well." One of these was the well of Jacob, mentioned in John iv. 6, which is thus described by Maundrell : "Having proceeded one third of an hour from Naplosa, which is the ancient Sychar, we came to Jacob's well, famous for the memorable conference of our blessed Saviour with the woman of Samaria. Over this well there formerly stood a large church, erected by the empress Helena, of which the remains of the foundation are still to be seen. The well is at present covered with an old stone vault, into which you are let down through a very strait hole, and then removing a broad flat stone, you discover the mouth of the well, which is dug in the firm rock. It is about three yards in diameter, and thirty-five yards in depth, five of which we found were filled with water." As the Samaritan woman objects to our Saviour that he had nothing to draw with, which such wells naturally required, we may observe, that when there was no flight of steps to get down to the reservoirs or wells, when the water began to fail, travellers often carried leathern buckets to enable them to fill the skins which carried their water: and that at the wells which were not deep there were often small vessels attached for the convenience of travellers, and troughs of stone for the watering of cattle. I have been thus particular about the manner in which they supplied cities with water, since it has been repeatedly observed, that in such warm latitudes, the existence of animals and vegetables depends upon it. I shall only add a few observations on their rights of citizenship. If a man tarried in a city thirty days, he became one of the citizens in respect of the alms chest ; that is, those who went round required from him alms for the poor. If six months, he became a citizen in re * 24th March, 1696. spect of clothing: that is, they required him to assist, not only in supporting, but in clothing the poor. If nine months, he became a citizen in respect of burying; that is, of assisting to bury the poor. And if twelve months, he became a citizen in respect of all the tributes and taxes which the other citizens paid." The roads between city and city were eight cubits wide, regularly cast up, or formed. Hence Jeremiah xviii. 15, calls by-paths, ways not cast us. A private road was four cubits; a public road was sixteen cubits; and the roads to the cities of refuge were thirty-two cubits. Josephus tells us that," with respect to Jerusalem, Solomon laid a causeway of black stone along the roads that led to it; both to render them easy to travellers, and to manifest the grandeur of his riches and government." In Ps. lix. 9, 14, 15, the Psalmist speaks of a singular attendant on Jewish cities, viz, a number of dogs that had no master, and that were allowed to roam at large. It is rather particular that the same practice prevails in the East at this day. Le Bruyn, among others, gives the following account of this public nuisance: "Great numbers," says he, "crowd the streets. They do not belong to any one, but either get their food as they can, or are supported by the charitable, who give money to bakers and butchers to feed them, and even leave legacies for that purpose." In Shaw's Abridgment of Bruce's Travels into Abyssinia, we are told that " the dead bodies of criminals slain for treason, murder, and violence, on the highway, are seldom buried in Abyssinia: and that the streets of Gondar, the capital, are strewed with pieces of their carcasses, which bring the wild beasts in multitudes into the city, as soon as it becomes dark; a Lightf, Heb. and Talm. Exer. Matt. iv. 13. Tom. i. p. 361, 362. ¿ Page 216. so that it is scarcely safe for any one to walk in the night."The dogs," he adds, "used to bring pieces of human bodies into the house, and court-yard, to eat them in greater security." And Chateaubriand," when speaking of Galata, near Constantinople, says, that "the almost total absence of women, the want of wheel carriages, and the multitude of dogs without masters, were the three distinguishing characteristics that first struck him in the interior of this city." The curse, therefore, that was denounced against the houses of Jeroboam, Baasha, and Ahab, kings of Israel, would be literally fulfilled. "Him that dieth in the city shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth on the field shall the fowls of the air eat; for the Lord hath spoken it. And the following judgment on the Jews, as recorded by Jeremiah, would be literally accomplished, "I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord; the sword to slay, and the dog to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy." SECT. II. Marriages of the Jews. Espousing; copy of the contract; dowry given to the bride, laid out in marriage dresses; custom at Aleppo and in Egypt. Persons in the East always marry young; young men