Ancient Technology in building Stone Buildings
red-grained sandalwood, almug fruit trees
was known to the ancients. This process possibly was used to make the
Davids personal bodyguards, 600 strong were about to revolt. (1 Sam 30:1-6) As we shall soon see his body guards were Cherithite and knowing that David was once a part of the court of Saul, they were about to stone David as being responsible for this vendetta against their families.
Here again we seeAmalekites, a warring tribe of Amalek, the incestuous son of the House of Ishmael and the House of Esau. As a tribe of the Arabians, they had a pathologic and genetic hatred to the children of Israel. We are only a few months or years afterSaul refused to listen to the word of the Lord and destroy this entire nation, theking, Agag,plus all the men, women and children plus all their possessions, oxen, cattle and sheep. Here was when the Lord of hosts departed from Saul as king of Israel and his progressive psychosis and depression began to take possession of his body.
Industrial Stone Saws used in the Stone Quarrying in Jerusalem
In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing
Are we seeing two types of shields: military and ceremonial? This would include a 15 pound shield for the warriors and 4 pound shield for the bodyguards. We know more about the military bodyguards of King David and being a military leader, we would assume that his son, Solomon, would have kept the same type of personal bodyguards.
typical method of working hard stones – such as granite, diorite, basalt, etc. – was by means of bronze tools, far harder than the quartz which was operated on. The material of these cutting points is yet undetermined; but only five substances are possible -beryl, topaz, chrysoberyl, corundum or sapphire, and diamond.The character of the work would certainly seem topoint to diamond as being the cutting jewel; and only the considerations of its rarity in terfere with this conclusion.
it is probably they were gem cutting stones with the hardness of diamond (hardness 10) and corundum (hardness). Since we do not have direct evidence how the ancients cut limestone and prepared it for the finest of building construction, evidence of these stones would give us clues of cutting, polishing, faceting, and boring that is evident in ancient structures with skills akin to the modern laser beams.
pilgrim who attended the yearly festivals
, when they came to the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem
Yet with the ark of the covenant residing in the temple, the presence of the Lord of hosts stayed so ever present. According to the rabbis, the
300 smaller shields of hammered or beaten gold, each weighing about 3.8 pounds.
The Hall of Pillars and the Hall of Judgment
Diorite bowl with inscriptions on the side
Each large shield would have weighed 15 pounds.
The courtyard of the temple was also a showcase or museum of natural wonders. In this Mishanah, we will witness that the
Here we can now see the prophets Haggai (Chaggai) and Zechariah with Ezra the scribe as part of the guardians of the temple treasures as revealed in the
through the diorite, with rough edges to the line. As the lines are only 1/150 inch wide (the figures being about .2 long), it is evidence that the cutting point must have been much harder than quartz; and tough enough not to splinter when so fine an edge was being employed, probably only 1/200 inch wide. Parallel lines are graved only 1/30 inch apart from centre to centre.
The Industrial Gemstones that Built the Temple
Tubed drilled piece of granite-Sa电话ara (Cairo Museum)
This piece of carved design in granite in the Cairo Museum depicts spiral grooves with regular depth and spacing that in the mind of Petrie could only be done byjeweled points set in a bronze tube drill.
, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes.
Once again here is an enigmatic and elusive statement of stones and gemstones that were to used in building a future Temple. The struggle in which the returning Jews had to build a new temple after they returned from Babylon suggests that their construction skills were lacking, their instruments and tools that they used to construct was inferior, that their moral spirit and their divinely inspired vision was lacking. If these sacred gemstones that were used to cut the stone for the building of Solomons Temple, to trim and smooth the surface of the limestone, to drill and bevel the edges of the building blocks, or be used to laminate the walls with gold and other artifacts of beauty, then we truly have evidence of a technology that has not been explored in Biblical history.
