SLING
809
SLITH
He tells us, moreover, that it was used for cement, and that bronze vessels and statues and the heads of nails were covered with it (Pliny, xxxv.ol). The bitumen pits by the Dead Sea are ilescribed by the monk Hro- cardus (^Descr. Terr. Siinct. c. 7, in Ugolino, vi, 1044). The Arabs of the neighborhood have perpetuated the story of its formation as given by Strabo. " They say that it forms on the rocks in the depths of the sea, and by earthquakes or other submarine concussions is broken off in large masses and rises to the surface" (Thomson, Land and Book, i, 336). They told Burck- hardt a similar tale. "The asphaltum, hommar, which is collected by the Arabs of the western sliore is said to come from a mountain which blocks up the passage along the eastern Ghor, and which is situated at about two hours south of Wady MAjeb. The Arabs pretend that it oozes up from fissures in the cliff, and collects in large pieces on the rock below, wliere the mass gradu- ally increases and hardens until it is rent asunder by the heat of the sun with a loud explosion, and, falling into the sea, is carried by the waves in considerable quantities to the opposite shores" {Trav. in Syria, p. 394). Dr. Thomson tells us that the Arabs still call these pits by the name biuret hummar, which strikingly resembles the Heb. heeroth chemdr of Gen. xiv, 10 {lU sup.). See Sai>t Sea.
Strabo says that in Babylonia boats were made of wicker-work and then covered with bitumen to keep out the water (xvi, 743). In the same way the ark of rushes or papyrus in which Jloses was placed was plas- tered over with a mixture of bitumen and pitch or tar. Dr. Thomson remarks (p. 224): "This is doubly inter- esting, as it reveals the process by which they prepared the bitumen. The mineral, as found in this country, melts readily enough by itself; but then, when cold, it is as brittle as glass. It must be mixed with tar while melting, and in that way forms a hard, glossy wax per- fectly impervious to water." We know from Strabo (xvi, 7G4) that the Egyptians used the bitumen of the Dead Sea in the process of embalming, and Pliny (vi, 35) mentions a spring of the same mineral at Corambis in Ethiopia. — Smith. See Bitumen.
Sling {vhp,kela; Sept. o-^Ev^or/; ; Yn\g.funda), an implement which has in all ages been the favorite weapon of the shepherds of Syria (1 Sam. xvii, 40), and hence was adopted by the Israelitish army as the most effective weapon for light-armed troops. The Benja- luites were particularly expert in their use of it; even the left-handed could "sling stones at a hair and not miss" (Judg. XX, 16; comp. 1 Chron. xii, 2). Accord- ing to the Targum of Jonathan and the Syriac, it was the weapon of the Cherethites and Pelethites. It was advantageously used in attacking and defending towns (2 Kings iii, 25; Josephus, War, iv, 1, 3), and in skir- mishing (ibid, ii, 17, 5). Other eastern nations availed themselves of it, as the Syrians (1 Mace, ix, 11), who also invented a kind of artificial sling (1 Mace, vi, 51), the Assyrians (Judg. ix, 7 ; Layard, Nin. and Bab. ii, 344), the Egyptians (Wilkinson, i, 357), and the Persians (Xenophon, Anab. iii, 3, 18). The construction of the weap- on hardly needs descrip- tion. It consisted of a couple of strings of sin- ew, or some fibrous sub- stance, attached to a leathern receptacle for the stone in the centre, which was termed the Icaph (wis), i. e. pan (1 oo Sam. XXV, 29). The ^S, sling was swung once or Ancient Assyrian Slinger. twice round tlie head,
Ancient Egyptian Sh'nga.
and the stone was then discharged In- letting go one of the strings. Sling-stones (rb|?-^2ax) were selected for their smoothness (1 Sam. xvii, 40), and were recognised as one of the ordinary munitions of war (2 Chron. xxvi, 14). In action the stones were either carried in a bag round the neck (1 Sam. xvii, 40), or were heaped u]i at the feet of the combatant (Layard, Xin. and Bab. ii, 344). The violence with which the stone was projected sup- plied a vivid image of sudden and forcible removal (Jer. X, 18). The rapidity of the whirling motion of the sling round the head was emblematic of inquietude (1 Sam. XXV, 29, " the souls of tliine enemies shall he irfiirl round in the midst of the pan of a sling"), while the sling-stones represented the enemies of God (Zech.ix, 15, "they shall tread under foot the sling-stones"). The term marijemdh (n^;"l"a) in Prov. xxvi, 8 is of doubtful meaning. Gesenius (Thesaur. p. 1263) explains of "a heap of stones." as in the margin of the A. V., the Sept.; Ewald and Hitzig, of "a sling," as in the text. The sim- ple weapon with which David killed the giant Philistine was the natural attendant of a shepherd, whose duty it was to keep at a distance and drive off anything attempt- ing to molest his flocks. The sling would be familiar to all shepherds and keepers of sheep, and. therefore, the bold metaphor of Abigail has a natural propriety in the mouth of the wife of a man whose possessions in flocks were so great as those of Nabal (1 Sam. xxv, 29).