History of the Jews (Vol. 1-6). Graetz Heinrich

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СКАЧАТЬ Silver and gold had been collected for the purpose, but building materials, stones and cedar wood still had to be procured. Freestones and blocks had to be hewn from the rocks in the quarries north of Jerusalem, where they were so dovetailed as to be easily joined after reaching the spot. But whence procure workmen for this troublesome business of hewing, preparing and conveying the stones? Solomon had learnt from Pharaoh Psusennes, his father-in-law, the means of obtaining workmen without incurring heavy expense. He employed the remnant of the Canaanite population still living in the country. Although Saul had begun to decrease their numbers, he could not proceed against them with his full strength, on account of his continual strife with David. David had left them undisturbed, so that they lived quietly, mixed peaceably with the Israelites, and served the king faithfully in his wars against the Philistines and other nations. Solomon, on the contrary, declared the remnant of the Ammonites, Hittites, Perizzites and Hivites, as well as the Jebusites (whom David had permitted to live in the outskirts of Jerusalem), to be bondmen, and compelled them to perform the hardest labour. They numbered 150,000 youths and able-bodied men, and comprised the working class. More than 3,000 Israelitish superintendents kept the enslaved natives to their work. A superior officer, Adoniram, watched over the superintendents and the workmen. Eighty thousand of these unhappy beings worked in the stone quarries day and night by the light of lamps. They were under the direction of a man from Biblos (Giblim), who understood the art of hewing heavy blocks from the rocks, and of giving the edges the necessary shape for dovetailing. Twenty thousand slaves removed the heavy blocks from the mouth of the quarry, and carried them to the building site.

      Hiram, the King of Tyre, Solomon's friend, supplied cedar and cypress wood. The trees were felled on Lebanon, for which purpose Hiram placed skilled workmen at Solomon's disposal. The trunks were forwarded from Lebanon to Tyre or to the other harbours, whence they were conveyed in rafts to the port of Jaffa, and from there with much toil over hills and dales to Jerusalem, a distance of at least a ten hours' journey. As the Canaanite slaves were not sufficiently numerous to remove the cedar and cypress trees, and to convey them to their destination, Solomon employed Israelites to assist in the work, thirty thousand being impressed for the duty. Each ten thousand were sent for a month to work in the forests, to fell the trees, and convey them to their destination. After a month had passed, the workmen were relieved by another body of ten thousand. These thirty thousand Israelites were not enslaved—they remained free, and even received wages—but they were not allowed to withdraw voluntarily from the work.

      It was not to be expected that Hiram would cut down his cedar and cypress forests, or that he would place carpenters and builders at Solomon's disposal without receiving some return. So long as the buildings were in course of erection, Solomon sent him annually a certain amount of corn, wine and oil, with the raising of which tribute the people were probably taxed. But Hiram was also obliged to advance gold for the adornment of the interior of the temple. Solomon's fleet had not yet imported the precious metal. In return for the supply of gold, Solomon yielded up to Hiram twenty towns of the borderland, in the tribe of Asher, between Phœnicia and the territory of Israel. Though these were not important, and did not please Hiram, still it was a transference of Israelitish territory to the Phœnicians. Hiram permitted various races to colonise the towns, from whom the territory received the name "Gelil Haggoyim" (the district of nations), later Galilee. As soon as the stones and blocks of wood had been removed to the building site of the temple, the erection of which was to occupy three years, the work was commenced.

