DRESS. The subject of the costume of the ancient Hebrews is involved in much obscurity and doubt. Sculptured monuments and coins afford us all needful information respecting the dress of the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans ; and even the garb worn by the bar barous nations is perpetuated in the monuments of their antagonists and conquerors. But the ancient Hebrews have left no monuments, no figures of themselves ; and the few figures which have been supposed to represent Jews in the monuments of Egypt and Persia are so uncertain, that their authority remains to be established before we can rely upon the information which they convey. There are, however, many allusions to dress in the Scriptures, and these form the only source of our positive information. They are often, indeed, ob scure, and of uncertain interpretation ; but they are invaluable in so far as they enable us to compare and verify the information derivable from other sources. These sources are ). The costume of neighbouring ancient nations, as represented in their monuments.
2. The alleged costume of Jews as represented in the same monuments.
3. The present costumes (which are known to be ancient) of Syria and Arabia.
4. Tradition.
1. The range of inquiry into monumental cos tume is very limited. It is a common mistake to talk of Oriental costume' as if it were a uniform thing, whereas, in fact, the costumes of the Asiatic nations differ far more from one another than do the costumes of the different nations of Europe. And that this was the case anciently, is shewn by the monuments, wherein the costumes of Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Medes, Syrians, and Greeks differ as much from one another as do the costumes of the modern Syrians, Egyptians, Arabs, Turks, and Persians. It is therefore useless to examine the monumental costume of any nation remote from Palestine, for the purpose of ascertaining the cos tume of the ancient Hebrews. Syria, Arabia, and Egypt are the only countries where monuments would he likely to afford any useful information : but Arabia has left no monumental figures, and Syria none of sufficiently ancient date ; and it is left for Egypt to supply all the information likely to be of use. The extent and value of this informa
tion, for the particular purpose, we believe to be far less than is usually represented. That we are not disposed to undervalue the information derivable from the Egyptian monuments for the purpose of illustrating biblical history and antiquities, the pages of the present work will sufficiently evince ; and its editor may indeed claim to be the first in this country to work this mine of materials for biblical illustration. But the rage for this kind of illustration has been carried to such preposterous lengths, and is so likely in its further progress to confuse our notions of the real position which the Hebrews occupied, that it may not be an unwhole some caution to remind our readers that the Egyp tians and the Hebrews were an exceedingly differ ent people—as different in every respect as can well he conceived ; and that the climates which they in habited were so very different as to necessitate a greater difference of food and dress than might be pre-supposed of countries so near to each other. This consideration appears to us to render of little value the very ingenious illustrations of Jewish cos tume which have been deduced from this source. It is true that the Jewish nation was cradl, d in Egypt, and this circumstance may have had some influence on ceremonial dresses, and the orna ments of women; but we do not find that nations circumstanced as the Jews were, readily adopt the costumes of other nations, especially when their residence in Egypt was always regarded by them as temporary, and when their raiment was of home manufacture, spun and woven by the women from the produce of their flocks (Exod. xxxv. 25). We find also that, immediately after leaving Egypt, the principal article of dress among the Hebrews was some ample woollen garment, fit to sleep in (Exod. xxii. 27), to which nothing similar is to be seen among the costumes of Egypt.