a, a piece of dark wood applied to one of ordinnry quality, fc. r, adie, fixed into a block of wood of the i to those used by our carpenters. - - *■— Kio' o ,« rrr„„l,n
.t^^'Fi^ ^u ^^ng'.;^:^^" ;:^u;.;^t So ii;; fi^r;;;: ^eii^^ ^^.3, .ppiying gh.a with . bmsh.p.
9 10
BandaKinjc Mummies nnd making the Cases. (Wilkinson.)
c wood. S, f uttinu the leg of a chair, indicalinR the trade of the carpenter. 3, _ r, wood ready for ciitlinii. d. onions nnd other provisions, which occur apiin at j
//. 4 anil 7, binding mummies. 6, brings the bandages. 9, using the drill. «,10,andll, polishing tlie cose.
Fig.
but whether the plasterers Cna VsP, Ezek. xiii, 11) were a sfi)aratc trade from the masons is not clear; the poller ("^i", Isa. xxix, 16, etc.; Kipaftevf, Matt, xxvii, 7, 10 : comp. Gcsenius, Momm. Plia-n. p. IGl) ; the lock- smith ("ap"3, Jer. xxix, 2); the fuller (,033 or 03213, 2 Kings xviii, 17; yvaftv^, Mark ix, 3; comp. (icsen. ut sup. p. ISl) ; the weaver (S'^J*) <'»rly (F-xod. xxviii, 32) formed a separate branch of industry (especially in fabrics of byssus, 1 Chron. iv, 21), and in large cities the baker (HEX, Hos. vii, 4; Jer. xxxvii, 21 ; see Josejjhus, Ant. XV, it, 2; but Luke xi, 2, does not prove the ab- sence of such a trade) ; later also the barber (3?|', Ezek. V, 1) is named ("lED, according to the Targimi of Jon- ath. at Lev. xiii, 45 ; ]\lishna, S/iabb. i, 2). Sec each in its place. Nevertheless, that the Hebrews took no very
high rank in the tine styles of work, especially those in which labor passes over into an art, ap- pears from the fact that a suigle individual often carried on sev- eral trades at once (Exod. xxxi, 3 sq.; 2 Chron. ii, 14); while David and Solomon are record- ed as having imported for their structures Phoenician (Sidonian) artiliccrs (1 Kings v, G ; 1 Chron. xiv, 1 ; 2 Chron. ii, 7, 14, etc.). See PiKENiciA.
After the exile handicrafts and arts in general stood in greater esteem among the Jews, so that experts were found among them, and their productions acquired consitlcrablc reputation (see Ko- senmiiller, Mui-f/enland, vi, 42). It passed for a sign of a bad bringing up when a father failed to teach his son a trade (Jlishna, Kiddtish. iv, 14; Lightfoot, p. 616; comp. Pirke Abol/i, ii, 2; Wagenseil, Sola, p. 507 ; Otho, Lei\ liabb. p. 491). In the Apoc- rj-pha of the Old Test, there are mentioned Ihc Kipoftivc, as a moulder of figures of clay (Wistl. XV, S), the xpffovpiw-, apyi'po- Xoocand i^aXi:o7r\«(ir>jc among metal-workers (AVistl. XV, 19), chieHy as tributary to idol image-makers; in the New Test, the tanner (livpaevr, Acts ix, 43; x, 6, 32; Talm. •^''DT-S or 7313?, C/iel. xv, 1), the tent- maker ((T»f>ji'07roi('c, Acts xviii, 3) ; in Josephus occur the cheese-makers (-vpovoioi, War, v, 4, 1), the bar- bers (Kovptilc, Aiit. xvi, 5; War, i, 27, 5), who were of service to princes; in the Talmud, among others, the tailor (li'^'^n, Shabb. i, 3), the shoemaker ("i'S'", /'f- sacfi, iv, 6\ the plasterer (T'-'O. (//(/. xxix, 3), the glazier (TTS, C/iel. viii, 9), the goldsmith (^HT, C/iel. xxix, 6), the dyer (S3S, comp. Thilo. Apocr. p. HI). Some of these occujiations were of .so low repute that tliose who followed them could not attain the office of high-priest {Kuhliish. Ixxxii. 1): viz. those of the weaver, the barber, the fuller, the apothecary, the blood-
MECHERAH
11
MECHTHILDIS
