but if they were really locks, tbey -were pnU^ the principle of thoee now used, in 'Egj^-wMi^ ei
1
nn
TW
Ancient Egyptian Doorti.
the slide ; in that case he stood in no absolute need of a key to efater (Cant, v, 4). See Key. Among the ancient Egyptians doors were frequently stained so as to imitate foreign wood. They were either of one or two valves, turning on pins of metal, and were se- cured within by bars and bolts. Some of the bronze pins have been discovered in the tombs of Thebes, and two of them, after Wilkinson, are fig- ured below (2, 3). They were fastened to the wood with nails of the same metal. See Hinge. The stone lintels and floor behind the threshold of the tombs and temples still exhibit the holes in which the pins turned, as well as those of the bolts and bars, and the recess for receiving the opening valves. The folding doors had bolts in the centre, some- times above as well as below; a bar was placed across from one wall to the other, and in many cases they were secured by wooden locks passing over the centre (above cut, fig. 4) at the junction of the two folds. " It is difficult (remarks Sir J. G.Wilkinson) to say if these last were opened by a key, or mere- ly slided backward and forward like a bolt ;
Ancient Egyptian Bolt, Uingefi, and Key te a £>•«.
wood, and opened by a key ftunished with aemal pis answering to a smaller number that foil down ate tb hollow movable tongae, into ^'bich tbe key is bb^ duced when they open or fasten the lock.*' SetiiKX. For greater security, they are also oceaaoBtMfWi^ with a mass of clay. This was also a caiABilif ^
ancient Egyptians, as appears fttnn HerodotssUfl^ from tombs actually so closed at Thebes, iiiil iWlft sculptures, as in the first cut above, fig.^irf^ifr door is thus closed and sealed. To this eaui^HhBi is an allusion in Job. See Clat. At a lalAflW. when iron came into general use, keys wcm Mb' that metal, of the shape shown in the above eai^4|>i Of tbe kind thus indicated were probably the licl mA key which fastened the summer-parlor of khgl^ (Judg. iii, 28, 25). In this case Ehud k>cked fl» doff and took away the key ; but when the teevt/to be- came alarmed they easily opened it with aoetber k^. which suggests that the lock, as in andent E^Tft ^ the modem East, was nothing more than a pmloHT constructed open bolt of wood, which the woodn & metal key was adapted to raise and thrust bs^ Tl^ forms of the Egyptian doore may be seen froai tk cuts. (See Wilkinson, Anc, Eggffl. abridgm. i, 7^' The chief entrance to houses was through a pvnmidd pylon on a projecting porch of columns, wboK oft- tals were often ornamented with ribboiBL Over ^ doorway was sometimes a brief hieroglyphicsl kigei^ (Wathen, p. 101). Tins last circumstance mobi* one of the writing on their doon recommended to thf Israelites, as noticed below. A ccmparisw of th*
Modem Oriental Street-doon.
DOOR-KEEPER
867
DOOR-POST
icient Egyptian doors with those now used in the tst will probably suggest no incorrect notion of the ovision among the ancient Hebrews in this respect.
sort of intermediate idea arising from this compar- Mi will be found to furnish very satisfactory illustra- >n8 of most of the passages of Scripture which relate
the subject. (See Lane's Mod, Eg, i, 9, 18.) Doors
oriental Door in the Interior Court.
re generally unpainted throughout Western Asia and I Egypt. In the interior of houses it is not unusual ) see curtains instead of doors, especially in summer, hb helps to keep the apartment cool, and also enables trvants to enter without noise. This custom origin- ted in the use of tents. Accordingly we find that all le entrances of the tabernacle had curtains, although le framework was of wood (Exod. xxvi, 31-88, 86, 87) ;
CommoD Oriental Door.
nd even in the Temple a curtain or '^vail" formed le separation between the holy and the most holy lace. See House. The word "door," in reference > a tent, expresses the opening made by dispensing ith the cloths in front of the tent, which is then sup- orted only by the hinder and middle poles (Gen. viii, 2 ; Burckhardt, Notes on Bed. i, 42).
Among the figurative allusions to doors, it may be lentioned that, in Hosea ii, 15, the valley of Achor is ftUed " a door of hope," because there, immediately fter the execution of Achan, the Lord said to Joshua,
Fear not, neither be dismayed ;" and from that time oshua carried on his conquests with uninterrupted access. Paul, in 1 Cor. xvi, 9 ; 2 Cor. ii, 12 ; Col. iv, , uses the symbol of a door opened, to signify the free xercise and propagation of the Gospel. Our Lord pplies the term to himself, " I am the door" (John x, ). The "door opened in heaven" signifies the be- ;inning of a new kind of government (Rev. iv, 1) ; nd in general the opening of anything is said when t may act suitably to its quality ; the shutting of any- hbg is the stopping of its use (Wemyss, Symbol. Diet, . v.). See Gate.