A common house consists of four thick walls composed of roughly cut stone built with mortar or clay. The roof is made of trunks and branches of trees, over which a layer of earth is added more than a foot deep and well stamped down. On this grass often springs up in little green shoots, but it never lasts long, for when the sun is high its rays burn up the tender green blades and they wither away. "Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up." (Psalm cxxix., 6).

The interior is divided into two parts, one of which is raised about a yard above the other. The upper portion is reserved for the family alone, while the lower part is occupied by poultry and even the sheep and goats.

The implements of husbandry are hung round the room on nails. A few mats or perhaps a home-made carpet are sometimes spread on the raised portion of the dwelling to encourage sleep. If the owner is inclined to be luxurious he purchases town made beds (lehaffs), quilts stuffed with cotton wool. These are the beds of the East, and after use they are rolled up and placed in some receptacle where they may be carefully preserved, or laid in a corner and covered with a mat. (John v., 8), "Take up thy bed and walk," was a command that could be easily and readily obeyed.

Some very primitive looking articles, chests made of dried clay baked in the sun, are found on the edge of the sleeping platform; they are corn bins and form with a very limited number of pots and jars the furniture of a peasant’s cottage. A few sacks, woven of the same material as the mantles, a wicker basket and a hand-mill will complete the list. The pottery utensils, lamps, jars and pots, that come from the hands of the native manufacturer, are very much like the pottery of the Amorite and Phoenicians that has been dug out of the earth. The common lamp of burnt clay is made from one cake with its sides turned up and nipped in near the spout or nozzle. In this oil is placed, and a burning wick that floats on the top is the only light used.

Strange though it seems, the lamp in a Fellah’s house of to-day is like that of the Amorite ages ago, of exactly the same shape, differing only in size, yet we have in this fact a great and significant confirmation of the descent of these people from the aboriginal inhabitants. Lamps of all sizes, shapes and patterns have been manufactured of the same material through all the intervening years. But wherever there is a difference it can be traced to a foreign origin.

The Jewish lamps changed little until Greek and Roman influence altered the models. As long as other nations provided utensils for the people of the land cheap enough for them they were satisfied. But when they are compelled to rely on their own efforts, for they have neither the means nor the inclination to purchase imported lamps of glass or china, they adopt the very old way of working, and the same tools. (Isaiah lxiv., 8), "We are the clay, and Thou our potter, and we are all the work of Thy hand."

They are in no way gifted with a creative or artistic faculty, unless it lies dormant, being tillers of the soil or "hewers of wood and drawers of water" (Joshua ix., 27), with ancient ideas, and therefore unable to construct anything beyond the most simple form, and for lamps and domestic utensils, of the most plastic material, clay.

These very elementary features present to us an intelligence that does not far exceed that of the rudest savage. Clay is of such a nature that the art of working it might be easily discovered, and the baking of it in an oven is but one step in the development and improvement of the crudest mind, and represents only the first effort in the art of manufacture. Thus we see what very primitive minds are now in the possession of the peasants compared with the maturity of the rest of mankind in civilised countries. It is the same in everything else connected with the Fellaheen of Palestine. They are old-world people and belong to a period very remote from this.

Earthenware lamps now found in great quantities in the Holy Land, and still used by the peasants, were and are carried by virgins that go to meet the bridegroom. (See St. Matt. xxv.,1), "Ten virgins which took their lamps."" here are generally understood to be torches by Greek scholars, but this in no way affects the point in question. Even now at a city "wedding torches are used, but in a village, lamps. Some lamps hold a very small amount of oil, and in olden times little jars were used for carrying any additional supply that might be needed. The foolish virgins had made no provision for a time of waiting, and their lamps were going out.

If the Fellah may be said to have a luxury it is by way of a light. For a man to have no light burning after nightfall is a sign of extreme poverty, and peasants in referring to a poor man will say ‘‘he sleeps in darkness", .The "light" is often mentioned in the Bible as of great importance, and with a similar idea to that now held by the Fellaheen. They consider it synonymous with the light of life. Around many early Christian lamps (fifth century) in very elementary Greek are found the same words, "light of life".

When a man in cursing another, says, "May your lamp be put out", he means the life of the family altogether. In Proverbs xiii., 9, we find exactly the same expression with the same meaning, "the lamp of the wicked shall be put out."

The house door is always open so that all may see, as the light of day streams in, that the deeds. of the family are above suspicion. If a door was shut the people on the outside would think that, something was being done within of which they were ashamed; they are fully alive to the fact that "men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil." (St. John iii. 19.)

