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Show : Ummihmq Rums of . : j Solomon's Zempk. l t RcPrt That Dr. Sellim,' the Distinguished Archaeologist Conducting Explora- t it tions in Palestine for the Austrian Imperial Academy, Has X Discovered the Walls and GatewayHow Solomon's Temple Was Built. r r T 1 It is reported from Vienna that Dr. Sellim. the distinguished archaeologist who has been for some time conducting conduct-ing explorations in Palestine for the Austrian imperial academy of science, has discovered the walls and gateway of the long lost and much sought for temple of Solomon. The discovery is likely to prove of importance to archaeologists arch-aeologists and to students of bible history. his-tory. It may prove to be but the prelude pre-lude to the revealing of the ruins of the whole temple. The reign of Solomon formed one of the most important and interesting epochs in eastern history. Of that period pe-riod the erection of the vast citadel' in which was inclosed the temple was one of the most conspicuous features. It was about 1010 B. C, in the fourth year of his reign, and the 480th year after the coming, out of Egypt of the Israelites, that Solomon began to build the temple to Jehovah, so long- and ardently ar-dently desired by his warrior father, ua.ia. During nearly all of his occupancy oc-cupancy of the throne David had been . accumulating funds for the building, and it is computed by Prideaux and others that on his accession Solomon I found treasure-amounting to about ! $4,165,000,000. A sacred writer states that the funds for the building amounted amount-ed to 100,000, talents of gold and -1,000.-000 talents of silver, and that David's personal treasure, set aside for the same purpose, was 3,000 talents of gold and 7,000 talents of silver. . In addition to these huge sums, there was the unascertained, but certainly cer-tainly large, private treasure of the dead monarch found concealed in his sepulcher. Solomon had also other resources from which to draw. There were subject sub-ject princes who rendered tribute, the revenues from trade monopolies at home and abroad, income from the letting let-ting of the royal domain lands, and the 10 per cent tax on all the produce of his people. In those days the commerce com-merce of the country was largely in the hands of the government, and all the provinces of his own kingdom were I under obligation to supply in turn the I enormous household of the king with provisions. BUILDING THE TEMPLE: There was an abundance of funds, but skilled workmen there was none, and so Solomon entered into a com-? mercial alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre. Under that treaty the Sidonian monarch received 20,000 measures of wheat and 20 measures of "pure oil" each year during its continuance, and at a later date Solomon transferred to his royal ally twenty Gallilean cities, a truly imperial gift. Hiram supplied "great stones, costly stones, hewed stones,," cedars and firs from Lebanon, and skilled artificers. In Israel the king made a wholesale levy of 150,000 men, of whom 70,000 were to act as carriers and 80,000 as hewers in the Tyrian mountains. Over that vast industrial army he set Adoniram. with 3,300 officers to assist him in directing the prolonged operations". It would appear, ap-pear, however, that the entire force of. 150,000 was not called upon to serve, as the scriptural records mention only 30,000 as having been sent to Lebanon, and even these were not at work si- multaneously, for the old record relates: re-lates: "A. month, they were in Lebanon and two months at home." One of the unique events of the erection erec-tion of the building, whose raising consumed con-sumed seven and a half years, was that I during, the entire operations no noise was made in the course of construction "no sound of hammer, ax or tool," says the sacred chronicle, even the stones being carefully prepared before being brought to . the site. Concerning the architecture and appearance, ap-pearance, of the temple the ancient chroniclers leave much to conjecture, but most authorities are agreed that the distinctive features were Phoenician, Phoeni-cian, as were most ,of the symbolic designs de-signs mentioned in the scripture narratives. narra-tives. The extreme height of the building was 200 feet, and the foundations were of enormous depth. The colossal masonry, ma-sonry, the noble facade, .the mural carving, and the covering of gold must have made up a spectacle of. magnificence astonishing even the inhabitants in-habitants of the gorgeous east. No stone work was anyw-fiere ..visible, all being incased In gold. The stones were so laid by the Deft Tyrians that they appeared to have naturally - united themselves together. Plates of gold were so fixed to the roof and walls as to make the temple shine brilliantly. The great cedar supporting teams were not fastened into the