One interesting but much defaced representation of a similar kind has been found on the Assyrian sculp- tures. Gardens and orchards, with various kinds of trees, appeared to be watered with canals similar to those which once spread fertility over the jilains cf Babylonia, and of which the choked-up beds still re- I main. A man, suspended liy a rope, was being lower- I ed into the water. Upon the corner of a slab, almost destroj-ed, was a hanging garden, supported upon col- I umns, whose capitals were not unlike those of the , Corinthian order (Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, p. 198 ' sq.).
Ancient Assyrian Gardens.
3. Gardens in the East, as the Hebrew word indi- cates, are indosures on the outskirts of towns, planted with various trees and shrubs. From the allusions in the Bible we learn that fliey were surrounded by hedges of thorn (Isa. v, 5) or walls of stone (Prov. xxiv, 31). For further protection, lodges (Isa. i, 8 ;
Lam. ii, 6) or watch-towers (Mark xii, 1) were built in them, in which sat the keeper {"'J.^, Job xxvii, 18), to drive away the wild beasts and rolibers, as is the ca^e to this day. Layard (Xin. and Bah. p. ."65) £:i\es the following description of a scene which he witnessed : " The broad silver river wound througli the plain, the
GARDEN
741
GARDEN
gi-eat ruin cast its dark shadows in tl\e moonlight, ths lii'hts of ' the lodges in the gardens of cucumbers' flickered at our feet, and the deep silence was only broken by the sharp report of a rifle tired by the watch- ful guards to frigliten away the wild boars that lurked in the melon-beds." Tlie scarecrow also was ah in- vention not unknown (jrpoiiaaKdviov, Bar. vi, 70). See Lodge.
In a climate like that of Palestine the neighborhood of water was an important consideration in selecting the site of a garden. Tlie nomenclature of the coun- try has perpetuated this f;ict in the name Engannim — ■ "the fountain of gardens"^the modern Jenin (comp. Cant, iv, 15). To the old Hebrew poets "a well-wa- tered garden," or "a tree planted by the waters," was an emt)lem of luxuriant fertility and material prosper- ity (Isa. Iviii, 11 ; Jer. xvii, 8 ; xxxi, 12) ; while no fig- ure more graphically convej'ed the idea of dreary bar- renness or misery than " a garden that hath no water" (Isa. i, 30). From a neighboring stream or cistern were supplied the channels or conduits by which the girdens were intersected, and the water was thus con- veyed to all parts (Psa. i, 3 ; Eccl. ii, 6 ; Ecclus. xxiv, 33). It is a matter of doubt what is the exact mean- ing of the expression " to water with the foot" in Deut. xi, 10. Niebuhr {Descr. de r Arabic, p. 138) describes a wheel which is employed for irrigating gardens where the water is not deep, and which is worked by the hands and feet after the manner of a tread-mill, the men "pulling the upper part towards them with their hands, and pushing with their feet upon the lower part" (Robinson, ii, 226). This mode of irrigation might be described as ''watering with the foot." But the method practised by the agriculturists in Oman, as narrated by Wellsted (Trav. i, 281), may answer to this description, and serves to illustrate Prov. xxi, 1 : "After ploughing, they form the ground with a spade into small squares with ledges on either side, along which the water is conducted .... When one of the hollows is filled, the peasant stops the supply bj' turn- ing up the earth with his foot, and thus opens a chan- nel into another." See Irrigation.
4. Gardens were dedicated to various uses among the Hebrews, such as we still find prevailing in the East. One most essential difference between them and our own is that they are not attached to or in any way connected with the residence, but are situated in the suburbs, sometimes from half a mile to a mile dis- tant from the houses of the persons to whom they be- long. It is manifest that all the gardens mentioned in -Scripture were outside the several towns. This is, however, to be understood of regular gardens, for shrubs and flowers were often planted in the open courts of the dwelling-houses. People repair to their suburban gardens to take the air, to walk, and to re- fresh and solace themselves in various waj^s. For their use there is mostlj' in each garden a kind of sum- mer-house or pavilion, fitted up with much neatness, gayly painted, and furnished with seats, where the vis- itants may sit and enjoy themselves. Here sometimes banquets were and are still given, attended by singing and music (Isa. Ii, 3; Ixv, 3). See Garden-house.
The kings and nobles had their country houses sur- rounded by gardens (1 Kings xxi, 1 ; 2 Kings ix, 27), and these were used on festal occasions (Cant, v, 1). So intimately, indeed, were gardens associated with festivity, that horticulture and conviviality are, in the Talmud, denoted b}-^ the same term (Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. s. v. mO'^'nX). It is possible, however, that tliis may be a merely accidental coincidence. The garden of Ahasuerus was in a court of the palace (Esth. i, 5), adjoining the banqueting-hall (Esth. vii,7). In Babylon, the gardens and orchards were inclosed by the city walls (f^ayard, Nin. ii, 2-10). Attached to the house of Joachini was a garden or orchard (Sus. 4) — "a garden inclosed" (Cant, iv, 12) — provided with