Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
This word in addition to its ordinary sense, is often used, especially in the enumeration of towns in (Joshua 13:15,19) to imply unwalled suburbs outside the walled towns. Arab villages, as found in Arabia, are often mere collections of stone huts, “long, low rude hovels, roofed only with the stalks of palm leaves,” or covered for a time with tent-cloths, which are removed when the tribe change their quarters. Others are more solidly built, as are most of the of palestine, though in some the dwellings are mere mud-huts.
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