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\r\n RED STUFF<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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“\u2026Let me swallow some of the red stuff because I am famished\u2026” – Genesis 25:30. The red stuff refers to a stew or soup made from red lentils, often referred to as Pottage. It was prepared by Jacob, the younger twin brother of Esau. Esau returned home from the fields exhausted and starving, but found that Jacob was unwilling to share his meal. Jacob wanted to negotiate the food in exchange for Esau\u2019s birthright of inheritance. Esau carelessly traded away the family name, titles, and a hefty portion of his father\u2019s assets for some of the red lentil stuff. This…<\/p>\n

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\r\n COSMETAE<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\u201cA woman without paint is like food without salt.\u201d – Roman philosopher Plautus, 254-184 B.C. The wealthy Roman woman had a slave specially trained in the art of applying makeup, lotions, and perfumes. Her valet’s title was cosmetae, meaning “to anoint and paint.” The higher the lady’s status, the more makeup she wore. Regardless of class, the majority of Roman women used toiletries, else wise were not considered attractive. The exception were the “holy and pure” Vestal Virgins. Popular eye shadow colors were minerals of blue azurite and poisonous green malachite, along with charred rose petals mixed with ground date…<\/p>\n

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\r\n LAMP UNTO MY FEET<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” – Psalm 119:105. When ancient travelers journeyed at night, walking over uneven, pebbled pathways could be a daunting task. Holding out a handheld lamp illuminated rocks and ruts directly ahead. At times the traveler would strap a small clay lamp directly to his ankle, allowing shafts of light to shoot out ahead of his feet. Only the immediate area was revealed, yet provided the necessary safe footing. God does not promise us a fully lit path; rather a journey made one step at a time. Copyright…<\/p>\n

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\r\n WHITED SEPULCHRES<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye are like whited sepulchers…”\u00a0 – Matthew 23:27. According to Jewish law, coming into contact with the dead would result in contamination and defilement.\u00a0 Therefore the Jews were instructed to whitewash, or cover with lime, all tombs and gravesites. Pouring chalk infused water upon the unclean place would make it obvious, and thus easy to avoid. The practice of yearly whitewashing kept the sepulcher\u2019s facade brilliantly clean and beautiful. Yet, this did not change the true nature of its interior; death and putrefaction. In an address to the multitudes, Jesus gave instructions…<\/p>\n

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\r\n APICIUS<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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“Apicius, the most gluttonous gorger of all spendthrifts, established the view that flamingo’s tongue has a specially fine flavor.” – Pliny, Natural History X.133. Marcus Gavius Apicius was a Roman merchant famous for his legendary epicurean talents. He devised exotic and sumptuous recipes, and hosted dinner parties for the luminaries of his time. Among his notable associates were Emperor Tiberius, and his son, Drusus. According to Pliny the Elder, Apicius convinced Drusus not to consume low class foods such as cymae, cabbage tops or cabbage sprouts. Cymae, sprouting broccoli, was known as Italian asparagus in the Roman province of Britanniae…<\/p>\n

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\r\n OLIVES BEATEN FOR THE LIGHT<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\u201cAnd you shall charge the sons of Israel, that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.\u201d – Exodus 27:20. These were instructions given to Moses and the people of Israel regarding the lighting of the Tabernacle. A lamp stand was to be placed outside the inner curtain of the Most Holy Place, and the lights were to be kept burning day and night. This responsibility was given to Aaron and his sons. In later times, Josephus reports that at least three out of the seven lights burned during the daylight…<\/p>\n

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\r\n RED MULLETS<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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“You sold a slave to buy a costly mullet for your dinner, Calliodorus…” – Martial, Epigrams X, XXXI. Ancient Romans were so fond of red mullet that they were bred in domestic ponds. Conscientiously attended by their caretakers, the fish were trained to surface at the ringing of a bell, or when summoned by their owner. Roman orator and senate leader, Quintus Hortensius, had fishponds at Baculo. But rather than eat his own mullets, he would buy them from nearby Puteoli. Of this, the scholar Varro recorded: “He took more pains to keep his mullets from getting hungry than he…<\/p>\n

