----------------------------+

CLOTHING

Another occupation at which the women worked all day long was the
making of clothing for their families. Most of their garments were
made of the wool from their own flocks. First the wool had to be spun
into yarn. They did not even have spinning wheels in those days, so a
spinner took a handful of wool on the end of a stick called a distaff,
which she held in her left hand. With her right hand she hooked into
the wool a spindle. This was a round, pointed piece of wood about ten
inches long with a hook at the pointed end, and with a small piece of
stone fastened to the other to give momentum in the spinning. With
deft fingers the spinner kept this spindle whirling and at the same
time kept working the wool down into the thread of yarn which she was
making. As the thread lengthened she wound it around the spindle,
until the wool on the distaff was all gone and she had a great ball of
yarn.

=Weaving=.--The ancient Egyptians and Babylonians were experts in the
art of weaving. They had large looms similar to ours, and wove on them
beautiful fabrics of linen and wool. The shepherds on the plains no
doubt bought these fabrics when they could afford them. But they could
not carry these heavy looms around with them from one camp to another,
and much of the time their own women had to weave whatever cloth they
had. The primitive loom they used was made by driving two sticks into
the ground, and stretching a row of threads between them, and then
tediously weaving the cross threads in and out, a thread at a time,
until a yard or so of cloth was finished. Slow work this was, and many
a long day passed before enough cloth could be woven to make a coat
for a man or even a boy.

They managed, however, to get along without nearly so much clothing as
we think necessary. The little children, through warm days of summer,
played around the tents almost naked. And the grown people dressed
very simply. There were only two garments for either men or women.
They wore a long shirt reaching to the knees. This was made by
doubling over a strip of cloth, sewing the sides, and cutting out
holes for arms and neck. The outer garment was a sort of coat, open in
front, and gathered about the waist with leather belt. This outer
garment was often thrown aside when the wearer was working. It was
worn in cold weather, however, and was often the poor man's only
blanket at night. Women's garments were probably