(9) _Spinning “Whorls.”_--Spinning in ancient Palestine, as now, was done in the simplest possible manner. A tapering spindle was made of wood. To this was attached a “whorl”--either a stone or a lump of baked clay--in order to give the spindle momentum when whirled. The wool was held in the hand, a bit of it twisted into a thread with the fingers and attached to the spindle. Then more of the wool was pulled out and held in the hand while the spindle and whorl were given a twist with the other hand and allowed to twist the wool into thread. The process was repeated again and again. The writer has seen women in the East spinning while on a journey. Many of the spindle whorls, made both of stone and of clay, have been found by excavators; (see Figs. 144, 145). (10) _Lamp-stands._--In one of the palaces at Megiddo a number of bronze tripods of various sorts were found; (see Fig. 148). The tallest of these were 13¼ and 14 inches in height. They were intended to support either bowls or lamps. They are the kind of “stand” mentioned in Matt. 5:15 (R. V.--the King James Version called it a “candlestick”), on which men, when they lighted a lamp, placed it so that it might “give light to all that are in the house.” Probably the poor had some less expensive form of lamp-stand. (11) _Keys_ in Palestine were often large, clumsy affairs. They were probably most often made of wood, and were much better fitted to be carried on the shoulder, as a wood-chopper often carries his axe, than to be carried in a pocket. This is why Isaiah (22:22) speaks of laying the key of the house of David on the shoulder of Eliakim. Of course, all wooden keys of the Biblical time have decayed. Iron keys from the Hellenistic time were found at Gezer, two of which are shown in Figs. 146, 147. (12) _Knives._--One of the first implements made by man as he emerges from savagery is the knife. The earliest knives of Palestine were of flint, which is in that country very abundant. Flint knives are made by taking a cone of flint that will easily flake, and skilfully striking the top of it such a blow that a ribbon having a sharp edge is split off. At Gezer one of these cones, left by an ancient flint knife-maker, was found; (see Fig. 154). After the introduction of bronze in the first Semitic period, 2500-1800 B. C., knives were often made of that; (see Fig. 151). When, about 1000 B. C., iron came in, it, too, was employed for knife-making; (see Fig. 150). Flint knives were always cheaper than those of metal and were probably always employed by the common people. Knives are referred to in the Bible as the implements for slaying sacrifices (Gen. 22:6, 10), and in various other connections. (See, for example, Ezek. 5:1, 2.) Flint knives were preferred for the rite of circumcision (Exod. 4:25 and Josh. 5:2, 3); (see Fig. 149).