aph taken by Mrs. Fontaine Meriwether.
and used by her kind permission.
[End illustration]

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CHILDREN IN THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE

The children of Bible lands were very well cared for. They were sent
to school. They were taught the Bible very carefully and every Sabbath
they went to church. The children were very busy. They learned early
to watch over the sheep, to work in the fields, to card and spin the
wool and weave the cloth. Every child was taught some special trade or
business. Still they had time to play and enjoyed their games as much
as you do.

Jesus was taught to be a carpenter like Joseph. Nazareth, where he
lived when he was a boy, is a small town in Galilee. There are
beautiful fields and hills about. When he climbed the hills he could
see, far away, the sea. He must have loved to pick the lovely lilies
which grew in the fields. All the little boys and girls must have
liked to play with Jesus, for he must have been always gentle and
kind.

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JERUSALEM

The city that the Bible tells most about is Jerusalem. It is on a high
ridge of hills in the middle of the land. On one side of it is a deep
valley, and across the valley a hill called the Mount of Olives. On
that hill there was a village, Bethany, where some of Jesus' friends
lived. Deep valleys were on two other sides of the city.

Why did they build cities on the hilltops, and not in the valleys?
Because, in the old days when wars often took place, a city on a
hilltop could not be so easily taken. It was a safe place to live. To
make it still safer, a wall was built around it, very thick and high.
On the top there was a path, with a low wall outside, so that in war
armed men could go up and shoot from the wall. In the walls there were
great gates, that were shut at night and when there was a war.

In the city of Jerusalem was the palace of the Jewish kings, and the
temple. King Solomon built the first temple. It stood for over three
hundred and fifty years, then it was destroyed in a war. The city was
burned and the walls thrown down, and many of the people were killed.
After more than fifty years, another temple was built on the same
spot. It was later added to and made more beautiful. It was built of
white stone. A man who saw it wrote that it looked, when the sun shone
on it, like a mountain of snow.

{219}{220}

[Illustration]
THE SISTINE MADONNA
By Raphael (1483-1520)

Raphael is generally considered the grea