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coarse stubble that is too heavy to be blown away. Sometimes a wooden shovel is used to give the grain a final winnowing. The presence of the stubble is accounted for by the fact that during harvest the grain is largely pulled up by the

roots.

This fine straw is kept as fodder for the animals, for hay is unknown. The Arabic name for this is tiben, being identical with the Hebrew word which has been translated "straw," and in Bible times as now was fed to the animals or mixed into the clay when making bricks. We read in Exodus that when Pharaoh refused to give the Hebrews straw (tiben) to make bricks they were scattered throughout all the land to gather stubble instead.*

It might be interesting to note in passing that when the mounds covering the ruins of the Jericho of Joshua's time were unearthed by German explorers a few years ago the ancient bricks were found to be identical in size and texture with those made now by the inhabitants of modern Jericho, having tiben mixed in just in the same way.

THE THRESHING-FLOOR MOSQUE

In the southeast corner of Jerusalem, close by the old city walls, is an inclosure some 30 acres in extent, in which stands the far-famed Mosque of Omar. Its graceful dome, tiled exterior, and richly decorated interior, with superb mosaics and stained-glass windows of arabesque designs, make it one of the chief attractions of Jerusalem to the tourist (see pages 208 and 305).

Besides its beauty and grandeur, the past history of the site demands attention. Thither Abraham came to sacrifice on the summit of Mount Moriah his only

son, Isaac.f Later King David bought the threshing-floor located on this site. from Ornan, the Jebusite, and built an altar to offer sacrifice in order that the plague then raging in Israel might be stayed. "Then David said. This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel." Although David made great preparations,

* Exodus 5:12.

Gen., ch. 22.

Chron., chs. 21 and 22.

the actual building of the temple on this spot was left to his son Solomon.

A second temple, far less grand, was erected there by the Jews after the return from captivity in Babylon, and the third and magnificent one was reconstructed and enlarged by Herod.

After the complete destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, Hadrian erected here a temple to Jupiter. Between this and the time that the present mosque was built by Abd el Melik, little is known of the history of the site.

To the Moslems this mosque, erroneously attributed to the Caliph Omar, is the most sacred shrine after the Kaaba at Mecca. Under the gorgeous dome, seen only in the subdued light which filters in through matchless stained glass. is the flat rock supposed to be part of the original threshing-floor (see page 305).

THE LEGEND OF THE MOSQUE OF OMAR

The legend runs thus: Two brothers were threshing out their grain upon this floor. The older one wakes one night and sees all about him his large family of children, while his brother lies on his grain piles alone. Thus contemplating his many blessings, the abundance of the crop, his large pile of grain catches his. eye, and again thinking of his bachelor brother, and wishing to add some happiness to the life of one who has no family to love and be loved by, rises and from his own pile adds a quantity to that of his brother.

After the elder brother has again fallen asleep, the younger awakes, meditates on

the many bounties he should be grateful for a full crop and health and strengthhis brother and his large family attract his thoughts. He reasons that he who has no one dependent upon him could well spare some of his crop and thereby perhaps add joy to his brother's life. Unwittingly he returns to his brother's pile exactly the amount that had shortly before been taken from it, and in the morning, neither knowing what the other had done, both were surprised to find their grain undiminished.

As soon as the grapes, figs, and other fruits begin ripening, the fellah, with his