allow their soldiers a certain quantity of corn, with other articles of provisions, together with some pay: and as it was the custom also to carry their corn to the mill at break of day, these two captains very naturally went to the palace the day before, to fetch wheat, in order to distribute it to the soldiers, that it might be sent to the mill at the accustomed hour in the morning. The princes of the east, in those days, as the history of David shews, lounged in their divan, or reposed on their couch, till the cool of the evening began to advance. Rechab and Baanah therefore, came in the heat of the day, when they knew that Ishbosheth their master would be resting on his bed; and as it was necessary, for the reason just given, to have the corn the day before it was needed, their coming at that time, though it might be a little earlier than usual, created no suspicion, and attracted no notice.a b In the cities and villages of Barbary, where public ovens are established, the bread is usually leavened; but among the Bedoweens and Kabyles, as soon as the dough is kneaded, it is made into thin cakes, either to be baked immediately upon the coals, or else in a shallow earthen vessel like a frying pan, called Tajen. Such were the unleavened cakes, which we so frequently read of in Scripture, and those also which Sarah made quickly upon the hearth. These last are about an inch thick; and being commonly prepared in woody countries, are used all along the shores of the Black sea, from the Palus-Mæotis to the Caspian, in Chaldea and in Mesopotamia, except in towns.d A fire is made in the middle of the room; and when the a Harmer's Obs. vol. i, p. 433. b Niebuhr's Arabia, vol. i, p. 209. Shaw's Trav. vol. i, p. 415. bread is ready for baking, a corner of the hearth is swept, the bread is laid upon it, and covered with ashes and embers; in a quarter of an hour they turn it. Sometimes they use small convex plates of iron: which are most common in Persia, and among the nomadic tribes, as being the easiest way of baking, and done with the least expense; for the bread is extremely thin, and soon prepared. The oven is used in every part of Asia; it is made in the ground, four or five feet deep, and three in diameter, well plastered with mortar. When it is hot, they place the bread (which is commonly long, and not thicker than a finger) against the sides; it is baked in a moment. Ovens, Chardin apprehends, were not used in Canaan in the patriarchal age; all the bread of that time was baked upon a plate, or under the ashes; and he supposes, what is nearly self-evident, that the cakes which Sarah baked on the hearth, were of the last sort, and that the shew-bread was of the same kind. The Arabs about mount Carmel use a great stone pitcher, in which they kindle a fire; and when it is heated, they mix meal and water, which they apply with the hollow of their hands to the outside of the pitcher; and this extremely soft paste, spreading itself, is baked in an instant. The heat of the pitcher having dried up all the moisture, the bread comes off as thin as our wafers; and the operation is so speedily performed, that in a very little time a sufficient quantity is made. But their best sort of bread they bake, either by heating an oven, or a large pitcher half full of little smooth shining flints, upon which they lay the dough, spread out in the form of e Rauwolff, Descrip. de l'Arabie, p. 46. Pococke' Trav. vol. ii, p. 96. 8 Harmer's Obs. vol. i, p. 415. D'Arvieux Voy. dans la Palest. p. 192, 193. a thin broad cake. Sometimes they use a shallow carthen vessel, resembling a frying-pan, which seems to be the pan mentioned by Moses, in which the meat-offering was baked. This vessel, Dr. Shaw informs us, serves both for baking and frying; for the bagreah of the people of Barbary, differs not much from our pancakes, only, instead of rubbing the pan in which they fry them with butter, they rub it with soap to make them like a honey comb. If these accounts of the Arab stone pitcher, the pan, and the iron hearth or copper plate, be attended to, it will not be difficult to understand the laws of Moses in the second chapter of Leviticus; they will be found to answer perfectly well to the description which he gives us of the different ways of preparing the meat-offerings. The precepts of Moses evidently bear a particular rela tion to the methods of preparing bread, used by those who live in tents, although they were sufficient for the direction of his people after their settlement in Canaan; and his mentioning cakes of bread baked in the oven, and wafers that were baked on the outside of these pitchers, in the fourth verse, with bread baked on a plate, and in a pan, in the fifth and seventh verses, inclines Mr. Harmer to think, the people of Israel prepared their meatofferings in their tents, which they afterwards presented at the national altar, rather than in the court of the ta bernacle.j These pitchers, which the modern Arabs use for bak. ing cakes of bread within them, and wafers on their outside, are not the only portable ovens in the east. Jerome, in his Commentary on Lamentations, describes an i Lev. ii, 5. Shaw's Trav. vol. i, p. 416, note. J Harmer's Observ. vol. i, p. 419. eastern oven as a round vessel of brass, whose sides are blackened by the surrounding fire. Such, it is probable, were the ovens mentioned by Moses, and used in the east, long before the age in which he flourished. 66 Mr. Jackson, in his Journey over land from India, gives an account of an eastern oven, equally instructive and amusing, as it confirms the statements of ancient travellers, and shews the surprising expertness of the Arabian women in baking their bread. " They have a small place built with clay, between two and three feet high, having a hole at the bottom for the convenience of drawing out the ashes, something similar to a lime-kiln. The oven (which he thinks the most proper name for this place,) is usually about fifteen inches wide at top, and gradually widening to the bottom. It is heated with wood; and when sufficiently hot, and perfectly clear from the smoke, having nothing but clear embers at the bottom, which continue to reflect great heat, they prepare the dough in a large bowl, and mould the cakes to the desired size on a board, or stone, placed near the oven. After they have kneaded the cake to a proper consistence, they pat it a little, then toss it about with great dexterity in one hand, till it is as thin as they choose to make it. They then wet one side of it with water, at the same time wetting the hand and arm with which they put it into the oven. The side of the cake adheres fast to the side of the oven, till it is sufficiently baked, when, if not paid proper attention to, it would fall down among the embers. If they were not exceedingly quick at this work, the heat of the oven would burn their arms; but they perform it with such an amazing dexterity, that one woman will continue keep*Harmer's Observ. vol. i, p. 419. ing three or four cakes in the oven at once, till she has This mode, he adds, requires not half the done baking. fuel that is consumed in Europe." In this way Tamar seems to have prepared the cakes for her brother Amnon: "She took flour and made dough, and kneaded it into a proper consistence, (vattilabeb) and tossed it about in her hand; (vathebashel) and dressed or baked the cakes in his sight." Nor should it appear strange that a king's daughter in the reign of David, was employed in this menial service; for Dr. Russel says, the eastern ladies often prepare cakes and other things in their own apartments; and some few particular dishes are cooked by themselves, but not in their apartments; on such occasions they go to some room near the kitchen. The eastern bread is made in small, thin, moist cakes: it must be eaten new, and is unfit for use when kept longer than a day. Both Russel and Rauwolf, however, mention several kinds of bread and cakes; some which are done with yolks of eggs; some which are mixed with coriander and other seeds; and some which are strewed with them; and Pitts describes a kind of biscuits, which the Mahometan pilgrims carry from Egypt to Mecca, and back again, perfectly fresh and good.'1 The holy Scriptures accord with the narratives of modern travellers, in representing the oriental loaves as very small, three of them being required for the repast of a single person: "Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, friend, lend me three loaves: for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?"m It appears also from the history of Abraham, and particu j P. 50. k Harmer's Obs. vol. i, p. 425, note by the editor. 1 Russel's Hist. of Aleppo, vol. i, p. 116; and Ray's Trav. p. 95. m Luke xi, 5, 6. |