Note 279 — Chapter III · THE HAÏK.

Commentators are misled by the sword-belt, and the inner girdle over the tunic. Thus; there is mention of the girdle of Elijah and of John the Baptist, remarkable because of leather (2 Kings i. 7, 8; Mark iii. 4), and because they wore no haïk. The Moors, though they do not “gird” themselves with girdles, wear one, but it is under the haïk and over the tunic, and has a remarkable buckle. A buckle, as the sign of royalty, was sent to Antiochus by Jonathan Maccabees. No other Eastern people has a girdle and buckle. Drawers, such as the Levites were enjoined to wear, complete the Moorish dress.