Low Doors and Tall Camels

Example of an ancient house with low narrow doorway.

​Text:  "He that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction."  Proverbs 17:19 (KJV)
 
Just like houses of today, ancient houses came in all shapes and sizes and varied from hovels to palaces.  And also like today, ancient abodes all had doors.  However, instead of being designed and decorated to appear welcoming, they were constructed in a way that discouraged others from entering.  Of course there were exceptions to this rule. Sometimes, ancient royalty or the wealthy built large ostentatious openings into their homes and, which according to Solomon, was not a good idea.
 
From Gaston Maspero: "The dwelling-houses (in Armenia) were of very simple construction, being merely square cabins of stone or brick, devoid of any external ornament, and pierced by one low doorway." ("History of the Ancient Peoples of the Classic East", Vol.3, p. 58.  Published, London 1900.)
 
From Rev. James A. Bastow:  "Throughout the East, private dwellings were generally constructed of sun-dried bricks, or mud walls, reeds, and rushes." ("A Bible Dictionary; History and Antiquities of the Hebrews", p.348.  Published, London 1859.)
 
From John Pinkerton:  "Several of the houses in Loheia (Yemen) are built of stone ; but the greater part are huts constructed in that fashion which is common among the Arabs. The walls are of mud mixed with dung; and the roof is thatched with a sort of grass which is very common here?  Round the walls within are a range of beds made of straw, on which, notwithstanding their simplicity, a person may either sit or lie commodiously enough.  Such a house is not large enough to be divided into separate apartments; it has seldom windows, and its door is only a straw mat." ("A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in all Parts of the World", Vol. 10, p.30 – "Travels in Arabia'" by Carsten Niebuhr.  Published, London 1811.)
 

Young Woman of Loheia in Arabia Felix of the Tribe Beni-Koreish
Painter: James Bruce (1730-1794)
Date: Undated.
Repository: Yale Center for British Art

From: Rev. J.G. Wood:  "The rude domed houses (of the Sinaitic Peninsula) are made of massive stones, standing in groups like beehives, with no windows and a door only high enough for a man to creep in on all fours."  ("Wood's Bible Animals", P. 703.  Published, Philadelphia 1875.)
 
From James B. Fraser:  "The streets of Baghdad, as in all other Eastern towns, are narrow and unpaved, and their sides present generally two blank walls, windows being rarely seen opening on the public thoroughfare, while the doors of entrance, leading to the dwellings from thence, are small and mean." ("Mesopotamia and Syria ", p. 239.  Published, New York 1842.) 
 
From: Bayard Taylor:   "We went to the Alcazar or Palace of the Moorish Kings.  We entered by a long passage, with round arches on either side.  Finally, old Bailli brought us into a dull, deserted court-yard, where we were surprised by the sight of an entire Moorish façade, with its pointed arches, its projecting roof, its rich sculptured ornaments and its illuminations of red, blue, green and gold.   A doorway, entirely too low and mean for the splendor of the walls above it, admitted us into the first court."  ("Land of the Saracen", p.398.  Twentieth Edition.  Published, New York 1864.)
 
From James Morier:  "(In Tehran) On the 31st, we went to the king.  At this audience, he was seated in a room in a square court called the Gulistan, a name derived from the roses, with which (intermixed
with cypress and chenar trees) it was planted.  We were introduced into it by the two ministers, through a door small and mean, like those in other parts of the palace, and which are obviously adapted for more easy defense in the event of any sudden alarm."  ("Journey through Persia", p.214.  Published, Philadelphia, 1816.)
 
So how exactly were these small doorways constructed, and what kind of door covered them?
 
From Rev. James Freeman:  "The hinges of Eastern houses are not like ours, but consist of pivots inserted into sockets both above and below.  In the Hauran (area between Southern Syria and Northern Jordan) there are still standing stone houses with stone slabs for doors, having pivots cut out of the same and turning in sockets prepared for them in the wall of the house."  ("Bible Manners and Customs", p.239, #467: Hinges, (1902  edition).  Originally published, New York 1874.)
 
From James S. Buckingham:  " The houses of Assalt (town southeast of Nazareth, on the east side of the Judean Hills) are very small, each dwelling, with few exceptions, consisting of only one floor, and this having only one room, subdivided into recesses, rather than separate apartments.  They are mostly built of stone, and, where necessary, a few pointed arches are thrown up on the inside, to support a flat roof of branches of trees and reeds plastered over with clay.  The interior are hung in the same manner as the ancient stone doors seen in the tombs of the kings at Jerusalem and in the sepulchers at Gamala, a wooden post forming the inner edge of the door itself, and terminating in a pivot at each end, the upper pivot traversing in a hole in the beam above, and the lower pivot traversing in the sill or threshold of the door below. ("Travels Among the Arab Tribes", p.34. Published, London 1825.)
 
So, why did the ancients make their houses so difficult to enter their homes?
 
From Robert K. Porter: "The outskirts of the village of Ismael Kara Sassan (northern Iraq) was our allotted quarters for the night.  No description can give an idea of the rude state of our accommodation, the most spacious hovel in the place, for it merited no better name, only affording me one apartment, the door-way of which I was obliged to barricade with a matting of reeds, to prevent the constant inroads of dogs, asses, and goats."  ("Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, and Ancient Babylonia", Vol.2, p.444.  Published, London 1822.)
 
