During the wedding procession through the streets it was customary for all who could do so to join in and dance in front of the bride, who is spoken of as the “queen”; this was done in her honour. Rabbi Tarphon (2nd century A.D.), we are told, on one such occasion caused the bride to be brought into his house, where she was bathed, anointed, and adorned by his mother and sister. Then he bade his pupils accompany her with songs and dances to the house of the bridegroom[321]. Rabbis of high repute danced in front of brides with myrtle-boughs in their hands. It was also part of the marriage ceremony for a dance, in which the dancers held myrtle-boughs in their hands, to be performed in front of the bridal pair[322]. The perfume of the myrtle is mystically described as dispelling the odour of hell-fire; though why there should be any danger of that odour during the marriage ceremony is not stated. Doubtless we have here an echo of the old-world conception mentioned above. We are reminded of the same thing when we read that among the Jews of Egypt in the Middle Ages during the wedding procession the bride wore a helmet, and, with a sword in her hand, led the procession with a dance[323]. It is possible that the same conception lies behind a custom noted among the Jews of Persia and elsewhere: traces of the well-known stepping of the bride into seven circles towards the bridegroom appear in some forms of the Jewish wedding service. The Jewish bridegroom was placed in the centre, and the bride turned round him thrice. Or the bride and bridegroom were seated side by side, and the assembled company danced round them[324]. An encircling dance had the purpose (one among others, according to circumstances) of keeping off evil influences. A different purpose lies behind the dance performed among the Jews of the Caucasus, though the dancers are probably not conscious of it: some days before the wedding three or four girls, relatives of the bride, put on her clothes and invite other girls to sleep in a special room with her. Toward evening the groom sends meat and rice-flour to the bride and her friends. The latter go out and sprinkle the flour on the young people who dance while the boys and girls clap their hands[325]. This, in all probability, reflects an ancient rite, in the nature of imitative magic, for the purpose of ensuring a fruitful marriage. A similar purpose may be discerned in another custom at Jewish oriental weddings, according to which the newly-married pair leapt thrice over a bowl of water in which a fish was swimming about[326]. Among the Jews of all ages, then, the sacred dance as a wedding ceremony had an important place, and though its purposes may have been entirely forgotten, the rite itself continued. II