How did they travel, then? Very often they rode on the backs of donkeys and a.s.ses. These are smaller than horses, but can go almost as fast. Do you remember how Jesus rode into Jerusalem on an a.s.s, with the children shouting and waving palm branches before him? For short journeys, or in the land of Palestine itself, the a.s.s was the animal most used.
But on many sides of the land of Palestine the roads that go out pa.s.s over country that is more and more bare, until finally the green gra.s.s is seen no more and only here and there is a small tree, and there are no flocks of white sheep, for there is nothing on which they can feed, and it is a long way, sometimes a whole day"s journey, from one spring of water to another. Nothing but yellow sand and bare rocks!
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SHEPHERD BOY ON THE HILLS NEAR BETHLEHEM
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.
This attractive picture of the shepherd lad shows that the work of the shepherd still goes on in Judea as it did in the days of the shepherd boy, David. A writer gives this picture of the shepherd life at the present day: "Sometimes we enjoyed our noonday rest beside one of those Judean wells, to which two or three shepherds come down with their flocks. The flocks mixed with each other, and we wondered how each shepherd would get his own again. But after the watering and the playing were over, the shepherds one by one went up different sides of the valley, and each called out his peculiar call; and the sheep of each drew out of the crowd, to their own shepherd, and the flocks pa.s.sed away as orderly as they came. "The Shepherd of the Sheep, . . . when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow," "I am the Good Shepherd, and know my sheep and am known of mine." These words our Lord spake in Judea."
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How the hot sun beats down in the summer! How dry all the ground looks! That is a desert. The little donkeys find it hard to travel on the long, stony desert roads. They must carry water to drink, or they would die of thirst. But if they carry water, they cannot carry much else.
Did you ever see a camel? They have long legs and broad feet, that can walk over the sand without sinking in. What long necks and queer humped backs they have! They are not beautiful animals. I am sorry to say that they are not very good tempered either, but are often very cross and stubborn. Sometimes they reach out that long neck and try to bite. Sometimes they refuse to go if they think they are loaded too heavily. But often they are very patient. They carry heavy loads and travel long distances. They can go a long time without drinking, where a horse or an a.s.s would die of thirst. They are made for a desert country. Men call them "the ship of the desert." They were often used for long journeys in Bible times, as they are still in the same countries. Here is a story which tells how a servant of Abraham made a long journey on camels, and how the camels were given drink at the close of the journey.
"And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of {212} Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water," and Rebekah, a niece of Abraham, "came out with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the maiden was very fair to look upon: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, "Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher."
"And she said, "Drink, my lord": and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him to drink.
"And when she had done giving him drink, she said, "I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking."
"And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels."
Then she went home and told of him, and her brother ran and came out to the servant and said, ""Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels."
"And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and {213} provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the men"s feet that were with him. And there was set food before him to eat."
A few days later Rebekah, with her servant, mounted the camels, too, and went back with Abraham"s servant, the long desert journey, to be the wife of Abraham"s son Isaac.
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HOUSES IN THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE
The people in Bible lands did not have houses like those we live in to-day. You would not like to live in their houses. They were low, and small, and dark. Some were built of stone, but many were built of a sun-dried brick. They had flat roofs, where the people often went and where they slept in warm weather. A stair led up to the roof from the outside. Those that were made of the sun-dried brick were not very durable. Thieves could easily "break through and steal." The house which the man "built upon the sand" crumbled into mud and was swept away when "the winds blew and the floods came" and "great was the fall of it."
Of course the king lived in a beautiful palace and rich people had fine houses, but the houses of the poor people were only huts.
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CHILDREN OF NAZARETH
From a photograph taken by Mrs. Fontaine Meriwether.
and used by her kind permission.
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CHILDREN IN THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE
The children of Bible lands were very well cared for. They were sent to school. They were taught the Bible very carefully and every Sabbath they went to church. The children were very busy. They learned early to watch over the sheep, to work in the fields, to card and spin the wool and weave the cloth. Every child was taught some special trade or business. Still they had time to play and enjoyed their games as much as you do.
Jesus was taught to be a carpenter like Joseph. Nazareth, where he lived when he was a boy, is a small town in Galilee. There are beautiful fields and hills about. When he climbed the hills he could see, far away, the sea. He must have loved to pick the lovely lilies which grew in the fields. All the little boys and girls must have liked to play with Jesus, for he must have been always gentle and kind.
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JERUSALEM
The city that the Bible tells most about is Jerusalem. It is on a high ridge of hills in the middle of the land. On one side of it is a deep valley, and across the valley a hill called the Mount of Olives. On that hill there was a village, Bethany, where some of Jesus" friends lived. Deep valleys were on two other sides of the city.
Why did they build cities on the hilltops, and not in the valleys?
Because, in the old days when wars often took place, a city on a hilltop could not be so easily taken. It was a safe place to live. To make it still safer, a wall was built around it, very thick and high.
On the top there was a path, with a low wall outside, so that in war armed men could go up and shoot from the wall. In the walls there were great gates, that were shut at night and when there was a war.
In the city of Jerusalem was the palace of the Jewish kings, and the temple. King Solomon built the first temple. It stood for over three hundred and fifty years, then it was destroyed in a war. The city was burned and the walls thrown down, and many of the people were killed.
After more than fifty years, another temple was built on the same spot. It was later added to and made more beautiful. It was built of white stone. A man who saw it wrote that it looked, when the sun shone on it, like a mountain of snow.
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THE SISTINE MADONNA By Raphael (1483-1520)
Raphael is generally considered the greatest of all painters, and the Sistine Madonna is the most famous Madonna in the world.
"The Sistine Madonna is above all words of praise; all extravagance of expression is silenced before her simplicity. Not one false note, not one exaggerated emphasis, jars upon the harmony of body, soul, and spirit. Confident, but entirely una.s.suming; serious, but without sadness; joyous, but not to mirthfulness; eager, but without haste; she moves steadily forward with steps timed to the rhythmic music of the spheres."--_Estelle M. Hurll_ [End ill.u.s.tration]
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This stood a long time, almost six hundred years, then in another war it also was thrown down, and never has been built again. It was this temple that was standing when Christ lived. He often taught in the open s.p.a.ces about it. When he was a boy of twelve he first visited it, and the last days of his life he spent teaching in it. Jesus loved the temple and Jerusalem very much. He was very sorry that it must be destroyed. He said once, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!"
A Jewish poet wrote a little poem about Jerusalem, to show how he loved it. Here it is:--
"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.
"Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
"Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
"Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. {222}