JEWISH CIVILISATION IN THE TIME OF CHRIST.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2394, 12 November 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

JEWISH CIVILISATION IN THE TIME OF CHRIST.

TitK Jerusalemites—townspeople, as they called themselves—were so polished, so witty, so pleasant,. There was a tact in their social intercourse and a considerateness and delicacy in their public arrangements and provisions nowl eve else to be found. Their very language was different. There was a Jerusalem dialect—quicker, shorter, lighter ; and their hospitality, especially at festive seasons was unlimited. No one considered it is house his own, and no stranger or pilgrim but found reception. And how much there was to lie seen and hoard in those luxuriously furnished houses, and at those sumptuous entertainments. In the women’s apartments friends from the country would see every novelty in dress, adornment and jewellery, and have the benefit of examining themselves in looking glasses. To be sure, as being womanish vanity, their use was interdicted to men, except it wore to the members of the family of the President of the Sanhedrim, on account of their intercourse with those in authority, just as, for the same reason, they were allowed to learn Greek. In these streets and lanes everything might he purchased ; the productions of Palestine, or imported from foreign lands nay, the rarest articles from the remotest parts. Exquisitely shaped, curiously designed and jewelled cups, rings, and other workmanship of precious metals ; glass, silks, fine linen, woollen stuffs, purple, and costly hangings ; essences, ointments, and perfumes as precious as gold ; articles of food and drink from foreign lands—in short what India, Persia, Arabia, Media, Egypt, Italy, Greece, and even the far-off lands of tlie Gentiles yielded, might be had in those bazaars. Ancient Jewish writings enable us to identify no fewer titan 118 different articles of import from foreign lands, covering more than even modern luxury lias devised. Articles of luxury, especially from abroad, fetched indeed enormous prices ; and a lady might spend £36 on a cloak ; silk would be paid by its weight in gold ; purple wool at £3 ns the pound, or, if double-dyed, at almost ten times that amount, whilst the price of the best balsam and lard was most exorbitant. On the other hand, the cost of common living was very low. In the bazaars yon might get a complete suit for your slave for l-Ss or 19s, and a tolerable outfit for yourself for from £3 to £6. For the same sum you might purchase an ass, an ox, or a cow, and for a little more a horse. A calf might be bad for Ins or 10s, while a lamb might be had as low as 2d. Corn of all kinds, fruit, wine, and oil, cost very little. Meat was about a penny a pound. —Dr. Eldersheim. —‘ Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.’