From Monsieur Jean de Thevenot:  " We arrived at Rama, called in Arabick Ramla…and then went to…see the French Merchants…that live there.  Therein is the house of Nicomedes, where some French merchants and their chaplain live.  In the same house, there is a pretty church, and it is the house where the Franks who are on pilgrimage lodge when they pass through Rama.  The door of that house is not three foot high, and so are all the doors in the town, to hinder the Arabs from entering into their houses on horseback."  ("The travels of Monsieur de Thevenot into the Levant in Three Parts", p.181. Translated from French by Archibald Lovell.  Published, London 1687.)
 
From Mrs. Barbara Hofland: (Upon leaving the Jaffa Gate) "The doors of the houses are so low that they cannot be entered without stooping, a circumstance arising probably in the present day from the jealously of the Christians who dread giving any facility of entrance to the Mahometans,  as they would not hesitate to use it for purposes of plunder." ("Alfred Campbell, the Young Pilgrim", p.102.  Published, London 1825.)
 
From Rev. George Paxton: "The Armenian merchants at Julfa, the suburb of Ispahan, in which they reside, find it necessary to make the front door of their houses in general small, partly to hinder the Persians --who treat them with great rigor and insolence-- from entering them on horseback, and partly to prevent them from observing the magnificent furniture within.  ("Illustrations of the Holy Scriptures in Three Parts", Vol II, p.524.  Published, Edinburgh 1826.)
 
Those pursuing the Bible for a greater understanding of scripture have puzzled over the meaning of the introductory text.  Here are three opinions concerning this verse from esteemed Bible commentators.
 
From Adam Clark:  "He that exalteth his gate - In different parts of Palestine they are obliged to have the doors of their courts and houses very low, not more than three feet high, to prevent the Arabs, who scarcely ever leave the backs of their horses, from riding into the courts and houses, and spoiling their goods. He, then, who, through pride and ostentation, made a high gate, exposed himself to destruction; and is said here to seek it, because he must know that this would be a necessary consequence of exalting his gate.  But although the above is a fact, yet possibly gate is here taken for the mouth; and the exalting of the gate may mean proud boasting and arrogant speaking, such as has a tendency to kindle and maintain strife.  And this interpretation seems to agree better with the scope of the context than the above."  ("Commentary of the Holy Bible", Published originally in New York, 1831.)
 
From John Gill:  "And he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction; that opens the door of his lips, and speaks proudly, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret it; who compare it with Micah 7:5; who set their mouths against heaven, and God in it; and whose tongue walks through the earth, and spares none there."  ("Exposition of the Old and New Testaments", Published originally in 1746-1766.)
 
From Matthew Henry:  "And a man who affects a style of living above his means, goes the way to ruin." ("Exposition of the Old and New Testaments", Originally published, 1708-1710.")
 
While the warning given by Solomon is an admonishment to his readers the wisdom in building doorways that do not allow the unscrupulous easy access to their valued possessions, it is also a general warning that the pursuit of admiration, in all respects will ultimately bring about complete loss.    ​

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This 1902 photo, believed to have been taken near the Sea of Galilee, shows a workman accompanying two camels carrying stones past the wall of a town , the doors or gates of
which had been constructed large enough to allow a man to pass through, but too small
for a camel or a horse and rider to enter. Camels were used extensively for transporting
rock and other building material between northern  Palestine and the city of Jerusalem.

Photo appears in the book "Peasant Life in the Holy Land", p. 184-185.
Written by Charles T. Wilson. Published, New York 1906.

For the Readers's Enjoyment:   Camels and Low Doors
 
From James S. Buckingham:  "At sunset, the camels of our host entered the room in which we were seated, and arranged themselves along, to the number of eight on each side, at the stone troughs before described.  The height of the door of entrance, which was about seven feet, had struck me at first as something unusual, since, in most of the towns to the westward, the height of the door is rather below than above the human stature, and passengers are generally obliged to stoop before they can enter it.  Here, however, the motive for increasing the height became evident, as in its present state it just admitted the entrance of the camels, and was no doubt originally constructed for that purpose, so as to admit them under shelter at night, and secure them from the incursions of the neighboring Arabs."  ("Travels Among the Arab Tribes", p.171. Published, London 1825.)
 
"In Oriental cities, there are in the large gates small and very low apertures called metaphorically " needle's-eyes," just as we talk of certain windows as " bull's-eyes." These entrances are too narrow for a camel to pass through them in the ordinary manner, or even if loaded.  When a laden camel has to' pass through one of these entrances, it kneels down, its load is removed, and then it shuffles through on its knees. " ("Wood's Bible Animals", p.243-244.  Published, Philadelphia 1875.)
 
 "Cairo, December 2, 1863.
Dearest Alice,
It is beginning to be cold here, and I only await the results of my inquiries about possible houses at Thebes to hire a boat and depart.  Yesterday I saw a camel go through the eye of a needle,  the low arched door of an enclosure; he must kneel and bow his head to creep through —and thus the rich man must humble himself."  ("Letters from Egypt Lady Duff Gordon's", p. 83.   Published, New York and London 1902.)
 
 

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