The Old Testament gives two distinct periods in the history of the Hebrew woman. The first extends from the times when the Israelites became established in Palestine, and the second from that date to the building of the second Temple. The most prominent feature of the first period is an extreme simplicity of manners in both sexes, occasioned by their living in the open air or in tents. It resembles in many respects the heroic age of the ancient Greeks, and especially with regard to the social position of the female sex. But while in the Hebrew world the woman is known as “Ish-shah” (‪אשה‬), “wife,” being equal in moral as well as in literal etymology to “Ish” (‪איש‬), “man,” the Greeks had separate words for _man_ and _wife_, namely, ἀνήρ, γυνή, suggesting, perhaps, the inferior rank of the weaker sex among them. Again, while the Greeks called their _first_ woman _Pandora_ as the bringer of all evil to man, the first woman of the Bible, _Eve_, is introduced to us as a part of her husband's being, and as having been created to be “a helpmeet for him” (‪עזר כנגדו‬) (Gen. ii. 18). Except Eve, who seems to have lived with her family in the open air, the women belonging to that period dwelt in tents. Such a tent was called in Hebrew _ohel_ (‪אהל‬), and sometimes _baït_ (‪בית‬)^[37-1], and consisted of a walled-in enclosure covered with curtains of a dark colour (Cant. i. 5). It was divided into two or more apartments, one being always reserved for the females of the family; but sometimes each female had a separate tent (Gen. xxxi. 33; cp. also Homer, _Iliad_, vi. 247–9). When travelling the women's tents were fastened on a broad cushion (‪כר‬), and placed on the backs of the riding camels (Gen. xxxi. 34). The occupations of the married woman were multifarious. She rose early in the morning, and spent the day in attending to her children, distributing food at meal times, and weaving various textures for the use of her family (Prov. xxxi. 15). Cp. Homer, _Odyss._ x. 221; and Virgil, _Georg._ i. 293–5:— Interea longum cantu solata laborem Arguto conjux percurrit pectine telas. The cooking was also done by the mistress of the house, and even women of rank did not consider it beneath their dignity to help in culinary work (Gen. xviii. 5). Sometimes a nurse was kept for the younger children of the family, and was held in great estimation by her employers (ibid. xxxv. 8). The surplus of their manufactures was usually sold to merchants (Prov. xxxi. 24), but was sometimes given away for religious purposes (Exod. xxxv. 22).