Ancient Technology in building Stone Buildings
Glory of the Lord actually filled the Wilderness Sanctuary and later Solomons Temple
Let us take historical facts of scripture and move them in reverse. The golden shields that Shisak carried away from Jerusalem back to Egypt were actually replaced by King Rehoboam, the son and successor of Solomon with bronze. But what shields was he using as ceremonial military shields?
The Prophet Jeremiah and the Five Guardians of Solomons Temple Treasures
While the younger population that were born and raised in Babylon and Persia no doubt were transfixed with their new temple that was being erected:
, they gave to the treasury for the work
These tubular drills vary in thickness from 1/4 inch to 5 inches in diameter, and from 1/30 to 1/5 inch thick. The smallest hole yet found in granite is 2 inch diameter.
The Secret Mission of the Fittest Men in Israel
pieces for the temple courtyard by raising beautiful coral tree specimens from the depths of the coral beds in the Red Sea. Yet in this chapter we also will study the technology needed to coat these coral pieces with gold. The
. It did not matter whether there was a thunderstorm, a tornado, or a blinding snow storm, the smoke of the incense from the altar of burnt offerings always went straight up to heaven. A spiritual life in the presence of the Lord was a literal and physical phenomenon that was ever present in the land. This was the Land that kept the children of Israel self-sufficient and independent, but on every sixth year, a bumper crop was produced, enough so that the land could rest and lay fallow on the seventh year and the citizens of the land would not have to work. Yet for four hundred and ninety years (70 X 7 years) the inhabitants of the nations of Israel and Judah disobeyed the requirements of the Lord. As such they incurred the wrath of their God and He allowed His land to rest for seventy years, the years of their Babylonian exile. What the Lord giveth, He also can take away.
had twelve loaves of Bread of the Presence, which were covered with pearl and gem encrusted golden molds. The
I Kings 10:18- Moreover the king made agreat throne of ivory, andoverlaid it with pure gold. The throne hadsix steps, and the top of the throne was round at the back; there werearmrests on either side of the place of the seat, andtwo lions stood beside the armrests.Twelve lionsstood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.
The Lord of host had made a promise and a covenant with the Hebrews at Mount Sinai that they were going to be an eternal nation. If the Lord of hosts states that He will do something, it will be done. The Word of the Lord is true, it is sure; its trustworthiness will last forever. Here at Mount Sinai, He said:
When thePhilistines were later preparing to going to war against Saul, the Philistinescommanders refused to let David go, fearing that he would turn traitor to them. At that time, David wasreleased from the service of Achishand went to find his two wives at the town of Ziglag (1 Sam 29)
Do we get a visual picture. During the forty year reign of Solomon, the most impressive part of the royal entourage was the entry of Solomon as he came to worship in the House of the Lord. Here the monarch became one with his people in worship before the Lord of hosts. We have noted before this is one of the most impressive images that the Queen of Sheba carried back to her homeland.
Second dynasty – Sa电话araany fortuitous rubbing about of a loose powder. And when, further, it is seen that these deep grooves are almost always regular and uniform in depth, and equidistant, their production by the successive cuts of the jewel teeth of a saw appears to be beyond question…
wood brought by the sailors of Solomon and Hiram from the famed
David and his personal entourage of 600 warriors arrived atZiglag.It wasa protected stronghold in a natural ravine and there Davids family and those of his Cherithite warriors were living. To their grief and dismay, they found the town burned to the ground by the Amalekites, and all the inhabitants gone and taken prisoners. Within theprisoners taken were the two wives of David,Ahinoam of JezreelandAbigail widow of Nabal of Carmel and also his children.
beautiful Parvaim golden fruit trees
David summonedAbiathar the priest to bring the ephod with the Urim and Thumminto consult the Lord. (Vs. 7-10) With the assurance from the Lord when the high priest summoned the Divine through the Urim and the Thummin, David and his 600 rested at the ravine of Besor, left 200 of the weakest behind to protect the supplies possession and marched on after the Amalekites raiding party.
