Chapter II: Part 2

We turn now to the Celtic group of jewelled ornaments, which has an equally long and independent line of descent. The characteristic Celtic ornaments are of hammered work with details in repoussé, having fillings-in of vitreous paste, coloured enamels, amber, and in the later examples rock crystal with a smooth rounded surface cut _en cabochon_. The whole group is a special development within the British Isles of the art of the mid-European Early Iron age, which in its turn had been considerably influenced by early Mediterranean culture. In its early stages its special marks are combinations of curves, with peculiar central thickenings which give a quasi-naturalistic effect; a skilful use of inlaid enamels, and the chased line. After the introduction of Christianity, a continuous tradition combined the old system with the interlaced winding scrolls and other new forms of decoration, and so led up to the extreme complexity of early Irish illumination and metal work.

A remarkable group of gold ornaments of the pre-Christian time (probably of the 1st century) was discovered about 1896, in the north-west of Ireland, and acquired by the British Museum. It was subsequently claimed by the Crown as treasure trove, and after litigation was transferred to Dublin (see _Archaeologia_, lv., pl. 22).

Figs. 29 and 30 are illustrations of two brooches of the latest period in this class of work. The first is 13th century; the latter is probably 12th century, and is set with paste, amber and blue.

Rings are the chief specimens now seen of medieval jewelry from the 10th to the 13th century. They are generally massive and simple. Through the 16th century a variety of changes arose; in the traditions and designs of the _cinquecento_ we have plenty of evidence that the workmen used their own designs, and the results culminated in the triumphs of Albert Dürer, Benvenuto Cellini and Hans Holbein. The goldsmiths of the Italian republics must have produced works of surpassing excellence in workmanship, and reaching the highest point in design as applied to handicrafts of any kind. The use of enamels, precious stones, niello work and engraving, in combination with skilful execution of the human figure and animal life, produced effects which modern art in this direction is not likely to approach, still less to rival.

In fig. 31 illustrations are given of various characteristic specimens
of the Renaissance and later forms of jewelry. A crystal cross set in
enamelled gold (a) is German work of the 16th century. The pendant
reliquary (b), enamelled and jewelled, is of 16th century Italian
work, and so probably is the jewel (c) of gold set with diamonds and
rubies. The Darnley or Lennox jewel (d), now in the possession of the
king, was made about 1576-1577 for Lady Margaret Douglas, countess of
Lennox, the mother of Henry Darnley. It is a pendant golden heart set
with a heart-shaped sapphire, richly jewelled and enamelled with
emblematic figures and devices. It also has Scottish mottoes around
and within it. The ear-ring (e) of gold, enamelled, hung with small
pearls, is an example of 17th century Russian work, and another (f) is
Italian of the same period, being of gold and filigree with enamel,
also with pendant pearls. A Spanish ear-ring, of 18th century work
(g), is a combination of ribbon, cord and filigree in gold; and
another (h) is Flemish, of probably the same period; it is of gold
open work set with diamonds in projecting collets. The old
French-Normandy pendant cross and locket (l) presents a characteristic
example of peasant jewelry; it is of branched open work set with
bosses and ridged ornaments of crystal. The ear-ring (j) is French of
17th century, also of gold open work set with crystals. A small
pendant locket (k) is of rock crystal, with the cross of Santiago in
gold and translucent crimson enamel; it is 16th or 17th century
Spanish work. A pretty ear-ring of gold open scroll work (m), set with
minute diamonds and three pendant pearls, is Portuguese of 17th
century, and another ear-ring (n) of gold circular open work, set also
with minute diamonds, is Portuguese work of 18th century. These
examples fairly illustrate the general features of the most
characteristic jewelry of the dates quoted.

During the 17th and 18th centuries we see only a mechanical kind of excellence, the results of the mere tradition of the workshop--the lingering of the power which when wisely directed had done so much and so well, but now simply living on traditional forms, often combined in a most incongruous fashion. Gorgeous effects were aimed at by massing the gold, and introducing stones elaborately cut in themselves or clustered in groups. Thus diamonds were clustered in rosettes and bouquets; rubies, pearls, emeralds and other coloured special stones were brought together for little other purpose than to get them into a given space in conjunction with a certain quantity of gold. The question was not of design in its relation to use as personal decoration, but of the value which could be got into a given space to produce the most striking effect.

The traditions of Oriental design as they had come down through the various periods quoted, were comparatively lost in the wretched results of the _rococo_ of Louis XIV. and the inanities of what modern revivalists of the Anglo-Dutch call "Queen Anne." In the London exhibition of 1851, the extravagances of modern jewelry had to stand comparison with the Oriental examples contributed from India. Since then we have learnt more about these works, and have been compelled to acknowledge, in spite of what is sometimes called inferiority of workmanship, how completely the Oriental jeweller understood his work, and with what singular simplicity of method he carried it out. The combinations are always harmonious, the result aimed at is always achieved; and if in attempting to work to European ideas the jeweller failed, this was rather the fault of the forms he had to follow, than due to any want of skill in making the most of a subject in which half the thought and the intended use were foreign to his experience.

A collection of peasant jewelry got together by Castellani for the Paris exhibition of 1867, and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrates in an admirable manner the traditional jewelry and personal ornaments of a wide range of peoples in Europe. This collection, and the additions made to it since its acquisition by the nation, show the forms in which these objects existed over several generations among the peasantry of France (chiefly Normandy), Spain, Portugal, Holland, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, and also show how the forms popular in one country are followed and adopted in another, almost invariably because of their perfect adaptation to the purpose for which they were designed.

