CHAPTER III.

JUDÆA.

Art Derived from Egypt.--Never Reached any Eminence.--Preference for Metals.--Frequent Allusions in Scripture.--Bought Earthen-ware from Phœnicia and Egypt.--Home Manufacture.--Decoration.--Necessity for Distinguishing between Home and Foreign Wares.

[Illustration: Fig. 59.--Earthen-ware Jars and Water-pots.]

We now turn westward to Judæa, in order that, before penetrating farther into Asia and to the extreme East, we may glance at a country showing in its ceramic remains unmistakable signs of Egyptian teaching, but exercising in its turn no recognizable influence upon the art which from all sides of it was diffused over Southern Europe. The art never reached any eminence among the Jews. They preferred the richer beauty of the precious metals. Potters did, no doubt, exist among them in considerable numbers, and were acquainted with the different processes of throwing, firing, and glazing; but the formation of such a guild as that of which Scripture speaks is not of itself a proof that the occupation was held in high esteem. The few relics which can be ascribed to a purely Jewish origin might be passed over as immaterial to observers of the progress of the art, were it not that everything pertaining to the land once called that of Promise, and now designated by all Christendom as Holy, possesses an interest altogether independent of its artistic merit.

[Illustration: Fig. 60.--Terra-cotta Lamps and Oil Vessels.]

For such earthen-ware vessels as they required, the Jews appear to have applied on the one hand to the Phœnicians, and on the other to the Egyptians. The manufacture among themselves was restricted to domestic articles. These resemble the Egyptian in both style and finish, the body being of a somewhat coarse paste, and the glaze of that peculiar kind which is hardly distinguishable from varnish or mechanical polish. A fragment now in the Louvre, of blue-glazed earthen-ware, resembling the finer ware of Egypt, and found in Judæa, further substantiates the close similarity between the pottery of the Jordan and that of the Nile. In ornamentation, however, the Israelites have some claim to originality and independence. Associating the lotus, papyrus, and the symbols of Egypt with idolatry, the Jewish potters substituted grapes, leaves, and pomegranates. In the description of the building of the Temple, in the First Book of Kings, the decoration within the oracle of “carved figures of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers,” was repeated on the walls and doors; and on the chapiters of the pillars made by Hiram of Tyre were long rows of pomegranates. A similar style of ornamentation was adopted by the potters.

We have already seen that both Egyptian and Phœnician wares were imported into the country, and in addition to these there have been found at Jerusalem and elsewhere several examples of the red Roman, or Samian ware.