The Hall of Pillars and the Hall of Judgment
36,000 troy ounces (1 pound = 12 troy ounces) = $12.6 million ($350 per troy ounce.
300 shields x 3 Israeli minas = 45,000 Israeli shekels (1 mina = 50 Israeli shekels) = 15 talents of gold (3000 shekels = 1 talent = 75 pounds of gold) = 1125 pounds =
Thelarge shields of six hundred shekels of goldwould have had about fifteen pounds of gold in each shield. In all the two hundred large shields of hammered gold would have yielded, the counting the intrinsic worth of the artistic value, the gold bullion value of:
ascent of the smoke from the sacrifices always rose straight up to the unseen spiritual temple above
Also as part of the palace complex of Solomon were the administrative complex called the Hall of Pillars.
will be identified as a special hardwood that has
Tube drilling also was an ancient technology. Once again it was W. M. Flinders Petrie who wrote in 1883:
I Kings 7:6- He also made theHall of Pillars: its length was fifty cubits, and its width thirty cubits, and in front of them was aportico with pillars, and acanopy was in frontof them.
1 Kings 10:21- All King Solomonsdrinking vessels were gold, andall the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold (red gold).Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.
0.56 tons of gold = 13,500 troy ounces (1 pound = 12 troy ounces) = $4.725 million ($350 per troy ounce).
. Were these the almug trees, the almugim trees or was there a third tree made of the priceless gold from the ancient land of Parvaim, the ancestral home in the east of the siblings, Sheba, Ophir, and Havilah, the children of Joktan, the brother of Peleg. Here also we meet the interdimensional guardian of the temple treasures, the guardian angel, Shimshiel.
Borseef is another favorite hiding site for the gold of Solomon and object of priceless beauty. Within the special site called the Garden of Eden in the temple of Solomon was also a tree or a tree/ pillar that symbolized the
. No, the fire from Mount Carmel as behold by the Israelites and the Prophet Elijah was not an aberrant astro-physiological phenomenon, but it became the norm of life as the pilgrims actually witnessed the Glory of God on a routine basis.
industrial gemstones and gem cutting. Careful analysis will reveal that only the diamond and the corundum chip had the technological edge to perform the industrial duties needed to saw, cut, polish, facet, bore build this magnificent temple. Here we will see the use of the
This Hall of Pillars appeared to be attached to the Hall of Judgment which was the seat of judgment for the United Kingdom. Here was the Throne Room with the most famous throne mentioned in antiquity.
It was from the heart of sorrow and the tears from his eyes, that the Lord of hosts spoke through the prophet Haggai:
Now we have 300 smaller shields with 3 minas of gold in each shield. What we do know is that each mina was equal to
The Tree of Lifeseen in theSefirot of the World of the Divine
Even in this era five hundred years before the building of Solomons Templesaw markshave been found visible in the basalt pavement to the east of the Great Pyramid in Egypt. Here a saw was used to cut hard stone to form a level planes. The edges of the cut is crisp with parallel lines of a stonecutter with a remarkable steady hand.
, to erect it in its place; according
remember the covenant of their ancestors
Also within this grand lodge, the House of the Forest of Lebanon, it appeared that that it was also used as a banquet house for dignitaries from around the world. Within this hall was recorded a large inventory of drinking vessels plus other vessels which no doubt were to be used forState Banquets. They were all made of aspecial kind of red gold, which was reserved forthese vessels, thevessels in the house of Solomon, theinterior lining of the Holy Place of the Templeplus theexterior and the interior lining of the Holy of Holiest where the Ark of the Covenant rested.
empire. Yet in this chapter, we will now be exploring the use of
when they are in the land of their enemies
The basalt was placed on top of the tura limestone of local origin that had been cut and fitted on the bedrock. Then the basalt was given a level cut forming a hard and enduring pavement around the magnificent edifice for the king.
