ences which they
uttered in their dreams were treasures of religious wisdom. They prayed
every morning at sunrise, and then spent the day in turning over the
sacred volumes, and the commentaries, which explained the allegories,
or pointed out a secondary meaning as hidden beneath the surface of even
the historical books of the Old Testament. At sunset they again prayed,
and then tasted their first and only meal. Selfdenial indeed was the
foundation of all their virtues. Some made only three meals in the week,
that their meditations might be more free; while others even attempted
to prolong their fast to the sixth day. During six days of the week they
saw nobody, not even one another. On the seventh day they met together
in the synagogue. Here they sat, each according to his age; the women
separated from the men. Each wore a plain, modest robe, which covered
the arms and hands, and they sat in silence while one of the elders
preached. As they studied the mystic powers of numbers, they thought the
number seven was a holy number, and that seven times seven made a great
week, and hence they kept the fiftieth day as a solemn festival. On that
day they dined together, the men on one side and the women on the other.
The rushy papyrus formed the couches; bread was their only meat, water
their drink, salt the seasoning, and cresses the delicacy. They would
keep no slaves, saying that all men were born equal. Nobody spoke,
unless it was to propose a question out of the Old Testament, or to
answer the question of another. The feast ended with a hymn of praise.

[Illustration: 029.jpg BEDOUIN TENT IN THE DESERT]

The ascetic Jews of Palestine, the Essenes on the banks of the Dead Sea,
by no means, according to Philo, thus quitted the active duties of life;
and it would seem that the Therapeutas rather borrowed their customs
from the country in which they had settled, than from any sects of the
Jewish nation. Some classes of the Egyptian priesthood had always held
the same views of their religious duties. These Egyptian monks slept on
a hard bed of palm branches, with a still harder wooden pillow for the
head; they were plain in their dress, slow in walking, spare in diet,
and scarcely allowed themselves to smile. They washed thrice a day, and
prayed as often; at sunrise, at noon, and at sunset. They often fasted
from animal food, and at all times refused many meats as unclean.
They passed their lives alone, either in study or wrapp