Apart from these humbler branches of the subject, in the middle of the 19th century the production of jewelry, regarded as a personal art, and not as a commercial and anonymous industry, was almost extinct. Its revival must be associated with the artistic movement which marked the close of that century, and which found emphatic expression in the Paris international exhibition of 1900. For many years before 1895 this industry, though prosperous from the commercial point of view, and always remarkable from that of technical finish, remained stationary as an art. French jewelry rested on its reputation. The traditions were maintained of either the 17th and 18th centuries or the style affected at the close of the second empire--light pierced work and design borrowed from natural flowers. The last type, introduced by Massin, had exercised, indeed, a revolutionary influence on the treatment of jewelry. This clever artist, not less skilful as a craftsman, produced a new _genre_ by copying the grace and lightness of living blossoms, thus introducing a perfectly fresh element into the limited variety of traditional style, and by the use of filigree gold work altering its character and giving it greater elegance. Massin still held the first rank in the exhibition of 1878; he had a marked influence on his contemporaries, and his name will be remembered in the history of the goldsmith's art to designate a style and a period. Throughout these years the craft was exclusively devoted to perfection of workmanship. The utmost finish was aimed at in the mounting and setting of gems; jewelry was, in fact, not so much an art as a high-class industry; individual effort and purpose were absent.

Up to that time precious stones had been of such intrinsic value that the jeweller's chief skill lay in displaying these costly stones to the best advantage; the mounting was a secondary consideration. The settings were seldom long preserved in their original condition, but in the case of family jewels were renewed with each generation and each change of fashion, a state of things which could not be favourable to any truly artistic development of taste, since the work was doomed, sooner or later, to destruction. However, the evil led to its own remedy. As soon as diamonds fell in value they lost at the same time their overwhelming prestige, and refined taste could give a preference to trinkets which derived their value and character from artistic design. This revolutionized the jeweller's craft, and revived the simple ornament of gold or silver, which came forward but timidly at first, till, in the Salon of 1895, it burst upon the world in the exhibits of René Lalique, an artist who was further confirmed in his remarkable position by the exhibition of 1900. What specially stamps the works of Lalique is their striking originality. His work may be considered from the point of view of design and from that of execution. As an artist he has completely reconstructed from the foundation the scheme of design which had fed the poverty-stricken imagination of the last generation of goldsmiths. He had recourse to the art of the past, but to the spirit rather than the letter, and to nature for many new elements of design--free double curves, suave or soft; opalescent harmonies of colouring; reminiscences, with quite a new feeling, of Egypt, Chaldea, Greece and the East, or of the art of the Renaissance; and infinite variety of floral forms even of the humblest. He introduces also the female nude in the form of sirens and sphinxes. As a craftsman he has effected a radical change, breaking through old routine, combining all the processes of the goldsmith, the chaser, the enameller and the gem-setter, and freeing himself from the narrow lines in which the art had been confined. He ignores the hierarchy of gems, caring no more on occasion for a diamond than for a flint, since, in his view, no stone, whatever its original estimation, has any value beyond the characteristic expression he lends it as a means to his end. Thus, while he sometimes uses diamonds, rubies, sapphires or emeralds as a background, he will, on the other hand, give a conspicuous position to common stones--carnelian, agate, malachite, jasper, coral, and even materials of no intrinsic value, such as horn. One of his favourite stones is the opal, which lends itself to his arrangements of colour, and which has in consequence become a fashionable stone in French jewelry.

In criticism of the art of Lalique and his school it should be observed that the works of the school are apt to be unsuited to the wear and tear of actual use, and inconveniently eccentric in their details. Moreover, the preciousness of the material is an almost inevitable consideration in the jeweller's craft, and cannot be set at naught by the artist without violating the canons of his art.

The movement which took its rise in France spread in due course to other countries. In England the movement conveniently described as the "arts and crafts movement" affected the design of jewelry. A group of designers has aimed at purging the jeweller's craft of its character of mere gem-mounting in conventional forms (of which the more unimaginative, representing stars, bows, flowers and the like, are varied by such absurdities as insects, birds, animals, figures of men and objects made up simply of stones clustered together). Their work is often excellently and fancifully designed, but it lacks that exquisite perfection of execution achieved by the incomparable craftsmen of France. At the same time English sculptor-decorators--such as Alfred Gilbert, R.A., and George J. Frampton, A.R.A.--have produced objects of a still higher class, but it is usually the work of the goldsmith rather than of the jeweller. Examples may be seen in the badge executed by Gilbert for the president of the Institute of Painters in Water Colours and in the mayoral chain for Preston. Symbolism here enters into the design, which has not only an ornamental but a didactic purpose.

The movement was represented in other countries also. In the United States it was led by L. C. Tiffany, in Belgium by Philippe Wolfers, who occupies in Belgium the position which in France is held by René Lalique. If his design is a little heavier, it is not less beautiful in imagination or less masterly in execution. Graceful, ingenious, fanciful, elegant, fantastic by turns, his objects of jewelry and goldsmithery have a solid claim to be considered _créations d'art_. It has also been felt in Germany, Austria, Russia and Switzerland. It must be admitted that many of the best artists who have devoted themselves to jewelry have been more successful in design than in securing the lightness and strength which are required by the wearer, and which were a characteristic in the works of the Italian craftsmen of the Renaissance. For this reason many of their masterpieces are more beautiful in the case than upon the person.

_Modern Jewelry._--So far we have gone over the progress and results of the jeweller's art. We have now to speak of the production of jewelry as a modern art industry, in which large numbers of men and women are employed in the larger cities of Europe. Paris, Vienna, London and Birmingham are the most important centres. An illustration of the manufacture as carried on in London and Birmingham will be sufficient to give an insight into the technique and artistic manipulation of this branch of art industry; but, by way of contrast, it may be interesting to give in the first place a description of the native working jeweller of Hindustan.