During the day the house is never closed for another reason, that the hospitality of which every man is proud may be apparent to all who pass by.

There is no privacy in a village; everybody walks everywhere, and enters not only into any house but joins in the conversation and seeks a share in the business carried on by other people, until the darkness gathers and there is no more light to shut out; then every peasant seeks his own home and the house is made secure for the night. Soon after six o’clock in winter and eight o’clock in summer the day is done, and work and play cease until the morrow.

Twice a day the Fellah eats, and as many more times as the opportunity offers. He is unlike an Englishman not only in his manner of taking food but in his capacity for providing a space for as much as is set before him. When there is nothing left the meal is finished. To the peasant there is a certain amount of forethought in this method, as a provision is made for the time when he may have to content himself with less than a good meal a day, perhaps nothing at all. "Daily" bread is all he thinks about, and as much of it as possible.

Woman’s, first duty every morning is to take a supply of grain from the corn bin and call a neighbour or friend and grind it at the mill. Matt. xxiv., 41, "Two women shall be grinding at the mill." Two women are always required for this work on account of the weight of the upper stone, one woman would be useless. The corn is put into a hole at the top and gradually falls between the stones as the topmost revolves on the one underneath, and is crushed into coarse flour. The sound of grinding corn is a sign of life and prosperity, "And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low" (Eccl. xii., 4), would mean desolation and sorrow;

Very little time is occupied in baking, as there is not very much kneading to be done, the dough being spread in a thin layer, which when placed on hot ashes is soon ready for eating. When leavened bread is made a small quantity of sour dough is used, this is "the leaven that leaveneth the whole" (1 Cor. v., 6), and a piece of dough is always kept on one side for this purpose, though rarely used, as unleavened bread is generally eaten. 1 Sam. xxviii., 24, "And did bake unleavened bread." (See also Exodus xii., 39.)

The oven is not in the house, it has a building of its own, the joint property of several families whose duty it is to keep it always hot, and being an article of baked clay it retains the heat for a considerable length of time when covered with ashes. (Leviticus xxvi., 26), "Ten women shall bake your bread in one oven". The fuel, is the rough grass, leaves, green twigs, and dung that the children collect round the village, which is put into the oven itself. (See Mal.’ Iv, 1 ; Matt. vi., 30.) While the mother bakes, the daughters are sent to the well for water, and the breakfast is then ready.

Where there are rules in a household, which is seldom, the morning meal is provided by the wife in the early part of the day, but if the attention of the male portion of the family is required outside a few pieces of bread are carried and eaten on the way to work. Towards evening the principal and perhaps only real meal is prepared, and consists of bread with a relish, either made of vegetables, tomatoes or onions, or in the shape of home-made cheese, or olives. Meat is seldom eaten unless an animal is killed to prevent its dying a natural death. Fruit is consumed at all times where plentiful, and cucumbers take the place of apples to the boys of Palestine. A father has been known to purchase half-a-dozen as a bribe to induce his son to go to school.

The food, when prepared, is carried on a tray to the men, (which is often the only substitute for a table), who sit round it without knives or forks, dipping their fingers, in the various dishes with pieces of bread in which is taken up to the mouth the liquid part of the food. A woman may eat at the same time as her husband if there is no visitor, but certainly not in the presence of a stranger.

In well conducted houses no one takes his place at the trencher without first washing his hands. A boy or servant will pour water on them, unless the host, wishing to honour a guest, takes that humble duty himself; even the feet will be washed if the visitor is of some importance.’ In Luke vii., 44 "I entered into thine house, thou gayest Me no water for My feet", we find Christ mildly rebuking Simon, the Pharisee, for his lack of service compared with the reverential act of the woman "who was a sinner." Evidently the Saviour had been treated with marked indifference, unbecoming a host who prided himself on being used to the amenities of social life.

We see in Mark vii., 4, "Except they wash they eat not," how common was the custom of washing before meals. The same outward cleansing is carried to an extreme at the present day. If a Moslem peasant has washed his hands for prayer he will not touch the hand of any woman, not even his mother, lest he be defiled and his prayer of no avail.

I once watched a soldier of the garrison in Jerusalem greet a female relation from the country after he had cleansed his hands for his mid-day devotions. He carried a cloak so that he could place it between his own hand and that of the woman.

