Tent (Hastings' Dictionary)

S.-K (oTitoj, (j-Kiji'i)) is tlie word commonly used for 'tent' ; AV often ' tabernacle,' but RV con- sistently ' tent.' [JvP (<^'"!''^) ' habitation,' is usu- ally rendered 'tabernacle,' only once (Ca 1*) 'tent.' For distinction between Sr'K and [ryo see art. Tabernacle, .ip = ' booth ' made by interweaving leaves and brandies; once (2 S 11") AV 'tent' (RV 'booth,' LXX oKyi,) and AVm (1 K 20', '« RVm ' hut ').

Accordin" to the Rabbis, a booth becomes a tent if a bit of cloth is spread over it to protect it from the sun, or stretched under the roof to prevent leaves and twigs from falling on the fable (Succah i. 3). n;;; (Ka/uvoi) from [djb] ' to hollow out,' is once in AV tr. ' tent ' (Nu 25' RV 'pavilion,' marg. 'alcove'; cf. Arab. Icubbah 'a h'.rge vaulted tent,' also 'dome,' 'vault,' whence, with the art., throu''h the Spanish, ' alcove,' orig. a vaulted recess).

1 rom i;n (jrapt/ijSdXXu) ' to en- camp,' AV ' to abide in teiits ' (Nu 9»"- *', Ezr 8"), comes ri^u^ ' camp ' (LXX drelx'i"'05)> tr. by AV 'tents' in Nu 13" etc.; in each case RV cor- rects. We may safely take the modem tent as closely resembling that of ancient times. No simpler dwelling can well be iiiuigined. The tent-cover is rough, strong cloth of dark goats' hair.

It is commonly supported by nine poles arranged in rows of three ; the middle row lengthwise, is somewhat higher, measuring from 6 to 7 ft. : the roof therefore slopes to front and back. The cover is stretched, and the tent held in position by means of long cords fastened to the cloth, and attached to pms firmly driven into the ground. \ curtain of the same m.aterial, but rather lighter, is hung round the more exposed side of the tent, to shelter from sun and wind.

A similar curtain, drawn across the middle, fixed on the tent-poles, divides the tciit, the one end forming the men's ap.irtinent, the other that of the women (Tin, cf. Arab, khit/r). Very seldom, and that only in cases of considerable wealth, the women have a tent to themselves. The making, pitching, striking, packing, and unpacking of the t«nt8 is all women's work. They ■pin tho hair yam, twist the cords, and weave the cloth in long narrow strips, with very primitive appliances.

To form roof or curtain, these strips are sewn together to the required breadth. The greatest care is taken with the roof. When it has been used for a little, and is somewhat shrunken, it becomes quite water])rouf, and will turn the heaviest rain. Sometimes cloth for the roof is bought by way of barter, from such villages as Khabab, in el-Lejd, or Judeideh, overlooking Merj A'yiln, which are famous for their hair manufac- tures.

To excel in skilful driving home of the tent-pegs is an immemorial ambition among Arab women. The furniture of this ' house ' or ' house of hair ' {bait, bait sha'r, or, less frequently, bait tunhar) is extremely simple. In a few tents of the rich may be fount! cushions and mattresses covered with coloured silk ; but for the most part a couple of coarse straw mats serve the purposes of chairs and table by day, and bed by ni^ht. A circle of thin leather, about 2 ft.

in diuiiictur, drawn into a sort of bag by means of a thong passed tlirough holes round the edge, contains the thin loaves baked in the desert, and is spread flat on the ground at meal- time. The lamp (anciently of clay) or lantern is now generally of tin, made by Jewish travelling tinkers, from empty petroleum cans. Clay ware is too brittle to be of much use.

Usually each tent has a metal plate, flat or convex, for baking ; a few pots or pans for cooking, tlie food being eaten from the dish in which it is cooked ; perhaps a hand-mill ; and if the owner make any pretensions to dignity, mortar and pestle ; and the necessary utensils tor roasting the beans and making coll'ee. The fireplace may lie a few stones set loosely to- gether, or a hole in the ground just at the edge of the tent.

Goat-skins, half tanned, with the liaii outward, are made into bags, which hold grain, water, butter-milk, and other liquids; and when swung on a tripod serve to churn butter. The butter is always melted at once, and is carried about in these skins. The saddles of horse and camel, with corresponding saddle-bags of rough hair cloth, complete the tent furniture.

Most things are crowded together in the women's apart- ment ; that of the men is always free for the re- ception and entertainment of guests. When the tents are few in number, belonging to some small family or division, they are set in a circle ; the sheikh's tent is that to the right of the entrance. In larger camps the order varies. One visited by the jjresent writer contained upwards of 150 tents, and from a distance resembled a town of black-roofed houses, arranged in irregular streets.

The sheikh's tent is distinguished from the others only by its greater size. It always faces the direction from which strangers are most likely to arrive. The black tents of the nomads have flitted shadow-like over Syrian field and Arabian steppe from the dawn of human history. The ancient fathers of the Hebrew race dwell in tents (He 11" etc.) Their wealth consisted mainly in cattle.

Tho tent, so easily portable, is by far the most convenient 'house' for the flock-master, who is ever on the move in search of fresh pasture. After the settlement in Palestine, those portions of the people who followed the herdsman's life continued to dwell in tents, e.g. those east of the Jordan who held the grazing lands towards the desert. This old form of life left its impress in the language of later times, e.g. I'D), where the root-idea is the pulling out of the tent-pegs.

When the tent -life was long past, men still spoke of going home as going 'to their tents' (Jos 22'', 2 S 20', 1 K 12"). The tent and its appurtenances play a considerable part in sacred imagery. Fleeting life u like the shepherd's tent, here to-day, gone 718 TEPHON TEREBINTH to-morrow (Is 38'-). Wlien the cord gives way the tent collapses ; hence tlie tent-cord as a lij^'ure of the thread of life (Job 4-').

The secure city is a tent whose pegs cannot be plucked up, nor its cords broken (Is 33-"). Prosperous growth is jiicturtil as a lengthening of the cords and a strengtliening of the stakes (Is 54=). See also in NT 2 Co 5'- *, 2 P !'»■ ", Lk 1U». On tent-making see, further, art. HAIR, vol. ii. p. 285", and I'AUL, vol. iii. p. 699'. W. EwiNG.