mented, and thus the practice of the Israelites would be exactly similar to that of the Babylonians, who, accord- ing to Herodotus (i, 105), "each carried a seal, and a walking-stick, carved at the top into the form of an apple, a rose, an eagle, or something similar." The first notice of the ring occurs in reference to Joseph : when he was made ruler of Egypt, Pharaoh " took off his signet-Ting (n^'S'J, tahhdath ; in this, as in other cases [Esth. iii, 10; viii, 2; 1 Mace, vi, 15], not merely an ornament, but the symbol of authority) from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand, and put a gold chain (T^S^, rabid; also a chain worn by a woman [Esth. xvi. 11]) about his neck" (Gen. xli, 42), the' latter being probably a " simple gold chain in imitation of string, to which a stone scarabseus, set in the same precious metal, was appended" (Wilkinson, ii, 339). The number of personal ornaments worn by the Egyp- tians, particularly by the females, is incidentally noticed in Exod. iii, 22 : " Everj'- woman shall ask (A, V. " bor- row") of her neighbor trinkets ("^bs, Iceli, as above) of silver and trinkets of gold . . . and ye shall spoil the Egyptians." In Exod. xi, 2, the order is extended to the males, and from this time we may perhaps date the more frequent use of trinkets among men, for while it is said in the former passage, " Ye shall put them upon your sons and upon your daughters," we find subsequent notices of ear-rings being worn at all events by young men (Exod. xxxii, 2), and again of offerings both from men and women of '■^ nose - rings (ntl, chdch, A. V. " bracelets ;" some authorities prefer the sense " buckle ;" in other passages the same word signifies the ring placed through the nose of an animal, such as a bull, to lead him by) and ear-rings, and rings, and necklaces (l'C^'3 kumdz, A. V. " tablets ;" a necklace formed of perforated gold drops strung together), all articles of gold" (Exod. XXXV, 22). The prolusion of these ornaments was such as to supply sufficient gold for making the sacred uten- sils for the tabernacle, while the laver of brass was con- structed out of the brazen miri-ors (nix"i'2, maroth) which the women carried about with them (Exod. xxxviii, 8). The Midianites appear to have been as prodigal as the Egyptians in the use of ornaments; for the Israelites are described as having captured "ti-inkets of gold,"' armlets (m"2X, etsaddh, A. V. " chains ;" cognate term, used in Isa. iii, 20, means " step- chain ;" but the word is used both here and in 2 Sam. i, 10 without reference to its etymological sense) and bracelets, rings, ear-rings (P'^'i", agil, a circular ear-ring of a solid character), and necklaces'^ (l'C^'2, kumdz, as above), the value of which amounted to 16,750 shekels (Numb, xxxi, 50, 52). Equally valuable were the orna- ments obtained from the same people after their defeat by Gideon : " The weight of the golden nose-rings (OtT, nezem, as above; the term is here undefined; but, as ear-rings are subsequentlj' noticed in the verse, we think it probable that the nose-ring is intended) was a thou- sand and seven hundred shekels of gold ; besides collars (U''3""iilO, saharonim, A. V. "ornaments;" the word specifies moon-shaped disks of metal, strung on a cord, and placed around the necks either of men or of camels) and ear-pendants (niS"Ii3, netipkotk, A. V. "collars" or "sweet-jewels;" the etymological sense of the word is pendants, which were no doubt attached to ear-rings) (Judg. viii, 26).
The poetical portions of the O. T. contain numerous references to the ornaments worn by the Israelites in the time of their highest prosperity. The appearance ' of the bride is thus described in the book of the Canti- cles : " Thy cheeks are comely with beads (D'^'lin, torim, A. V. " rows ;" the term means, according to Gesenius [^Thes. p. 1499], rotes of pearls or beads; but as the etymological sense is connected with circle, it may rather mean the individual beads, which might be
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strung together, and so make a row, encircling the cheeks. In the next verse the same word is rendered in the A. Y. '■ borders." The sense must, however, be the same in both verses, and the point of contrast may perchance consist in the difference of the material, the beads in vcr. 10 being of some ordinary metal, while those in ver. 11 were to be of gold), thy neck with pei-- forated 'ipearls'\ (D'^Tlin, charuz'im, A. V. " chains ;" the word would apply to any perforated articles, such as beads, pearls, coral, etc.) ; we will make thee heads of gold with studs of silver" (i, 10, 11). Her neck, rising tall and stately " like the tower of David buikled for an armory," was decorated with various ornaments hang- ing like the " thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men, on the walls of the armor\'" (iv, 4) ; her hair, fall- ing gracefully over her neck, is described (iv, 9) figura- tively as a "chain" (pS?, andk), and "the roundings'' (not as in the A. V. " the joints") of her thighs are likened to the pendant (D^sbjl, "jewels;" rather this is the lace-tcork fringe of the drawers enveloping the lower limbs) of an ear-ring, which tapers gradually downwards (vii, 1). So again we read of the bride- groom : " his eyes are . . . fitly set," as if they were gems filling the sockets of rings (v, 12) : " his hands are as gold rings (D"'P'^P3, gelilim) set with the beryl," i.e. (as explained by Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 287) the fingers when curved are like gold rings, and the nails dyed with henna resemble gems (rather the fingers had i-ings lit- erally). Lastly, the yearning after close affection is ex- pressed thus : " Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm," whether that the seal itself was the most valuable personal ornament worn by a man, as in Jer. xxii, 24; Hag. ii, 23, or whether perchance the close contiguity of the seal to the wax on which it is impressed may not rather be intended (Cant, viii, 6). We may further notice the imagery employed in the Proverbs to describe the effects of wisdom in beautify- ing the character ; in reference to the terms used we need only explain that the " ornament" of the A. V. in i, 9; iv, 9, is more specifically a wreath (fT^^lb, Kvyah), or garland; the "chains" of i, 9, the drops (p3^', andk, as above) of which the necklace was formed ; the "jewel of gold in a swine's snout" of xi, 22, a nose-ring (DTD, nezem, as above) ; the "jewel" of xx, 15, a trinket, and the " ornament" of xxv, 12, an ear-pendant ("^ipH, chali, as above).