On entering Palestine, the Israelites occupied the dwellings of the dispossessed inhabitants ; and for a long time no new buildings would be needed. The generation which began to build ncw houses must have been born and bred in the country, and would naturally erect buildings like those which already existed in the land. Their mode of build ing was, therefore, that of the Canaanites, whom they had dispossessed. Of their sty-le of building we are not required to fonn any exalted notions. In all the history of the conquest of the country by the Israelites, there is no account of any large or conspicuous building being taken or destroyed by them. It would seem also as if there had been no temples ; for we read not that any were destroyed by the conquerors ; and the command that the monuments of idolatry should be overthrown, specifies only altars, groves, and high places— which seems to lead to the same conclusion ; since, if there had been temples existing in the land of Canaan, they would doubtless have bcen included. It is also manifest from the history that the towns which the Hebrews found in Palestine were mostly small, and that the largest were distinguished rather by their number than by the size or magni ficence of their buildings.
It is impossible to say to what extent Solomon'z improvements in state architecture operated to the advancement of domestic architecture. He built
different palaces, and it is reasonable to conclude that his nobles and great officers followed more or less the models which these palaces presented. ln the East, however, the domestic architecture of the bulk of the people is little affected by the improve ments in state buildings. Men go on building from age to age as their forefathers built ; and in all pro bability the houses which we now see in Palestine are such as those in which the Jews, and the Canaanites before them, dwelt—the mosques, the Christian churches, and the monasteries, being the only new features in the scene.
There is no reason to suppose that many houses in Palestine were constructed with wood. A great part of that country was always very poor in tim ber, and the middle part of it had scarcely any wood at all. But of stone there was no want ; and it was consequently much used in the building of houses. The law of Moses respecting, leprosy in houses (Lev. xiv. 33-4.o) clearly proves this, as the characteristics there enumemted could only occur in the case of stone walls. Still, when the Hebrews intendcd to build a house in the most splendid style and in accordance with the taste of the age, as much wood as possible was used. Hav ing premised this, the principal building materials mentioned in Scripture may be enumerated with reference to their place in the three kingdoms of nature.