ophy, Logic, Ritual and Symbols, edited by N.K. Wagle and
Olle Qvarnström (Toronto, 1999).Sculptures of T ̄ırtham:karas are among the most ancient Indian re-
ligious images, dating from first to second century CE. Since
the eleventh century, illustrated manuscripts (first palm-
leaves, later paper manuscripts) represent figures of Jinas
and/or depict important moments of their lives. Brightly col-
oured Jain miniatures (especially in “Western Indian Style”),
as well as statues and bas-reliefs are reproduced in Pratapadi-
tya Pal et al., The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India (Los
Angeles, 1994); Kurt Titze, Jainism: A Pictorial Guide to the
Religion of Non-Violence (Delhi, 1998); Jan Van Alphen,
Steps to Liberation: 2500 Years of Jain Art and Religion (Ant-
werp, 2000). Also see the monograph by José Pereira, Mono-
lithic Jinas: The Iconography of the Jain Temples of Ellora
(Delhi, 1977).
For the iconography of the T ̄ırtham:karas, see Brindavan Chandra
Bhattacharya’s The Jaina Iconography, 2d rev. ed. (Delhi,
1974), and Klaus Bruhn’s The Jina-Images of Deogarh (Lei-
den, 1969). The lives of Maha ̄v ̄ıra and the other Jinas are the
subject of the Jin:acariya, edited and translated by Hermann
Jacobi in The Kalpasûtra of Bhadrabâhu (Leipzig, 1879), and
of the Jaina Sûtras, vol. 1 (London, 1884; reprint, Delhi,
1964). See also Tris:as:t:i ́sala ̄ka ̄purus:acaritra, or The Lives of
the Sixty-three Illustrious Persons by Hemacandra, 6 vols.,
translated by Helen M. Johnson (Baroda, 1931–1962). On
R:s:abha and civilization, see Adelheid Mette’s Indische Kul-
turstiftungsberichte und ihr Verhältnis zur Zeitaltersage
(Mainz, 1973).
COLETTE CAILLAT (1987 AND 2005)
TITHES. In the ancient Near East lie the origins of a sa-
cral offering or payment of a tenth part of stated goods or
property to the deity. Often given to the king or to the royal
temple, the “tenth” was usually approximate, not exact. The
practice is known from Mesopotamia, Syria-Palestine,
Greece, and as far to the west as the Phoenician city of Car-
thage. Tithing also continued in Christian Europe as a
church tithe and as a tax upon Jewish landholdings formerly
owned by Christians (or claimed to have been so). Tithes
paid in support of parish rectors continued in England into
the twentieth century.
Early texts associate the tithe with support of the king
and of temples of the royal house (see Am. 4:4, 7:1, 7:13;
see also Samuel’s forecast of actions to be taken by the king,
1 Sm. 8:15, 8:17). The early biblical references to the tithe
in Genesis 14:20 and 28:22 are also related to sites where
royal shrines were located, such as Jerusalem and Bethel. It
is not certain, however, that the tithe originated as a royal
levy in support of temples and their personnel.
It is difficult to be sure whether or not the offering of
the firstborn of animals and the firstfruits of field and or-
chard should be treated as a tithe. It seems unlikely, because
the two are distinguished in Numbers 18 and in Deuteronomy
12:17. Moreover, the first fruits of grain and nonanimal
products represented only a token amount, which would
hardly have corresponded to the tenth or tithe. Firstfruits
and tithes are closely related, however, in Deuteronomy 26:1–
15 and in Tobit 1:6–8.
From the time of the monarchy in Israel, and especially
from the eighth century forward, the Levites more and more
were recognized as the beneficiaries of the tithe. They were
not to share in the allotment of land along with the other
tribes but were set apart to the service of the Lord (Nm. 18,
Dt. 18:1–8, Jos. 21). The Levite cities seem to have been the
store cities in which the tithes collected by the Levites were
stored (see Neh. 10:38), just as the tithes in Mesopotamia
were collected by temple personnel and stored in the temples
or in their vicinity.
The tithe became the means of livelihood for the Levites
during the middle and later periods of the monarchy. Once
the city of Jerusalem had been designated by Josiah’s reform
as the central sanctuary for Israelite worship (622/1 BCE; see
2 Kgs. 22–23), the need for the tithe to support the Levites
at the many local sanctuaries would have disappeared. Ac-
cordingly, the law in Deuteronomy 14 specifies a quite differ-
ent character and purpose for the tithe (Dt. 14:22–29). The
tithe was to be taken to Jerusalem and eaten there before the
Lord with rejoicing. It could be converted to money, if need
be. And every third year the tithe was to be set aside for meet-
ing the needs of the Levite, the resident alien, the orphan,
and the widow. Scholars are divided over the issue of whether
or not the text in Deuteronomy 14 can be reconciled with
those in Numbers 18 and Leviticus 27.
If the legislation in Numbers 18 is later than that in Deu-
teronomy 14, however, the tithe was originally an offering as-
sociated with the king and with royal sanctuaries, It was then
democratized to become the basis for a celebrative meal be-
fore the Lord at the places of worship. After that the priests
and Levites claimed the tenth for themselves, with the first-
fruits in particular going to the priests and the tithes going
to the Levites (Nm. 18). Many scholars assign the priestly lit-
erary deposit to a period later than that of the Deuteronomic
legislation. All acknowledge, however, that the priestly mate-
rials contain elements older than Deuteronomy; it seems
probable that, in this case, the materials found in Numbers
18 are the older.
According to Leviticus 27:30–33, a distinction is made
between those tithes that were redeemable—that is, convert-
ible into silver—and those that were not. Animals were not
redeemable, but grain, wine, and oil were. Items that were
placed under the ban (Hebrew cherem) were never redeem-
able, and tithed animals, if suitable for offering, also were not
redeemable. When a tithe was redeemed, one-fifth of the
value was added (Lv. 27:31; see also Lv. 5:14–16).
With regard to tithes in other parts of the ancient world,
Egyptian sources are not informative. There is no indication
that the vast temple complexes in ancient Egypt were sup-
ported by a tithe. In Greece the situation is different. Nu-TITHES 9209