Plough
Plough
(charash', חָרִשׁ, toplough; whence machareshah', מִחֲרֵשָׁה, and nacharesheth, מִחֲרֶשֶׁת, 1Sa 13:20; two instruments used in agriculture. One of these is perhaps the ploughshare, the other the coulter. SEE EAR ). Egypt, from the earliest times, has laid claim to the honor of the invention of this important implement, and as it was undoubtedly one of the first countries brought under culture by the hand of man after the flood, the claim may be well founded. Agriculture was also early practiced among the Hebrews, and, from their agreement in so many other matters, it is likely that the implements of the two nations were very nearly the same. The ancient Egyptian plough was entirely of wood, and of very simple form, like that still used in Egypt. It consisted of a share, two handles, and the pole or beam, which last was inserted into the lower end of the stilt, or the base of the handles, and was strengthened by a rope connecting it with the heel. It had no coulter, nor were wheels applied 'to any Egyptian plough; but it is probable that the point was shod with a metal sock either of bronze or iron. It was drawn by two oxen, and the ploughman guided and drove them with a long goad, without the assistance of reins, which are used by the modern Egyptians. He was sometimes accompanied by another man, who drove the animals, while he managed the two handles of the plough; and sometimes the whip was substituted for the more usual goad. The mode of yoking the beasts was exceedingly simple. Across the extremity of the pole a wooden yoke or cross-bar, about fifty-five inches or five feet in length, was fastened by a strap, lashed backwards and forwards over a prominence projecting from the center of the yoke, which corresponded to a similar peg or knob at the end of the pole; and occasionally, in addition to these, was a ring passing over them, as in some Greek chariots. At either end of the yoke was a flat or slightly concave projection, of semicircular form, which rested on a pad placed upon the withers of the animal; and through a hole on either side of it passed a thong for suspending the shoulder-pieces, which formed the collar. These were two wooden bars, forked at about half their length, padded so as to protect the shoulder from friction, and connected at the lower end by a strong broad band passing under the throat. SEE YOKE. Sometimes the draught, instead of being from the shoulder, was from the head, the yoke being tied to the base of the horns; and in religious ceremonies oxen frequently drew the bier, or the sacred shrine, by a rope fastened to the upper part of the horns, without either yoke or pole (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. 2, 14 sq.). According to modern travelers the plough now used in Palestine differs in some respects from the ancient implement above described. It is lightly built with the least possible skill or expense, consisting of two poles, which cross each other near the ground. That nearest the oxen is fastened to the yoke, while the other serves, the one end as the handle, the other as the ploughshare. It is drawn by oxen, camels, cows, or heifers (Hackett, Script. Illust. p. 153 sq.; Thomson, Lanuad and Book, 1, 207 sq.). In Asia Minor substantially the same custom and implements prevail (Van Lennep, Bible Lands, p. 75 sq.). SEE AGRICULTURE.