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\r\n SLIME THE BRICKS<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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“…And they had brick for stone, and slime for mortar”\u00a0 – Genesis 11:4. After the great flood, Noah and his offspring were instructed by God to be fruitful, to multiply, and to fill the earth (Genesis 9:1). According to the Jewish historian, Josephus, after departing the mountains of Ararat, they eventually settled within Mesopotamia’s Euphrates River valley. At this point in history, it was named the plain of Shinar (Antiquities of the Jews 1:4:1). This is in agreement with Genesis 11:2 “and it came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and…<\/p>\n

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\r\n COLUMNA LACTARIA<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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“Everyone, even if he is poor, rears a son; but exposes a daughter, even if he is rich”.\u00a0 – Poseidippus of Cassandreia, 316-250 B.C. Under the earliest Roman laws, parents could legally dispose of their deformed babies if they had the agreement of 5 neighbors. Soon the consensus was no longer required, and people were free to rid themselves of any unwanted children, healthy or otherwise. According to Seneca, Philo and Cicero, infants were drowned, smothered, dumped into the trash, exposed to the elements, devoured by stray dogs or sold to slave traffickers. In some eras, the family patriarch, not…<\/p>\n

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\r\n NIGHT TRAFFIC<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\u201cThe crossing of wagons in the narrow, winding streets, the swearing of drivers brought to a standstill would snatch sleep from a sea-lion or emperor Claudius himself.\u201d\u00a0 – Decimus Junius Juvenalis. The design and width of Roman roads was specified by the Laws of the Twelve Tables around 450 B.C. Major thoroughfares designed for side by side carts were known as viae. They were to be 8-feet wide on the straightaway, and twice that width on curves. Ideally they were built as straight and narrow as possible, thus reducing the amount of materials needed. Notable were the Via Sacra and…<\/p>\n

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\r\n CAPUCHIN CRYPT<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\u201cA monument of funerary art\u201d – Marquis de Sade, A.D. 1775. The Capuchin Crypt is situated beneath the Roman church, Santa Maria della Concezione. There is no official history of its development over the centuries, but it is known that some of the soil was brought from Jerusalem by order of Pope Urban VIII. When the friars arrived at the church in 1631, they transferred 300 cartloads of exhumed brothers from the Friary Via dei Lucchesi. Upon entering the burial vault, the visitor sees a sign that reads: \u201cWhat you are now, we once were; what we are now, you…<\/p>\n

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\r\n HAND IN MARRIAGE<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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“If you want to be loved, be lovable.” Hecato of Rhodes, 100 B.C.; quoted by Seneca, Moral Epistles, epistle IX. There were five methods through which a Roman woman could legally enter matrimonium. By living with the man continuously for a period of one year; be exchanged for money symbolic of sale; marry in a religious ceremony; go into marriage while permanently remaining under the legal authority of her father (sina-manu); or enter into a free marriage. Most marriages during the Republic Era were of the manus type.\u00a0\u00a0The male was the head of the household and held complete power over…<\/p>\n

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\r\n GLADIATORS<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\u201cThere is nothing so ruinous to good character as to idle away one’s time at some spectacle.\u201d\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0Seneca A.D. 40. Gladiator matches, like chariot racing, probably originated as funeral games. Livy recorded the first Roman gladiatorial combat in 264 B.C. when 3-pairs of gladiators fought to the death in honor of D. Junius Brutus\u2019 father. The duties received, or munus, were owed to the deity of the deceased by the descendants. As such, these early gladiator games became known as Munera Games, with the associated meaning of benefit to the public. In 65 B.C. Julius Caesar commemorated his father with…<\/p>\n

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\r\n BATHED HIS FEET WITH TEARS<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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“\u2026She began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head\u2026”\u00a0\u00a0 – Luke 7:38. Possible elucidation: Every family owned a tear bottle.\u00a0\u00a0The materials ranged from simple pottery to thin glass.\u00a0\u00a0All were made with a slender body, broad at the base with a funnel-shaped top. When serious trouble or death occurred in\u00a0a home, relatives arrived with\u00a0his or her\u00a0tear bottle.\u00a0\u00a0As they wept and wailed, the tears rolling down their cheeks were collected. The bottle was exceedingly sacred to them, representing all their heartaches, sorrow and bereavement.\u00a0\u00a0When a person died, the tear bottle was buried with…<\/p>\n

