8o HEBREW LIFE AND CUSTOM
between walled vineyards,1 and Samson in the foot-hills of
Judah meets a lion at the vineyards of Timnah,2 and there
are vineyards in the district of Shiloh.3 It may be inferred
from Amos iv. 9 that there were vineyards in the district
of which Bethel was the chief sanctuary.
Of the operations of viticulture we have some indi-
cations. The initial preparation of a vineyard is described
in Isa. v, and there was more than one variety of vine,
the most highly prized being that which produced grapes
of a reddish colour.4
Just as the arable land lay fallow every seventh year, so
the vines at the same time were left unpruned, and such
fruit as they produced was left for the poor.®
The charm of the vineyard in springtime is indicated
in Cant. ii. 13, vii. 12, and the value of a vineyard may
be gathered from Isa. vii. 23; Cant, viii. ɪɪ, 12.
When the grapes were ready for the vintage there came
the most joyous and—inevitably it would seem—the most
pagan festival of the year. Those who took part in the
vintage constructed temporary arbours (sukkδth) in the vine-
yards.6 These arbours were continued for the feast of the
summer ingathering, when all the work was over. This
Feast of Arboims is stated 7 to be a memorial of the fact
that the Children of Israel dwelt in arbours when they were
brought out of the land of Egypt. This, however, is clearly
an afterthought, for whence would the boughs for the
arbours be procured in the desert ?
The vintage, including both the gathering and the tread-
ing of the grapes, was a time of rejoicing and merry-making.
The cutting of the first grapes was apparently accompanied
with what was doubtless in origin a ritual act.8 Similarly
the shout of those who trod the grapes may have been
’ Num. xxii. 24. * Judges xiv. 5. 3 Judges xxi. 19.
4 Gen. xlix. ɪ I ; Isa. v. 2 (cf. also xvi. 8) ; Jer. ii. 21.
3 Exod. xxiii. ɪo f. ; the later Iegishtion of Lev. xxv. 5 is more
stringent.
6 Isa. i. 8 ; cf. Job xxvii. ι8. 7 Lev. xxiii. 43∙ ’ See Isa. lxv. 8.
VINEYARDS, OLIVEYARDS, GARDENS 8ι
originally something more than an encouragement not to
relax activity ; ɪ it was followed by a religious feast at the
sanctuary.2 In like manner in the dances of the girls at
Shiloh3 the original meaning of the dances was probably
forgotten, just as the little girls who in my early days
danced round a garland on May Day were in intention
innocent of perpetuating a pagan rite. There is, however,
a strong probability that both the Shiloh maidens and the
Thanet little girls were alike celebrating something that
did not originate in mere joie de vivre.
After vineyards we naturally consider plantations of
•olives. Olives were an important crop, for the olive oil
was the only source of artificial light, as well as being used
for anointing the body and perhaps in cooking. The
olives were beaten off the trees as we beat walnuts, and
when this was done any that remained could be gleaned
by the poor.4 The olive oil was trodden out.5
Next in importance to the olive plantation was the fruit
garden.6 The word t garden ’ may have included olive
plantations, but in general it seems to have meant planta-
tions of other fruit-trees, or of vegetables.7 It was for a
kitchen garden that Ahab desired to get hold of Naboth’s
vineyard.8 The gardens of the wealthy appear to have
been frequently irrigated artificially.9 It is evident that the
gardens of the rich were mere pleasances and possessed
buildings in which feasts could be held.10 It would seem
that in pleasure-gardens aromatic plants were chiefly
grown for their scent wafted by the wind (Cant. iv. ι6).
* See Jer. xxv. 30. 1 Judges ix. 27.
3 Judges xxi. 2i. 4 Deut. xxiv. 20.
5 Mic. vi. 15. 6 Jer. xxix. 5, 28.
7 For the fruits and vegetables grown in gardens, see above on
Foodi pp. 40-2.
8 ɪ Kings xxi. 2 ; cf. 2 Kings ix. 25, also 2 Kings xxi. ι8 ; Isa. i. 8 ;
Cant. vi. ɪɪ.
7 Num. xxiv. 6 ; Deut. xi. ɪo ; Isa. i. 30, lviii. ɪ ɪ, lxi. ɪ ɪ ; Jer. xxxi.
12 ; Cant. iv. 12, 15 ; Eccles, ii. 5 f., &c.
" See 2 Kings ix. 27 ; Cant. v. ɪ ff.