RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Houbigant Hovey
at an early period; at first the false arch, and later the true one. Such heavy structures required strong foundations, and these rested Roofing on the rock or were at least carried and to a considerable depth. On the out- Interior, side the arched roof was built out so as to form a level roof-terrace. A stairway led directly from the court to the roof, which was a favorite place of resort (Judges xvi. 27; Josh. ii. 6; II Sam. xi. 2; Isa. xxii. 1), where the dwellers often slept in the summer (I Sam. ix. 25 Septuagint), and a booth often afforded protection against the sun's rays (II Sam. xvi. 22; Neh. viii. 16). For this reason the law required that the roof should be surrounded with a battlement (Deut. xxii. 8); nevertheless, it was easy to leap from one roof to another and so pass along entire streets (Mark xiii. 15). The ordinary house consisted only of a single room; the more pretentious had also an upper room (II Sam. xviii. 33; I Kings xvii. 19; II Kings iv. 10); the houses of the rich contained several rooms — a reception-room at the entrance, a special sleepingroom, the women's apartment in the interior, and others (II Sam. iv. 7; I Kings i. 15; Jer. xxxvi. 22; Amos iii. 15). The low wooden door (Prov. xvii. 19; in the Hauran the door was often a stone slab) turned on a mortice fitting into a socket in the threshold, which was usually of stone (I Kings vii. 50; Prov. xxvi. 14). It was fastened with a bolt which could be thrown back by a key, either from the inside or outside. At the doorposts was the place of the household-gods, and the magic signs for protection against evil spirits were also affixed to them (Isa. lvii. 8). In the Yahweh-worship a sentence from the torah was used (Deut. vi. 9); to the posts was also applied the blood of the paschal lamb (Ex. xii. 7). The floor was a simple coating of clay. The windows, which were not numerous, were provided with wooden lattices, as at the present day (Judges v. 28; I Kings vi. 4; II Kings i. 2).
The increasing luxury of the dwellings was shown not only in their greater size (Jer. xxii. 14), but, above all, in the material employed for Adornment their construction — hewn stones (Amos and v. 11) for the walls, painted decora- Furniture, tions on the latter (Jer. xxii. 14), olive or cedar wood for the doors and for wainscoting (I Kings vi. 31, cf. x. 27; Jer. xxii. 14; Hag. i. 4), ornamented with ivory and adorned with carvings (I Kings vi. 18, xxii. 39; Amos iii. 15), wooden planks for flooring, and the like (I Kings vi. 15). The Greco-Roman style of architecture used in the Hellenic period was confined to the larger buildings. The furnishing of the house consisted, according to II Kings iv. 10, principally of four articles: couch, table, chair, and lamp.' as an open-air life was favored by climatic conditions, the Israelite required but few conveniences in his house, which was, to him, primarily a resting-place for the night; in the day-time he was usually outside. A bed for sleeping was as unknown to him as to the present fellahin; he wrapped himself in his mantle (Ex. xxii. 26; Deut. xxiv. 13) and lay upon the floor or upon a pallet. The couch of the well-to-do
served as a sofa upon which they sat at table, with crossed legs (I Sam. xx. 25; Ezek. xxiii. 41), and as a bed for the sick (Gen. xlvii. 31; I Sam. xix. 13 sqq.); in later times it was also used as a bed at night (Job vii. 13; Ps. vi. 6). It consisted of a simple wooden framework with a cover; among the rich it was inlaid with ivory and otherwise ornamented (Cant. iii. 10; Amos vi. 4) and bedecked with rich coverings (Prov. vii. 16). The wooden table was quite low, and the ordinary family sat about it at meal-time, crouching on the floor; people of higher station used chairs or sofas around a higher table (Judges i. 7; I Sam. xx. 5), and this gradually became the common usage. The chair, in its simplest form, had neither back nor arms; the more pretentious armchairs of the higher classes may have been similar to those of the Assyrians, of which representations exist. The lamps preserved the same form to the Greek period — a fiat, open saucer with the edge bent upward to form a mouth for the wick. Many such lamps have been found in the excavations, among them some interesting specimens with seven mouths; they were placed on an earthenware base. In the Greek period the closed lamp came into use. To these four articles may be added the coal-pan, by means of which the rooms, at least those of the better classes, were heated (Jer. xxxvi. 22). Some means of heating is very necessary in the mountainous part of the country during the winter. I. Benzinger.
Bibliography: Benzinger, Archaologie ; Nowack, Archaologie; A. C. E. Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life, pp. 93-96, London, 1876; H. B. Tristram, Eastern Customs in Bible Lands, pp. 69-98, London, 1894; E. Day, Social Life of the Hebrews, New "York, 1901; DB, ii. 430-436 (good); EB, ii. 2129-33; JE, vi. 485-486. Illustrative matter from Egypt will be found in A. Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, pp. 167-199, London, 1894. Much material of value is contained in the ZDPV and also in the PEF Quarterly Statements, especially those numbers which deal with excavations.