City (Hastings' Dictionary)

1. On'nin.— The Oriental city owed nothing to org.anizeu manufacture, and was only in a few instances, such as Arvad, Sidon, Tyre, anil .lop|ia, dependent upon maritime trade. It was a creation of agriculture, wliicli was an out- oome of tlie pastoral life. Aa the country .settled down to the cultivation of the soil, the peasantry found themselves In constant danger from the wandering tribes of the desert, who often sent their flocks among the standing crops, and carried off tlie cattle ami grain. The neces.sity of pro- tecting life and property from such enemies was the chief factor in the creation of the village, out of whi<-li in turn grew the city. These would naturally be found near those who could protect them, or in gr.aingrowing districts, or in positions of natural strcnj:tli and in pos.session of a siiflicient water-supply. Hence the village or town was often named from the local well (Beer-, En-), the liill on whicli it w.as built (Gibeah-), or its sanctity as 'a high place' (Baal-), or became distinguished by the name of its ruling (family, or of some conspicu- ous house (Beth-). 2. D'-vclo/iiiicnt. — The city grew out of the village, as tlie village owed its origin to the house. The expansion was on the same lines as that of the nation from the tribe, and the tribe from the family. Looking, therefore, to these ultimate factors, we find that each house had its ba'al or lord, and under him (lie family was an indepen- dent organism, seeking its own livelihood and welfare. An act of hospitality to a stranger gave him the sacred privileges of t)ie family guild, and the sanctity of the guest became the right of later citizenship. The gr.adual slackening of this bond is given in the Arab, proverb, ' My brother and I against my cousin, my cousin and I against the stranger.' These two facts of auth/>rity and romhirtntion made up the aristocratic and democratic elements of the village an<l city. It iiii','lit be under the pro- tection of a feudal lonl living in a fortress around which the city clustered, or near which it was built ; or it might depend entirely upon its own wall and the courage and fidelity of its inhabitants. The agricultural life of Palestine kneiv nothing of separate farmsteatls dotting the landscape. The peasants had to retire for the night to the village, like the shee]) to the fold. It was customary for the smaller villages to recoCTiize the motherhood or sujierior protection of a large city. Thus the inhabitants of Laish looked to Zidon the Great (Jg 18^), and at the present day every inhabitant of Syria is considered to belong to Esh-Sh.lm (Damascus). Hence the expression 'cities and tlieir villages,' ' cities and their daughters,' in Nu 2r'" 32", Jos 15 and 19. The feudal lords or the superior cities, in return for protection oll'ered against nomad invasions and other dangers, re- ceived payment in service and produce (see Taxes). The service rendered by the peasant to his superior was originally of the nature of a son's obedience to the fathers command, and passed eventually into coi-vie labour.' 3. Cluiracterislics. — The chief feature of an Oriental city was its wall. This gave it the right to be so named (Lv25''"-), though in later times the title turned upon the ecclesiastical distinction of having ten men of leisure and suitability for the services of the synagogue. The wall had one or more gates, which were closed from sunset to sunrise ; Tience the explanation of their rem.Tining open where there is uo night (Rev 21^). All within the wall were of one mind, pledged to obey the laws of the city, and seek the welfare of its inhabitants. The newspaper office and court of tribunal were found at the city gate by which strangers entered and the inhabitants went out to their daily occupation in the fields. Domestic news circulated around the fountain while the women waited their turn to 1)11 the water-jar. The bank was represented by the seat of the money-changer, while our modern factories of organized labour appeared as special streets allocated to special trades. This last arrangement was due to the dill'erent artisan giiilils, in which the son usually followed the occupation of his father ; it was also of fiscal convenience in the collection of taxes through a recognized and responsible head. On occasions of general taxation, each man, wherever he nii'dit be living and work- ing, was reckoned as still belonging to the city of his birth. Thus Joseph went up from Nazareth to IJethlchem, the city of his family (Lk '2^). In an Oriental city each house had its own in- violabilitj-, its power to admit and exclude. The passer-by in the narrow street could know no- thing or what was going on within those dead walls, with their windows and balconies all open- ing on the central court. He was as much outside as the dog at his feet. It is probable that the streets of Oriental towns have alwaj's by jirefer- ence been narrow, suflicient for the foot passenger and baggage-animal, and afl'ordiiig shelter from the sun to the merchants and tradesmen. Such are the streets of Hebron ami Zidon ; and in Damascus the 'street called straight ' (Ac 9"), once a broad Roman carriage-way, with a foot-path on each side of the stately colonnade, now shows a return to the Oriental type. Again, each quarter of a large city might have its own homogeneousness. At the present day the distinction is generally a religious one, as (Chris- tian, Jewish, Moslem ; or of race, as Western and Oriental. In Damascus, for example, the ringing of an alarm bell in the (Jreek church can cause the gates of the Christian quarter to be closed, and the district in a few minutes to assume the character of a fortress. • Any payment made froiu time to time hv the Kmir or.Sti«i1<b u'a.s of tlie uiHlL'liiied nature of a (fnituity, tile tenn for whicli in Araljic, /uill-inSn'amah, is the equivaleut of St. I'aul's ' lurceMi inff richer f^ gract' 446 CITY OF DAVID CLAUDIUS Then, lastly, the entire city, with its massive girdling wall, had the attitude both of friendly enclosure and hostile exclusion. DAMUOtm CITT-SATE — KNTRANCE TO STRAIGHT STREET. The chief meaTiinps of an Oriental city are thus found to be Snfety, Socir.ty, Service. Thus we '"ad in Ps 107' of ' a city to dwell in,' ' a city of habita- tions,' around which men 'sow fields' (vv.- •'). Abraham, dwelling in his black movable tent, journeyed by faith tx)wards a fair city ' which hath foundations'* (He II'"). In Rev 21. 22 these various features appear as borrowed from the green earth in the glorified vision of the Holy City. There the tabernacle of God is with men ; the city has its wall and gates ; as an extended family- house it has ' foundations' like the special corner- stone ; it is a place of safety into which the nations bring their glory and honour ; it has its own fountain-head siipply of water, and abundant means of sustaining life; there the servants serve their Lord ; and all who are hostile to its order and interests shall in no wise enter into it. (See Citizenship, Elder, (Jovernment, Palestine, Refuge (Cities of), and cf. Benzinger, Heh. Arch. 124 H'.) G. M. Mackie.