He travels very much after the fashion of a tinker in England; his
budget contains tools, materials, fire pots, and all the requisites of
his handicraft. The gold to be used is generally supplied by the
patron or employer, and is frequently in gold coin, which the
travelling jeweller undertakes to convert into the ornaments required.
He squats down in the corner of a courtyard, or under cover of a
veranda, lights his fire, cuts up the gold pieces entrusted to him,
hammers, cuts, shapes, drills, solders with the blow-pipe, files,
scrapes and burnishes until he has produced the desired effect. If he
has stones to set or coloured enamels to introduce, he never seems to
make a mistake; his instinct for harmony of colour, like that of his
brother craftsman the weaver, is as unerring as that of the bird in
the construction of its nest. Whether the materials are common or rich
and rare, he invariably does the very best possible with them,
according to native ideas of beauty in design and combination. It is
only when he is interfered with by European dictation that he ever
vulgarizes his art or makes a mistake. The result may appear rude in
its finish, but the design and the thought are invariably right. We
thus see how a trade in the working of which the "plant" is so simple
and wants are so readily met could spread itself, as in years past it
did at Clerkenwell and at Birmingham before gigantic factories were
invented for producing everything under the sun.

It is impossible to find any date at which the systematic production of jewelry was introduced into England. Probably the Clerkenwell trade dates its origin from the revocation of the edict of Nantes, as the skilled artisans in the jewelry, clock and watch, and trinket trades appear to have been descendants of the emigrant Huguenots. The Birmingham trade would appear to have had its origin in the skill to which the workers in fine steel had attained towards the middle and end of the 18th century, a branch of industry which collapsed after the French Revolution.

Modern jewelry may be classified under three heads: (1) objects in
which gems and stones form the principal portions, and in which the
work in silver, platinum or gold is really only a means for carrying
out the design by fixing the gems or stones in the position arranged
by the designer, the metal employed being visible only as a setting;
(2) when gold work plays an important part in the development of the
design, being itself ornamented by engraving (now rarely used) or
enamelling or both, the stones and gems being arranged in
subordination to the gold work in such positions as to give a
decorative effect to the whole; (3) when gold or other metal is alone
used, the design being wrought out by hammering in repoussé, casting,
engraving, chasing or by the addition of filigree work (see FILIGREE),
or when the surfaces are left absolutely plain but polished and highly
finished.

Of course the most ancient and primitive methods are those wholly
dependent upon the craft of the workman; but gradually various
ingenious processes were invented, by which greater accuracy in the
portions to be repeated in a design could be produced with certainty
and economy: hence the various methods of stamping used in the
production of hand-made jewelry, which are in themselves as much
mechanical in relation to the end in view as if the whole object were
stamped out at a blow, twisted into its proper position as regards the
detail, or the various stamped portions fitted into each other for the
mechanical completion of the work. It is therefore rather difficult to
draw an absolute line between hand-made and machine-made jewelry,
except in extreme cases of hand-made, when everything is worked, so to
speak, from the solid, or of machine-made, when the hand has only to
give the ornament a few touches of a tool, or fit the parts together
if of more than one piece.

The best and most costly hand-made jewelry produced in England,
whether as regards gold work, gems, enamelling or engraving, is made
in London, and chiefly at Clerkenwell. A design is first made with
pencil, sepia or water colour, and when needful with separate
enlargement of details, everything in short to make the drawing
thoroughly intelligible to the working jeweller. According to the
nature and purpose of the design, he cuts out, hammers, files and
brings into shape the constructive portions of the work as a basis.
Upon this, as each detail is wrought out, he solders, or (more rarely)
fixes by rivets, &c., the ornamentation necessary to the effect. The
human figure, representations of animal life, leaves, fruit, &c., are
modelled in wax, moulded and cast in gold, to be chased up and
finished. As the hammering goes on the metal becomes brittle and hard,
and then it is passed though the fire to anneal or soften it. In the
case of elaborate examples of repoussé, after the general forms are
beaten up, the interior is filled with a resinous compound, pitch
mixed with fire-brick dust; and this, forming a solid but pliable body
underneath the metal, allows of the finished details being wrought out
on the front of the design, and being finally completed by chasing.
When stones are to be set, or when they form the principal portions of
the design, the gold or other metal has to be wrought by hand so as to
receive them in little cup-like orifices, these walls of gold
enclosing the stone and allowing the edges to be bent over to secure
it. Setting is never effected by cement in well-made jewelry.
Machine-made settings have in recent years been made, but these are
simply cheap imitations of the true hand-made setting. Even strips of
gold have been used, serrated at the edges to allow of being easily
bent over, for the retention of the stones, true or false.

Great skill and experience are necessary in the proper setting of
stones and gems of high value, in order to bring out the greatest
amount of brilliancy and colour, and the angle at which a diamond
(say) shall be set, in order that the light shall penetrate at the
proper point to bring out the "spark" or "flash," is a subject of
grave consideration to the setter. Stones set in a haphazard, slovenly
manner, however brilliant in themselves, will look commonplace by the
side of skilfully set gems of much less fine quality and water.
Enamelling (see ENAMEL) has of late years largely taken the place of
"paste" or false stones.

Engraving is a simple process in itself, and diversity of effect can
be produced by skilful manipulation. An interesting variety in the
effect of a single ornament may be produced by the combination of
coloured gold of various tints. This colouring is a process requiring
skill and experience in the manipulation of the materials according to
the quality of the gold and the amount of silver alloy in it. The
objects to be coloured are dipped in a boiling mixture of salt, alum
and saltpetre. Of general colouring it may be said that the object
aimed at is to enhance the appearance of the gold by removing the
particles of alloy on the surface, and thus allowing the pure gold
only to remain visible to the eye. The process has, however, gone much
out of fashion. It is apt to rot the solder, and repairs to gold work
can be better finished by electro-gilding.