      The temple was built of freestone, and the walls were covered with cedar planks on the inside. On these were traced designs of palms, open flower cups, and cherubim (winged heads with human faces), and these designs were inlaid with gold. The temple was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. It was divided into the Holy of Holies (Debir, the inner chamber, a square of twenty cubits), and the Holy Place (Hechal, which was forty cubits long). The Holy of Holies seems to have been situated on higher ground than the sanctuary. At the sides were two cherubim of gilded olive wood, each ten cubits high, the wings of which were five cubits wide. At the entrance of the sanctuary was an open vestibule (Ulam), which was of the same width as the sanctuary, and ten cubits in length, and in front of this hall there were artistically wrought columns of bronze. The artist, Hiram, was a half-Jew, his father being a Syrian and his mother a Naphtalite. The Holy of Holies was to face the west, contrary to the custom of the Gentiles, whose temples faced the rising sun; the gates were of olive wood, adorned with gilded cherubim as well as with palms and flower-cups. The folding doors of the sanctuary, made of cypress wood, were ornamented in a like manner, and the floor was of cypress wood inlaid with gold. In the Holy of Holies nothing was visible but the cherubim, intended to enshrine the ark of the covenant, in which the tablets of the law were kept. In the sanctuary there was an altar of cedar wood gilded on all sides, with five gilded candlesticks at each side, and a large gilded table for twelve loaves. The temple was surrounded by an extensive courtyard. Inside the vestibule stood a large iron altar, and a spacious water reservoir, called the "iron sea," adorned with a border of open flower-cups and lily-buds, and on the lower part with colocynths. This reservoir was supported by twelve iron bulls, each three of which turned in a different direction. The water was intended for washing the hands and feet of the officiating priests whenever they entered the sanctuary, the flow of water probably being regulated by a faucet. Ten small basins on wheels, artistically engraved, could be pushed to any spot where they might be wanted. Vessels for the sacrificial rites were cast in large quantities by the order of the king. The whole building inside and outside was stamped with the impress of wealth and grandeur. At the completion of the building, it was consecrated (1007) with solemn rites. The erection of the temple had occupied seven years, and the month selected for the consecration was that in which the harvest and the vintage were completed. The chiefs of all the tribes and the elders of families were invited, and people streamed from every quarter to gaze in astonishment at the splendours of the temple, and to look upon the unaccustomed spectacle.

      The solemnities commenced with the transfer of the ark from Mount Zion, the town of David, to Mount Moriah. The bars attached to the ark were those which had been used during the wanderings in the desert. They were so placed that all present could see that holy relic of past ages, the two stone tables inscribed with the ten commandments. During the transfer of the ark of the covenant, and during the consecration, many thousands of sacrifices were offered, and also psalms were sung. No sooner had the ark of the covenant been brought into the Holy of Holies than a thick cloud filled the body of the temple, so that the Aaronites were interrupted in their service. This was considered a token of God's mercy, and a sign that the consecration had been performed in accordance with His will. The vast assembly was thus swayed by the feelings of joy, piety and devotion. The king gave expression to the general sentiments in a few grave words: "God has promised to dwell in a cloud. I have built a dwelling for thee, O God—an abode for thee to dwell in for ever." Mount Moriah thus appeared like Mount Sinai, where the voice of God had spoken from out of a dense cloud. The temple became an object of veneration to the people, who believed that from between the two cherubim, God would make known to them the ways in which they were to walk. A prophet who was present (perhaps Ahijah of Shiloh) announced to King Solomon in the name of God, "If thou wilt walk in my law, and obey my commands, and fulfil my behests, then I will fulfil unto thee the promise I made unto David, thy father—'I shall dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and I will not desert my people.'"

      The nation celebrated the autumn festivals, which occurred simultaneously with the consecration, most joyfully. Deep and lasting was the impression made by this temple, gleaming with gold and bronze, sumptuous and imposing in its structure, containing no visible image of the Deity, yet filled with His invisible presence. The house of God offered something tangible to those whose imaginations could not conceive of the spiritual, divested of material form. The temple was the pride and strength of Israel, and the delight of its eyes. At the time of the consecration there was inaugurated a religious service, such as had been impossible within the narrow limits of the sanctuary in Shiloh or, during the transition period, in the tent at Zion. A priesthood had certainly existed even in former times, and belonged exclusively to the descendants of Aaron. It was, however, only under Solomon that a high priest was put at the head of the others, and that gradations in rank were introduced. Azariah, the son of Zadok, was advanced to the office СКАЧАТЬ