Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/368

 A History of Art in Sardinia and Jud.ea. known nations of antiquity at a remote period. Its use was so universal when the Book of Genesis was written, that Judah is represented giving up to Tamar his staff, bracelets, and signet, as pledges (xxxviii. 1 8) ; whilst in Exodus semi-precious stones, "piètre dure," graven with the names of the twelve -tribes of Israel, set in gold and ouched with chains of the same shining metal, are distributed about the breast and shoulders of Aaron's robe. "The stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel . . . like the engravings of a signet" (Exod. xxviii. 9, 21). The last words show that at the time of the recension of the book, the Israelites were acquainted with the art of cutting stone, and that no one, whatever his profession, was seen without a seal about his neck. 1 Not only at head centres, as Jerusalem and Samaria, but in every town, were doubtless shops in the various bazaars, where carnelian, hematite, jasper, and onyx 2 were cut to the required shape ; symbols and ornaments having been previously prepared, so that the buyer had only to wait the time necessary to have his name engraved. A handicraft which is the monopoly of the few is sure to pay well ; it is not to be supposed, therefore, that the Israelites would be backward in trying to become pro- ficient in an art which promised so well, albeit they could not hope to displace the Phoenicians, whose multitudinous workshops turned out intaglios, both on stone and on tinted or figured glass paste, in such quantities and at so moderate a price as to be within the means of the humblest; to them the art in all its minute and intricate delicacy was an open book and child's play. People of the better classes, desirous that their seals should be as carefully wrought as those of their Punic neighbours, naturally turned to them, so that even when native craftsmen had begun to compete with more or less success with their teachers, these continued to be the fashion and to furnish models. 3 There is a certain class of monuments that have been described 1 See De Saulcy, " Recherches sur le Costume Sacerdotal chez les Juifs " (Revue Arch.), n. s. torn. xx. p. 115, where a detailed account of the seal and the gems used in its fabrication will be found. 2 The verses (Exod. xxviii. 17-20) contain a whole list of stones then known; some, however, have not been identified, owing probably to inadequate knowledge on the part of the translator. " A number of intaglios, which were apparently seals made for Jews, will be found in Hist, of Art, torn, hi., Figs. 423, 450, 451. A