The kitchens are alwaj-s in this inner court, as the cooking is performed by vomen, and the ladies of the family su- perintend or actually assist in the pro- cess. The kitchen, open in front, is on the same side as the entrance from the outer court; and the top of it forms a terrace, which affords a communication between the first floor of both courts by a private door, seldom used but by the master of the house and attendant eu- nuchs. There are usually no fireplaces except in the kitchen, the furniture of which consists of a sort of raised platform of brick, with receptacles in it for fire, answering to the " boiling-places" (ni!'i'2p ; fiayiiptia ; cidince) of Ezekiel (xlvi, 23 ; see Lane, i, 41 ; Gesenius, Thes. p. 249). In these different compartments the various dish- es of an Eastern feast may be at once prepared at char- coal fires. This place being wholly open in front, the half-tame doves, which have their nests in the trees of the court, often visit it, in the absence of the servants, in search of crumbs, etc. As they sometimes blacken themselves, this perhaps explains the obscure jiassage in Psa. Ixviii, 13, " Though ye have lien among the^jo^s [but Gesenius renders "sheepfolds"], ye shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver," etc.
Besides the mandarah, there is sometimes a second room, either on the ground or the upper floor, called hd'ah, fitted with ditrdns, and at the corners of these rooms portions taken off and inclosed form retiring rooms (Lane, i, 21 ; Russell, i, 31 , 33). While speaking of the interior of the house, we may observe, that on the di- u-dn, the corner is the jilace of honor, which is never quitted by the master of the house in receiving stran- gers (Russell, i, 27 ; Malan, T?/re and Sidon, p. 38). When there is an upper story, the hi'ak forms the most im- portant apartment, and thus probably answers to the i;7rtp<poj', which was often the "guest-chamber" (Luke
HOUSE
373
HOUSE
Ka'ah of a House in Cairo. (Lane.)
xxii, 12; Acts i, 13; ix, 37; xx, 8; Burckhardt, Trav- els, i, 15-1), The windows of the upper rooms often project one or two feet, and form a iiiosk or latticed chamber, the ceilings of which are elaborately orna- mented (Lane, i, 27; Russell, i, 102; Burckhardt, Tair. i, 1110). Such may have been the " chamber in the wall" (IT'"^^, vTTEpifiov, ccenacidum, Gcscn. p. 1030) made, or rather set apart for Elisha by the Shunammite Avoman (2 Kings iv, 10, 11). So, also, the "summer parlor" of Eglon "(Judg. iii, 20, 23; but see Wilkinson, i, 11), the "loft" of the willow of Zarcphath (1 Kings xvii, 19). The " lattice" (MD^'J, ciicTvuiTog, ccmcelli) through which Ahaziah fell perhaps belonged to an upper cham- ber of this kind (2 Kings i, 2), as also the " third loft" {rpi<7Ti.yov) from whicli Eutychus fell (Acts xx,9; com- pare Jcr. xxii, 13). See Uppeii Koo.Af. The inner court is entered by a passage and door similar to those on tlie street, and usually situated at one of the innermost cor- ners of th.e outer court. The inner court is generally much larger tlian the former. It is for the most pait paved, excepting a portion in tlic middle, which is jjlant- ed with trees (usually two) and shrubs, with a basin of water in the midst. That the Jews had the like ar- rangament of trees in the courts of their houses, and tliat the birds nested in them, appears from Psa. Ixxxiv, 2, 3. They had also the basin of Avater in the inner court or harem, and among tliem it Avas used for bathing, as is shoAvn by David's discovering Bathsheba bathing as he Avalked on the roof of his palace. The arrange- ment of the inner court is very similar to that of the outer, but the Avhole is more open and airy. The build- ings usually occupy tAvo sides of the square, of Avhich the one opposite the entrance contains the principal apartments. They are upon Avhat A\-e should call the first floor, and open into a Avide gallery or veranda, Avhich in good houses is nine or ten feet deep, and covered by a Avooden penthouse supported by a roAv of wooden col- umns. This terrace or gallery is furnished Avith a strong Avootlen balustrade, and is usually paved Avith squared stones, or else floored Avith boards. In the centre of the iirincipal front is the usual open draAving-room, on Avhich tlie best art of the Eastern decorator is expended. MuL-h of one of the sides of the court front is usually oc- cupied by the large sitting-room, Avith the latticed front covered Avith colored glass, similar to that in the outer court. The other rooms, of smaller size, are the more priA-atG apartments of the mansion.
No ancient houses had chimneys. The Avord so trans- lated in Hos. xiii, 3, means a hole through Avhich the smoke escaped ; and this existed only in the loAver class of dwellings, Avhere raAv Avood Avas employed for fuel or
cooking, and Avhere there Avas an opening immediately over the heartli to let out the smoke. In tlie better sort of houses the rooms Avere Avarmed in A\'intcr by diarcoal in braziers (Jer. xx.xvi, 22 ; Mark xiv, 54 ; Jolni xviii, 18), as is still the practice (Hussell, i, 21 ; Lane, i, 41 ; Chardin, '\\; 120), or a fire of Avood might be kindled in the open court of tlie lioiise (Luke xxii, 55). See Fiuk.