Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/138

 i 20 A History of Art in Sardinia and Jud^îa. otherwise, for the Israelites had come from this very group, and to all outward appearance were exactly the same ; not until much later, when they had crossed the Jordan and found the Canaanites in full possession of Palestine, were they to be dis- tinguished from them. The name " Ibrîm," "Hebrews," "the people from the other side," i.e. beyond Jordan, by which the Israelites are henceforth known in history, dates from this time, and originated no doubt with the Canaanites. 1 Nomadic tribes, even when they have begun to sow corn around their encampments, are often short of the first necessaries of life ; when they must needs fall back upon the yields of their flocks. But these, in a warm and arid country like Syria, are at the mercy of drought, which may dry up all their springs and burn every blade of grass. Their existence, therefore, is precarious, and not proof against pinching want ; hence the independence of which they boast is not so real as they would have it believed. In their heart they covet the condition of the tiller, certain of his daily food, however much they may affect to pity and despise him for tamely consenting to be riveted to his plot. The main object of the black-tent Arab is to deprive the labourer of his well-earned gains. His thoroughbred steed serves him well for the purpose; riding at full tilt, he swoops down and not unfrequently makes off with a year's produce. It often happens, however, that inroads, in which more is destroyed than carried away, have been foreseen and successfully repulsed. Then, here and there, the marauder tries his hand at husbandry ; a few trees are planted to give shade to his movable goat-skin tent, and his plot increases from year to year to supply the growing wants of his family. Once started in this groove, his opportunities for wandering away become fewer ; his presence is required for sowing, harvesting, and so forth ; so that, not to be behind his neighbour, he builds himself a house. 2 A similar transformation is achieved in two generations, some- 1 " Beyond the river " has been also referred to the Euphrates, whence the Israelites originally came; but a similar hypothesis, justly observes Stade, would be confusing since other people besides the Israelites crossed the Great River, whereas his suggestion, which we follow, presents no difficulty. 2 How well I remember halting in the neighbourhood of Bolu (Prusias ad Hypiam), at the outskirts of the Agatch-Denizi forest of trees, among Kurdish shepherds who were gradually passing from nomadic to a settled life. They had cleared a glen, in which they sowed corn, and had their huts, whilst their herds grazed in the forest.