the one in the middle is
rather higher than the other two. Hooks are attach- ed to these posts for hanging various articles (Gen. xviii, 10; Judg. xiii, 6; Niebuhr, Voynffe, i, 187; Lay- ard, Nin. and Bab. p. 261). See Pili.ak. In the men's apartment the ground is usually covered with carpets or mats, and the wheat sacks and camel bags are heaped up in it around the middle post like a pyramid, at the base of which, or towards the back of the tent, are arranged the camel pack-saddles, against which the men recline as they sit on the ground. The women's apartment is less neat, being encumbered with all the lumber of the tent, the water and butter skins, and the culinary utensils. The part of the tent appropriated to the women is called harem; and no stranger is per- mitted to enter it, unless introduced. Hence, perhaps, Sisera's hope of greater security in the harem of Jael. See Hospitality. "The tents are arranged in a sort of square; they are made of black hair-cloth, not large; and are mostly open at one end and on the sides, the latter being turned up. The tents form the common rendezvous of men, women, children, calves, lambs, and kids" (Robinson, Researches, i, 48.i). Few Arabs have more than one tent, unless the family be augmented by the families of a son or a deceased brother, or in case the wives disagree, when the master pitches a tent for one of them adjoining his own. An encampment is generally arranged in the form of an enclosure, with- in wliich the cattle are driven at night, and the cen- tre of which is occupied by the tent or tents of the emir or sheik. If he is a person of much consequence, he may have three or four tents, for himself, his wives, his servants, and strangers, respectively. Tlie first two are of the most importance, and we know that Abra- ham's wife had a separate tent (Gen. xxiv, 67). It is more usual, however, for one very large tent to be di- vided into two or more apartments by curtains. The
Arab Tents
TENTH DEAL
279
TERAH
holy tabernacle was on this model (Exod. xxvi, 31-37). The iiuiivitlual tents of Leah, Kacliel, Zili^ali, and Bilhah may thus have been either separate tents or apartments in the principal tent in each case ( Gen. xxxi, 33 ). When tile pasture near an encampment is exhausted, the tents are taken down, packed on camels, and re- moved (Isa. xxxviii, 12; Gen. xxvi, 17, 22, 2ii). The beauty of an Arab encampment is noticed by Shaw (Travels, p. 221; see Numb, xxiv, 5). In choosing places for encam])ment, Arabs prefer the neighborhood of trees, for the sake of the shade and coolness which they afford (Gen. xviii, 4, 8; Niebuhr, loc. cit.). Some tribes have their tents constructed so as to house their flocks at night. Grant describes such a one among the Hertush Kurds: "Our tent was about fort)' feet long and eighteen or twenty wide, one side left quite open, while a wall of reeds formed the other sides. The am- ple roof of black hair-cloth was supported by a number of small poles, and secured with cords and wooden pins driven into the earth. About one fourth of the tent was fenced off with a wicker trellis for the lambs of the flock, which are kept there during the night" {JVesto- rians, p. 93).
The manufacture of tents formed a regular and lucra- tive trade ( aKi]voTroii'ig ), at which Paul occasionally labored, especially in connection with Aquila, at Corinth (Acts xviii, 3). See Paul.
A feature of Oriental life so characteristic as the tent could not fail to suggest many striking metaphors to the Biblical writers, and accordingly the Hebrew has special terms for pitching (ni;3 or HSn) and striking (piri"ri) a tent. The tent erected and its cords stretched out are often figuratively alluded to in the Scriptures. Thus Isaiah represents God as the one " that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in" (xl, 22). He also says, in speaking of the glorious prosperity of the Church and the need of enlargement, "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the cur- tains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen th)' stakes" ( liv, 2 ; see also xxxiii, 20). It is a work of some effort to pitch a tent properly, especially a large one, requiring the united ef- forts of willing hands. Hence the pathetic language of Jeremiah in mourning over the desolations of God's people : " My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken; my children are gone forth of me, and they are not ; there is none to stretch forth my tent any more and to set up my curtains" (x, 20). These tents are rapidly struck and removed from place to place, so that the eye which to-day rests on a large encampment ac- tive with life maj' to-morrow behold nothing but a wil- derness. Thus Isaiah says, "Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent" (xxxviii, 12). The facility with which tents are taken down and the frailty of their material are beautifully alluded to by Paul in 2 Cor. v, 1 (see also 2 Pet. i, 13, 14). See Hack- ett, Illusfr, of Script, p. 33-40; Van Lennep, Bible Lands, ch. iii; Rhodes, Tent - life from the Earliest Times (Lond. 1858); Conder, Tent-ivork in Palest, ii, 275 sq.