252 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



strange vicissitudes of 

 fortune. About 2000 B. c. 

 they emerged from 

 Mesopotamia and settled 

 in Canaan, or Palestine. 

 Subsequently, in conse- 

 quence of famine in 

 their adopted land, the 

 patriarch Jacob, with all 

 his family and adherents, 

 went into Egypt. There 

 he obtained permission 

 to settle in the land 

 of Goshen. The de- 

 scendants of these 

 settlers were treated as 

 slaves. A deliverer arose 

 in the person of Moses. 

 By him they were led 

 out into the wilderness 

 of Sinai, where they 

 wandered over forty 

 years according to the 

 Old Testament. Modern 

 critics, however, would 

 allow a much shorter 

 period. About 1274 B.C., 

 under the leadership of 

 Joshua, they entered 

 into possession of Pales- 

 tine. Thirteen hundred 

 and forty years later 

 Titus, the Koman 

 governor of Syria, be- 

 sieged and captured 

 Jerusalem, with horrible 



carnage, as narrated by Josephus. He completely destroyed the Temple, and almost razed the 

 city to the ground. The Jews who survived were driven from the land, to seek refuge and 

 procure sustenance as best they could among the different nations of the earth. Since the 

 ruin of their city and dispersion of their race, in the words of Isaac D'Israeli, " the Jewish 

 people are not a nation, for they consist of many nations . . . and, like the chameleon, they 

 reflect the colour of the spot they rest on." 



The Jews have preserved from the earliest times the striking customs which are connected 

 with their religion. Circumcision is performed on male infants eight days after birth. On 

 the thirtieth day after the appearance of the first male child the ceremony of " redeeming the 

 first-born" takes place. The father invites his male friends and relatives, with the rabbi, to 

 a supper, and the mother invites the women. Before the supper is over the baby is brought 

 to the father. He places it in the arms of the rabbi. Then he puts as many pieces of 

 silver money as he can afford on a tray. "This is my first-born," he says to the rabbi; "I 

 desire to redeem him according to the commandment of God, written in the Book of the 

 Law." "Dost thou indeed desire to redeem this thy first-born son?" answers the rabbi. 

 The father replies, "I greatly desire to redeem my son, and this is the redemption money 



By pel-mission of the Controller of her Majesty's Stationery Office. 

 A NATIVE GUIDE, PALESTINE. 



