(Post by Seth M. Rodriquez)

In 1886, J. Leslie Porter finished a book called Jerusalem, Bethany, and Bethlehem which captured what life was like in Palestine in the mid- to late nineteenth century. It was in some sense a “snapshot” of the Holy Land at that time. In the book, he takes the reader on a journey from Joppa to Jerusalem and then to the surrounding regions. All along the way, he describes what you would have seen if you could have traveled there yourself and explains to you the historical significance of each place. In his own words, he says:

I have not attempted to write a learned treatise on the topography or history of Jerusalem. My task has been far simpler—to produce a book whose pictures, by pen and pencil, may perchance direct the attention of readers of all classes to scenes of absorbing sacred interest.

Things were beginning to change in Palestine during the mid-1800s, but at that point the Holy Land still looked more like the primitive culture it was in biblical times than like the modern country it became in the 1900s. You almost see the transformation taking place in the following excerpt from Porter’s work …

EGYPTIAN COLONISTS, JOPPA.

The road from Joppa to Jerusalem is the best in Palestine; in fact it may be said to be the only road in the country, for all others are merely bridle-paths, sometimes more like goat-tracks. The present road, thanks to French influence and money, is fit for wheeled conveyances, though the drive will call forth many a groan from those of delicate frames or weak nerves. But the scenery is fine; and the villages, people, ruins, and historic associations are sufficient to draw away the attention from physical discomfort. At first we wind through gardens of vegetables and groves of fruit-trees. Many imposing houses have recently been built; and we have all around us evidences of active life and reviving prosperity. Colonists from America, Germany, and even from Egypt, have settled here, attracted by a soil of unsurpassed fertility and a grand climate. Nowhere in the world are the orange-groves more luxuriant or the fruit of finer flavour. As we pass along we may notice the Egyptians at work in the fields, with their yokes of oxen and their ploughs so rude and primitive in design that it might be supposed they had come down unchanged from the days of Abraham. The ploughman, too, carries his goad—a weapon apparently better fitted for a lancer than a peaceful husbandman. After examining the size and make of one of those goads, I did not think the story of the sacred historian so very wonderful, that Shamgar, the Israelitish judge of old, should have slain six hundred men with an ox-goad.

To read more of the work, you can see an excerpt on LifeintheHolyLand.com by going here (for a high-resolution image) or here (for a low-resolution image). This image, about 90 other images, and the entire 170 pages of text from Jerusalem, Bethany, and Bethlehem are available here for only $15 (with free shipping). Additional images from the book can be seen here, here, and here (note that images from other historical works are shown on those pages as well).

(Post by Seth M. Rodriquez)

A few years ago while I was in grad school, one of my classmates did a presentation that included a discussion of sheep in the Ancient Near East. She learned something about sheep that surprised her very much … She was shocked to learn that sheep have tails!

It is a common practice in many parts of the world to remove a sheep’s tail while it is young. This is done to prevent “flystrike” where flies will deposit their eggs in “stuff” that gets caught in the tail which later causes serious health issues for the sheep. (I’ll spare you the gory details, but if you would care to learn more you can go here or here … just don’t read it while you’re eating.) Consequently, many people in the world have never seen a sheep with a tail before, including my classmate. So our picture of the week comes from Volume 17 of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands and features … you guessed it … sheep with tails (click on photo to enlarge):

The tails on the sheep in that picture may be a little difficult to make out, so here’s an image from The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection that shows a sheep’s tail more clearly (you get two-for-one this week):

By the way, the sheep in that picture is about to be slaughtered (hence the knife).

So now that you have been enlightened that sheep even have tails, let’s turn to a biblical text where these tails are mentioned. In Leviticus 3, Moses details the process for making a peace offering to the Lord. In verses 6 through 11, he describes the steps involved if this offering is a sheep:

If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord is an animal from the flock, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before the Lord, lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it in front of the tent of meeting; and Aaron’s sons shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar. Then from the sacrifice of the peace offering he shall offer as a food offering to the Lord its fat; he shall remove the whole fat tail, cut off close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. And the priest shall burn it on the altar as a food offering to the Lord. (Lev. 3:9-11, ESV.)

The photo annotations included in Volume 17 of the PLBL provides the following information on the subject:

Native to Israel, the fat-tailed Awassi sheep is white with a brown or
black head and feet. Their tails can weigh as much as 33 pounds on females and
22 pounds on males, and are similar to the humps of the camel in that they
store nutrients in order to sustain the sheep in times of scarcity. Together
with their high tolerance of heat and fast replacement of water, this enables
them to survive in the desert climate of the Negev.

So once again we see that a single picture can go a long way in illuminating the biblical text. When you woke up this morning, you may not have even known that sheep have tails! But now you can see how the whole animal, from head to tail, was involved in making a peace offering to God back when the Tabernacle and Temple were still standing.

The top photograph and over 1,000 others are included in Volume 17 of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, and is available here for $34 (with free shipping).

The bottom photograph and over 600 others are included in Volume 6 of The American Colony and 
Eric Matson Collection, and is available here for $20 (with free shipping).

For additional pictures and drawings of sheep from the PLBL and HVHL collections, see here, here, and here.