Volume 2

332
Life of Jesus Christ
pray. Arga was a large, populous, and extraordinarily
clean city. Like most of the cities in these parts where
pagans form a portion of the population, it was built in
the form of a star, the streets wide and straight. The
mode of life was quite different from that observed in
Judea and Galilee, the customs being much better.
Levites were sent hither from Jerusalem and other
localities to teach in the synagogue. They were changed
from time to time, for if those sent did not give satisfaction,
the people had the right to complain, and thus get
others. People of bad conduct were not allowed to go at
large. They were sent to a place of punishment and there
detained. The inhabitants did not carry on private housekeeping,
that is, they did not prepare their food in their
own houses. They had large public kitchens where all
was cooked and whither they went either to get their food
and carry it to their homes, or to partake of it in halls
adjoining. They slept on the roofs of their houses under
tents. There were large dyeing establishments in this city,
for they were skillful in the art of coloring, producing
especially beautiful violets. The manufacture and
embroidery of large carpets were also carried on here
with more skill and to a greater extent than in Ranl0th.
Between the city and the wall ran tent after tent where
women sat and worked at long strips of stuff stretched
before them. On account of the delicate nature of their
employments, the people of Arga were famed of old for
their exceedingly great cleanliness. Quantities of oil of
superior quality were produced around Arga. The olive
trees grew in long rows neatly tied to trellises. Down in
the valleys toward the Jordan, the people had numbers of
camels and excellent pasture grounds. There grew also in
this region a precious wood, which was used in the building
of the Ark of the Covenant and the table of
showbread. The bark of the tree that produced it was
smooth and beautiful, the branches hung like those of the