Oleaster Palestine

8/9/2019 Oleaster Palestine

1/28


2/28


3/28


4/28


5/28


6/28


7/28


8/28


9/28


10/28


11/28


12/28


13/28


14/28


15/28


16/28


17/28


18/28

temple area. Moreover, so far as Solomons buildingsare concerned, we are precluded from assuming sub -structions similar to those which astonish us in the workof Herod by the statement that the great outer wallconsisted of only three courses (see above, 9 3). Sucha thing could not possibly be said of any wall like thatwhich we now see. W e shall therefore be fully justified

ofcedar of Lebanon, arranged in three rows (so @BAL;fig. 2 ; MT , four rows) Cedarbeams upon these support the superstructure, which isalso roofed with cedar. According to the text as it nowstan ds, what we are to understand is most probably alarge hall above which was a second story containingchambers (see fig. 4). The ground floor was a single

of fifteen pillars each.

3529 3530

in proceeding on the assumption that the buildings ofSolomon adapted themselves as closely as possible tothe conditions of the site. In that case the royal castlecan only have extended in a southerly or south-westerlydirection from the temple, following the ridge anddescending in terraces. Nrither eastwards, nor west-wards, nor northwards from the temple could spacehave been obtained without making great substructions.All the incidental notices of the buildings in question in

formed at the same time the front aall ; this wouldgive an interval of (50f3= ) 16.6cubits ( 8 . 2 5 metres,27 ft.) . Thi s would be for cedar beams a verygreat span ; the other interpretation is therefore themore probable. The more moderate span thus givenis further diminished by the beams above having shoulder pieces ( n i a g ; so6, prai ; in v. 76 for MTn\nB, beams; cp fig.3). The height of the building

up into the house which Solomon had built for her(I K 9 2 4 ) .

The house of the forest of Lebanon (I K. 71-5)isHouse of described more fully than any of theforest of others ; hut the description, in preciselyLebanon. the most important points, cannot bemade OUt v;ith any certainty, The ,lame

is derived from the upper story resting on 45 pillars

is given as 30 cubits. If of this total we allow some7 cubits for the upper story, and another 3 cubits forits plinth, roof, and floor, there remains for the hallitselfa height of 20 cubits, which presents no difficulty.

That therows were three appears from u. 36, where th epillarsare forty-five and the row contains fifteen.2 On the assumption that the cubit intended is the longercubit, see WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.


19/28

Fo r a hall of these dimensions the window openingswould have to be many and large. With regard t othese, however, a s also with regard to the doors and tothe stairs for reaching the upper story, the present textleaves us entirely at a loss, zv. 4b and sb being quiteunintelligible. AI1 we can gather is that the windowsand doors were four-cornered, as distinguished from the

entrance (e.g.)into the holy of holies, which was five-cornered (631) . the lintel being in two pieces and form-ing an angle. Very possibly the front wall, and perhapsalso the back wall, was broken by some pillars so as togain more light. This hallof pillars no doubt served, as also Josephus informs us( A n t . viii. 52, 133), as a place of assembly. Th eupper story was, we may conjecture, divided intoseparate chambers. We may perhaps conceive thearrangem ent to have been that three longitudinal wallsrested upon the three rows of pillars on the groundfloor : this is at least the most natural, architecturallyspeaking. In these three walls, doors and windowopenings facing one another must have been piercedfor the admission of light ; this may perhaps be what isreferred to in vv. 4 b 56. In connection with the stairs

This is assumed in fig. 2.