The peasants before partaking of their meal will say "Bismillah," "In the name of God," and conclude with thanks.

If there are cushions in the house they are brought for the honoured guest so that he may recline more comfortably, and every mark of respect is shown to him. The servant meekly stands behind, ready to give him water, and every motion is eagerly watched. But this would be noticed more plainly in the house of a Sheikh. There the servant never leaves his master’s presence, whether during a meal or any other time, except to do his bidding. His eyes are fixed on his features, watching to see if he can anticipate his wishes; and so thoroughly does he learn to know him that one scarcely ever hears a command. Every look is recognised and its meaning interpreted. Psalm xxxii., 8, "I will guide with mine eye." Psalm cxxiii., 2, "Behold as the eyes of the servants look unto the hand of their masters . . . . so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that He have mercy upon us."

During the progress of the meal we might almost imagine our Lord and His disciples sitting at meat, and the dipping of the sop, for this is a common practice and one that cannot well be understood by those only acquainted with western habits. What would anyone think at an English table if someone put his hand in a dish and offered a morsel to his neighbour? He would be looked upon as unmannerly and vulgar. There is nothing vulgar about it in the east. And there the way of taking food is comfortable and affectionate; and certainly eating with clean fingers is quite as sensible as any other method, and much less risky than the manner of using a knife peculiar to some people.

When the meal is over there is again a washing; the servant, girded with a towel, ministers to each one. John xiii., 4, 5, "He riseth from. supper, and laid aside His garments; and took a towel and girded Himself. After that He poureth water into a basin, amid began to wash the disciples’ feet."

What a lowly and graceful act was that of the Saviour. What humility. The example can only well be understood by a reference to the life of the people in the Holy Land, yet the precept is the same all over the world, but little heeded,

In summer the cooking operations are carried on out of doors in the open air, but in cold weather the house is preferred. There is no fireplace worthy of the name. A little open clay-baked box, or a curious article like a thick jar with holes at the side and shallow, that can be carried about quite easily, is the only stove they use. Dried dung is the fuel, and when it is lit in the house where there is no aperture for the escape of the smoke except the door, it is neither pleasant for the eyes nor the nose.

There is one advantage, however, in having no chimney, the owner is saved the expense of colouring the walls. In a few years time the surface is a rich dark brown, which grows deeper with age until it is quite black. Sticks are sometimes burnt but not by a poor Fellah. His wife takes them to town and sells them. A rich Sheikh can afford to burn wood or charcoal; John xviii., 18, "a fire of coals;" and a visit to his house alone would furnish a different impression of the people.

There is one building in the village set apart for the stranger - the guest house - Meddfe. Should anyone on entering a village inquire for "the guest house" or "guest chamber" — (Medâfe), he will be taken immediately to this building where he may safely lodge for the night and be provided with a supper. In some villages there is more than one, but only when there are rival factions and rival Sheikhs. One Medàfe in a village is ~ sign of a peaceful community under one head. If the village is large and important, the headman or Sheikh will be rich and very likely have a special chamber for his guests, besides the common hospitable Medãfe. In small towns, like Bethlehem, all rich men have these guest chambers, and it was no doubt to one of these in Jerusalem that Christ sent His two disciples. Mark xiv., 14, "Say to the good man of the house, the Master saith, where is ,the guest chamber?"

Where there is a large population and numerous guest chambers there is seldom one common Medâfe, a large "Kahn" or inn will be found instead, where a small charge is made for the accommodation of the traveller who will often sleep beside his beast. Though this is not necessary, there is sometimes a danger of someone mistaking the animal for his own and taking it away in the dark before the real owner is aware of its removal.

A portion of the inn, the "lewan," is raised about a foot above the surrounding enclosure and covered in. On this platform the weary may seek their repose after a day’s journey, providing always their own bed-clothing, space alone being found by the innkeeper. When every available spot is occupied, and this often happens in the pilgrim season, a place for sleeping must be sought for elsewhere. Should the inn happen to be on the side of a hill there may be caves hollowed out of the limestone rock that offer extra accommodation, and one of these will be warmer and more comfortable than the open ground within the four walls of a khan. When Joseph and Mary arrived at the inn or khan in Bethlehem, nearly 2,000 years ago, they were glad to find shelter in one of these caves, where the Son of Man came into the world, because there was "no room for them in the inn" (St. Luke ii., 7), that is on the "lewan," and a hole in the precincts of the inn was better than. the bare and open ground beneath the sky in the wet season.