The application of machinery to the economical production of certain
classes of jewelry, not necessarily imitations, but as much "real
gold" work, to use a trade phrase, as the best hand-made, has been on
the increase for many years. Nearly every kind of gold chain now made
is manufactured by machinery, and nothing like the beauty of design
or perfection of workmanship could be obtained by hand at, probably,
any cost. The question therefore in relation to chains is not the mode
of manufacture, but the quality of the metal. Eighteen carat gold is
of course preferred by those who wear chains, but this is only gold in
the proportion of 18 to 24, pure gold being represented by 24. The
gold coin of the realm is 22 carat; that is, it contains one-twelfth
of alloy to harden it to stand wear and tear. Thus 18 carat gold has
one-fourth of alloy, and so on with lower qualities down to 12, which
is in reality only gold by courtesy. It must be remembered that the
alloys are made by weight, and as gold is nearly twice as heavy as the
metal it is mixed with, it only forms a third of the bulk of a 12
carat mixture.

The application of machinery to the production of personal ornaments
in gold and silver can only be economically and successfully carried
on when there is a large demand for similar objects, that is to say,
objects of precisely the same design and decoration throughout. In
machine-made jewelry everything is stereotyped, so to speak, and the
only work required for the hand is to fit the parts together--in some
instances scarcely that. A design is made, and from it steel dies are
sunk for stamping out as rapidly as possible from a plate of rolled
metal the portion represented by each die. It is in these steel dies
that the skill of the artist die-sinker is manifested. Brooches,
ear-rings, pinheads, bracelets, lockets, pendants, &c., are struck out
by the gross. This is more especially the case in silver and in plated
work--that is, imitation jewelry--the base of which is an alloy,
afterwards gilt by electro-plating. With these ornaments imitation
stones in paste and glass, pearls, &c., are used, and it is remarkable
that of late years some of the best designs, the most simple,
appropriate and artistic, have appeared in imitation jewelry. It is
only just to those engaged in this manufacture to state distinctly
that their work is never sold wholesale for anything else than what it
is. The worker in gold only makes gold or real jewelry, and he only
makes of a quality well known to his customers. The producer of silver
work only manufactures silver ornaments, and so on throughout the
whole class of plated goods.

It is the retailer who, if he is unprincipled, takes advantage of the
ignorance of the buyer and sells for gold that which is in reality an
imitation, and which he bought as such. The imitations of old styles
of jewelry which are largely sold in curiosity shops at foreign places
of fashionable resort are said to be made in Germany, especially at
Munich.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--For the Dahshur jewels, see J. de Morgan and others;
_Fouilles à Dahchour, Mars-Juin 1894_ (Vienna, 1895) and _Fouilles à
Dahchour en 1894-1895_ (Vienna, 1903). For the Aah-hotep jewels, see
Mariette, _Album de Musée de Boulaq_, pls. 29-31; Birch, _Facsimiles
of the Egyptian Relics discovered in the Tomb of Queen Aah-hotep_
(1863). For Cretan excavations, see A. J. Evans, in _Annual of the
British School at Athens_, Nos. 7 to 11; _Archaeologia_, vol. lix. For
excavations at Enkomi, see _Excavations in Cyprus_, by A. S. Murray
and others (1900). For _Schliemann's excavations_, see Schliemann's
works; also Schuchhardt, Schliemann's Excavations; Perrot & Chipiez,
_Histoire de l'Art_, vi. For the Greek Island treasure, see A. J.
Evans, _Journal of Hellenic Studies_, xiii. For Ephesus gold treasure,
see D. G. Hogarth, _British Museum Excavations at Ephesus_; _The
Archaic Artemisia_. For the Hermitage Collection from South Russia,
see Gillé, _Antiquités du Bosphore Cimmérien_ (reissued by S.
Reinach), and the _Comptes rendus_ of the Russian Archaeological
Commission (St Petersburg). For later jewelry, Pollak,
_Goldschmiedearbeit_. For Treasure of Pétrossa, A. Odobesco, _Le
Trésor de Pétrossa_. For the European and west Asiatic barbaric
jewelry, see O. M. Dalton, in _Archaeologia_, lviii. 237, and the
_Treasure of the Oxus_ (British Museum, 1905). For the whole history,
G. Fontenay, _Les Bijoux anciens et modernes_ (Paris [Quantin], 1887).
For the recent movement, Léonce Bénédite, "La Bijouterie et la
joaillerie, à l'exposition universelle; René Lalique," in the _Revue
des arts décoratifs_, 1900 (July, August). (A. H. Sm.)

JEWETT, SARAH ORNE (1840-1909), American novelist, was born in South Berwick, Maine, on the 3rd of September 1849. She was a daughter of the physician Theodore H. Jewett (1815-1878), by whom she was greatly influenced, and whom she has drawn in _A Country Doctor_ (1884). She studied at the Berwick Academy, and began her literary career in 1869, when she contributed her first story to the _Atlantic Monthly_. Her best work consists of short stories and sketches, such as those in _The Country of the Pointed Firs_ (1896). The People of Maine, with their characteristic speech, manners and traditions, she describes with peculiar charm and realism, often recalling the work of Hawthorne. She died at South Berwick, Maine, on the 24th of June 1909.

