IV. HARVEST TIME. Nisan, latter half. (Beginning about vernal equinox.
Barley green. Passover.) Ijar. Sivan, former half., Wheat ripe. Pentecost.
V. SUMMER (total absence of rain) Sivan, latter half. Tammuz. Ab,
former half.
VI. SULTRY SEASON Ab, latter half. Elul. Tisri, former half., Ingathering
of fruits.
The six months from the middle of Tisri to the middle of Nisan were
occupied with the work of cultivation, and the rest of the year mainly with
the gathering in of the fruits. The extensive and easily-arranged system of
irrigation from the rills and streams from the mountains made the soil in
every part of Palestine richly productive (Psalm 1:3; 65:10; Proverbs 21:1;
Isaiah 30:25; 32:2, 20; Hos. 12:11), and the appliances of careful
cultivation and of manure increased its fertility to such an extent that in the
days of Solomon, when there was an abundant population, “20,000
measures of wheat year by year” were sent to Hiram in exchange for
timber (1 Kings 5:11), and in large quantities also wheat was sent to the
Tyrians for the merchandise in which they traded (Ezekiel 27:17). The
wheat sometimes produced an hundredfold (Genesis 26:12; Matthew
13:23). Figs and pomegranates were very plentiful (Numbers 13:23), and
the vine and the olive grew luxuriantly and produced abundant fruit
(Deuteronomy 33:24).
Lest the productiveness of the soil should be exhausted, it was enjoined
that the whole land should rest every seventh year, when all agricultural
labour would entirely cease (Leviticus 25:1-7; Deuteronomy 15:1-10).
It was forbidden to sow a field with divers seeds (Deuteronomy 22:9). A
passer-by was at liberty to eat any quantity of corn or grapes, but he was
not permitted to carry away any (Deuteronomy 23:24, 25; Matthew
12:1). The poor were permitted to claim the corners of the fields and the
gleanings. A forgotten sheaf in the field was to be left also for the poor.
(See Leviticus 19:9, 10; Deuteronomy 24:19.)
Agricultural implements and operations.
The sculptured monuments and painted tombs of Egypt and Assyria
throw much light on this subject, and on the general operations of
agriculture. Ploughs of a simple construction were known in the time of
Moses (Deuteronomy 22:10; comp. Job 1:14). They were very light, and