Diamond cutting drills and engraving points
in the garden that Adam and Eve tended. Restructuring the model of the ancient garden of primordial man, we also find the archetype in Solomons temple with the two pillars, the
the same as the number of gem stones. From all these the Temple was built
normative temple service always meant that they were living in the presence of the God
Ancient Gold Plating and Electroplating
That theblades of the saw were of bronze, we know from the green staining on the sides of the saw cuts, and on grains of sand left in a saw cut. The forms of the tools werestraight saws, circular saws, tubular drills, and lathes. The straight saws varied from .03 to .2 inch thick, according to the work; the largest were 8 feet or more in length… …No. 6, a slice of diorite bearing equidistant and regular grooves of circular arcs, parallel to one another; these grooves have been nearly polished out by cross grinding, but are still visible. The only feasible explanation of this piece is that it wasproduced by a circular saw.
Let us analyze these a minute. We havetwo hundred large shields of hammered gold with six hundred shekels of gold in each shield. Then we also havethree hundred shields of hammered gold;three minas of gold went into each shield.
Diorite bowl inscribed with the name of Hotep
, the glorious light would flood out of the door of the temple and all the windows surrounding the upper reaches of the temple tower. Like the
jeweled point bronze tube drill and stone sawing with bronze diamond edged saws
House of the Forest of Lebanon, the Hall of Pillars and the Hall of Judgment
were all a part of the high tech industry of Solomons
The ancients no doubt had magnificent technology in that fact that they built wonderful buildings of dimensions that marvel modern engineers. Since the Israelites had a close affinity to the Egyptians, their near neighbors, it is not unreasonable that they shared similar technological advanced in their societies. Credit is given to research done by Petrie, Dunn and Francis and recorded in and article called,
for these master guild architects, designers, and craftsmen no doubt included bronze diamond pointed gravers, bronze saw blades with diamond edges, straight saws and circular saw bits of corundum and tubular diamond drills and lathes.
as we have seen was a wonderful sign of the very presence of Gods. This glory was not just in the physical manifestations of nature, but very building, the architecture and all the furnishings were designed for the glory of God and as a symbolic message to the future coming of their messiah, the Moschiach.
Yet this seems such a paltry amount. They wept and cried. They had survived isolation and spiritual deprivation in a land that did not know their God. In the former days, the
1 Kings 10:16-17- And King Solomon madetwo hundred large shields of hammered gold;six hundred shekels of goldwent into each shield. He also madethree hundred shields of hammered gold;three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
David fled from the presence of King Saul fearing for his life when the therapy of playing his harp in the presence of the king no longer was able to mollify Sauls progressive depression and paranoia. David turned to thecomrades he had made with Philistinesand becamegood friends with Achish, son of Maoch, the king of Gath.
presently housed in the Museum of Baghdad. At the same time, they also were experts in
, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God;
The Tree of Life in the Holy Garden
offered freely for the house of God
We therefore need have no hesitation in allowing that thegraving out of lines in hard stones by jewel points, was a well known art. And when we find on the surfaces of thesaw-cuts in diorite, grooves as deep as 1/100 inch, it appears far more likely that such were produced byfixed jewel points in the saw, than bythe first king of the
were made of solid gold inlaid with over thirty-six thousand gemstones. The light from the 49 almond shaped lamps focused their beams of light to the central lamp stand and with a spectacular show of dancing lights; the beams of light would ricochet from one gemstone to another.
saw this temple in its former glory
The Bodyguards of King David and Solomon
engraving images on hard stone, and engraving images on the plated gold walls
The Industrial Gemstones that Built the Temple
1 Kings 14:25-28- It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam thatShisak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. And hetook away the treasures of the house of the Lordand thetreasures of the kings house; he took away everything. He also tookaway all the gold shieldswhich Solomon had made.