walls, but were set in narrowed rests placed round about. Walls, floor, and walls of ceiling were all of cedar. Under the floor were great planks of fir. All the woodwork was carved, the designs consisting chiefly of open flowers. Ev erytnmg was overlaid with gold, even the floor. ' Probably the principal features of the interior were the two cherubim, whose outstretched wings, right and left, touched the walls on each side and sweeping backward formed a deep recess re-cess in which was Inclosed the holy of holies. The cherubim were, it is said, fifteen feet in height and 'were composed of solid gold. Their wings completely hid from view the sacred ark. The scriptural reference to "image work" in other parts of the building is taken by some commentators commen-tators to justify the belief that the cherubim were symbolical figures of the sphinx variety. Near by stood the altar, from which rose cedar incense, and on it were ranged hosts of golden candlesticks, one of which always held a lighted candle. Here also were numerous tables holding thousands of gold and silver vessels. In front of the temple was the brazen altar used for sacrifice. There, too, stood the vast basin called "the sea of brass." It rested on the backs of twelve brazen oxen and held the water for the ante-sacrificial ablutions of the officiating priests. Right and left of the porch rose Jachin and Boaz two thirty cubit pillars of hollow brass. Their circumference was twenty feet and the metal was "four finger-breadths" finger-breadths" thick. Lilies were embossed on the pillars and around them hung chains having on them 200 carved -pomegranates. 1 is generali conceded that the statements .contained in the books of kings and chronicles are substantially correct. The Hebrew cubit is the "short cubit" of antiquity and is practically the same as the Greek cubit, which is about eighteen inches. The latter was the. standard used by Josephus in his measurements of the temple of Herod. DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. The dedica. . y service formed a solemn sol-emn pageant. olomon took the place-usually place-usually ascribed to the high priest but refrained from the sacrificial act and delivered an impressive oration. Toward the close of this the largest open air religious service, "a thick cloud descended and hung between priests and people," fire burst out from the heavens, and rushing downward consumed the stupendous sacrifice spread in the middle of the courtyard, the altar being too small to accommodate accommo-date the burnt offerings. These con-j con-j sisted of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. SOLOMON'S GREAT REIGN. One writer suggests that the work of construction was arranged so that the king might not be troubled bv the sight -of the misery . and wretchedness of his conscript and ill paid workmen, many of whom had been torn from their homes and driven to the quarries. quar-ries. Solomon spent seven and a half years on the raising of the temple, but the erection of his own palace occupied thirteen years. He built at an immense im-mense cost a palace for Pharaoh's daughter (his ,wife), palatial summer houses and a "house of the forest." These works proceeded while the people peo-ple muz-mured, but the masterful monarch mon-arch slackened not the outpouring of r treasure. "Silver was in Jerusalem as ! stones, and cedars as the sycamore trees in the vale," Solomon takes rank with the great monarchs of the east, and perhaps of the world. He had the imperial mind and under his rule Israel for the first time took a high place among the nations na-tions of the east with Egypt and Assyria As-syria and received tribute from many subject princes. He gave his country a navy and extended far the bounds of its commerce. He developed the trade of his people, not only by finding find-ing them new markets for their wares, but by perfecting them in arts and handicrafts, for which purpose skilled foreign craftsmen were imported. He had a passionate love for Jerusalem, and no doubt his desire to enhance its attractions induced the prodigal expenditure ex-penditure which created the national discontent that,' after his death, was the main cause of the split of the kingdom king-dom which the conquering David had built up. During his forty years . sway the land was free from war and its relations with other nations were cordially cor-dially friendly. FALL OF THE KINGDOM. Rehoboam failed to maintain the integrity in-tegrity of the kingdom to which he succeeded on the death of his father, and the nation was ' split in twain ! Judah at the south, Vith Jerusalem j as its capital, and IsVael in the north, having Samaria as the seat of its rulers. The internal divisions" formed the opportunity of the aggressive Egyptians, who invaded the land and sacked Jerusalem; among the plunder carried away being the cherished trophies tro-phies of David. |
