The people in Bible lands did not have houses like those we live in to-day. You would not like to live in their houses. They were low, and small, and dark. Some were built of stone, but many were built of a sun-dried brick. They had flat roofs, where the people often went and where they slept in warm weather. A stair led up to the roof from the outside. Those that were made of the sun-dried brick were not very durable. Thieves could easily "break through and steal." The house which the man "built upon the sand" crumbled into mud and was swept away when "the winds blew and the floods came" and "great was the fall of it." Of course the king lived in a beautiful palace and rich people had fine houses, but the houses of the poor people were only huts. {215}{216} [Illustration] CHILDREN OF NAZARETH From a photograph taken by Mrs. Fontaine Meriwether. and used by her kind permission. [End illustration] {217} CHILDREN IN THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE The children of Bible lands were very well cared for. They were sent to school. They were taught the Bible very carefully and every Sabbath they went to church. The children were very busy. They learned early to watch over the sheep, to work in the fields, to card and spin the wool and weave the cloth. Every child was taught some special trade or business. Still they had time to play and enjoyed their games as much as you do. Jesus was taught to be a carpenter like Joseph. Nazareth, where he lived when he was a boy, is a small town in Galilee. There are beautiful fields and hills about. When he climbed the hills he could see, far away, the sea. He must have loved to pick the lovely lilies which grew in the fields. All the little boys and girls must have liked to play with Jesus, for he must have been always gentle and kind. {218} JERUSALEM The city that the Bible tells most about is Jerusalem. It is on a high ridge of hills in the middle of the land. On one side of it is a deep valley, and across the valley a hill called the Mount of Olives. On that hill there was a village, Bethany, where some of Jesus' friends lived. Deep valleys were on two other sides of the city. Why did they build cities on the hilltops, and not in the valleys? Because, in the old days when wars often took place, a city on a hilltop could not be so easily taken. It was a safe place to live. To make it still safer, a wall was built around it, very thick and high. On the top there was a path, with a low wall outside, so that in war armed men could go up and shoot from the wall. In the walls there were great gates, that were shut at night and when there was a war.