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\r\n SHATTERED POTTERY<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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“You will be smashed like a piece of pottery, so completely that there will not be a shard left to take coals from the hearth, or to scoop water from a cistern.”\u00a0\u00a0 – Isaiah 30:14. In the ancient world, broken or damaged terracotta containers were not discarded.\u00a0\u00a0A frugal owner would collect the pieces and repurpose them. If an urn was broken while drawing water, a suitably shaped piece would be left near the well.\u00a0\u00a0The shard served as a handy water scoop for thirsty travelers. Sturdier clay fragments were used to gather up and move hearth cinders.\u00a0\u00a0The glowing embers would then…<\/p>\n

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\r\n LOST COIN<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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“What woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?”\u00a0 – Luke 15:8. Dowries were an important part of ancient marriage negotiations.\u00a0\u00a0The bride\u2019s wardrobe and jewelry were not included in the bargaining as they were deemed her personal property. Traditionally the groom gifted the bride ten pieces of silver.\u00a0\u00a0They were then attached to a chain and draped across her wedding headgear.\u00a0\u00a0It was not only a symbol of her marital status, but also an insurance policy in case of widowhood.\u00a0\u00a0The money could never…<\/p>\n

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\r\n KEY UPON HIS SHOULDER<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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“Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder…”\u00a0 – Isaiah 22:22. Many doors in antiquity were enormous.\u00a0\u00a0Keys were made in proportion to the huge locks, and were often adorned with handles of carved brass, wood or silver. Some buildings had a peculiar security system, whereas the door could only be unlocked from the inside.\u00a0\u00a0This required a hole be cut into the door near the locking mechanism.\u00a0\u00a0With key in hand, the owner would reach through the outer opening and unlock it from the inside. In ancient times, keys were a symbol of authority over a…<\/p>\n

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\r\n A COVENANT OF SALT<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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“\u2026It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee.”\u00a0\u00a0 – Numbers 18:19. God made an unbreakable guarantee to Aaron and his descendants.\u00a0\u00a0The promise, referred to as a covenant of salt, represented a seal of closeness and trust. Binding with salt was never entered into haphazardly, but was worthy of reflection and respect.\u00a0\u00a0Throughout antiquity, the sharing of salt has been a symbol of camaraderie and hospitality. The Arabic expressions, \u201cThere is salt between us\u201d and \u201cHe has eaten of my salt\u201d signify the founding of an enduring bond.\u00a0\u00a0Treaties were often formalized by…<\/p>\n

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\r\n RACHEL SAT ON THE IMAGES<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\u201cNow Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel\u2019s furniture, and sat upon them.”\u00a0\u00a0 – Genesis 31:34. Under Hebrew law, a female child could only inherit her father\u2019s estate if there were no sons.\u00a0\u00a0Rachel had brothers and therefore would not qualify as heir. The household gods, or images, may have represented a large portion of the family fortune.\u00a0\u00a0It is likely that they were cast of precious molten gold or silver.\u00a0\u00a0If a son-in-law had possession of them, he could legally claim a portion of his father-in-law\u2019s estate. When Rachel married Jacob she received no dowry from her father,…<\/p>\n

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\r\n THE NEEDLE\u2019S EYE<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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“\u2026It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”\u00a0\u00a0 – Matthew 19:24. Eastern walled cities had carefully guarded gates that were closed at night and not reopened until sunrise.\u00a0\u00a0When a person had to be admitted or was allowed to exit during this period, a tiny door fitted within the main gate was opened.\u00a0\u00a0This secondary door was called the \u201cneedle\u2019s eye\u201d. Camels were usually laden with large bags balanced on either side of its back, sometimes extending three to four feet.\u00a0\u00a0Passing through the \u201ceye…<\/p>\n

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