“facing each other; both have hold of the handle by which the upper is turned round on the ’nether’
millstone. The one whose right hand is disengaged throws in the grain as occasion requires through
the hole in the upper stone. It is not correct to say that one pushes it half round and then the other
seizes the handle. This would be slow work, and would give a spasmodic motion to the stone. Both
retain their hold, and pull to or push from, as men do with the whip or cross-cut saw. The proverb
of our Saviour, (Matthew 24:41) is true to life, for women only grind. I cannot recall an instance
in which men were at the mill.”—Thomson, “The Land and the Book,” c.34. So essential were
millstones for daily domestic use that they were forbidden to be taken in pledge. (24:6) There were
also larger mills that could only be turned by cattle or asses. Allusion to one of these is made in
(Matthew 18:6) With the movable upper millstone of the hand-mill the woman of Thebez broke
Abimelech’s skull. (Judges 9:53)
Millet
a kind of grain. A number os species are cultivated in the East. When green it is used as fodder,
and for bread when ripe. (Ezekiel 4:9) It is probable that both the Sorghum vulgare and that Panicum
miliaceum were used, and the Hebrew dochan may denote either of these plants.
Millo
(a rampart, mound) a place in ancient Jerusalem. Both name and place seem to have been already
in existence when the city was taken from the Jebusites by David. (2 Samuel 5:9; 1 Chronicles
11:8) Its repair or restoration was one of the great works for which Solomon raised his “levy,” ( 1
Kings 9:15,24; 11:27) and it formed a prominent part of the fortifications by which Hezekiah
prepared for the approach of the Assyrians. (2 Chronicles 32:5) The last passage seems to show
that “the Milo” was part of the “city of David,” that is, of Zion. Comp. (2 Kings 12:20)
Millo, The House Of
Apparently a family or clan, mentioned in (Judges 9:6,20) only, in connection with the men or
lords of Shechem.
•
•The spot at which King Joash was murdered by his slaves. (2 Kings 12:20)
Mines, Mining
A highly-poetical description given by the author of the book of Job of the operations of mining
as known in his day is the only record of the kind which we inherit from the ancient Hebrews. (Job
28:1-11) In the Wady Magharah, “the valley of the cave,” are still traces of the Egyptian colony of
miners who settled there for the purpose of extracting copper from the freestone rocks, and left
their hieroglyphic inscriptions upon the face of the cliff. The ancient furnaces are still to be seen,
and on the coast of the Red Sea are found the piers and wharves whence the miners shipped their
metal in the harbor of Abu Zelimeh. Three methods were employed for refining gold and silver:
(1) by exposing the fused metal to a current of air; (2) by keeping the alloy in a state of fusion and
throwing nitre upon it; and (3) by mixing the alloy with lead, exposing the whole to fusion upon a
vessel of bone-ashes or earth, and blowing upon it with bellows or other blast. There seems to be
reference to the latter in (Psalms 12:6; Jeremiah 6:28-30; Ezekiel 22:18-22) The chief supply of
silver in the ancient world appears to have been brought from Spain. The Egyptians evidently
possessed the art of working bronze in great perfection at a very early time, and much of the
knowledge of metals which the Israelites had must have been acquired during their residence among
them. Of tin there appears to have been no trace in Palestine. The hills of Palestine are rich in iron,
and the mines are still worked there, though in a very simple, rude manner.
Miniamin