As tents were made of skins, goats' hair, etc., and small ones of linen, their manufacture embraced a variety of labour, and the precise nature of Paul and Aquila's work as tentmakers cannot be ascertained. Ac 18:3. Tarsus, Paul's native city, was noted for the manufacture of tents. They were commonly made of cilicium, so named from Cilicia. It was a kind of strong cloth woven from the long hair of the goats of that province. All Jews learned a trade, to which they could turn if needful.