AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS AND MANUFACTURES.

1. Oil. — Of the productions of this province, fish, wine, wheat, and oil occupy a foremost place. On account of the fine quality and great abundance of the latter, as well as because it was an important article of commerce with other nations, this product deserves our first attention. The dying lawgiver said of Asher: ' Let him dip his foot in oil¹.' In allusion to this phrase the Rabbis said: 'In Asher oil flows like a river.' 'It is easier,' they said, 'to raise a legion [i.e. a forest] of olive-trees in Galilee than to raise one child in Judaea².' Gischala was renowned for the abundance of its oil. Once, when oil was wanted at Laodicea, men were sent to Jerusalem and Tyre to purchase; but the quantity desired could be found only in Gischala, in Galilee. While Asher produced the most oil, Tekoa produced the best. Tekoa was called the alpha for oil, while Gischala occupied the third place in the country in regard to the quantity and quality of oil produced. Both Syrians and Phoenicians drew their supplies from this province, and the traffic in this commodity alone proved a source of wealth to the Galileans. Attention is called to a certain period when oil was ten times as dear at Caesarea as at Gischala. Josephus shows that both demand and supply were great, the selling price high, and the revenue large. Of the business at Gischala, John, the rival of Josephus, once had a monopoly. He seems to have been a man of shrewdness and cunning, and not above making use of the misfortunes of his countrymen for his own pecuniary profit. The Jews at Caesarea Philippi were, it appears, under some kind of strict military discipline, and having only a very limited amount of pure oil, they were on the point of being compelled to use that produced by the heathen, which would have been 'a violation of their legal institutions.' By representations of this kind and other entreaties, John obtained permission of Josephus to remove to Caesarea the pure oil that was in Gischala. But, taking advantage of the necessities of the people, which caused the difference in the price of this article as already alluded to, 'he realised, by this sinister procedure, a vast sum of money.' In the other villages and towns of Upper Galilee, as well as at Gischala, great quantities of oil were stored. Especially was this true of Jotapata, where it was so abundant that it was used freely as a means of defence when that place was besieged. Large quantities of it were heated, ' for many were employed in the work,' who 'poured it down upon the Romans on all sides, hurling with it also their vessels glowing with heat' Being ' poured over those sheltered by their closelocked shields,' ' the oil, insinuating itself readily under their armour, spread over the whole body, from head to foot, feeding, not less eagerly than flame, upon their flesh.' 'And as they were cased in their helmets and breastplates, there was no extrication from the scalding fluid, and, leaping and writhing in anguish, they fell from the scaling-planks.' This novel but terrible and, as it proved, effective means of defence, 'soon scattered the ranks of the Romans,' who, 'scalded, rolled headlong from the ramparts in excruciating agony.'

By looking back to the days of Solomon, we may get a hint as to the productiveness of this country in the amount of agricultural products which this king furnished to Hiram as a yearly tribute. This fact shows in what Solomon's country was rich, and what Hiram needed. Besides immense quantities of wine, wheat, and barley, about two hundred thousand gallons of the best oil were sent to Hiram every year³. As the cities on the Phoenician coast advanced in wealth, and their commerce was extended, which was true as we approach the beginning of our era from the time of Solomon, the business of receiving supplies from Galilee was greatly enhanced. Furthermore, in Christ's time oil was a common article in the treatment of the sick. Herod the Great, in his last sickness, was almost killed by being plunged into a vessel of oil. He was at this time at Jericho, and his body ' was racked with complicated sufferings.' Hoping for relief, he visited the warm springs opposite Jericho, and there the physicians advised the treatment already mentioned. 'On their letting him down into a vessel filled with that fluid [warm oil], his eyes became relaxed, and he fell back suddenly as if he were dead.' The cries of his attendants, however, roused him; but he despaired of recovery, and returned to Jericho to die.

In the affair of John's monopolising the oil trade of Gischala which Josephus condemns, Graetz takes decidedly the part of the former against the latter. Indeed, Graetz is throughout a bitter opponent of Josephus⁴. On p. 392 he says that the Galileans sold to the Phoenicians- and Syrians their surplus oil, and received there-from a large revenue. On p. 394 he states that the Galileans did not sell their surplus oil to their heathen neighbours, because it was forbidden to transport the means of life — oil and wine — out of the Jewish country.

The theory has been put forth by some, and stoutly maintained, that Christ was an Essene. But Christ, as we learn from Mark vi. 13, Luke x. 34, and many other passages, commended the use of oil in sickness, in anointing the body, and in every way according to the customs of the time; while the Essenes renounced the use of oil altogether. Josephus says positively that ' they consider oil defiling; and should any one accidentally come into contact with it,, he wipes his body⁵.' These facts go far towards settling the question whether Christ was an Essene.

