" Birds formed an article of food among the Hebrews (Lev. xvii, 13), and much skill was exercised in catch- ing them. The following were the most approved methods: (1.) The trap (HQ), which consisted of two parts — a net, strained over a frame, and a stick to sup- port it, but so placed that it shoidd give way at the slightest touch; the stick or springe was. termed ^'j^Ta (Amos iii, 5, 'gin;' Psa. Ixix, 22, 'trap'); this was the most usual method (Job xviii, 9; Eccles. ix, 12; Prov. vii, 23). (2.) The snare CpT^fVl, irora U^^, to braid; Job xviii, 9, A. V. ' robber), consisting of a cord (^2n, Job xviii, 10 ; comp. Psa. xviii, 5 ; cxvi, 3 ; cxl, 5) so set as to catch the bird by the leg. (3.) The net, as above. (4.) The decoy, to which reference is made in Jer. V, 26, 27 — a cage of peculiar construction (3^133) — was filled with birds, which acted as decoys; the door of the cage was kept open by a piece of stick acting as a springe (rr^ndp), and closed sudden- ly with a clap (whence per- haps the term Jceliih) on the entrance of a bird. The par- tridge appears to have been used as a decoy (Ecclus. xi, 30)" (Smith). See Fowling. 3. Hunting-mets. — These, as has already been seen, were
iFig. 3. The
NET
980
NET
of universal use among the Hebrews. " The objects ' for which hunting is practiced indicate the various conditions of society and tlic progress of civilization. Hunting, as a matter of necessity, wliether for the ex- termination of dangerous beasts or for procuring suste- | nance, betokens a rude and semi- civilized state; as an amuse- ment, it betokens an advanced state. In the former, personal prowess and physical strength are the ((ualities which elevate a man above his fellows and lit him for dominion, and hence one of the greatest heroes of anti(iuity is described as a » miglity luniter before the Lord' (Gen. X, 9), Avhile Ishmael, the progenitor of a wild race, was famed as an archer (Gen. xxi, 20), and Esau, holding a similar position, was 'a cunning hunter, a man of the iield' (Gen. xxv, 27). Tlie latter state may be exemplified, not indeed from Scri[)ture itself, but from con- temi)orary records. Among the accomplishments of Herod, his skill in the chase is particu- larly noticed ; he kept a regular stud and a hinitsman (Josejjhus, A lit. xvi, 10, 3), followed up the
sport in a wild country {Ant. xv, 7, 7) which abounded with stags, wild asses, and bears, and is said to have killed as many as forty head in a day (W<tr, i, 21, 113). The wealthy in Egypt and Assyria followed tlie sports of the field with great zest; they had their preserves for the express purpose of keeping and hunting game (Wilkinson's Anc. Ef/i/ptians, i, 21o; Xen. Cyi-op. i, 4, 5, 14), and drew from hunting scenes subjects for dec- orating tlie walls of their buildings, and even the robes they wore on state occasions. The IIebre^vs, as a pas- toral and agricultural people, were not given to tlie sporU of the field; the density of the population, the earnestness of their character, and the tendency of their ritual regulations, particularh' those affecting food, all coml)ino(i to discourage the practice of hunting; and perhaps the examples of Ishmael and Esau were record- ed with the same object. There was no lack of game in Palestine; on their entrance into the land the wild beasts were so numerous as to be dangerous (Exod. xxiii, 29) ; the utter destruction of them was guarded against by the provisions of the Jlosaic law (Exod. xxiii, 11; Lev. xxv, 7). Some of the fiercer animals survived to a late period, as lions (Jutlg. xiv, v; 1 Sam. xvii, 34;
2 Sam. xxiii, 20; 1 Kings xiii, 24; xx, 36) and bears (1 Sam. xvii, 34 ; 2 Kings ii, 24) ; jackals (Judg. xv. 4) and foxes (Cant, ii, 15_) were also numerous; hart, roe- buck, and fallow deer (Deut. xii, 15; 1 Kings iv, 23) formed a regular source of sustenance, and were possibly
Ancient Egyptian Clap-ucts. (From the Mouunicnls.)
preserved in enclosures. The manner of catching these animals was either by digging a pitfall (rn-j), which was the usual manner with the larger animals, as the lion (2 Sam. xxiii, 20 ; Ezek. xix, 4, 8) ; or, secondly, by a trap (nS), which was set under ground (Job xviii, 10), in the run of the animal (Prov. xxii, 5), and caught it by the leg (Job xviii, 9); or, lastly, by the use of the net, of which there were various kinds, as for the ga- zelle (?) (Isa. li,20, A. V. 'wild bull'), and other animals of that class. The game selected was generally such as was adapted for food (Prov. xii, 27), and care was taken to pour out the blood of these as well as of tame animals (Lev. xvii, 13)" (Smith). All this is admirably and fully illustrated on the Egyptian monuments. Among the ancient Egyptians, in hunting, a space of consider- able size was sometimes enclosed with nets, into which the animals were driven. The spots thus enclosed were usually in the vicinity of the water brooks to which they were in the habit of re|>airing in the morning and evening; and having awaited the time when they went to drink, the hunters disposed their nets, occu])ied jiroii- er positions for observing them unseen, and gradually