Among her publications are: _Deephaven_ (1877), a series of sketches;
_Old Friends and New_ (1879); _Country By-ways_ (1881); _A Country
Doctor_ (1884), a novel; _A Marsh Island_ (1885), a novel; _A White
Heron and other Stories_ (1886); _The King of Folly Island and other
People_ (1888); _Strangers and Wayfarers_ (1890); _A Native of Winby
and other Tales_ (1893); _The Queen's Twin and other Stories_ (1899),
and _The Tory Lover_ (1901), an historical novel.

JEWS (Heb. _Yehudi_, man of Judah; Gr. [Greek: Ioudaioi]; Lat. _Judaei_), the general name for the Semitic people which inhabited Palestine from early times, and is known in various connexions as "the Hebrews," "the Jews," and "Israel" (see § 5 below). Their history may be divided into three great periods: (1) That covered by the Old Testament to the foundation of Judaism in the Persian age, (2) that of the Greek and Roman domination to the destruction of Jerusalem, and (3) that of the Diaspora or Dispersion to the present day.

I.--OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY

I. _The Land and the People._--For the first two periods the history of the Jews is mainly that of Palestine. It begins among those peoples which occupied the area lying between the Nile on the one side and the Tigris and the Euphrates on the other. Surrounded by ancient seats of culture in Egypt and Babylonia, by the mysterious deserts of Arabia, and by the highlands of Asia Minor, Palestine, with Syria on the north, was the high road of civilization, trade and warlike enterprise, and the meeting-place of religions. Its small principalities were entirely dominated by the great Powers, whose weakness or acquiescence alone enabled them to rise above dependence or vassalage. The land was traversed by old-established trade routes and possessed important harbours on the Gulf of 'Akaba and on the Mediterranean coast, the latter exposing it to the influence of the Levantine culture. It was "the physical centre of those movements of history from which the world has grown." The portion of this district abutting upon the Mediterranean may be divided into two main parts:--Syria (from the Taurus to Hermon) and Palestine (southward to the desert bordering upon Egypt). The latter is about 150 m. from north to south (the proverbial "Dan to Beersheba"), with a breadth varying from 25 to 80 m., i.e. about 6040 sq. m. This excludes the land east of the Jordan, on which see PALESTINE.

From time to time streams of migration swept into Palestine and Syria. Semitic tribes wandered northwards from their home in Arabia to seek sustenance in its more fertile fields, to plunder, or to escape the pressure of tribes in the rear. The course leads naturally into either Palestine or Babylonia, and, following the Euphrates, northern Syria is eventually reached. Tribes also moved down from the north: nomads, or offshoots from the powerful states which stretch into Asia Minor. Such frequently recurring movements introduced new blood. Tribes, chiefly of pastoral habits, settled down among others who were so nearly of their own type that a complete amalgamation could be effected, and this without any marked modification of the general characteristics of the earlier inhabitants. It is from such a fusion as this that the ancestors of the Jews were descended, and both the history and the genius of this people can be properly understood only by taking into account the physical features of their land and the characteristics of the Semitic races in general (see PALESTINE, SEMITIC LANGUAGES).

2. _Society and Religion._--The similarity uniting the peoples of the East in respect of racial and social characteristics is accompanied by a striking similarity of mental outlook which has survived to modern times. Palestine, in spite of the numerous vicissitudes to which it has been subjected, has not lost its fundamental characteristics. The political changes involved in the Babylonian, Assyrian, Egyptian or Persian conquests surely affected it as little as the subsequent waves of Greek, Roman and other European invasions. Even during the temporary Hellenization in the second great period the character of the people as a whole was untouched by the various external influences which produced so great an effect on the upper classes. When the foreign civilization perished, the old culture once more came to the surface. Hence it is possible, by a comprehensive comparative study of Eastern peoples, in both ancient and modern times, to supplement and illustrate within certain limits our direct knowledge of the early Jewish people, and thus to understand more clearly those characteristics which were peculiar to them, in relation to those which they shared with other Oriental peoples.

Even before authentic history begins, the elements of religion and society had already crystallized into a solid coherent structure which was to persist without essential modification. Religion was inseparable from ordinary life, and, like that of all peoples who are dependent on the fruits of the earth, was a nature-worship. The tie between deities and worshippers was regarded as physical and entailed mutual obligations. The study of the clan-group as an organization is as instructive here as in other fields. The members of each group lived on terms of equality, the families forming a society of worship the rites of which were conducted by the head. Such groups (each with its local deity) would combine for definite purposes under the impulse of external needs, but owing to inevitable internal jealousies and the incessant feuds among a people averse from discipline and authority, the unions were not necessarily lasting. The elders of these groups possessed some influence, and tended to form an aristocracy, which took the lead in social life, although their authority generally depended merely upon custom. Individual leaders in times of stress acquired a recognized supremacy, and, once a tribe outstripped the rest, the opportunities for continued advance gave further scope to their authority. "The ... interminable feuds of tribes, conducted on the theory of blood-revenge, can seldom be durably healed without the intervention of a third party who is called in as arbiter, and in this way an impartial and wise power acquires of necessity a great and beneficent influence over all around it" (W. R. Smith). In time, notwithstanding a certain inherent individualism and impatience of control, veritable despotisms arose in the Semitic world, although such organizations were invariably liable to sudden collapse as the old forms of life broke down with changing conditions.[1]

