Piece of an Ancient Egyptian Fishing -net, with leads, etc., attached. (From the Berlin Museum.)
NET
9/-8
NET
mcrous : it was selected as an appropriate imape of the subtle devices of the enemies of God on the one hand (e. f?. Psa. ix, 15 ; xxv, 15 ; xxxi, 4), and of the unavert- able vengeance of God on the other (Lam. i, 13 ; Kzek. xii, 13 ; Hos. vii, 12). Sec SxAnE.
1. Fiskinff-neis.—VfC have no direct information con- cerning the fish-nets of the Hebrews, but suppose that thev were not materially different from those of the ancient ICgyptians, concerning which we now possess vcrv good'information, and which are more than once mentioiKMl in Scripture (Isa. xix, 8). The Egyptians constnictod their nets of flax-string: the netting-needle was made of wood, and in shape closely resembled our
own (Wilkinson, A nc. Egypt, ii, 95). See Needle. The usual fishing-net among this people was of a long form, like the common drag-net, with wooden floats on the upper and leads on the lower side. The leads were oc- casionally of an elongated shape, hanging from the outer cord or border of the net; but they were most usually flat, and, being folded round the cord, the opposite sides were beaten together; and this method continues to be adopted by the modern Egyptians. The net was some- times let down from a boat, but those who pulled it usu- ally stood on the shore, and landed the fish on a shelving bank. This mode, however, was more adapted to river than to lake fishing; and hence in all the detailed ex- amples of fishing in the New Testament the net is cast from and drawn into boats, excepting in one case where, the draught ^ being too great to take into the boat, the
1 fishers dragged the net after their boats
2 to the shore (John xxi, 0,8). Sometimes I in shallow water a smaller net was iised,
NET
979
NET
furnished with a pole on either side, to which it was attached ; and the tisherman, holding one of the poles in each hand, thrust it helow the surface of the water, and awaited the moment when a shoal of fish passed over it.
A burl of J,:uuliiiLr-m't u^eil by the Ancieut Egyptians. (Fiom the Moiiumeuts.)
This, or a smaller landing-net, likewise secured the large fish, Avhich had been wounded with the spear or entan- gled with tlie hook. In tlie large cut given on p. 978 the fishermen in the boat, excepting the master, are almost naked, as are also those wlio have occasion to wade in the water in hauling the net to the shore. Such seems also to have been the practice among the Hebrew fish- ermen ; for Peter, when he left the boat to hasten on shore to his risen Lord, "girt his fisher's coat unto hira, for he was naked" (John xxi, 7) ; although, in this case, the word " naked" (q. v.) must be understood with some latitude. For modern fishing-nets in Palestine, see Thomson, Land and Book, ii, 79 sq. See Fishing.
2. Foiclw(i - nets. — These were also in common use among the Hebrews, and the references to them in the Bible receive striking ilhistration from the representa- tions on the Egyptian monuments. The ancient Egyp- tians either caught the birds in large clap-nets or in mips ; and they sometimes shot them with arrows, or felled them with a tlirow-stick, as tliey flew in the thickets. The trap was generally made of network, strained over a frame. It consisted of two semicircu- lar sides or flaps, of equal size, one or both moving on the common bar, or axis, upon wliich they rested. When tlie trap was set, the two flaps were kept open by means of strings, probably of catgut, which, the moment
Ancieut Egyptian Bird-traps
Fig. 1. Trap closed, and the bird caught
other traps are open
(From the Monuments.)
bt*en effaced, as alsc
the bait that stood in the centre of the bar was touched, slipped aside, and allowed the two flaps to collapse, and thus secured the bird. Another kind, which was square, appears to have closed in the same manner ; but its con- struction was different, the framework running across the centre, and not, as in others, round the edges of the trap. So skilful were they in making traps that they were strong enough to hold the hyama; and in the one which caught the robber in the treasury of Rhampsinitus the power of the spring or tlie mechanism of the catch was so perfect that his brmli- er was unable to open it or release him. Similar in ingenuity, though not in strength, were the nets made by the convicts banished to Rhinocolura by Actisanes, which, though made of split straws, were yet capable of catching many of the numerous quails that frequented that desert region at a particular pe- riod of the year. The clap-net was of different forms, though on the same general principle as the traps. The larger ones consisted, like the smaller ones above, of two sides or frames, over which the network wa§ strained (see next page) ; at one end was a short rope, which they fastened to a bush or a cluster of reeds, and at the other was one of considerable length, which, as soon as the birds were seen feeding in the area within the net, was pulled by the fowlers, causing the two sides to collapse. As soon as they had selected a convenient spot for laying down the net, in a field or on the surface of a pond, the known resort of numerous wild fowl, they spread open the two sides or flaps, and secured them in such a manner that thej' remained flat upon the ground until pulled by the rope. A man, crouched behind some reeds growing at a convenient distance from the spot, from which he could observe the birds as they came down, watched the net, and, enjoin- ing silence by placing his hand over his mouth, beckoned to those holding the rope to keep themselves in readi- ness till he saw them assembled in sufiicient numbers, when a wave of his hand gave the signal for closing the net (Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, ii, 181 sq.).