The tunic (kuttōneth, cf. χιτών, tunica), like its Greek counterpart,
was apparently of two kinds, for, although essentially a simple
and probably sleeveless garment, there was a special variety
worn by royal maidens and men of distinction, explicitly
described as a tunic of palms or soles (passīm), that is, one
presumably reaching to the hands and feet (Gen. xxxvii. 3;
2 Sam. xiii. 18 sq.).[1] The kuttōneth could be removed at night
(Cant. v. 3). For the outer garments the most distinctive term
is the simlah. This was worn by both sexes, though obviously
there was some difference as regards length, &c. (Deut. xxii. 5).
Ruth put one on before going out of doors, and its folds could
be used for carrying small loads (Ruth iii. 9; Ex. xii. 34). The
law forbade the creditor to retain it over-night as a pledge
(Ex. xxii. 26 sq.), and consequently we may assume that it was
a large outer wrapper which could be dispensed with out of
doors by men, or indoors by women. The simlah of the warrior
(Isa. ix. 5) can be illustrated from the Assyrian sculptures
(Ency. Bib., art. “Siege”); according to Herodotus (vii. 69)
the Arabs under Xerxes wore a long cloak fastened by a girdle.
The outer girdle (Heb. ḥagōrah; the Arabic equivalent term
is a kilt from thigh to knee) varied, as the monuments show,
in richness and design, and could be used as a sword-belt or
pocket much in the
same way as the
modern native uses
the long cloth twined
twice or thrice
around his body.
The more ornate
variety, called abňēt,
was worn by prominent
officials (Isa.
xxii. 21) and by the
high priest. The
modern oriental open
waistcoat finds its
fellow in the jacket
or bolero from ancient Crete, and seems to have been distinctively
Aegean. The same may also be true of breeches.
The pantaloons worn by modern females, with short tunic
and waistcoat, are not found among the Bedouin (e.g. of
Sinai), trousers being considered undignified even for men.
But a baggy kind of knickerbockers is represented in old
Aegean scenes, and it is noteworthy that the Arab mi’zar
(drawers such as were worn by wrestlers or sailors) takes its
name from the izār or loin-cloth (Ency. Bib. 1734). Such a
cloth may once have passed between the legs, being kept in
position by the waistband (examples in Perrot and Chipiez,
Greece, ii. 198 sq., 456). On the other hand, among the Africans
of Punt the waistcloth passes from each knee to the opposite
thigh, and two sashes hang down to conceal the parts where they
intersect (Müller, 108). The people of Keft (Aegeans) wore a
similar arrangement which is a step in the direction of the proper
drawers. The latter are found exceptionally upon Semitic
Bedouin with an upper covering of bands wound round the body
(Müller, 140). However, the woven decorated drawers in
Cyprus do not appear to be of Semitic origin (J. L. Myres,
Classical Review, x. 355), and it is not until later that they were
prescribed to the Israelite priests (Ezek. xliv. 18). But the
garment as explained by Josephus (Ant. iii. 7. 1) was properly
a loin-cloth (cf. the examples from Punt), and the reason given
for its use (Ex. xxviii. 42) points to a later date than the law
which enforced the same regard for decency by forbidding the
priests to ascend altars with steps (ib. xx. 26). As trousers were
distinctively Persian—though the Persians had the reputation
for borrowing Median and foreign dress (Herod. i. 71, vii. 61)—they
were no doubt familiar in Palestine in the post-exilic age,
and in the Roman period the braccae and feminalia were certainly
known. On supposed references to breeches in Dan. iii. 21, see
Journ. of Philology, xxvi. 307–313.
 |
| Fig. 12. Assyrian Warriors with captured Idols. |
Special protection for the feet was chiefly necessary in rocky districts or upon long journeys. In early Egypt men of rank would be followed by a servant carrying a pair of sandals in case of need; but in the New Kingdom they Footgear. were in common use, although a typical difference is observed when princes appear unshod in the presence of the Pharaoh, who wears sandals himself. The simplest kind was a pad or sole of leather or papyrus bound to the foot by two straps, one passing over the instep, the other between the toes.[2] A third was sometimes fastened behind the heel, and the front is often turned up to protect the toe (Egypt and elsewhere). The Semites of the XIIth Dynasty wore on their journeys sandals of black leather, those of the women and children being more serviceable, and, in the case of women, parti-coloured. Practically the same simple sandal came into use everywhere when required. But the warrior had something stouter, and the Hittites wore a turned-up shoe bound round the legs with thongs. Among the latter is also found a piece of protecting leather reaching halfway up the shin, and similar developments with tight-fitting bandages, buskins or laced garters were worn in Assyria and Asia Minor (see fig. 12). Such coverings find their analogies among the peasants of modern Cilicia and Cappadocia. Stockings, it may be added, do not appear, and are quite exceptional at the present day.
 |
| From Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement, Oct, 1907. Fig. 13.—Sacrificial Scene on a Seal from Gezer. |
 |
| Fig. 14.—Hittite Weather-god. |
The treatment of the hair, moustache and beard is extremely interesting in the study of oriental archaeology (see Müller, Meyer, opp. citt.). A special covering for the head was not indispensable. The Semites often bound Headgear. their bushy locks with a fillet, which varies from a single band (so often, e.g. Palestinian captives, 10th century) to a fourfold
- ↑ Joseph’s familiar “coat of many colours,” which we owe to the Septuagint, can perhaps be justified: R. Eisler, Orient. Lit. Zeitung, August, 1908
- ↑ Erman, 226 sqq., cf. the modern Bedouin shoe, Jennings-Bramley, Quart. Stat. of Palest. Explor. Fund (1908), p. 115 sq. (on dress of Sinaitic Bedouin generally).
