Salt was procured by the Hebrews from two sources: first, from rock-salt, obtained from hills of salt which lie about the southern extremity of the Dead Sea; and secondly, from the waters of that sea, which overflowing the banks yearly, and being exhaled by the sun and the heat, left behind a deposit of salt both abundant and good.
From it is clear that salt was used as a condiment with food. Salt was also mixed with fodder for cattle (). As offerings, viewed on their earthly side, were a presentation to God of what man found good and pleasant for food, so all meat-offerings were required to be seasoned with salt (). Salt, therefore, became of great importance to Hebrew worshippers; it was sold accordingly in the temple market, and a large quantity was kept in the Temple itself, in a chamber appropriated to the purpose. The incense, 'perfume,' was also to have salt as an ingredient (; marginal reading 'salted'), where it appears to have been symbolical, as well of the divine goodness as of man's gratitude, on the principle that of every bounty vouchsafed of God, it became man to make an acknowledgment in kind.
As salt thus entered into man's food, so, to eat salt with any one, was to partake of his fare, to share his hospitality; and hence, by implication, to enjoy his favor, or to be in his confidence. Hence, also, salt became an emblem of fidelity and of intimate friendship. At the present hour the Arabs regard as their friend him who has eaten salt with them, that is, has partaken of their hospitality. The domestic sanctity which thus attached itself to salt was much enhanced in influence by its religious applications, so that it became symbolical of the most sacred and binding of obligations. Accordingly 'a covenant of salt' was accounted a very solemn bond (;; ): a signification to which force would be given by the preservative quality of salt.
But salt, if used too abundantly, is destructive of vegetation and causes a desert. Hence arose another class of figurative applications. Destroyed cities were sown with salt to intimate that they were devoted to perpetual desolation (); salt became a symbol of barrenness (; ); and 'a salt land' () signifies a sterile and unproductive district ().
We have reserved to the end reference to a singular usage among the Israelites, namely, washing new-born infants in salt water; which was regarded as so essential that those could have hardly any other than an ill fate who were deprived of the rite (). The practice obviously arose from a regard to the preserving, the domestic, the moral, and the religious uses to which salt was applied, and of which it became the emblem.
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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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