[ Silence ] ^M00:00:02 >> From the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. ^M00:00:04 [ Silence ] ^M00:00:26 >> We have a very distinguished speaker today so I'm delighted to welcome you all and hope you'll enjoy today's lecture on King Solomon's Temple. Every age, every period seems to recreate Solomon's Temple [background noise] in its own image. In medieval art, the temple is a medieval castle [background noise] down to the wooden taverns. In Renaissance art is looks like a Renaissance palace, all marble and gold. But to know what the temple really looked like, well, for that we need a scholar, one with a very profound knowledge, not only of the Bible but also the world, the ancient near East, its language, its writings, its monuments. We are fortunate, therefore, in having with us one of the most important scholars in the field today, Professor Victor Avigdor Hurowitz. Professor Hurowitz as Peggy just said comes to us from Ben-Gurion University in Beer-Sheva where he teaches in the Department of Bible, Archeology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies. He has published extensively on temples and cults in the Bible, Mesopotamia and on literary aspects of the ancient Acadian writings. He is currently writing a commentary on the Book of Proverbs, one which I understand is nearing completion, and which will be published in the Series Nikrali Sarel [phonetic], which at least in my opinion is surely the best and most prestigious series of commentaries. So please join me in welcoming Professor Hurowitz, who will be speaking about Heaven on Earth, King Solomon's Temple, near Eastern Eyes. ^M00:02:06 [ Applause ] ^M00:02:10 >> Thank you, Peggy. Thank you, Anne. It is a great pleasure and honor to be here such an august audience, and I'd like to thank -- I'd like to thank Dr. Pearlstein [phonetic] and Dr. Brenner [phonetic] for inviting me and for arranging this event. ^M00:02:33 [ Silence ] ^M00:02:39 Okay, okay, I know it's the middle of the day and it's hot and everyone's tired, so if I doze off you just [background chuckle] -- you'll go on without me. Okay. Throughout the ancient near East, the major religious institution and locust of encounter or contact between man and deity was the temple. Temples were not primarily places of public prayer as are today's synagogues, churches and mosques, but divine residences or manors and it is preferable to refer to the temples by the native nomenclature as the House of the Divine John or Jane Doe referring to temples of foreign deities or the House of God and the House of the Lord in the case of Israelite temples. Within the temple, God will dwell with his family and subordinates in the divine hierarchy and one could find therein tangible representation of divine presence such as a cult statue, some standard or a symbol. The God present on site could be worshiped and paid homage by offering sacrifices presenting gifts uttering prayers or simple prostration. Even though there is no imperative for the common person to go to its temple ancient Israelites did not absent themselves from their temples and temple visits on fixed festivals and sporadic public or private occasions are well-attested in biblical literature. So we read about El Canant's family frequenting schaivo, Absalom paying a vow in Hebron and the people of Israel and Judah making annual pilgrimages individually or en mass to Jerusalem or to Beth-El. Even in these temples the popular visit was not the decisive event although not excluded from the temple's public presence was not obligatory. It's not like going to synagogue or church today. Had no active role essential to the temple's functioning and even with no people present at all, the cult could go on. The regular cult something the noted Assyriologist A. Leo Oppenheim referred to as the care and feeding of the god was observed by permanent professional clergy be that the presiding priests, sons of Eli, Afiatar, [phonetic] Sodoq, Levi, Moses or even Aaron. In Israelite temples as in those of surrounding cultures, the essential necessity was a permanent on site divine presence. Cultic activities performed in Israelite temples were performed before the Lord with no shame and of course there was some sort of sign of divine presence be it a cult statue as in Micah's private temple in Dan, the golden calves in Bethel, Dan and Samaria, the pillars at Arod or Beit-El or the Ark [inaudible] Divine Magister Glory in Shiloh and subsequently in Jerusalem. The Bible indicates that ancient Israel knew several temples at various sites including Shiloh, Yavne, [inaudible] Beit El, Shechem, [inaudible] Mizpah and of course Jerusalem. Even the tabernacle described in the book of Exodus that stood at the center of the Israelite camp during their desert wanderings was a temple. It was assembled and disassembled from time to time as the Israelites traveled from one desert encampment to the next but despite its portability it was no different conceptually or functionally from any other House of God. The God of Israel is present within and worshipped publically by family priests. Archeologists have uncovered in Arod a building that was apparently a temple [shit], a building that was apparently a temple although not mentioned in the Bible and even outside the land of Israel in Elephantine and in Egypt there was a temple to Yahu Yahwah, the God of Israel as shown by the documents found at the site. If so temples were common features of ancient Israelite worship and religion. The most prominent and well-known of these ancient Israelite houses of God was the temple that according to the Bible stood in Jerusalem on Mount Zion from the time it was built in the 10 Century BCE by Solomon, King of Israel until destroyed by King Nebakanezer, the Second of Babylon in 586 BCE. Nothing remains of this glorious temple and even the small ivory pomegranate purchased several years ago at an exorbitant price by the Israel museum is now considered a fake. Some architectural -- Hershel doesn't say anything about that. [Background laughter] Some architectural remains of the Temple Mount which some scholars would have deriving from first temple cannot be properly studied because of prevailing political and religious situation in Jerusalem. Several artifacts found in debris removed from the Temple Mount and sifted by archeologist Gabi Barkay date to the first temple period but their association with the temple and temple cult has yet to be established. Several years ago a sensational inscription -- a sensational inscription purportedly deriving from the area of the temple and telling about the temple was published and widely publicized. The text describes repairs in the temple done by Jehoahaz, King of Judah. Were this inscription authentic, it would be extremely important for understanding the Jerusalem Temple as well as the biblical narrative describing it and especially the chapters in the Books of Second Kings and Second Chronicles relating to temple repairs. Unfortunately and despite the great interest that aroused in the press and in both professional and lay circles and despite