the threshing-floor on the backs of men or of beasts of burden, such as donkeys, horses, or camels. Am 2" has been taken by some as im- plying that they Avere sometimes removed in carts, but this is very doubtful. The reference is more probably to the threshing-sledge (Is 28^).
The threshing-floor is simply a circle of k'\el ground which has been carefully cleaned and Ijeaten hard, and is enclosed with a row of big stones to prevent the straw from being too widely scattered. The spot selected always stood higher than the surrounding ground, so that it should be open to the air currents, and that rain, if it occurred, though it was rare in harvest time (1 S The ! floor,
till a heap was formed about a foot high. Cattle (Hos 10") were then driven over it repeatedly, or a threshing-wain drawn by cattle. The Penta- teiichal law provided that the cattle engaged in this operation sliould not be muzzled (Dt25*). It was also the custom to blindfold them, as other- wise, moving continually in a circle, they became dizzy (Talmud, Kelim xvi. 7). Certain crops, however, were threshed by being beaten with a stick (Is 28").
Two kinds of tlirc^liin;; iiiacliincs were employed, the draj; and tlir \\a-;'i.ii. 'I'lie drag (Jnio, j-nn)
was a lii-avy w 1. ii l...:iid.+ the under-surface of
wliicli was studdrd-vvith nails or sliarp fragments of stone (Is 41'^). It waa further weighted with
• See Vogelstein, Laitdwirthschaft in Pal. 61. I See illustration in Driver's Jo'd atid Amoa (Camb. Bible), p. 227.
large stones, and by the driver himself, who stood, sat, or even lay upon it. The waggon (■i^jij Is 28-*) was provided with sharp metal discs. These were aftixed to revolving rollers set in a rude Avaggon-frame.
(0 Winnowing. — The operation of threshing yielded a confused mass of grain, chafl", and broken straw, which required to be winnowed. Two im- plements were used for this process — the shovel and the fan (Is 30'^). With these the mixed mass was tossed into the air, against the wind. The chaff was blown away (Ps V), the straw fell a little distance off, and the grain at the feet of the win- nower. Where, as at large public threshing-floors, there was an accumulation of chaff, it was burned (Mt 3'=). The chopped straw (pn Is 11') was used as fodder for cattle.
( /) Sifting. — The winnowed grain still contained anaduiixture of small stones and particles of clay, stubljle, and unbruised ears, and also of smaller poisonous seeds such as tares, and so stood in need of yet further cleansing. Tliis was effected by means of sifting. In modern Palestine the sieve in common use is a wooden hoop with a mesh made of camel -hide. This implement probably corre- sponds to the n-;53 (kebhdrah) of ancient times (Am !)"). The mesh was wide enough to allow the separated grains to pass through, but retained the unthreshed ears, which were cast again on the threshing-floor.* In Is 30^ another implement is mentioned, nsi (naphah), which both AV and RV render 'sieve.' It is not quite certain, however, that the niiphdh was really a sieve. If it was, it may have resembled the modern ghirbal, which is of smaller mesh than the hebhdrah (Arab, kirbal), and permits only broken grains and dust to i)ass through, while retaining the unbruised kernels.