Ink (i'^'7, deyo', so called from its blackness, Jer. xxxvi, 18; Gr. fiiXav, black; 2 Cor. iii, 3; 2 John 12; 3 John 13). The most simple, and hence probably the most ancient mode of preparing ink was a mixture of water with charcoal powdered, or with soot, to which
I
INK-HORN
587
INN
^um was aildod. TIic Hel)rews made use of diffcrcin ' mcnts likewise represent scribes with inkstands in their colors for writing, as did also the ancient Egyptians, ' left hands, containing two bottles for different colored and some of the books of the former are stated l)y Jose phus to have been written in gold. Tlie mode of writ
ing mentioned in Numb, v, 23, where it is said that "the priest shall write the curses in a book and blot them out with the bitter water," was with a kind of ink prepared for the purpose, without any calx of iron or other material that could make a permanent dye; these maledictions were then washed off the parchment into the water, which the woman was obliged to drink : so that she drank the very words of the execration. The ink still used in the East is almost all of this kind; a wet sponge will completely obliterate the finest of their writings. The ancients used several kinds of tinctures as ink ; among them that extracted from the cuttle-fish, called in Hebrew rbzn, tekeleth. Their ink was not so fluid as ours. Demosthenes reproaches /Eschines with laboring in the grinding of ink, as painters do in the grinding of their colors. The substance found in an inkstancl at Herculaneum looks like a thick oil or paint, with which the manuscripts had been written in a sort of relievo, visible in the letters when a leaf is held to the light in a horizontal direction. Such vitriolic ink as has been used ou the old parchment manuscripts
inks (Wilkinson, ii, 17(5). See Writing.
Inn (•(■'ibri, maWn, Gen. xlii, 27; xhii, 21 ; Exod.iv, 24, a lodf/iny-plsice, as elsewhere rendered; KurdXvixa, Luke ii, 7, a place for loosinff the beasts of their biurden, rendered " guest-chamber," Mark xiv, U; Luke xxiii, 11: ■jravSoxt'tov, Luke x, 34, a place for receirin;/ all comers). Inns, in our sense of the term, were, as they still are, unknown in the East where hospitality is re- ligiously practised. The khans, or caravanserais, are the representatives of European inns, and these were established but gradually. It is doubtful whether there is any allusion to them in the Old Testament. The haltiiig-place of a caravan was selected originally on ac- count of its proximity to water or pasture, by which tlie travellers pitched their tents and passed the night. Such was undoubtedly the " inn" at which occurred the incident in the life of IMoses narrated in Exod. iv, 24. It was probably one of the halting-places of the Ishmael- itish merchants who traded to l>:gypt with their camel- loads of spices. Moses was on his journey from the land of Midian, and the merchants in Gen. xxxvii are called indiscriminately Ishmaelites and Midianites. At one of these stations, "too, the first which they reached after
wouhl have corroded the delicate leaves of the papvrus, ! leaving the city, and no doubt within a short distance
from it, Joseph's brethren discovered that their money had been replaced in their wallets (Gen. xlii, 27).
Increased commercial intercourse, and, in later times, religious enthusiasm for pilgrimages, gave rise to the
as it has done the skins of the most ancient manuscripts of Virgil and Terence in the library of the Vatican ; the letters are sunk into the parchment, and some have eaten (piite through it, in con^quence of the corrosive acid of the vitriolic ink with which they were written. See Whiting.
Ink-horn (nOi?, ke'seth, a round vessel), an ink- stand worn in the girdle (Ezek. ix, 2, 3, 11). This im- plement is one of considerable antiquitj^; it is common throughout the Levant, and is often seen in the houses of the Greeks. To one end of a long brass tube for holding pens is attached the little case containing the moistened sepia used for ink, which is closed with a lid and snap, and the whole stuck -with much importance in the girdle. This is, without doubt, substantially the instrument borne by the individual whom Ezekiel men- tions as " one mar. clothed in linen, with a writer's ink- horn by his side." We find the Egyptian scribes had likewise a cylindrical box for ink, which was probably
■jwgai^^Ea-siy
Modern Oriental Writing Implements.
carried in a similar manner. Besides these, the modern Egyptians have a regular inkstand for more extensive writing. The ancient Egyptians had writ- ing-tablets, which are s(iuare pallets of wood, Ancient Egyptian Wrhinnj-tablet. with longitudinal (From Abbott's Egyptian Mu- jrrooves to hold the ^''"'"■V kash or small reeds
used for writing ; the well, for color, in some is in the usual form of an oval or signet ; towards the upper end of the pallet on others is inscribed the name of the own- er. In bronze, there are cylindrical boxes for ink, with a chain for the pen-case, the whole similar to the hie- roglyphical symbol for scribe or writing. The monu-
establishment of more permanent accommodation travellers. On the more frequented routes, remote from towns (Jer. ix, 2), caravanserais were in course of time erected, often at the expense of the wealthy. The fol- lowing description of one of those on the road from Bag- dad to Babylon will suffice for aU: '-It is a large and substantial square building, in the distance resembling a fortress, being surrounded with a lofty wall, and Hank- ed by round towers to defend the inmates in case of at- tack. Passing through a strong gateway, the guest en- ters a large court, the sides of which are divided into numerous arched compartments, open in front, for the accommodation of separate parties and for the recejition of goods. In the centre is a spacious raised platform, used for sleeping upon at night, or for the devotions of the faithful during the day. Between the outer wall and the compart- ments are wide vaulted arcades, extending round the entire build- ing, where the beasts of burden are placed. Upon the roof of the ar- cades is an excel- lent terrace, and over the gateway an elevated tower containing two rooms, one of which is open at the sides, permitting the occupants to enjoy every breath of air that passes across the heated plain. The terrace is tol- erably clean, but the court and stabling below are ankle- deep in chopped straw and tilth" (Luftus, Chahlco, p. 13). The great khans established by the Persian kings and great men, at intervals of about six miles on the roads from Bagdad to the sacred places, are provided with stables for the horses of the pilgrims. '• Within these stables, on both sides, are other cells for travellers" (Lay- ard, Nin. and Bab. p. 478, note). The " stall" or " man- ger," mentioned in Luke ii, 7, was probably in a stable of this kind. Such khans are sometimes situated near running streams, or have a supply of water of some kind, but the traveller must carry all his provisions with him (Ouseley, Trav. in Persia, i, 261, note). At Damas-