Someone who purchases a field in Syria near the Land of Israel — if [the field] can be entered while remaining tahor, it is tahor and it is obligated in maasros and sheviis. If he cannot enter the field while remaining tahor, the field is tamei and it is obligated in maasros and sheviis. The dwellings of idolaters are tamei. How long must he have remained (in the dwelling) to require a search? Forty days. [The dwelling is tamei] even if there is no woman with him. If there is a slave or a woman watching over him, a search is not required.

What do they search? The deep sewers and the putrid waters. Beis Shammai say: Even garbage heaps and soft earth. Beis Hillel say: Any place that a pig or weasel can reach does not require searching.

Anterooms are not subject to the law of ‘‘dwellings of idolaters.’’ R’ Shimon ben Gamliel says: The law of ‘‘dwellings of idolaters’’ does not apply to a city that was destroyed. East Kisrin and West Kisrin are graves. There was a doubt concerning East Ac-co, and the Sages declared it to be tahor. Rebbi and his Rabbinic court came to a vote on Keini and declared it tahor.

Ten places do not have the law of ‘‘dwellings of idolaters’’: the tents of Arabs; huts; lean-tos; storage huts; summer awnings; a guard shack; the open-air area of a court-yard; a bathhouse; an armory; and a military camp.