Yet the temple was not the only impressive building structure that was made by the Phoenician trained Israelite craftsmen. At the same time, the
Then King Rehoboam madebronze shields in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, whoguarded the doorway of the kings house. And whenever theking entered the house of the Lord, theguards carried them then brought them back into the guardroom.
, the glory of the temple was in beholding the actual ritual of the priests and the Levites as they performed the daily sacrifices. The temple doors, the Hekel, were opened wide. The entire Holy Place looking towards the Holy of Holiest was a site that the pilgrims could behold in its entirety. The sages would say that a
that surrounded the Ark of the Covenant in the Holiest of Holies were all literal representatives of the Holy Temple in the heavenly sanctuary, but more than that, the archangels that stood in the Presence of the Lord of host Himself or guarded the gates into that ancient garden of Adam and Eve.
But how was this all made? The cutting of the limestone, the trimming of those megalithic stones, thousands of pounds apiece. The technology of the ancients gave us the twin-diamond drill, diamond faceting and diamond engraving of names on the surface of gemstones.
reminding the Israelite worshippers of their forefather, Adam and Eve, who also observed the activities of the Lord of hosts will living and cultivating that ancient garden in that land called Eden.
The technology the Israelites left behind in Egypt was some of the best in the ancient world. It is this authors opinion that the Exodus of Moses (Moshe) was parallel with the end of the Old Kingdom of Egypt and that they had knowledge of the stone making technology of that era. This included circular saws, lathes or machines that rotate, and tube drilling.
The House of the Forest of Lebanon served as the treasury of the United Kingdom. Here was the repository for the following treasures.
In his book,The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh, the classic by Petrie, he records his finding in 1880-1881 inChapter VIII entitled Mechanical Methods
the Guardian Angel of Solomons Temple
chapter that the almug tree may also be different than the almugim tree. The almug
or 60 Babylonian shekels. This was the equivalence of 1.260 pounds per mina. There King Solomon built
funnel of light or fire would swoop through the eastern gate and light up the offering on the altar of incense
The Secret Mission of the Fittest Men of Israel
When the Temple of Zerubbabel was being built in the restoration of the Persian Satrap of Judah, it was stated by the ancients that the elders in the community who had seen, worshipped and participated in the Levitical services of the Temple of Solomon wept. As they watched the restoration and construction of the new temple, the glorious memories of the former temple began to resurrect within their minds. For almost seventy years, these memories had lain dormant suppressed in their collective subconscious.
, this light, the Glory of God would make a vertical ascent into the unseen cosmos like the
In route as they were tracking the enemy, they came upon a wandering and lost hungryEgyptian, who was a servant of the Amalekites, left behind by the long time enemies of Israel. David, instead of killing him, actually fed and befriended him and in doing so found out that the Amalekites had also raided the land ofthe Cherithite in Philistia, the Negev in the southern
That the Egyptians wereacquainted with a cutting jewel far harder than quartz, and that they used thisjewel as a sharp pointed graver, is put beyond doubt by thediorite bowls with inscriptions of the fourth dynasty, of which I found fragments at Gizeh; as well as the scratches on polished granite of Ptolemaic age at San. The hieroglyphs are incised, with a very free-cutting point; they are not scraped or ground out, but are ploughed
The Guardian Angel of Solomons Temple
I Kings 10:4-5- And when the queen of Sheba hadseen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the goods on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers,and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.
science of gold electroplating and gold gilding
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Normative life was one of miracles on a daily basis.
was no doubt an ancient science evidenced by the
As mere teens or young men in their early twenties, they were part of the commando forces that dismantled and secreted all the gold treasures from the former magnificent yet aged temple of Solomon. Over four hundred years old, this relic of the ancient wonder of the world was built by the famed king known for his wisdom and the architect of the era of Pax Solomonic.
I Kings 7:77 -Then he made ahall for the throne, the Hall of Judgment, where he might judge; and it was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.
