the towns
fortified by Rehoboam: Bethlehem, Etam, Beth-zur, Soco,
Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
Zorah, Ajalon, Hebron.

[Illustration: 190.jpg JUDAEAN PEASANTS]

Drawn by Boudier, from Layard. These figures are taken from
a bas-relief which represents Sennacherib receiving the
submission of Judah before Lachish.

The men wore over their tunic a fringed kaftan, with short sleeves, open
in front, a low-crowned hat, and sandals or shoes of pliant leather; *
they curled their beards and hair, painted their eyes and cheeks, and
wore many jewels; while their wives adopted all the latest refinements
in vogue in the harems of Damascus, Tyre, or Nineveh.** Descendants of
ancient families paid for all this luxury out of the revenues of the
wide domains they had inherited; others kept it up by less honourable
means, by usury, corruption, and by the exercise of a ruthless violence
towards neighbours who were unable to defend themselves.

* The kaftan met with in these parts seems to correspond to
the _meil_ (R.V. "ephod ") of the biblical texts (1 Sam. ii.
19; xviii. 4, etc.).

** Isa. iii. 16-24 describes in detail the whole equipment
of jewels, paint, and garments required by the fashionable
women of Jerusalem during the last thirty years of the
eighth century B.C.

Illustration: 191.jpg WOMEN AND CHILDREN OF JUDAEA

Drawn by Boudier, from Layard.

The king himself set them an evil example, and did not hesitate to
assassinate one of his subjects in order that he might seize a vineyard
which he coveted;* it was not to be wondered at, therefore, that the
nobles of Ephraim "sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a
pair of shoes;"** that they demanded gifts of wheat, and "turned the
needy from their right" when they sat as a jury "at the gate."*** From
top to bottom of the social ladder the stronger and wealthier oppressed
those who were weaker or poorer than themselves, leaving them with no
hope of redress except at the hands of the king.****

* Cf. the well-known episode of Naboth and Ahab in 1 Kings
xxi.

** Amos ii. 6.

*** Amos v. 11, 12.

**** 2 Kings vi. 26-30; viii. 3-8, where, in both instances,
it is a woman who appeals to the king. Cf. for the period of
David and Solomon, 2 Sam. xiv. 1-20, and 1 Kings iii. 16-27.

Unfortunately, the king, when he did not himself set