(1) Exterior. We tnay premise that the houses present little more than a dead wall to the street. The privacy of Oriental domestic habits would render our plan of throwing the front of the houses towards the street most repulsive. On coming to a house, one finds a lofty wall, which would be blank but for the low door of entrance (sec GATE) ; over which is usually the kiosk, or latticed window (sometimes projecting like the huge bay windows of Elizabethan houses), or screened balcony of the 'summer parlor.' Besides this, there may be a small latticed window or two high up the wall, giving light and air to upper chambers. This seems to have been the character of the fronts of ancient Egyptian houses.
(2) The Court. The buildings which form the house front towards an inner square or court. Small houses have one of these courts, but supe rior houses have two, and first-rate houses three, communicating with each other, for the Orientals dislike ascending stairs or steps, and prefer to gain room rather by the extent than height of their habitations. It is only when the building ground is confined by nature or by fortifications, that they build high houses. None of our four houses had more than one story; but, from the loftiness of the rooms, they were as high as houses of three stories among ourselves. If there are three or more courts, all except the outer one are much alike in size and appearance; but the outer one, being devoted to the more public life of the occupant, and to his intercourse with society, is materially different from all the others. If there are more than two, the second is devoted chiefly to the use of the master, who is there attended only by his eunuchs, children, and females, and sees only such persons as he calls from the third or interior court in which they reside. In the his tory of Esther, she incurs danger by going from her interior court to that of the king, to invite him to visit her part of the palace ; but she would not on any account have gone to the outermost court, in which the king held his public audiences. When there are only two courts, the innermost is the harem, in which the women and children live, and which is the true domicile of the master, to which he withdraws when the claims of business, of society, and of friends have been satisfied, and where no man but himself ever enters, or coulcl be induced to enter, even by strong persuasions.
Entering at the street-door a passage, usually sloping downward, conducts to the outer court; the opening from the passage to this is not op posite the gate of entrance, but by a side turn, to preclude any view from the street into the court when the gate is opened.
(3) The Guest Chamber. On entering the outer court through this passage, we find opposite to us the public room, in which the master re ceives and gives audience to his friends and clients. This is entirely open in front, and, being richly fitted up, has a splendid appearance when the first view of it is obtained. A refreshing cool ness is sometimes given to this apartment by a fountain throwing up a jet of water in front qf it.
This is the `guest-chamber' of Luke xxii :tr. A large portion of the other side of the court is oc cupied with a frontage of lattice-work filled with colored glass, belonging to a room as large as the guest-chamber, and which in winter is used for the same purpose, or serves as the apartment of any visitor of distinction, who cannot of course be ad mitted into the interior parts of the house.
(4) Other Apartments. The other apartments in this outer court are comparatively small, and are used for the accommodation of visitors, re tainers, and servants. These various apartments are usually upon what we should call the first floor, or at least upon an elevated terrace. The ground floor is in that case occupied by various store-rooms and servants' offices. In all cases the upper floor, containing the principal rooms, is fronted by a gallery or terrace, protected from the sun by a sort of penthouse roof supported by pil lars of wood.
In houses having but one court, the receptic,n room is on the ground floor, and the dotnestic es tablishment in the upper part of the house. This arrangement is interesting from its showing the use of the 'pillars' so often mentioned in Scripture, particularly 'the pillars on which the house stood, and by which it was borne up' (Judg..xvi:29).
(5) The Kiosk. The kiosk, which has been mentioned above as fronting the strect, over the gateway, is connected with one of the larger rooms already described, or forms a scparate apartment, which is the summer parlor of Scrip turc. Here, in the heat of the afternoon, the master lounges or dozes listlessly, refreshed by the air which circulates between the openings of the lattice work ; and here he can, if he pleases, no tice unobserved what passes in the street. In this we are to seek the summer parlor in which Ehud smote the king of Moab (Judg. iii:2o), and the 'chamber on the wall,' which the Shunamite „ and among them it was used for bathing, as is shown by David's discovering Bathsheba bath ing as he walked on the roof of his palace. This use of the reservoir has now been superseded by the establishment of public warm baths in every town, and in private mansions. Cold bath ing has all but ceased in Western Asia.