3. _Early History._[2]--Already in the 15th century B.C. Palestine was inhabited by a settled people whose language, thought and religion were not radically different several hundred years later. Small native princes ruled as vassals of Egypt which, after expelling the Hyksos from its borders, had entered upon a series of conquests as far as the Euphrates. Some centuries previously, however, Babylonia had laid claim to the western states, and the Babylonian (i.e. Assyrian) script and language were now used, not merely in the diplomatic correspondence between Egypt and Asia, but also for matters of private and everyday life among the Palestinian princes themselves. To what extent specific Babylonian influence showed itself in other directions is not completely known. Canaan (Palestine and the south Phoenician coast land) and Amor (Lebanon district and beyond) were under the constant supervision of Egypt, and Egyptian officials journeyed round to collect tribute, to attend to complaints, and to assure themselves of the allegiance of the vassals. The Amarna tablets and those more recently found at Taannek (bibl. Taanach), together with the contemporary archaeological evidence (from Lachish, Gezer, Megiddo, Jericho, &c.), represent advanced conditions of life and culture, the precise chronological limits of which cannot be determined with certainty. This age, with its regular maritime intercourse between the Aegean settlements, Phoenicia and the Delta, and with lines of caravans connecting Babylonia, North Syria, Arabia and Egypt, presents a remarkable picture of life and activity, in the centre of which lies Palestine, with here and there Egyptian colonies and some traces of Egyptian cults. The history of this, the "Amarna" age, reveals a state of anarchy in Palestine for which the weakness of Egypt and the downward pressure of north Syrian peoples were responsible. Subdivided into a number of little local principalities, Palestine was suffering both from internal intrigues and from the designs of this northern power. It is now that we find the restless Habiru, a name which is commonly identified with that of the "Hebrews" (_'ibrim_). They offer themselves where necessary to either party, and some at least perhaps belonged to the settled population. The growing prominence of the new northern group of "Hittite" states continued to occupy the energies of Egypt, and when again we have more external light upon Palestinian history, the Hittites (q.v.) are found strongly entrenched in the land. But by the end of the first quarter of the 13th century B.C. Egypt had recovered its province (precise boundary uncertain), leaving its rivals in possession of Syria. Towards the close of the 13th century the Egyptian king Merneptah (Mineptah) records a successful campaign in Palestine, and alludes to the defeat of Canaan, Ascalon, Gezer, Yenuam (in Lebanon) and (the people or tribe) Israel.[3] Bodies of aliens from the Levantine coast had previously threatened Egypt and Syria, and at the beginning of the 12th century they formed a coalition on land and sea which taxed all the resources of Rameses III. In the Purasati, apparently the most influential of these peoples, may be recognized the origin of the name "Philistine." The Hittite power became weaker, and the invaders, in spite of defeat, appear to have succeeded in maintaining themselves on the sea coast. External history, however, is very fragmentary just at the age when its evidence would be most welcome. For a time the fate of Syria and Palestine seems to have been no longer controlled by the great powers. When the curtain rises again we enter upon the historical traditions of the Old Testament.

4. _Biblical History._--For the rest of the first period the Old Testament forms the main source. It contains in fact the history itself in two forms: (a) from the creation of man to the fall of Judah (Genesis-2 Kings), which is supplemented and continued further--(b) to the foundation of Judaism in the 5th century B.C. (Chronicles--Ezra-Nehemiah). In the light of contemporary monuments, archaeological evidence, the progress of scientific knowledge and the recognized methods of modern historical criticism, the representation of the origin of mankind and of the history of the Jews in the Old Testament can no longer be implicitly accepted. Written by an Oriental people and clothed in an Oriental dress, the Old Testament does not contain objective records, but subjective history written and incorporated for specific purposes. Like many Oriental works it is a compilation, as may be illustrated from a comparison of Chronicles with Samuel-Kings, and the representation of the past in the light of the present (as exemplified in Chronicles) is a frequently recurring phenomenon. The critical examination of the nature and growth of this compilation has removed much that had formerly caused insuperable difficulties and had quite unnecessarily been made an integral or a relevant part of practical religion. On the other hand, criticism has given a deeper meaning to the Old Testament history, and has brought into relief the central truths which really are vital; it may be said to have replaced a divine account of man by man's account of the divine. Scholars are now almost unanimously agreed that the internal features are best explained by the Graf-Wellhausen hypothesis. This involves the view that the historical traditions are mainly due to two characteristic though very complicated recensions, one under the influence of the teaching of Deuteronomy (Joshua to Kings, see § 20), the other, of a more priestly character (akin to Leviticus), of somewhat later date (Genesis to Joshua, with traces in Judges to Kings, see § 23). There are, of course, numerous problems relating to the nature, limits and dates of the two recensions, of the incorporated sources, and of other sources (whether early or late) of independent origin; and here there is naturally room for much divergence of opinion. Older material (often of composite origin) has been used, not so much for the purpose of providing historical information, as with the object of showing the religious significance of past history; and the series Joshua-Kings is actually included among the "prophets" in Jewish reckoning (see MIDRASH). In general, one may often observe that freedom which is characteristic of early and unscientific historians. Thus one may note the reshaping of older material to agree with later thought, the building up of past periods from the records of other periods, and a frequent loss of perspective. The historical traditions are to be supplemented by the great body of prophetic, legal and poetic literature which reveal contemporary conditions in various internal literary, theological or sociological features. The investigation of their true historical background and of the trustworthiness of their external setting (e.g. titles of psalms, dates and headings of prophecies) involves a criticism of the historical traditions themselves, and thus the two major classes of material must be constantly examined both separately and in their bearing on one another. In a word, the study of biblical history, which is dependent in the first instance upon the written sources, demands constant attention to the text (which has had an interesting history) and to the literary features; and it requires a sympathetic acquaintance with Oriental life and thought, both ancient and modern, an appreciation of the necessity of employing the methods of scientific research, and (from the theological side) a reasoned estimate of the dependence of individual religious convictions upon the letter of the Old Testament.[4]

