Abram's Tent

The nomad was very proud, and regarded it as a matter of tremendous importance, that he lived in his own tent, the symbol of his complete freedom and independence.

In the early stages of the history of the nomadic tribes of shepherds animal skins were sewn together to make a waterproof tent. But already by Abram's time women were spinning and weaving long bands, as wide as the looms then in use would allow, and so produced a rough but very resistant cloth, a very dark brown in colour. Hence the expression used by the Bride in the Shir Hashirm, I am black but lovely. ..daughters of Yerusalem, like the tents of Kedar' (1:5).

We have no precise information about the patriarchs' tents since the Scriptures gives no details on the subject. In fact they can scarcely have differed from those still used nowadays by the Bedouin. The covering is held up by a certain number of poles between about four and a half and six feet high. The dimensions of the tent obviously vary according to the importance and the wealth of the occupant. Normally, there are two distinct parts separated by a thick curtain forming a partition. The front section is that belonging to the men; ordinarily this part is wide open over its whole width. Behind it the section reserved for the women and children is kept firmly closed, hidden from the prying gaze of outsiders. Sometimes in the largest tents this section is divided up by an arrangement of curtains so as to form several cells, for the slaves and the servants, for the kitchen and lavatory.

These tents are put up by the nomads with extraordinary skill and speed, yet the physical effort required is a heavy one. The operation is performed as follows: the covering is first laid out flat on the ground and one or two men with poles then slipped underneath. The heads of these poles, which fit into a specially backed socket in the cover, are then raised and the poles pushed into the ground. It now only remains to fix the tent firmly to the ground: long guy ropes are inserted into wooden hooks attached all along the edge of the tent and firmly fastened to pegs previously driven hard into the ground. Taking down the tent is an even more rapid operation. 

There were no chairs or tables, and people sat cross-legged on woolen carpets, reed mats or tanned skins. For eating they all squatted on a circular leather mat round a large dish into which all dipped with their fingers. One piece of kitchen equipment that should be mentioned was the flour mill. In ancient times it was composed of two parts, a slab of very hard stone (basalt as a rule) slightly concave in form, and a flat, medium sized stone which was pushed backwards and forwards with both hands to grind the grain. It required a considerable physical effort and was very hard work; as a result it was left to the women.

In the tent, hanging from the poles, especially in the room at the back, the women's quarters, were skin containers holding water, of course, but also wine, milk and oil. These curious skin bottles retained the shape of the animal, goat or even pig, whose skin had been used; the tail and feet were cut off and these ends were sewn up and made waterproof by a coat of pitch. The spout was constituted by the neck (the head had been removed); instead of a cork the neck was bound up tightly with twine.

The lamps at this period were very simple. They were in the form of a small clay cup, circular or oval with a lip made by pinching together a part of the rim. It was only later that this shape, just beginning to emerge in the ancient examples, gradually developed into a spout. Flax, hemp or a hollow rush were used for a wick.

Nomad tent  

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