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84 Archeology Archimedes

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

supplied in the documents of this period.

See Gov-

ernment, Procurators, Rome, Sanhedrin. References to law and its administration are found even in the patriarchal period, when the head of one family and his associates were supreme Public Ad- in authority. Legal processes were ministra- simple and effective. In the period tion of of the judges, the so-called judge was the court of final appeal. But after the establishment of the kingdom the king occupied the supreme bench. In postexilian times the people elected their own judges. Numerous statements distributed in different periods of history are found as to the purpose, the method, and the results of various penalties inflicted by authority. The laws concerning all of these specifications are codified in the Pentateuch. See Courts, Judge, etc. As a subject of the state, each individual had certain property rights. When the tribes settled as husbandmen on their newly won territory, each family

Justice.

occupied

its

session.

It

own land.

This was

could lease the same



permanent posbut in the year of

its

jubilee the land reverted to its first owners. The forfeiture of property rights for political offenses, such as is mentioned in Ezra, was unusual. Marriage also carried

with

it

certain rights, carefully specified

in the law. Personal property, the rights to buy and sell, regulations concerning debts, restitution, inher-

were amply protected or prescribed in the legal provisions of Israel. See Civil Proce-

itance, etc.,

dure, Property, Sale. This condition met Israel very early in her history.

The

division of the host in the wilderness into companies of different numbers for interWarfare, nal civil convenience was doubtless the basis of army divisions. The military equipment of the armies of Palestine, east and west of the Jordan, and their power of resistance to Israel's aggression, are meagerlyset forth in the Old Testament. Israel's method of levying and supplying troops, and almost uniform success in Joshua's day, add importance to the study of her military organization. The perfection of army methods in the regal period, and the great amount of money and energy devoted to the maintenance of the army, give added impetus to the investigation of military science among the great nations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. This investigation covers the kinds of armor and weapons used, methods of drilling and marching, encampments, movements for attack and battle, methods of sieges and defenses of fortresses and See Warcities, and the treatment of prisoners.

fare, Weapons.

IV. Sacred Antiquities The earliest records of Israelitish ancestors refer to special places devoted to worship. While the Israelites were on the march through the wilderness, they were accompanied by a sacred tent. As soon as they had settled in the land of Canaan they adopted numerous sacred high

places.

There were

also sacred trees, stones, foun-

and the Asherah were accompaniments of these places. At these shrines Israelites met to do homage to their Preserver and God. Solomon's Temple was a partial centralization of worship, which, however, did not become tains, etc.

Altars, obelisks,

complete until the reign of Josiah.

The

84

exile of the Israelites divorced them from such shrines. On the return, Zerubbabel's Temple once again made Jerusalem the actual center of worship. See Altar, Ashebaii, Bamah, Tem-

and the

ple,

etc.

The

original purpose of the priest

is

not absolutely

He was probably the attendant on a heathen image, who uttered oracles on occa-

settled.

Sacred Persons,

sion, to instruct the worshipers.

tions,

and the special devotees in service about these found in numerous cases mentioned in the

places, are

Old Testament.

See Levites, Priests.

The original purpose of the sacred offerings is wrapped in obscurity. For the non-bloody offering, the peace-offering, the burnt offering, the sin-offerand the trespass-offering there are specific regThe condition of the ulations and significance. offering itself, the process of offering, and the result of the same upon the giver are all laid down in the Few if any of the codified rules of the Pentateuch. things connected with the life of Israel are so fully treated in the Old Testament as the subject of

ing,

See Sacrifice. Like their neighbors, the Israelites had sacred feasttimes. These are seen very early in the history. Hints and more are found of the feasts of the new moon and "offering."

the Sabbaths. The yearly feasts were the Passover, the First-Fruits, and the Tabernacles or Ingathering. Each of these had its special regulations as to time, duration, and attendants. Upon the centralization of worship at Jerusalem, certain modifications took place both in the accompaniments of the festival days and in the places where they were formerly held.

As time went by the number

increased.

of such days

See Festivals.

was put under strict

discipline in the matter of personal cleanliness, both in reference to worship and to every-day life Obedience to these demands secured immunity from certain diseases and prevented the spread of others. Such discipline attached a wholesome sacredness to worship and enhanced the Israel

value of human life and health. It prepared the nation to conceive of a holy God, and to render Him a clean service. See Clean and Unclean. The preceding sections have indicated merely in outline the main subdivisions of Biblical Archeology on the basis of the latest investigators. They point the reader to certain skeleton facts, which may be clothed with flesh and blood by careful painstaking research on the Old Testament. For archeology in post-Biblical times, see Badge, Bath, Ceremonies, Costume, Numismatics, Music,

Synagogue,

etc.

Bibliography: Fenton, Early Hebrew Life, 1880; Benzinger, Arch. 1894 Bissell, Biblical Antiquities, 1888 Ewald, Die AltertMlmer des Volkes Israel, 3d ed., 1866 Keil,Handb. der Biblisehen Archaeoloaie, 2d ed., 1875; Nowack, Hebr.





captivity

Grad-

ually he became the offerer of the sacPlaces, and rifice, and therein stood as a kind of Offerings, mediator between God and the person seeking a message. The functions of priest were apportioned between the priests proper, who stood nearest God, and the Levites, who were Later still, the priestly practically their servants. duties were narrowed down to sacrifice only, leaving to the Prophets the matter of oracular speaking and teaching. The various steps to these different func-

.