The skill of the Hebrews during their wanderings in the desert does not appear to have been inconsider- able ; but the pursuits of war and the entire absorp- tion of the energies of the nation in the one great work ; of gaining the land which had been given to them, may have led to their falling off in the arts of peace ; ! and from a passage in 1 Sam. (xiii, 20) it would appear I that not long after the}' had taken possession of the j country they were in a low condition as to the instru- j ments of handicraft. A comparatively settled state of society, however, soon led to the revival of skill by j the encouragement of industry. A more minute di- ! vision of labor ensued. Trades, strictly so called, j arose, carried on by persons exclusively devoted to one pursuit. Thus, in Judg. xvii, 4, and Jer. x, 14, '• the founder"' is mentioned — a trade which implies a practical knowledge of metallurgy; the smelting and working of metals were well known to the Hebrews (Job xxxvii, 18); brass was in use before iron; arms I and instruments of husbandry were made of iron. In Exodus (xxxv, 30-35) a passage occurs which may j serve to specify many arts that were practised among the Israelites, though it seems also to intimate that at the time to which it refers artificers of the description referred to were not numerous : " See, the Lord hath called by name Bezaleel, and hath filled him with the spirit of God, in knowledge and all manner of work- manship, and to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in the cutting of stones, to Bet them, and in carving of wood, to make any man- ner of cunning work ; and he hath put in his heart that he may teach ; both he and Aholiab: them hath he filled with wisdom of heart to work all manner of j work of///' i ngravi r, and of the cunning workman, and ot the embroiderer in blue and in purple, in scarlet and in line linen, .(nil of the wearer." From the ensuing chapter (ver. 34) it appears that gilding was known before the settlement in Canaan/ The. ark (Exod. xxxvii, 2) was overlaid with pure gold within and without. The cherubim were wrought ("beaten," Exod. xxxvii, 7i in gold. The candlestick was of beaten gold I verses 17, 22). Wire-drawing was prob- ably understood « Exod. xxxviii. 1 ; xxxix, 3). Cov- ering witli bra-s (Exod. xxxviii, •_> > and with silver (Prov. xxvi. 23) was practised. Architecture and the kindred arts do not appear to have made much progress 1
ARTOTYRITJ3
till the days of Solomon, who employed an incredible number of persons to procure timber (1 Kings v, 13 sq.) ; but the men of skill for building his temple he obtain- ed from Hiram, King of Tyre (1 Kings v sq. ; 1 Chron. xiv, 1 ; 2 Chron. ii, 7). Without pursuing the sub- ject into all its details (see Scholz, Handb. der Bib. Archdol. p. 390 sq. ; De Wette, Lthrb. der Arch&ol. p. 115 sq.), we remark that the intercourse which the Babylonish captivity gave the Jews seems to have greatly improved their knowledge and skill in both the practical and the fine arts, and to have led them to hold them in very high estimation. The arts were even carried on by persons of learning, who took a title of honor from their trade (Rosenmiiller, Morgtnl. vi, J2). It was held a sign of a bad education if a father did not teach his son some handicraft : " Whoever does not teach his son a trade, teaches him robbing" (Light- foot, p. G16; Mishna, Pirlce Aboth, ii, 2; Wa^enseil's Sota, p. 597 ; Otho, Lex. JRabb. p. 491).
In the Apocrypha and New Testament there are mentioned tanners (Acts ix, 43), tent-makers (Acts xviii, 3); in Josephus (II"«r, v, 4, 1), cheese-makers; domestics (Kovptlr, Ant. xvi, 11, 5); in the Talmud, with others, we find tailors, shoe-makers, blood-letters, glaziers, goldsmiths, plasterers. Certain handicrafts- men could never rise to the rank of high-priest (Mishna, Kiddmh, lxxxii, 1), such as weavers, barbers, fullers, perfumers, cuppers, tanners ; which pursuits, especial- ly the last, were held in disestccm (Mishna, Megillah, iii, 2; Otho, Lex. Rabb. p. 155; Wetstein, N. T. ii, 516). In large cities particular localities were set apart for particular trades, as is the case in the East to the present da}'. Thus in Jeremiah (xxxvii, 21) we read of "the bakers' street." So in the Talmud (Mishna, v, 1G9, 225). mention is made of a flesh-mar- ket; in Josephus ( War, v, 4, 1), of a cheese-market; and in the New Testament (John v, 2) we read of a sheep-market, or at least a sheep-gate, which, like sev- eral other gates [see Jerusalem], appears to have been named from some special bazaar (q. v.) adjoining. (See Iken, Antiq. Ilcbr. iii-ix, p. 578 sq. ; Bellermann, Handb. i, 22 sq.)— Kitto, ii, 808. See Mechanic.
Artillery ("?2, Iceli' , apparatus, elsewhere ren- dered "vessel,-' "instrument," etc.) occurs in 1 Sam. xx, 40, where it signifies collectively any missile weapons, as arrows and lances. See Armor. In 1 Mace, vi, 51, the term so rendered is /3iXtijTaaic, i. e. balista, or "catapult," a machine for hurling darts or stones. See Engine.