Fig. 89—Bed
The manner of sleeping in warm Eastern climates was, and is, necessarily very different from that which is followed in our colder regions. The present usages appear to be the same as those of the ancient Jews, and sufficiently explain the passages of Scripture which bear on the subject. Beds of feathers are altogether unknown, and the Orientals lie exceedingly hard. Poor people who have no certain home, or when on a journey, or employed distant from their homes, sleep on mats or wrapped in their outer garment, which from its importance in this respect was forbidden to be retained in pledge over night from the owner (Genesis 9:21; Genesis 9:23; Exodus 22:27; Deuteronomy 24:13). Under such circumstances a stone covered with some folded cloth or piece of dress is often used for a pillow (Genesis 28:11). The more wealthy classes sleep on mattresses stuffed with wool or cotton, and which are often no other than a quilt thickly padded, either used singly or one or more placed upon each other. A similar quilt of finer materials forms the coverlet in winter, and in summer a thin blanket suffices; but sometimes the convenient outer garment is used for the latter purpose, and was so among the Jews, as we see from 1 Samuel 19:13. The difference of use here is, that the poor wrap themselves up in it, and it forms all their bed; whereas when used by the rich it is as a covering only. A pillow is placed upon the mattress, and over both, in good houses, is laid a sheet. The bolsters are more valuable than the mattresses, both for their coverings and material: they are usually stuffed with cotton or other soft substance (Ezekiel 13:20); but instead of these, skins of goats or sheep appear to have been formerly used by the poorer classes and in the hardier ages. These skins were probably sewed up in the natural shape, like water-skins, and stuffed with chaff or wool (1 Samuel 19:13).
It has been doubted whether different Hebrew words translated 'couch,' and 'bed,' and 'bedstead' in the Authorized Version were actually bedsteads of different sorts, or simply the standing and fixed divans, such as those on which the Western Asiatics commonly make their beds at night. It has been usually thought that the choice lay between these alternatives, because it has not been understood that in the East there is, in fact, a varied arrangement in this matter: and there is reason to think that the different Hebrew words answer to and describe similarly different arrangements, although we may be unable now to give to the several Hebrew words the distinctive applications to still subsisting things.
The divan, or dais, is a slightly elevated platform at the upper end, and often along the sides of the room. On this are laid the mattresses on which the Western Asiatics sit cross-legged in the day-time, with large cushions against the wall to support the back. At night the light bedding is usually laid out upon this divan, and beds for many persons are easily formed. The bedding is removed in the morning, and deposited in recesses in the room, made for the purpose. This is, however, a sort of general sleeping-room for the males of the family and for guests, none but the master having access to the inner parts of the house, where alone there are proper and distinct bed-chambers, where the bedding is either laid on the carpeted floor or placed on a low frame or bedstead.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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