That the antediluvians were acquainted with music (q. v.) is certain ; for it is expressly said that Jubal (while Adam was still alive) became "the father of those who handle the TiS3, kinnor, and the 331", ugab" (Gen. iv, 21). The former [see Harp] -was evidently a stringed instrument resembling a lyre ; and the lat- ter [see Lyre] was without doubt the Pandaean pipe, composed of reeds of different lengths joined together. This clearly intimates considerable progress in the sci- ence ; for it is not probable that the art of playing on wind and on stringed instruments was discovered at the same time. We may rather suppose that the prin- ciples of harmony, having been discovered in the one, were by analogy transferred to the other; and that
ANTEDILUVIANS
248
ANTELOPE
Jubal, by repeated efforts, became the first performer on the harp and the pipe. See Art.
Our materials are too scanty to allow us to affirm that the antediluvians possessed the means of commu- nicating their ideas by writing (q. v.) or by hiero- glyphics, although tradition, and a hint or two in the Scriptures, might support the assertion. With re- spect to poetry (q. v.), the story of Lamech and his wives (Gen. iv, 19-24) is evidently in verse, and is most probably the oldest specimen of Hebrew poetry extant ; but whether it was written before or after the Flood is uncertain, although the probability is that it is one of those previously-existing documents which Moses transcribed into his writing.
With regard to architecture (q. v.), it is a singular and important fact that Cain, when he was driven from his first abode, built a city in the land to which he went, and called it Enoch, after his son. This shows that the descendants of Adam lived in houses and towns from the first, and consequently affords another confirmation of the argument for the original cultivation of the human family. What this " city" was is not mentioned, except in the term itself; and as that term is in the early Scriptures applied to al- most every collection of human habitations, we need not attach any very exalted ideas to it in this in- stance. But if we take into view the requisites nec- essary to enable Noah to erect so stupendous a fabric as the ark (q. v.) must have been, it will not be diffi- cult to conceive that the art of building had reached considerable advancement before the Deluge ; nor can one reflect on the building of Babel without a convic- tion that it must have been through the great patri- archs who lived in the old world that so much knowl- edge was obtained as to lead to the attempt of erect- ing a fabric whose summit was intended to reach the clouds. It is not likely that the builders would, by their own intuitive genius, be equal to a task which they certainly were not inspired by Heaven to exe- cute.
The metallurgy (q. v.) of the antediluvians appears to have originated with the line of Cain (Gen. iv, 22), being carried to a high degree of perfection, so far as forging and tempering are concerned, by Tubal-Cain (q. v.). — Respecting agriculture (q. v.), which was ev- idently the first employment of Adam (Gen. ii, 15; iii, 17, 18), and, afterward, at first of Cain (Gen. iv, 2), we shall only add a reference to the case of Noah, who, immediately after the Flood, became a husband- man, and planted a vineyard. He also knew the method of fermenting the juice of the grape ; for it is said he drank of the wine, which produced inebriation (Gen. ix, 20, 21). This knowledge he doubtless ob- tained from his progenitors anterior to the destruction of the old world.
Pasturage (q. v.) appears to have been coeval with husbandry. Abel was a keeper of sheep, while his brother was a tiller of the ground (Gen. iv, 2) ; but there is no necessity for supposing that Cain's hus- bandry excluded the care of cattle. The class of tent- dwelling pastors — that is, of those who live in tents that t!i<y may move with their flocks and herds from one pasture-ground to another — did not originate till comparatively late after the Fall ; for Jabal, the sev cnth from Adam in the line of Cain, is said to have been the "father" or founder of that mode of life (Gen. iv, 20). It is doubtful whether the manufac- ture of cloth is involved in the mention of tents, see- ing that excellent tent-coverings are even at this day made of skins ; and we know that skins were the first articles of clothing used by fallen man (Gen. iii, 21). The same doubt applies to the garment with which the sons of Noah covered their inebriated father (Gen. ix, 23). But, upon the whole, there can be little doubt that, in the course of so long a period, the art of manufacturing cloths of hair and wool, if not of linen or cotton, had been acquired. See Weaving.
It is impossible to speak with any decision respect- ing the form or forms of government which prevailed before the Deluge. The slight intimations to be found on the subject seem to favor the notion that the par- ticular governments were patriarchal, subject to a general theocratical control, God himself manifestly interfering to uphold the good and check the wicked. The right of property was recognised, for Abel and Jabal possessed flocks, and Cain built a city. As or- dinances of religion, sacrifices certainly existed (Gen. iv, 4), and some think that the Sabbath was observed ; while some interpret the words, " Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord" (Gen. iv, 26), to sig- nify that public worship then began to be practised. From Noah's familiarity with the distinction of clean and unclean beasts (Gen. vii, 2), it would seem that the Levitical rules on this subject were by no means new when laid down in the code of Moses. See Wor- ship.