THE MOTH. 297

and fifty years after Ezekiel, silk is known to have been used
in the dress of the Persians. As the Medes and the Baby-
lonians (or at least the latter) were luxurious and wealthy,
and fond of rich dresses, it may well be supposed that they
absorbed all the limited supply which reached them; and
as the nations more west were less rich and of plainer
manners, the merchants had no motive to carry the com-
modity to a more western market. This will show that
silk may long have been in use in Babylonia before it was
known in Europe and on the western shores of Asia*.”

As the dress described in the foregoing chapter con-
sisted of the richest and most beautiful materials, of “ fine
linen,” “silk,” bracelets, chains, jewels, ear-rings, and a
“beautiful crown,” it is very natural that the prophet
should mention silk, which he had probably seen in Babylon
as an article of great costliness and luxury; and as the de-
scription of this costume is entirely figurative, by which
Ezekiel describes the precious things with which God had
invested the people of Israel, it is not at all necessary to sup-
pose that silk was at that time known to the Israelites in
general; and the probabilities are against this supposition,
for even some centuries later, in the time of the Roman

* Pictorial Bible.