EXHIBIT OF BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 961 



denial of Jesus, wlien Jesus said to Peter, "The cock shall not crow 

 this day until thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.'" It is 

 said that in remembrance of the crowing of the cock, which brought 

 Peter to a sense of his guilt, the practice began of placing weather- 

 cocks upon towers and steeples.^ 



There is independent testimony from the Mishna that the cock had 

 become common in I'alestine. The Mishna was collected about 200 of 

 the Christian era, but as many portions of it go back to at least three 

 centuries earlier it is in some portions contemporary with and even 

 earlier than the New Testament. According to the Mishna^ the Jews 

 were prohibited from selling a white cock to the heathens. This pro- 

 hibition was compromised by the permission to sell if the toe were cut 

 ofl", because " they do not sacrifice anything defective." The word for 

 cock is " Tarnegol^'''' Syriac Tarnagla. There is no Biblical Hebrew 

 word for cock. In addition to the above the Talmud uses the word 

 Geber, which means simply " male." The crowing of the cock is referred 

 to a number of times in the Talmud, cock crow being a recognized time.^ 

 There are three that are strong (unyielding), says the Talmud, " Israel 

 among the peoples; the dog among the beasts, and the cock among 

 the birds." {Be^-a 5b.) 



On Babylonian gems the cock appears as the herald of dawn, the 

 heavenly guardian of light, who by his crowing drives away the demons 

 of the night. The native country of the domestic cock is supposed to 

 be India, and the migration of domestic fowl to western Asia and 

 Europe probably took place with the Medo- Persian conquerors. As 

 the Persians spread their dominions, the cock, the "Persian bird" 

 went with them. 



Turtledove {Turtur risorius; Hebrew, Tor). — The turtledove and 

 the dove or pigeon (Hebrew, Yonah) are very frequently mentioned in 

 the Bible. They were the only birds permitted as sacrifices.^ ISToah 

 sent forth a dove three times from the ark. On its second flight it 

 returned with an olive leaf,*' which has since been regarded as the 

 emblem of peace. Numerous allusions are made in the Scriptures to 

 the simplicity, innocence, gentleness, and fidelity of tlie dove : ' " Ephraim 

 is like a silly dove without understanding."'' "Be ye therefore wise as 

 serpents, and harmless as doves." The turtledove is noted for the regu- 

 larity of its migration:^ "And the turtle and the swallow and the crane 

 observe the time of their coming," compare Canticles ii, 11, 12. At 

 present there are four species of dove and three species of turtledove 

 inhabiting Palestine in large numbers. 



Golden eagle {Aquila chrysaetos; Hebrew, Neslier). — The Hebrew 



' Luke xxii, 34; John xiii, 38. '■ Genesis viii, 8-11. 



^Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, p. 458. '' Hosea vii, 11. 



^Aboda Zara Idolatry, I, 5. >* Matthew x, 16. 



^Mishna Yoma, 1, 8. ^ jeromiah viii, 7. 

 '^Leviticns i, 14; v, 7; xii, 8; Luke ii, 24. 



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