which we m ust imagine somewhere, there will have beenin the upper story some corridor or passage from whichthe chambers on either side opened. As to the dark-ness of the chambers on the inner side we need nottrouble ourselves, for we learn that this house of theforest of Lebanon was not inhabited but served a s an

armoury (I K. 1016f: Is.228; cp 392) .Whe n we consider how few are the certain d ata wepossess regarding this building, it is not to be wondered6 . Other at that other interpreters of the text havetheories arrived at quite different conclusions fromofit. those suggested above. (i.) Furthest re-

moved from this conception of the buildingas a large hall with pillars and an upper story, ar ethose attempted reconstructions which agree in assum-ing an open enclosure surrounded on all sides by ashallow building. In the lower story this building wasarranged as a covered portico : the three upper storiesconsisted of series of chambers (so Keil, Thenius.Klostermann). W e are not called upon here to ex-plain in detail how the various writers have sought tobring this reconstruction into agreement with the wordingof the text : but we may say that more or less violenceis done to it by all of them ; nowhere does it make anymention of a courtyard or of a three-storied building orof a portico : such a reconstruction, moreover, demandsthe assumption of a greatly increased number of pillars(Thenius for example gives 400 to his court of pillars).

(ii. ) More attention is due to a third attempt at recon-struction by Friedrich (see below, 11); it is indeedhard to reconcile with the present text, but as againstthis difficulty it has to be said that it finds a strongsupport in the history of architectural art. A closeexamination of Assyrian buildings in particular leadsFriedrich to a characterisation of the Phmnician-Syrian

3531

architecture that differs considerably from that hithertocurrent. He has adduced strong reasons for believingthat the most original and simplest form of the Phce-nician and Syrian palace was a walled parallelogram,the interior of which was completed by constructions ofwood in such a manner that chambers for dwelling andstorage were obtained by means of galleries running

round the walls. According to Friedrich the palacesofthe Philistines and of the Moabites conformed to thistype. He will have it that the temple also was built onthis plan (with a wooden framework in the interior), andhe brings together all the other buildings of Solomon,alike the royal residence and the state buildings, intoone great building-the house of the forest ofLebanon.The main and characteristic part of this palace complexhe finds-in accordance with this N. Syrian style ofarchitecture-in the great hall stretching through thewhole enclosure of the house (th rone-room and judgnient-hall) in the centre of the complex, having its roof sup-ported by many wooden pillars. All other apartmen ts,the royal residence, the harem, storerooms, and thelike, he regards merely as side-chambers connectedwith this hall. Th at this collection of all the buildings

T1E S

into a single large build-ing is not reconcilablewith our present text isobvious; we read in it

quite clearly of variousseparate buildings. Onthe other hand, we mustconcede the possibilitythat the house of theforest of Lebanon waserected as one of theseparat e buildings ofthe citadel in this N.Syrian palace style : theuse of wooden pillarswas naturally an im-portation in S. Syria,which waspoorintiniber.

Next in the description, after the house of the forestof Lebanon, we read ( I K. 76 ) of the hall of pillarsIt measured 50 cubits

by 30, and in front of it was a porchwith pillars and a flight of steps

(perron ; or a projecting roof? the meaning of the Heb.word ~y here used is quite unknown). We may perhapssuppose that it was intended to serve as a sort ofante-room, or waiting-room, to the hall of audience which(see below, 8) is mentioned immediately afterwards inthe description, and on this account we might think ofit as also architecturally connected with the other. Th eword a h is also used ofthe outer court of the temple.Klostermann. starting from this employment of the hall,suggests that we should read its Hebrew designation asn?$; o&--i.e . , the hall of those who stood waitingon the king's service, or who as petitioners in their ownaffairs or as appellants to hisjustice were waiting for anaudience.

Of the judgment-hall ( I K. 77) , which, as suggestedabove, perhaps constituted with the hall of pillars but*.The hall one building. we are not told either theof dimensions or the construction. All we

learn is that its walls were panelled withcedar up to the roof. The purpose of the hall isexpressed by its very designation ( judgment -hall, D$m h ) it was here that the king sat in judgment (seeGOVERNMENT, 19), and here too that he usuallygave audience. The great ivory throne with thelions, which is described as one of the wonders ofthe world (I K. 1018-20). stood there, whence thehall was also called th e throne-room (ne?? +g ;I K.77).' Inwards ' from this hall, in an enclosure of their own

, The hall of o.?rnnq +).pillars.

3532


20/28


21/28


22/28


23/28


24/28


25/28


26/28


27/28


28/28

Oleaster Palestine

Documents