2. Certain Places noted for Particular Productions or Manufactured Articles.— Our limits do not allow us to speak of the grain-production and other industries of this province with any great detail. We can only pass hastily in review the names of some of its prosperous towns, and speak of the manufactured articles or agricultural and other productions for which each was celebrated. If the evidence on these points which we derive from the Talmud does not all refer to the time of Christ, or the first century (which cannot easily be decided), it shows, at least, that in contrast with Judaea, Galilee had decidedly the advantage in regard to agricultural products and industries of all kinds.

The figs, grapes, and other fruits of the Plain of Gennesareth had a national reputation for their superior quality. The very name Gischala (gush chaleb, 'fat soil ') suggested the richness of that region. The people living there were mostly farmers. The region about Safed was noted for its fertility, as was also that about Banias. A portion of this northern district is still celebrated for its excellent wheat. Notice is taken of the fact that in this province but few small cattle were raised (i.e. sheep and goats), because the rich land could be put to a more profitable use. These, however, were raised in abundance in the waste regions of Judaea and Syria. The heavy soil of the Plain of Jezreel produced superior grain, which was fully equalled by that which grew in the fertile fields of Gennesareth. The wheat of Chorazin and Capernaum was widely celebrated. Bethshean, on account of its fertility, was called the Gate of Paradise. The Rabbis boast of the olives of that place, and also of the fine and coarse linen garments which were there manufactured. Safed was celebrated for its honey; Shikmonah for its pomegranates; Achabara for the raising of pheasants. Sigona furnished the best wine; the region about Sepphoris was noted for the production of grain and fruit. Rabbi Jose, who lived in Galilee, said: 'For sixteen miles on either side of Sepphoris there flows milk and honey.'

Large quantities of grain were stored in the towns of Upper Galilee, some of which, at the time referred to, was probably the tribute belonging to the Roman emperor. The same was true of certain places in Lower Galilee.

Grain merchants congregated at Arabah. In the siege of Jotapata there was no lack 'of all kinds of provisions, except salt and water.' Magdala boasted of three hundred shops where pigeons for the sacrifices were sold. About this place the indigo plant flourished then, as now, and the Talmud calls it ' the city of colour.' More literally, one portion of the city was called ' the tower of dyers,' and here were eighty shops where fine woollen cloth was made. Arbela, also, was celebrated for the manufacture of cloth.

Abundance of flax was raised in Galilee, and the linen fabrics made here by the women were of unusual fineness and beauty. A peculiar kind of vessel was necessary for preserving oil, and of the manufacture of this Galilee seems to have had a monopoly. Kefr Chananyah and Sichin ( Asochis?) were the most noted places for earthen vessels and pots. 'The pots made at Sichin, as well as those made at Kefr Chananyah, are well baked and solid.' 'The clay used in their manufacture is the dark, and not the white kind.' This was the principal business of the inhabitants of these two towns, and the business was lucrative. 'To come from selling pots in Kefr Chananyah,' was a proverbial saying, equivalent to the French proverb, 'To carry water to the river.'

As to these pots made from black clay, it is possible that certain fragments of ancient pottery recently dug up at Jerusalem have some connection with them, at least to the kind of ware alluded to. In the Birket Israil certain curious vases were found, ' all of an extremely hard, massive, black ware, coated in three instances with a dark crimson glaze, perhaps produced by cinnabar⁶.'

We may add that in some of the ancient mounds which exist in Palestine and about old ruins the débris is composed largely of broken pottery. This is of many colours; but while the red is the prevalent kind, in a few localities the black exists almost to the exclusion of every other variety.

Galilee must have been largely affected by the commerce and other business interests of Phoenicia. Twenty miles from the Mediterranean would, at almost any point, take one into the heart of Galilee; and the inhabitants of these two sections, living in such close proximity to each other, were, no doubt, to a great extent, identical in their interests. It was not a small matter for the Galileans to be thus situated at the very gates of the markets of the world. The ships of the people who controlled so largely the trade and commerce of all civilised lands were at their very doors. Strabo says of the people of Tyre, ' the great number and magnitude of their colonies and cities are proofs of their maritime skill and power.'

The purple dye of Tyre had a world-wide celebrity on account of the durability of its beautiful tints, and its manufacture proved a source of abundant wealth to the inhabitants of that city. Homer speaks of Sidon as 'abounding in works of brass' and praises it for the drinking-vessels of gold and silver which its skilful workmen had made. From this city, even in his time, came the choicest works of art, and the most costly offerings to the gods were the product of its looms. Both these cities were crowded with glass-shops, dyeing and weaving establishments; and among their cunning workmen not the least important class were those who were celebrated for the engraving of precious stones⁷.