In view of the numerous articles in this work dealing with biblical
subjects,[5] the present sketch is limited to the outlines of the
traditional history; the religious aspect in its bearing upon biblical
theology (which is closely bound up with the traditions) is handled
separately under HEBREW RELIGION. The related literature is enormous
(see the bibliographies to the special articles); it is indexed
annually in _Orientalische Bibliographie_ (Berlin), and is usefully
summarized in the _Theologische Jahresbericht_ (Berlin). On the
development of the study of biblical history see C. A. Briggs, _Study
of Holy Scripture_ (1899), especially ch. xx. The first scientific
historical work was by H. Ewald, _Gesch. d. Volkes Israel_ (1843; 3rd
ed., 1864-1868; Eng. trans., 1869-1883), popularized by Arthur Penrhyn
Stanley in his _Hist. of the Jewish Church_ (1863-1879). The works of
J. Wellhausen (especially _Prolegomena to the Hist. of Israel_, Eng.
trans., 1885, also the brilliant article "Israel" in the 9th ed. of
the _Ency. Brit._, 1879) were epoch-making; his position was
interpreted to English readers by W. Robertson Smith (_Old Test. in
Jewish Church_, 1881, 2nd ed., 1892; _Prophets of Israel_, 1882, 2nd
ed. by T. K. Cheyne, 1902). The historical (and related) works of T.
K. Cheyne, H. Graetz, H. Guthe, F. C. Kent, A. Kittel, W. H. Kosters,
A. Kuenen, C. Piepenbring, and especially B. Stade, although varying
greatly in standpoint, are among the most valuable by recent scholars;
H. P. Smith's _Old Test. Hist._ ("International Theological Library,"
Edinburgh, 1903) is in many respects the most serviceable and complete
study; a modern and more critical "Ewald" is a desideratum. For the
works of numerous other scholars who have furthered Old Testament
research in the past it must suffice to refer to the annotated list by
J. M. P. Smith, _Books for O.T. Study_ (Chicago, 1908).

For the external history, E. Schrader, _Cuneiform Inscr. and the Old
Testament_ (Eng. trans. by O. C. Whitehouse, 1885-1888) is still
helpful; among the less technical works are J. F. McCurdy, _History,
Prophecy and the Monuments_; B. Paton, _Syria and Palestine_ (1902);
G. Maspero, _Hist. ancienne_ (6th ed., 1904); A. Jeremias, _Alte Test.
im Lichte d. Alten Orients_ (2nd ed., 1906); and especially
_Altoriental. Texte u. Bilder zum Alten Test._, ed. by H. Gressman,
with A. Ungnad and H. Ranke (1909). The most complete is that of Ed.
Meyer, _Gesch. d. Alterthums_ (2nd ed., 1907 sqq.). That of Jeremias
follows upon the lines of H. Winckler, whose works depart from the
somewhat narrow limits of purely "Israelite" histories, emphasize the
necessity of observing the characteristics of Oriental thought and
policy, and are invaluable for discriminating students. Winckler's own
views are condensed in the 3rd edition--a re-writing--of Schrader's
work (_Keilinschr. u. d. Alte Testament_, 1903), and, with an
instructive account of the history of "ancient nearer Asia," in H. F.
Helmolt's _World's History_, iii. 1-252 (1903). All modern histories
of any value are necessarily compromises between the biblical
traditions and the results of recent investigation, and those studies
which appear to depart most widely from the biblical or canonical
representation often do greater justice to the evidence as a whole
than the slighter or more conservative and apologetic
reconstructions.[6] Scientific biblical historical study,
nevertheless, is still in a relatively backward condition; and
although the labours of scholars since Ewald constitute a distinct
epoch, the trend of research points to the recognition of the fact
that the purely subjective literary material requires a more
historical treatment in the light of our increasing knowledge of
external and internal conditions in the old Oriental world. But an
inductive and deductive treatment, both, comprehensive and in due
proportion, does not as yet (1910) exist, and awaits fuller external
evidence.[7]

5. _Traditions of Origin._--The Old Testament preserves the remains of an extensive literature, representing different standpoints, which passed through several hands before it reached its present form. Surrounded by ancient civilizations where writing had long been known, and enjoying, as excavation has proved, a considerable amount of material culture, Palestine could look back upon a lengthy and stirring history which, however, has rarely left its mark upon our records. Whatever ancient sources may have been accessible, whatever trustworthy traditions were in circulation, and whatever a knowledge of the ancient Oriental world might lead one to expect, one is naturally restricted in the first instance to those undated records which have survived in the form which the last editors gave to them. The critical investigation of these records is the indispensable prelude to all serious biblical study, and hasty or sweeping deductions from monumental or archaeological evidence, or versions compiled promiscuously from materials of distinct origin, are alike hazardous. A glimpse at Palestine in the latter half of the second millennium B.C. (§ 3) prepares us for busy scenes and active intercourse, but it is not a history of this kind which the biblical historians themselves transmit. At an age when--on literary-critical grounds--the Old Testament writings were assuming their present form, it was possible to divide the immediately preceding centuries into three distinct period. (a) The first, that of the two rival kingdoms: Israel (Ephraim or Samaria) in the northern half of Palestine, and Judah in the south. Then (b) the former lost its independence towards the close of the 8th century B.C., when a number of its inhabitants were carried away; and the latter shared the fate of exile at the beginning of the 6th, but succeeded in making a fresh reconstruction some fifty or sixty years later. Finally (c), in the so-called "post-exilic" period, religion and life were reorganized under the influence of a new spirit; relations with Samaria were broken off, and Judaism took its definite character, perhaps about the middle or close of the 5th century. Throughout these vicissitudes there were important political and religious changes which render the study of the composite sources a work of unique difficulty. In addition to this it should be noticed that the term "Jew" (originally _Yehudi_), in spite of its wider application, means properly "man of Judah," i.e. of that small district which, with Jerusalem as its capital, became the centre of Judaism. The favourite name "Israel" with all its religious and national associations is somewhat ambiguous in an historical sketch, since, although it is used as opposed to Judah (a), it ultimately came to designate the true nucleus of the worshippers of the national god Yahweh as opposed to the Samaritans, the later inhabitants of Israelite territory (c). A more general term is "Hebrew" (see HEBREW LANGUAGE), which, whether originally identical with the Habiru or not (§ 3), is used in contrast to foreigners, and this non-committal ethnic deserves preference where precise distinction is unnecessary or impossible.

