g all things on the earth and above it, excepting the images
of the heavenly bodies.[31]

Small carpets from Persia of the Middle Ages, as well as those woven
and embroidered even to the present day, are echoes of the ancient
Babylonian style, and most interesting as historical records of the
traditions of human taste. Our artistic interests are stirred when we
read in Ezekiel lists of the fabrics and materials of which Tyre had
become the central depot, and we enjoy tracing them to the various
looms, named in verse and history, where they were adorned with
embroidery, and then either became articles of commerce, or were
stored away to be kept religiously as heirlooms, or presented as gifts
to the temples or to honoured guests.

Mr. G. Smith, after saying that the Babylonian is without doubt the
oldest of civilizations, continues thus:--"To us the history of
Babylonia has an interest beyond that of Egypt, on account of its more
intimate connection with our own civilization.[32] Babylon was the
centre from which it spread into Assyria, thence to Asia Minor and
Phoenicia, then to Greece and Rome, and so to all Europe. The Jews
brought the traditions of the creation and of early religion from Ur
of the Chaldees,[33] and thus preserved they became the heritage of
all mankind; while the science and civilization of that wonderful
people (the Babylonians) became the basis of modern research and
advancement."[34]

The hangings of the Tabernacle are so carefully described in the book
of Exodus, that we can see in fancy the linen curtains, blue or white,
embroidered in scarlet, purple, blue, and gold; the cherubim in the
woven material; the fringes enriched with flowers, buds, fruit, and
golden bells: and we can appreciate how little of Egyptian art and
style the children of Israel brought back from their long captivity,
and how soon they reverted to their ancient Chaldean proclivities,
after returning to their wandering life of the tent.

On the bronze gates from the mound of Balawat, near Nimroud, set up by
Shalmaneser to celebrate his conquest of Tyre and Sidon,[35] we find a
portable tabernacle, evidently meant to accompany the army on a march.
It is not much larger than a four-post bed, with transverse poles for
drawing the curtains, all fringed with bells and fruit. This is an
illustration of the motive for the Tabernacle of the forty years'
wandering in the desert. (Fig. 2.)

[Illustration: Fig. 2.
Tabernacle