Dwellings

1 definition found

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Dwellings
     The materials used in buildings were commonly bricks, sometimes
     also stones (Lev. 14:40, 42), which were held together by cement
     (Jer. 43:9) or bitumen (Gen. 11:3). The exterior was usually
     whitewashed (Lev. 14:41; Ezek. 13:10; Matt. 23:27). The beams
     were of sycamore (Isa. 9:10), or olive-wood, or cedar (1 Kings


     7:2; Isa. 9:10).
     
       The form of Eastern dwellings differed in many respects from
     that of dwellings in Western lands. The larger houses were built
     in a quadrangle enclosing a court-yard (Luke 5:19; 2 Sam. 17:18;
     Neh. 8:16) surrounded by galleries, which formed the
     guest-chamber or reception-room for visitors. The flat roof,
     surrounded by a low parapet, was used for many domestic and
     social purposes. It was reached by steps from the court. In
     connection with it (2 Kings 23:12) was an upper room, used as a
     private chamber (2 Sam 18:33; Dan. 6:11), also as a bedroom (2
     Kings 23:12), a sleeping apartment for guests (2 Kings 4:10),
     and as a sick-chamber (1 Kings 17:19). The doors, sometimes of
     stone, swung on morticed pivots, and were generally fastened by
     wooden bolts. The houses of the more wealthy had a doorkeeper or
     a female porter (John 18:16; Acts 12:13). The windows generally
     opened into the courtyard, and were closed by a lattice (Judg.
     5:28). The interior rooms were set apart for the female portion
     of the household.
     
       The furniture of the room (2 Kings 4:10) consisted of a couch
     furnished with pillows (Amos 6:4; Ezek. 13:20); and besides
     this, chairs, a table and lanterns or lamp-stands (2 Kings
     4:10).