In a summer parlour— Beside the platforms which were upon the ancient houses of the East, and which are found there to this day, it is probable that heretofore, as well as at present, most of the great houses had a smaller one annexed, which seldom consisted of more than one or two rooms and a terrace; others, built as they frequently are over the porch or gateway, have, if we except the ground-floor, all the conveniences belonging to the house properly so called. There is a door of communication from them into the gallery of the house, kept open or shut at the discretion of the master of the family; besides another door, which opens immediately from a privy flight of stairs, down into the porch or street, without giving the least disturbance to the house. In these back houses strangers are usually lodged and entertained: hither the men are wont to retire from the hurry and noise of their families, to be more at leisure for meditation or diversions; and they are often used for wardrobes and magazines. The Arabs call these houses oleah, which exactly answers to the Hebrew word עליה alyiah, found in this place; and, without doubt, such was the apartment wherein Eglon received Ehud; by the privy-stairs belonging to which he escaped, after he had avenged Israel upon the king of Moab. See Shaw's Travels, p. 214.
The doctor further tells us, that the doors of the Eastern buildings are large, and their chambers spacious; conveniences, as he observes, very well adapted to these hotter climates: but in the present passage, something more seems to be meant; at least there are now other contrivances in the East to give coolness to particular rooms, which are very common; and though Eglon's time is acknowledged to be of very remote antiquity, we are to remember, that he was a prince; and in the palaces of such as these, contrivances, no doubt, began. In Egypt, the cooling of their rooms is effected by openings at the top, which let in the fresh air. Maillet tells us, that their halls are made extremely large and lofty, with a dome at the top, which towards the north has several open windows, so constructed as to throw the north-wind down into the rooms; and by this means, though the country is excessively hot, they can make the coolness of these apartments such, as often not to be borne without being wrapped in furs. Egmont and Hayman speak of chambers cooled after this manner, as well as halls. Eglon's was a chamber; and to contrive to mitigate the heat of it was the more necessary, as he appears to have kept his court at Jericho, (Judges 3:13, Judges 3:28.) where the heat is so excessive as sometimes to have proved fatal. See Observations, p. 88.