The Phoenicians were renowned in ancient times for the manufacture of glass, and some of the specimens of their work that have been preserved are still the wonder of mankind. Here and elsewhere it was produced in such abundance that before the commencement of our era glass was in ordinary use for drinking vessels, and a glass bowl could be bought for a penny. On the other hand, so much skill had been devoted to its manufacture that elegant and costly articles were produced, and for a single pair of vases Nero paid a sum equal to four thousand five hundred pounds. It is a noticeable fact that Galilee's own (original) coast, near the river Belus, including the bed of that stream, furnished the sand for the glass-shops of the world. ' Numerous ships ' came here to convey this sand to other ports, Tyre, Sidon, and Alexandria, where, for a long period, the most famous workshops of this kind existed. The supply was said to be inexhaustible.

In the matter of shipping, whether ship-building be thought of, or traffic upon the sea, Phoenicia surpassed all other nations. This fact made that people the connecting link between the civilisation of the East and the vast and unknown regions of the West. Their ships went to all parts of the world as then known; and news of remote peoples, conquests, and discoveries would be brought first to Phoenicia, and disseminated among themselves and their immediate neighbours.

The commerce and business of Phoenicia would bring wealth, and wealth would bring power and ease, and in time a luxurious mode of life, which could not fail to influence in some degree the people of the hill-country only a few miles away. Flax for its looms, timber for its ships, corn, wine, oil, wheat, barley, sheep and cattle to feed its inhabitants, as well as for export to other countries, would be largely furnished by its nearest neighbour, Galilee, which was especially favoured in the production of all these staple articles of consumption and merchandise⁸.

3. Fisheries of the Sea of Galilee. — We have yet to speak of the fisheries of the Sea of Galilee. The sea abounded in fish of the choicest kinds. The southern portion of the lake, especially, was in the time of Christ one of the finest fishing-grounds in the world. Some varieties caught here were similar to those found in the Nile; while other varieties were peculiar to this lake alone.

Not only Tarichaea, but Bethsaida also (if it really means, as some claim, ' house of fish '), and to these Keim would add Chorazin, derived their names from the business of fishing; and all the cities about the lake sent forth their fishermen by hundreds over its surface. Tarichaea was noted for its extensive fish factories. Here fish were prepared and packed, and, it has been inferred with some reason, shipped to all parts of the country and to the different cities about the Mediterranean. They were sought as luxuries in the market-places of Jerusalem. This trade in fish had enriched the citizens of Tarichaea; and people came even from Jerusalem, especially just before the great feasts, to fish in these waters, and thus provide means of support for the millions who on those occasions flocked to the Temple.

This fishing-ground was free to all, so long as one by his nets, hooks, or other means of catching the fish did not interfere with the passage of boats. By a common law of the land, dating, as was supposed, from the time of Joshua, this ground could not be monopolised.

In Christ's time the Jews distinguished sharply between clean and unclean fish. This is, no doubt, alluded to in the phrase, 'They gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away⁹;' for if τὰ καλὰ in this passage means those that are good and of choice quality, τὰ σαπρὰ must mean the opposite, or those of inferior or poor quality. Without violence to the passage, we may say that this phrase indicates that the fish-merchants about the lake and in the distant markets where these fish were sent, demanded the choicest kinds. And the Gospels themselves furnish evidence enough to show that this business in Christ's time was extensive and profitable¹⁰.

But it is, probably, next to impossible for us at the present day to appreciate the extent of this particular industry of the Sea of Galilee in the time of our Lord. The same may be said of this business in Egypt in ancient times, with regard to which the following facts are interesting, and, in a sense, illustrative of our subject. Wilkinson, partly on the statements of Herodotus and Diodorus, reports the annual income of the fisheries of Lake Mœris and its sluices which led to the Nile as £70.700, while at present the annual revenue from the fish of Lake Mœris is only about £102¹¹.

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1) Deut. xxxiii. 24.

2) Neubauer, p. 180.

3) 1 Kings v. ii; 2 Chron. ii. 10.

4) Graetz, III. p. 397.

5) Wars, II. viii. 3.

6) Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 374.

7) 2 Chron. ii. 7, 14.

8) See Acts xii. 20.

9) 1 Malt. xiii. 48.

10) Matt. iv. 18, 21; Luke v. 2-10; John xxi. 1-11, and elsewhere.

11) Ancient Egyptians, 2nd edit., III. p. 64.