EXHIBIT OF BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 997 



recorded in I Maccabees iv, 47-59. According to Joseph us,' it was 

 called ''lights" {cp(^Ta,pJiota). In the ISTew Testinient^ it is mentioned 

 under the name of eyuaivia [enl^alnia). In the Talmud we have the 

 legend that when the Jews entered the temple after driving out the 

 Syrians, they found only one bottle of oil which liad not been polluted, 

 and that this was miraculously increased so as to fee<l the lamps of the 

 sanctuary for eight days. The festival is held eight days, beginning 

 with the 25th of Kislev (December- January). The principal feature of 

 its celebration is the lighting of lights, beginning with one light on the 

 first night and increasing the number by one light on each of the suc- 

 ceeding nights. The specimen is probably of Dutch make and exliibits 

 an interesting survival of the ancient IJonian lamps. 



Knife and cup used at circumcision. (See plate 18, fig. 1.) 

 The rite of circumcision {milah) is practiced in pursuance of Genesis 

 svii, 10-12: "This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and 

 you and thy seed after thee; every male among you shall be circum- 

 cised. And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and 

 it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is 

 eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout 

 your generations." In early times circumcision was performed with 

 stone knives.^ The later Jews used iron or steel knives. With the 

 performance of the rite of circumcision was combined the naming of 

 the child. ^ Circumcision was common in Egypt as early as the fourth 

 dynasty.- At the present day it prevails among the Kaftirs and some 

 negro tribes of Africa, in parts of Australia, in many of the South 

 Sea Islands, and it is said to be practiced by the Abyssinian Christians 

 as a national custom. Early Spanish travelers found it to be prevalent 

 in the West Indies, Mexico, and among tribes in South America. It is 

 a common rite among Mohammedans everywhere. 



Garment of fringes {Arha Kanfoth). — This garment is worn by 

 men in pursuance of the command'' "Thou shalt make thee fringes 

 upon the four borders of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself." 

 It is usually made of wool, with fringes attached to the four corners, 

 and is worn over the shoulders, underneath the ordinary outer garment. 



PnYLACTEiiiES {teJiUin). (See plate 21.) — Used by Jewish males 

 after they attain the age of 13 years and a day, at morning prayers, 

 except on Saturday and other feast days. These objects are employed 

 in the Jewish ritual in pursuance of the command that the words of 

 God should be "a sign upon your hand, and for frontlets between 

 your eyes."" They consist of parchment cases containing the i^assages 



' Antiquities xii, 1,1. 



-John X, 22. 



•'Compare Exodus iv, 246 ("flint"); Joshua v, 2 ("Tvuivos of flint"). 



■•Lukei, 59; ii, 21. 



•"^Compare Herodotus ii, 36, 37, 104; Wilkinson, Ancient Egjpt, eh. xv. 



^Numbers xv, 37-41, and Douteronomy xxii, 12. 



^Exodus xiii, 9-10, and Deuteronomy xi, 18. 