. Yet beneath these two trees, the floor covering of the temple courtyard was paved with 12 tons of gold and is presently hidden at Borseef.
All King Solomons drinking vessels were gold, andall the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.
The reason scholars consider the House of the Forest of Lebanon to be the treasury was the fact that these large shields of hammered gold were actually stored here. Well what was their functional purpose. The first implication is that a shield was actually a military shield used by warriors. It is true that gold shields, used for ceremonial purposes, have been found in ancient archeological deposits but it is not actually states that these were military shields.
The number of [building?] stones was 36,000,
In the Egyptian Museum in Cairo this beautiful stone vase from Sa电话ara and the Step Pyramid, in which some scholars identify its builder to be Imhotep, known in scripture as Joseph, the Vizier of Egypt. At the base the tool marks of a lathe is seen. It was the famed Egyptian archeologist, Petrie, who stated that…the lathe appears to have been as familiar an instrument in the fourth dynasty, as it is in the modern workshops.
Temple of Solomon was a temple of gold.
(3000 shekels = 1 talent = 75 pounds of gold) = 3000 pounds = 1.5 tons of gold =
. Within this Hall stood the magnificent ivory throne of Solomon overlaid with pure gold. The
old men who had seen the first temple
The exterior was plated in gold. In the setting sun, the whole complex would glow like a fiery temple. The interior of the Holy Place and the entire Shrine called the Holy of Holiest was plated in red gold, interspersed with gemstones. The tapestries on the ceiling was made with woven gold, the floors of the temple were overlaid with gold.
that were used to saw, trim and prepared huge limestone blocks upwards to a hundred tons of weight to be used in the walls and foundation of the temple. We also see the
The number of [building?] stones was 36,000, the same as the number of gem stones. From all these the Temple was built. There were also three-plus-one rows of Almugim trees, overlaid with fine gold and placed in the building. All those were hidden from Nebuchadnezzar by the fittest [men] of Israel. The Almugim shine like the brilliance of the firmament (sky).
200 shields x 600 shekels = 120,000 shekels = 40 talents of gold
Even though the almugim trees are felt to be coral in nature, we will also explore in this
, we have the first antiseptic building on this earth.
The family patriarchs looked upon the temple and remembered the covenant with their Lord. They were looking for a restoration of Israel not to its fullest glory, but the visions of Ezekiel were fresh in their minds, that this prophet had spoken in the land of Babylon. They were wishing for a temple greater than Solomons Temple, but this temple was far inferior. They gave all that they had for the restoration, but even their gifts were too little.
Each small ceremonial shield would have weighed less than 4 pounds.
Once again this inventory of treasures emphasizes that they were hidden prior to the final destruction of the Temple by King Nebuchadnezzar by a select group of chosen men, the fittest (men) of Israel. To be fit to accomplish this task, one had to be physically fit and emotionally sound in walking spiritually with HaShem, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These were dangerous missions and the mortality was high. For those that lived, there exploits were not to be cast down into legends for the world to wonder. That today, three thousand years later we are reading the only official account of this clandestine mission, suggests the emotional stability of those selected to take the record of these secret hiding places to their death. Even Zechariah and Haggai the prophets allude to a future and more glorious day in the future of the Jews that returned from Babylon. Their knowledge of these inventories also went to their grave also. The service to the Lord of hosts was not to immortalize their name but that the Lord would use these treasures for the future redemption of Israel.
Now that we have a little understanding of the potential of technological tools that could be used in the building of the House of the Lord, first let us look at another construction project that Solomon was also other buildings with probably the same artisans and contractors. This complex of government buildings included theHouse of the Forest of Lebanon, the Hall of Pillars and the Hall of Judgment.
Later after the death of Solomon, it states that Shisak, the Pharaoh of Egypt invaded Jerusalem in the reign of King Rehoboam and the booty he carried back to Egypt was described.
We studied the potential for creating
was being built which took over twelve years. This palace complex included the