EGYPTIAN OR HEBREW THRESHING FLOOR 44

AN EGYPTIAN REAPING 48

CANAANITE HOES 48

CANAANITE SICKLE 48

CANAANITE OR HEBREW PLOWSHARES 48

MODERN ARAB WOMAN SPINNING 52

ANCIENT HEBREW DOOR KEY 52

HEBREW NEEDLES OF BONE 52

SMALLER KEY 52

CANAANITE CHISEL (Bronze) 76

CANAANITE FILE 76

VERY ANCIENT CANAANITE FLINT, FOR MAKING STONE KNIVES 76

BRONZE HAMMERHEAD 76

BONE AWL HANDLE 76

A FISH-HOOK 76

CANAANITE WHETSTONES 76

CANAANITE OR HEBREW NAILS 76

REMAINS OF WALLS OF THE CANAANITE CITY, MEGIDDO 134

PART OF CITY WALL AND GATE, SAMARIA 134

CANAANITE PIPE OR FIFE 144

AN EGYPTIAN HARP 144

AN ASSYRIAN UPRIGHT HARP 144

AN ASSYRIAN HORIZONTAL HARP 144

A BABYLONIAN HARP 144

JEWISH HARPS ON COINS OF BAR COCHBA, 132-135 A.D. 144

ASSYRIAN DULCIMER 144

FOREWORD

Most histories have been histories of kings and emperors. The daily
life of the common people--their joys and sorrows, their hopes,
achievements, and ideals--has been buried in oblivion. The historical
narratives of the Bible are, indeed, to a great extent an exception to
this rule. They tell us much about the everyday life of peasants and
slaves. The Bible's chief heroes were not kings nor nobles. Its
supreme Hero was a peasant workingman. But we have not always studied
the Bible from this point of view. In this course we shall try to
reconstruct for ourselves the story of the Hebrew people as an account
of Hebrew shepherds, farmers, and such like: what oppressions t