Muniment Chamber, i. e. an Ecclesiastical Beg- igter-house or Treasunj, is a room used for the pres- ervation of charters, fabric and matriculation rolls, terriers, and registers. At Salisbury it is detached, on the south side of the cathedral. At Chichester it was over a chapel of the transept, dedicated to the Four A'irgins, and at a later date next to the chajiter-house, and furnished with a sliding panel. At Winchester and New College, Oxford, it is in a tower, as at St. IMartin des Champs, Clugny, and Vaux des Seruay, At Fontenelle it was over the church-porch, as now at Peterborough. Where there was a provost, that officer kept the key. ^Muniments are, as it were, the defences of Church property. — Walcott, <S'(/c/-. .lrc/((ro/o(7y, p. 394.
Munition ("l^"?, metsad', Isa. xxiii, 16; usually rendered •' stronghold"), a fortress on a rocky eminence, such as those to which David resorted for safety from Saul (1 Sam. xxiii, 14); especially a "castle" or acrop- olis, as of Mount Zion (1 Chron. xi, 7). See Four. In ancient times every city was located upon a naturally strong position [see City ; Hill], and served itself for
MUNITION"
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MUNK
a stronghold (nn^lSla ^''V, "lS253n "T^?) ; yet in the period before the exile among the Hebrews particular strategic points, especiaUy on the frontier and in low and level tracts, were more strongly and systematically fortified (1 Kings xv, 17, 22 ; 2 Chron. viii, 3 ; xi, 5 sq. ; xiv, G sq.; xxvi, G; xxvii, 4), in anticipation of sieges (2 Chron. xvii, 2), which, by reason of the more strenu- ous warfare, still oftener took place in post-exilian times (see 1 Mace, iv, 61; xii, 35; xiii, 30; xiv, 33 sq. [xv, 39] \ when the residences of Palestine were distributed in citadels, walled towns, and open villages. First of all, strongholds were surrounded by one or more (2 Chron. xxxii, 5) walls (tT^in), which were sometimes very thick (.Jer. li, 58), and were furnished with battle- ments (PISS, 2 Chron. xxvi, 15; Zeph.i, 16; or ni'j'^d, Isa. liv, 12), parapet, and towers (a"'b'15p, 2 Chron. xiv, 7 ; xxxii, 5 ; 1 Mace, v, 65 ; com p. Ezek. xxvi, 4 ; xxvii, 11; Jer. li, 12; Zeph. ii, 14; Judith i, 3), and were closed by powerful (in Babylon iron-bound, Isa. xiv, 2 ; Herod, i, 179) and strictly guarded (1 Kings iv, 13) gates (q. v.). Over these last were placed watch-towers (2 Sam. xiii, 34; xviii, 24, 33; 2 Kings ix, 17; 2 Chron. xxvi, 9; comp. Homer, 11. iii, 145, 154). See, generally, 2 Chron. xiv, 7. Around the wall lay the b'^n (2 Sam. XX, 15; Isa. xxvi, 1; Nah. iii, 8; 1 Kings xxi, 23), ap- parently a moat with a rampart, but according to Kim- chi a small outer wall (n"in"j 13). See Trench. There were also watch-towers and forts (rii'3"i"^3) in the open field (2 Kings xviii, 8 , 2 Cliron. xxvii, 4), as well as castles in and at the cities for a final refuge (Judg. ix, 51 sq.). The most important fortress of Pal- estine in all ancient times was Jerusalem (q. v.). Other strong castles, especially for the protection of the bor- ders, were, in the closing period of Jewish history, Al- exandrium (Josephus, Ant. xiii, 16, 3), Machcerus, Ma- sada, Hyrcania (comp. Josephus, A7it, xiii, 16), Hero- dium {ib. xv, 9, 4 ; War, i, 21, 10), etc. They were usu- ally located on hills (.4 7it. xiv, 6, 2). Caves and chasms in rocks were the first natural fastnesses (Judg. ix, 2). See Cave.
The reduction (comp. 11:2, *iJ3) of strong places, to which the inhabitants retreated on the invasion of an enemy (Jer. viii, 14), began, after a demand to capitu- late (Deut. XX, 10 ; comp. 2 Kings xviii, 17 sq.), with the demarcation of a line of circumvallation ("iiUT3 n33, Eccles, ix, 14; p;;i'l n33, 2 Kings xxv, 1 ; Jer. vi, 6; Iii, 4; Ezek. iv, 2; xvii, 17, etc.), and throwing up a bank (nbbio ~S'^, 2 Sam. xx, 15; 2 Kings xix, 32; Isa. xxvii^, 33; Hab! i, 10; Jer. vi, 6; Ezek. iv, 2; xvii, 17; xxvi, 8; 1 Mace, xi, 20; xiii, 43; comp. Jo- sephus, J 7i^ xiii, 10, 2), and next proceeded by the em- ployment of beleaguering engines {ji^xavai, 1 Mace, xi, 20, i. e. battering-rams, ni"i3, Ezek. iv, 2; xxi, 27; comp. Josephus, War, iii, 9; Vitruv. x, 19), with which a breach was effected (Ezek. xxi, 27. A description of the customary Roman machince ohsidionales, which Ti- tus used — but for a long time in vain — in the siege of Jerusalem [Josephus, War, v, 6, 2 sq. ; 9, 2; vi, 2, 3, etc.], is given by Ammian. Marcel, xxiii, 4. On the Eoman aries especially, see Josephus, War, iii, 7, 19). A simpler operation was to set the fort on fire, and thus destroy at once both it and the besieged (Judg. ix, 49). As an example of undermining the walls, Jer. li, 58 is adduced only by a gloss in the Sept. and Vulg. ; in later times this process becomes clearer (Josephus, War, ii, 17, 8 ; comp. Dio Cass. Ixix, 1 2 ; Yeget. Mil. iv, 24). The demolition of the aqueducts is once mentioned (Judith vii, 6). For defence the besieged were accustomed not only to shoot darts from the walls (2 Sam. xi, 24), but also to hurl large stones and beams (Judg. ix, 53 ; 2 Sam. xi, 21; Josephus, War,\, 3, 3; G, 3), and even to pour down boiling oil (Josephus, War, iii, 7, 2S) ; in later times they used slinging-machiues (ni;'3',an, 2