letter, the bath-keeper, the tanner, which avocations, especially the barber's and the tanner's, were very odious {Kiddush. iv, 14; Megilla, iii, 2; comp. Otho, Lex. Rabb. p. 155 ; Wetstein, Nov. Test, ii, 51(j). The workshops or place of business of the artisans appear (in the larger cities) to have been in certain streets or squares (bazaars, Tournefort, Trav. ii, 3-22), where they were collected (Jer. xxxix, 21) ; as in the Talmud, for instance, there is mention (Surenhusius, Mischna, v, 109, 225) of a meat-market (Db::X or "pb^J'^X), and in Jose- phus ( War, v, 4, 1) of a cheese-maker's valley (the Ty- ropceon), as likewise of forges and dealers in wool and garments ( War, v, 8, 1). On occasions of public mourn- ing such places were closed (Philo, ii, 525). See gen- erally, Iken, Aniiq. Hebr. ii, 578 sq. ; Bellermann, Haiidb. i, 221 sq.— Winer, i, 462. See Handicraft.
Mecherah. See Meciierathite.
Mech'erathite (Heb. Mekerathi', in'iap, gentile from n"!?'?) Mekerah', a sword, as in Gen. xlix, 5; Sept. jVIfxocpa^t v. r. Mi\i)ipa^pi, Vulg. 3Iecherathites), an epithet applied to Hepher, one of David's famous warriors, probably as being a native of Mecherah, a place otherwise unknown (1 Chron. xi, 36) ; but from the parallel passage (2 Sara, xxiii, 34) it would appear to be a corruption for Maachathite, See Ur.
Mechitaf (or Mekliitar), Da Petro, the founder of the Order of Mi'chitarists (q. v.), was born at Sebaste, a town of Armenia Minor, Feb. 7, 1676. His lather's name was Peter Manukean (i. e. son of Manug). but he exchanged his family name (Manug) for that of ^leclii- tar, or " Consoler," on entering into ecclesiastical orders. His early education had been intrusted to monastics; they, no doubt, influenced him to devote himself to the service of the Church. At the age of fifteen he became an inmate of the Convent of the Holy Cross, near Se- baste ; and a few years after, being made secretary of the archbishop Michael, who took him to Erzerum, he became acquainted with a fellow-countryman who had travelled in Europe, and who lent him an Armenian work by Galanus, an Italian missionarj', Oh the Reconciliation of the ArnKniuu Church irllh that of Rome (published at Rome in 1650). Though Mechitar still continued professedly a member of the Armenian priesthood, he appears from this time to have' become in secret a pros- elyte to the Churcli of Rome : but the exact date of his passing over seems to liave been unknown to all his bi- ographers. He was anxious to make himself acquainted with the civilization of the West, it is urged by some ; others believe that Mechitar had fallen into the hands of Romish priests, and was induced, as early as 1693, to accept the Romish interpretation of the sacred writings, and, consequently, of the doctrines and faith of the hie- rarchy, and that he determined on a visit to Rome to enjoy an interview with the holy father and the great dignitaries of the Latin Church. There is some reason also for the belief that Slechitar was at once, after his entry into the Latin Church, made a member of the So- ciety of Jesus, and that he secretly worked for the good of the order. On his way to Rome he was attacked by severe illness in the island of Cyprus, and compelled to return, begging his way as he went. In 1696 he re- entered the convent, determined to become a worker for higher religious and literary culture among his coun- trymen, and to further this undertaking effectually he sought to gather about him young men desiring to work as missionaries. In 1699 he was made D.D., and shortly after he removed to the Byzantine capital. In 1700, when he was a preacher at Constantinople, some dissensions between the partisans of two rival patriarchs divided the Armenian community into two hostile parties. Me- chitar at first advised reconciliation, and afterwards, to their surprise, preached submission to the Church of Rome, and this roused such a storm against him that he was obliged to claim the protection of the French ambassador, which was readily afforded.