to virgins; widowers to widows. The bride elegantly dressed; virgins married on the fourth day of the week, and widows on the fifth: one divorced or a widow, could not marry till after ninety days. The marriage procession of the bridegroom to the house of the bride: the marriage ceremony; procession of both parties to the house of the bridegroom: commonly in the night. The songs and ceremonies during the procession; marriage supper; office of architriclinus: the paranymphi; the shushbenin. Music and dancing after supper. Signs of virginity: consequences if they appeared not. Marriage feast lasted eight days: that of a widow only three. The bride had commonly a slave given her by her parents. Husbands exempted from military service for a year; Alexander the Great did this after the battle of the Granicus. A large family accounted a bless⚫ Jer. xv. 3. 2 Travels, vol. i. p. 315. VOL. II. b 1 Kings xiv. 11. xvi. 4, xxii. 24. S ing; sterility, a curse, Concubinage not reckoned disgraceful: difference between a concubine and a wife; Solomon's concubines much exceeded by by some eastern monarchs. Polygamy, its effects on population and domestic happiness. Divorce; copy of a bill of divorce; formalities used on delivery. Copy of a divorce at the wife's instance. The jus leviratus, or law concerning the brother's widow; its existence before the giving of the law; ceremonies anciently observed; ceremonies observed in case of refusal. The Athenian law similar to the Jewish; also the Circassians, Druses, and Mahomedans. The frequent allusions in Scripture to the marriages of the Jews. In the pentateuch the laws concerning marriage are particularly enumerated; but as the traditions added much to the original statutes, it may be necessary to consider these, in order to understand the manner in which the Jews entered into the state of wedlock. The first thing then, deserving of notice, was their espousals. These were entered into sometimes at an early age, with the ostensible purpose of preserving the chastity of their children; but frequently from avaricious or ambitious motives. And hence it happened, that several years would sometimes elapse between the espousals and the public celebration. The marriage of Herod to Mariamne was not till four years after the espousals." In general, however, they were not so distant; one, two, or three months, were allowed to intervene, in order to settle preliminaries, and to prepare the articles which custom had rendered necessary:-As to their manner of espousal, it was different in the different stages of the Jewish history. For, before the giving of the law, if a man and woman agreed on marriage, he brought her to his house, and privately married her: but after the giving of the law, she was commonly espoused before witnesses, in one or other of the following ways: viz. either by giving her two hundred zuzim, equal to 17. 1s. 6d. ; or by written contract: a copy of which, as used among A priest's daughter always got 400. Lightf, vol. i. p. 282. the modern Jews, Buxtorff has given us in his Synag. Judaic. cap. 39. In ancient times, before he married, the bridegroom was obliged to make two presents, one to his betrothed wife, and the other to his father-in-law. Thus Shechem, son of Hamor, says to Jacob and his sons, whose daughter he was desirous to espouse, " Ask me never so much dowry and gifts," the dowry, viz. for the daughter, and the gifts for the father-in-law. In 1 Sam. xviii. 25, Saul makes them say to David, who by reason of his poverty had said that he could not be son-in-law to the king, “the king desireth not any dowry." And, in both the cases, we see that the presents were commonly regulated by the father of the bride. This dowry given by the bridegroom to the bride, or her parents, sounds rather odd in our ears, where a contrary practice prevails: but it was customary among the Greeks; and it is the practice to this day in several countries of the East; where a numerous family of daughters, in place of being an incumbrance, is often a source of emolument to the parents. For as the present custom does not now confine the dowry to any specific sum, it commonly depends on the ability of the bridegroom, or the value he sets on her charms, or the honour of the intended connexion, or the avarice of the parents. But the love of pomp, and a concern for the honour of the bride's family, often counteracts the influence of avarice, and leads them to restore to their intended son-in-law what he had given; for Dr. Shawd tells us, that "the money they pay for their brides is laid out, at Aleppo, in furniture for a chamber, in clothes, jewels, or ornaments of gold a Gen. xxxiv. 12. Homer, II, ix. 146. xi. 243–245. Odyss. i. 277. ii. 196. Potter's Greek Antiq. Book. iv. ch. 11. <Gen. xxxix. 12, 13. La Roque, p. 222. 4 Vol. i. p. 284, 285. |