The traditions which prevailed among the Hebrews concerning their origin belong to a time when Judah and Israel were regarded as a unit. Twelve divisions or tribes, of which Judah was one, held together by a traditional sentiment, were traced back to the sons of Jacob (otherwise known as Israel), the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham. Their names vary in origin and probably also in point of age, and where they represent fixed territorial limits, the districts so described were in some cases certainly peopled by groups of non-Israelite ancestry. But as tribal names they invited explanation, and of the many characteristic traditions which were doubtless current a number have been preserved, though not in any very early dress. Close relationship was recognized with the Aramaeans, with Edom, Moab and Ammon. This is characteristically expressed when Esau, the ancestor of Edom, is represented as the brother of Jacob, or when Moab and Ammon are the children of Lot, Abraham's nephew (see GENEALOGY: _Biblical_). Abraham, it was believed, came from Harran (Carrhae), primarily from Babylonia, and Jacob re-enters from Gilead in the north-east with his Aramaean wives and concubines and their families (Benjamin excepted). It is on this occasion that Jacob's name is changed to Israel. These traditions of migration and kinship are in themselves entirely credible, but the detailed accounts of the ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as given in Genesis, are inherently doubtful as regards both the internal conditions, which the (late) chronological scheme ascribes to the first half of the second millennium B.C., and the general circumstances of the life of these strangers in a foreign land. From a variety of independent reasons one is forced to conclude that, whatever historical elements they may contain, the stories of this remote past represent the form which tradition had taken in a very much later age.

Opinion is at variance regarding the patriarchal narratives as a
whole. To deny their historical character is to reject them as
trustworthy accounts of the age to which they are ascribed, and even
those scholars who claim that they are essentially historical already
go so far as to concede idealization and the possibility or
probability of later revision. The failure to apprehend historical
method has often led to the fallacious argument that the
trustworthiness of individual features justifies our accepting the
whole, or that the elimination of unhistorical elements will leave an
historical residuum. Here and frequently elsewhere in biblical history
it is necessary to allow that a genuine historical tradition may be
clothed in an unhistorical dress, but since many diverse motives are
often concentrated upon one narrative (e.g. Gen. xxxii. 22-32, xxxiv.,
xxxviii.), the work of internal historical criticism (in view of the
scantiness of the evidence) can rarely claim finality. The patriarchal
narratives themselves belong to the popular stock of tradition of
which only a portion has been preserved. Many of the elements lie
outside questions of time and place and are almost immemorial. Some
appear written for the first time in the book of Jubilees, in "the
Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs" (both perhaps 2nd century B.C.)
and in later sources; and although in Genesis the stories are now in a
post-exilic setting (a stage earlier than Jubilees), the older
portions may well belong to the 7th or 6th cent. This question,
however, will rest upon those criteria alone which are of true
chronological validity (see further GENESIS).

The story of the settlement of the national and tribal ancestors in Palestine is interrupted by an account of the southward movement of Jacob (or Israel) and his sons into a district under the immediate influence of the kings of Egypt. After an interval of uncertain duration we find in Exodus a numerous people subjected to rigorous oppression. No longer individual sons of Jacob or Israel, united tribes were led out by Moses and Aaron; and, after a series of incidents extending over forty years, the "children of Israel" invaded the land in which their ancestors had lived. The traditions embodied in the books Exodus-Joshua are considerably later than the apparent date of the events themselves, and amid the diverse and often conflicting data it is possible to recognize distinct groups due to some extent to distinct historical conditions. The story of the "exodus" is that of the religious birth of "Israel," joined by covenant with the national god Yahweh[8] whose aid in times of peril and need proved his supremacy. In Moses (q.v.) was seen the founder of Israel's religion and laws; in Aaron (q.v.) the prototype of the Israelite priesthood. Although it is difficult to determine the true historical kernel, two features are most prominent in the narratives which the post-exilic compiler has incorporated: the revelation of Yahweh, and the movement into Palestine. Yahweh had admittedly been the God of Israel's ancestors, but his name was only now made known (Exod. iii. 13 sqq., vi. 2 seq.), and this conception of a new era in Yahweh's relations with the people is associated with the family of Moses and with small groups from the south of Palestine which reappear in religious movements in later history (see KENITES). Amid a great variety of motives the prominence of Kadesh in south Palestine is to be recognized, but it is uncertain what clans or tribes were at Kadesh, and it is possible that traditions, originally confined to those with whom the new conception of Yahweh is connected, were subsequently adopted by others who came to regard themselves as the worshippers of the only true Yahweh. At all events, two quite distinct views seem to underlie the opening books of the Old Testament. The one associates itself with the ancestors of the Hebrews and has an ethnic character. The other, part of the religious history of "Israel," is essentially bound up with the religious genius of the people, and is partly connected with clans from the south of Palestine whose influence appears in later times. Other factors in the literary growth of the present narratives are not excluded (see further § 8, and EXODUS, THE).[9]