Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/376

 346 A History of Art in t Sardinia and Jud.ka. silver or glass, brass or silver rings, and anklets were the principal ornaments. 1 We shall not attempt to describe the endless trinkets specified in the Bible, but wish to say a word respecting the 11 nezem," or nose jewel, which is certainly not a modern product, since we find it among the first presents given to Rebecca by Abraham's servant {Gen. xxiv. 22, 47). 2 There is some uncertainty as to whether it was a ring like > ( that of the Turkish women of 1 Anatolia, or the small button I " khergeh " studded with one or more stones of the Damas- i cene ladies ; which is about the ^ size of an ordinary shirt stud (Fig. 233) . 3 The ornaments I of the camels of the Midianite kings were doubtless of gold, else Gideon would scarcely have taken the trouble to carry them off. It is just pos- sible that there is some ex- aggeration in the enormous quantity of objects stated to have been seized by the Israel- ites in their affrays against their neighbours. At the same time, the chronicler would scarcely have made the assertion had it been violently opposed to verisimilitude, and had there been no real foundation in fact. Fig. 233 , -Damascene Lady with Nezem Lortet, La Syrie. 1 See, for instance, the enumeration of the spoils taken from the Midianites {Num. xxxi. 50, and Isa. iii. 16-24) m respect to the ornaments in vogue among the daughters of Zion. Averse in the Song of Songs (i. 10) seems to indicate coins fixed behind the ear, with small chains coming down the sides of the face, exactly similar to those of many Cypriote figures described in a former volume {Hist, of Art, torn, iii. pp. 561, 562, Fig. 384). 2 The last verse makes all doubt impossible ; for although Eleazar says, " I put a ring about her face," Isaiah (iii. 21) and Ezekiel (xvi. 12) distinctly state, " a jewel for the nose." 3 Lortet, La Syrie d'Aujourd'hui, p. 585. " From Orfa and Edessa, throughout Mesopotamia, it is the custom for girls to have one nostril bored so as to fix a golden ring or nazen." In Arabia, notably in the Nejed, this ring averages from two to two and a half inches (Lady Anna Blunt, " Pilgrimage to the Nejed," Tour du Monde, torn, xliii. p. 46).