Hearth
Hearth is the representative in the Eng. Version of several Heb. words. אָח, ach (Sept. ἐσχάρα,Vulg. arula), a large pot, like a brazier (Gesenius, Thes. p. 69), a portable furnace in which fire was kept in the king's winter apartment (Jer 36:22-23). At the present day the Orientals sometimes make use of such stoves instead of fireplaces for warming rooms; they are called in Persian and Turkish tannur. They have the form of a large pitcher, and are placed in a cavity sunk in the middle of the apartment. When the fire has done burning, a frame like a table is placed over the pot, and the whole is then covered with a carpet; and those who wish to warm themselves sit upon the floor, and thrust their feet and legs, and even the lower part of their bodies, under the carpet. כַּיּוֹר, kiyôr', a fire-pan or small basin for holding fire (Zec 12:6; elsewhere for roasting in, 1Sa 2:14; or generally for washing, "laver," Ex 30:18, etc.). מוֹקֵד, moked', a burning (as rendered in Isa 23:14), hence a Jigot as fuel ("hearth," Ps 102:4); and from the same root יָקוּד, yakûd' (literally kindled), a burning mass upon a hearth (Isa 30:14). The Heb. word עֻגּוּת, uggoth'; Sept. ἐγκρυφίαι, refers to cakes baked in the ashes (Ge 18:6).' These cakes serve in the East at the present day for ordinary food, especially upon journeys and in haste. By the hearth we are to understand, according to the present usage in the East, that a fire is made in the middle of the room, and, when the bread is ready for baking, a corner of the hearth is swept, the bread is laid upon it, and covered with ashes and embers; in a quarter of an hour they turn it. Sometimes they use convex plates of iron (Arabic tajen, whence the Gr. τήγανον), which are most common in Persia and among the nomadic tribes, as being the easiest way of baking and done with the least expense, for the bread is extremely thin and soon prepared. See BREAD. This iron plate is either laid on, or supported on legs above the vessel sunk in the ground, which forms the oven. SEE OVEN. (Burckhardt, Notes on Bed. 1, 58; P. della Valle, Viaggi, 1, 436; Harmer, Obs. 1, 477, and note; Rauwolff, Travels, ap. Ray, 2, 163; Shaw, Travels, p. 231; Niebuhr, Descr. de l'Arabie, p. 45; Schleusner, Lex. Vet. Test. s.v. τήγανον; Gesenius, s.v. עֻגָּה p. 997). SEE FIRE.
