Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/490

Rh this material. 458 skirt reaching up to the breast and held up by straps over the shoulders. Woollen garments were worn chiefly by the poor, and occasionally by the rich, or by priests, who wers permitted an upper dress of Next the skin it was unlawful to wear it, nor could any one be buried in a dress of this material (Herod, ii. 81). A priest had to put off the wool len part of his dress before entering a temple. Cotton (eipioicri CITTO vA.ou, Herod, iii. 47) appears to have been manufactured in Egypt, but to have been less used than linen, or byblus, which was made from flax and cotton. Assy nan. In weaving, em broidery, and dyeing the Assy rians surpassed the other ancient nations, as is known from tradition and may be seen in their existing sculptures. While the characteristic dress of an ordinary Egyptian was a cloth girt round the loins, that of an Assyrian was a long skirt Fio. 9. An Egyptian Queen. worn close round the body and with short sleeves. This was worn by all classes, and apparently by women as well as by men. Only royal and priestly persons were allowed an upper garment, at least during the early and flourishing period of Assyria. By the time of Herodotus a considerable variety of other dresses had been introduced among the different classes. The king s dress, as will be seen in fig. 10, consists of a long chiton, or skirt, with short sleeves, and above this a mantle with h&avy fringes passing over one shoulder, or in other cases over both shoulders. The dress of a priest con sisted of an under-chiton, and over it a sort of long narrow plaid with f rings - wrapped spirally round the ria - 10- An Assyrian King, figure (Weiss, i. fig. 119, a, p. 202). Diadems variously ornamented were worn by officers of the court and by certain priests, as were also sandals. Hose did not come into use till a late period, and then chiefly as part of the military dress. Necklaces, armlets, bracelets, and finger-rings were worn in abundance by Assyrians of rank. (A. s. M.) JEWISH. Of the dress generally worn in ancient Israel there are known to exist no original authentic representations, nor is it possible to refer to any minute descriptions of it either in the one great source of Jewish history or in the pages of Josephus. Certain paintings and sculptures, it is true, in Egypt and Assyria, have been supposed to represent captive Israelites; but, even should this supposition be correct, in the figures thus represented there is nothing whatever which could be accepted as typical of national costume. On tie other hand, while in certain details and accessories [ASSYRIAN. of the dress adopted by the different classes of the Israelite community, there doubtless arose from time to time both fresh modifications and decided changes of fashion and ad justment, the general essential typical characteristics of dress may be assumed to have continued the same in Israel, the same, also, as in no slight degree continue to- distinguish the Oriental costume still worn in Palestine. The garments, certainly, were loose and flowing ; the girdle was in universal use ; and a primary motive in the head gear was protection for the wearer from the hot sunshine of the East. The garments, in whatever manner or degree they may have been affected by varieties of material and adornment, certainly may be divided into two distinct groups, the under and the outer garments, the former being light and specially adapted to a hot climate, and the latter being of heavier materials and suited to the colder seasons. As in the case of their arts, so in their costume the Israelites must be considered to have been influenced by usages prevalent in Egypt and Phoenicia ; subsequently, by those of Assyria ; and, still later, by those of the Romans. Again, it is more than probable that local influences introduced fashions of their own into the costume of the dwellers in the more mountainous districts of Palestine. For peculiar classes among them the Israelites had costumes specially appointed. For the priest hood there were their own official vestments, for which regulations were laid down with extreme minuteness, and en forced by supreme authority. The kings and princes had their u royal apparel,&quot; and for the warriors appropriate appointments were provided. Different ranks of persons, too, in various ways were distinguished by the richness, the costliness, the simplicity, or the meanness of their attire. So far as externals went, the episode in the Gospel of the rich man clothed in purple and fine linen with a Lazarus at his gate, so true a picture of Oriental life, would have been equally consistent had it found a place in some one of the earlier chapters in the same national history. Of the distinctive characteristics of femalecostume- in Israel nothing is known, beyond the general fact that it was rich and delicate as far as circumstances would admit, and that personal ornaments were highly prized. Thus much is certain that the veil, a modern fashion now so prevalent in the East, in its modern acceptation was unknown among the women of ancient Israel, with certain exceptions only that are altogether at variance with the- uses and associations of the Oriental veil at the present day. Furs, used both for warmth and adornment, with cloth woven from camels and from goats hair, including the &quot; sackcloth &quot; of sorrow and humiliation, were in use from an early period ; so also, doubtless, was woollen cloth, the natural material for the clothing of a pastoral people. Familiarity with fabrics of linen, cotton, and silk, with those of various materials of foreign manufacture, may be considered to have been acquired by the Israelites in and from Egypt. There, too, they became familiar with the process of dyeing, and with the use of coloured threads, and of gold-thread or fine wire, for textile purposes ; and there they learned both to introduce various figures and devices into their woven fabrics, and to enhance their effectiveness with the needle. Needlework and embroidery, indeed, were extensively used by them in the production of various decorative fabrics. Whatever may have been the use in Israel of fabrics and decorations that were coloured, those that were white (the natural hue of any material, as well as actual whiteness, being understood to be implied by this term &quot; white &quot;) were in general use by the Israelites for their dress, and also were held by them in the highest estimation. This preference possibly may be traced to the provision in the Mosaic law which, apparently with the view to impress on the mind of the Israelites the idea of