We’ve quickly come to realize our new house is unique because of things left behind by those who came before. Three things in particular strike me as notable and interesting.
First of all, our front doorway includes a Mezuzah. The practice of hanging Mezuzot on doorways is a Jewish tradition that hearkens back to Moses. After receiving the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai, Moses told the Israelites, “…write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:9)
The Mezuzah consists of two chapters from the Torah written in Hebrew on parchment, rolled into a scroll, inserted into a case, and attached to the doorpost. There are specific requirements as to how and where to affix the Mezuzah. Here’s the one attached to our front door frame.
I am humbled by the history of Mezuzah and feel having God’s word on our threshold can only be a good thing. This is part of our home’s history so I prefer to leave it. (Since John and I are not Jewish, I hope by leaving it we are not being disrespectful of the Jewish religion. Do any of my Jewish friends have an opinion?)
Our home was built in 1876. Until recently (twentieth century), families put tangible objects inside walls to protect their homes from evil spirits, ward off disease, and encourage fertility. When the prior owners renovated our house, they found this child’s shoe (a common symbol of fertility) buried in the wall. I plan to place it inside a display box to preserve it and show it off.
Child’s shoe found in the stairwell wall (pictured in background).
See these old bottles?
These bottles were discovered buried on the property. Since this historic area of Fayetteville was a Civil War encampment, who knows! Maybe some of these glass bottles date to the Civil War? Regardless, I am in awe of the history and grateful the bottles were left for us. I’ll be displaying these in our home too.
Do you live in an old home? Have you found cool things buried on your property or inside the walls? I’d love to know.
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
“If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.”
― Rudyard Kipling
When one of Wilson huge cottonwood trees split and fell on my parent’s house a few years ago, we found some of Lee Wilson Co. script. A little research and I found out that in the beginning the Co. paid its hands in this script. It could be used at the grocery store and pharmacy there in Wilson.
That is so cool Robin!
While I’m not of Jewish faith, I am of Jewish heritage…and we have a Mezuzah on my parent’s doorway. I don’t feel it’s disrespectful at all! In fact, I googled this (because I was curious) and many say it’s perfect to display it because you have been grafted into the Hebrew family by Jesus! http://forums.jewsforjesus.org/thread-3436.html
Thank you Brittney! I think it is beautiful and what a wonderful tradition.
My father was a carpenter, and as a result of that, ended up tearing into a lot of old walls and basements and roofs. He found a lot of stuff like that. Old bottles, clay pots (like Granny’s ‘rheumatiz medicine’ on The Beverly Hillbillies), and the like. I still have some of them.
That is very cool Gary.
Very interesting! We often find old bottles on the grounds of our property. It is fun to discover something out of the past and wonder how it got there and who it belonged to. We have found small pieces of pottery that we believe were on an Indian campsite by the river. We have found quite a few Indian arrowheads and other artifacts.
I wanna come see your property. The pictures look amazing.
This is so interesting Talya!! Thanks for sharing. I love the Mezuza!
Thanks Dana!
Come on up! Bring your hiking boots!
*Mezuzah!!
When we till our garden, we usually find old marbles—–not as many now since we have had a garden for several years . We usually find pieces of pottery and glass too. Have been told there used to be a hotel in our “now garden spot”!!!! Imagine—-a hotel in Keiser!!!!! lol
I love old marbles! We have found a couple here at our Dallas house but they were probably from the prior owner:)
No I can’t imagine a hotel in Keiser!!
very interesting history lesson! All we find here in the ground are stones. :-{
Stones can be interesting:)
I’m so glad you plan to honor the history of your house by keeping these found treasures.
What a neat house. I didn’t know anything about those traditions.
Thanks Georgeanne.
Oh my. I’ve learned something new. You always have the best stories to share. I can’t wait to come see this new/old house of yours:) Thanks for all of your help with AWBU Foodie Friday:) xoxoxo
Can’t wait to get completely moved it and have you over! Foodie Friday was fun! You did a great job.
When we lived on a property adjacent to an old county road, we liked to dig around large tree stumps off the road to find “treasure”. Old bottles, pieces of old shoes, and even a 1920s silver dollar were some of the finds. 🙂
Very cool Laurie.
When a tornado ruined my husband’s antique boyhood home, and his parents had to tear it down, they found several great things, one being a wire frame for glasses, which they gave to us. I always wondered how in the world someone’s glasses could be under a house, or did they not value at least the wire in them? It always was a puzzle to me.
My folks housed us all in a huge Victorian style house that was pretty old, for sure, although I do not know how old. It had several removable pieces of wood trim and boards in the floor, too, great for hiding stuff. My brother found one place of which my mom was not aware, and in it was a hidden bottle of hootch, of which he’d had several “nips” before he was discovered. He was probably 11 at the time. And in larger trouble than he might have envisioned! 😉 After that, I caught my mom checking under that floor board from time to time–it never was a safe hiding place for our childlike “spy” play after that. Ha!
I love new-old things! Especially old bottles. I’ve never heard of a Mezuzah before, very interesting. So many little treasures to discover. 🙂
I love the Mezuza–and the idea of keeping it right where it is. Loved seeing your wonderful new-old house. None our houses have been old enough to hold such wonderful treasures. Although, I did recover some large stones from the foundation of my mother’s home place and a set of very old mill stones my dad used as steps in our yard. They’ve all been patiently waiting as timeless objects have to do to become part of a patio I’m dreaming of in my backyard.