sickles have recently been found by investigators, buried deep in the
mounds where ruined Canaanite cities lie hidden. Some of these sickles
are of metal, and others are made of the jawbones of oxen or asses,
with sharp flints driven into the tooth sockets. After the grain was
cut it was tied in bundles and carried to the threshing floor, which
was usually a wide, level space of hard ground or rock. Oxen were
driven back and forth across the grain on the floor, drawing a heavy
weight, until all or nearly all the kernels were shaken or crushed out
of the heads. It usually took several days to thresh all the grain
from an average-sized field. Then the straw was raked away, and the
grain was left mixed with chaff and dust. The next windy day the
winnowers, with large "fans," or wooden shovels, came and tossed the
mingled chaff and dust and grain in the wind. The kernels of wheat
fell back and the chaff and dust were blown away. Last of all, the
good clean grain was gathered in baskets and bags, and hauled to the
farmer's house, or to the granary, which was a round brick building
standing beside or behind his house.

VINEYARDS AND OLIVES

Another new experience of the Hebrews in Canaan was the culture of
grapevines. The vineyards were often on hillsides, especially those
facing the south, and hence warmed by the early spring sunshine. The
soil on these hillsides had to be terraced so that the rain would not
wash it away. The vines had to be planted, trained on trellises, and
pruned. At the time of the grape harvest many of the grapes,
especially of the sweeter varieties, were set aside for raisins. They
were spread out on sheets in the hot sunshine until they were dry and
wrinkled. Then they were packed away in jars, where they settled into
delicious cakes. Figs were dried and packed in the same way.

=The manufacture of wine.=--Many of the grapes were used for wine. The
juice of these was trodden out in wine-presses. These were large
hollows several feet square, cut in the solid rock on the hillside.
There were always two of them, one lower than the other, with
connecting passages. The bunches of grapes were piled in great heaps
in the higher of the two, and then it was great fun for the boys and
girls and youths and maidens to jump barefooted and barelegged among
the purple clusters, and trample them until the foaming red juice ran
down into the lower of the stone chambers, where it was taken up with
gourd dippers an