Fig. 284—Owl
There are noticed in Egypt and Syria three well known species of the genus Strix, or owl—'the great-eared owl;' the common barn owl; and the little owl. In this list the long-eared owl, the short-eared owl, known nearly over the whole earth, and the Oriental owl of Hasselquist, are not included, and several other species of these wandering birds, both of Africa and Asiatic regions, occur in Palestine. The barn owl is still sacred in Northern Asia.
The eagle-owl, or great-eared owl, we do not find in ornithological works as an inhabitant of Syria, though no doubt it is an occasional winter visitant and the smaller species, which may be a rare but permanent resident, probably also visiting Egypt. It is not, however, we believe, that species, but the Otus ascalaphus of Cuvier, which is common in Egypt, and which in all probability is the type of the innumerable representations of an eared owl in hieroglyphical inscriptions.
Next we have the short-eared owl, likewise found in Egypt and Arabia, as well as to the north of Syria, a bold, pugnacious bird, residing in ruined buildings, mistaken by commentators for the screech-owl. The spectral species, again, confounded with the goat-sucker, is, we believe, Strix coromanda [NIGHT-HAWK], and the same as the Oriental owl of Hasselquist.
The little owl of Egypt is not likely to be the Passerine species of Europe, and probably does not occur under a distinct name in Biblical Hebrew; but that the owls which inhabited Palestine were numerous may be inferred with tolerable certainty from the abundance of mice, rats, and other vermin, occasioned by the offal and offerings at the numerous sacrifices, and consequently the number of nocturnal birds of prey that subsisted upon them, and were tolerated for that purpose.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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