the fact that its owner was, for lack of evidence acquitted of charges of forging it, this text is regarded by the vast majority of scholars as a modern forgery. So the less said about it the better and I will say nothing more about it. As a result, the only window into this temple is the Hebrew Bible and especially its scription in First King 6 and 7 and scattered illusions in the Book of Kings the Books of the Prophets of the First Temple period and perhaps some Psalms. The description of the temple in the Book of Chronicles is late and of secondary importance and imposes on the first temple certain features of the tabernacle and perhaps the post exilic second temple. Even so, some relevant information can be gleaned from it as well as from the description of the tabernacle in Exodus 25 to 40 and the Temple of the Future in the vision concluding the Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 40 to 48. Our generation has witnessed biblical scholars, historians and archeologists claiming that the Jerusalem Temple, if it existed at all, was not built by Solomon and certainly did not resemble the magnificent edifice described in the Books of Kings and Chronicles. Also the biblical accounts are products of literary growth and may telescope reflections of the temple as it appeared at various stages of its existence attributing to Solomon, features in the temple introduced only later. Be this that it may, the biblical text enables the modern reader to conjure up a coherent portrait of the temple as envisaged by the biblical authors. And scholars have suggested as Anne has said numerous reconstructions. With the help of ancient near eastern artifacts and textual parallels, it is possible to reconstruct its forum and development and develop an understanding of its design significance and ancient symbolism. And most important for this are temples -- are temples discovered at Adar in Syria, at [inaudible] in Turkey and of course -- well two temples discovered in [inaudible] in Turkey and we'll return to them later. In my lecture today, I will guide you on a tour through this temple viewing it through the prism of the biblical accounts illuminated by pertinent materials from the ancient near East. We will start at the site enter through the gates walk around its precincts and end up in the inner most room of the temple. If so, let us assume that we are all as the Psalm requires of clean hands and a pure heart and let us ascend the Mountain of the Lord and stand in His H Place. Is there anyone here who is not of clean hand and pure heart? [Background laughter] He has nothing to do -- you're my brother-in-law what do you -- that's my brother-in-law. [Chuckle] He's right. Okay the Bible speaks from time to time of going up or ascending to Mount Zion or the Mountain of the Lord. The top of Mount Zion at Syonne whose derivation and meaning remain elusive, originally designated the side of the fortress captured by King David where he took up residence in which he then following ancient near eastern custom called the City of David Ir Dawed, indicating that it was the hill overlooking the royal compound in Jerusalem. The term was applied in the course of time to all of Jerusalem and eventually to the entire land of Israel. The Mountain of the Lord is therefore not particularly high and one passage in the Book of Psalms even states that Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains. But the disappointing topographic reality need not detract from the emotional experience of the ascent. The prophets Isaiah, Micah, Ezekiel, Second Isaiah and Deutorozachariah predict each in his own style that in the end of days as a result of apocalyptic catastrophes and upheavals, the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills. This picture of the future with its ideal temple certainly reflects the aspirations and desires of the present and pilgrims going up to the house of the Lord assumedly saw in their mind's eye and felt themselves as if they were symbolically uplifted or spiritually ascending a much loftier mountain. We can enter the temple through a number of gates. We can enter the temple through a number of gates. We cannot be sure what these gates looked like or their number at the time of Solomon but assuming the gates of Ezekiel envisions for the future temple reflect those he saw in the Jerusalem temple on the eve of its destruction then we see that at some time sooner or later during its long history, the temple was outfitted with gates resembling those found in excavations at Megiddo and Gezer and most recently at Khirbet Quyafa, the dates of which are still not firmly fixed by archeologists. Were we to visit the temple at the time of Solomon, no fee would have been acquired in order to enter. However certain idealistic psalms and prophecies express ethical requirements and such requirements have parables and temples of other ancient years and religions. According to Psalm 15, "Lord who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart," et cetera. This passage is comparable to an inscription at the entrance to the temple in Edfu in Egypt in which Shay Sheet, Goddess of Writing says to Horace, "I've come before you to write down before you the ones who do right and the ones who do wrong. The one who enters would impure and who speaks lies in your house. The one who distinguishes between good and bad are the pure one," et cetera. Getting back to the entrance fee at the time of King Jehoash, it became customary to pay voluntary contributions that would be collected by priests watching at the threshold. These contributions were gathered in a wooden box with a hole in its lid standing beside the altar. This box would be open when full by a royal scribe and the high priest and the silver which had accumulated would be refined counted and paid to artisans engaged in repairing damages to the temple. This practice indicates that responsibility for maintaining the temple had passed at least partially from the royal purse to the public pocket. At the same time oversight of the temple maintenance fund was shared by king and clergy as it was in contemporary Syrian temples as well. This shows a certain democratization or popularization of the cult. The phenomenon reflected as well in the account of building the tabernacle and the story in First Chronicles about building the temple in which the people contribute generously from their own property to the construction project. Solomon's Temple is sometimes referred to by scholars as a "Royal Chapel," on analogy of the Royal Sanctuary [inaudible] at Beit-El visited by the Prophet Amos. But the free access and the dependence on public funding challenged the accuracy of such an appellation. Upon entering the temple compound, we stand in a large outer court. The courtyard itself is full of people reciting prayers in Psalms and preparing or consuming sacrifices. This court is paved with large Hume stones and surrounded by service chambers called [inaudible] used by priests, prophets and couriers. They serve for eating sacrificial meat storage and other assorted functions. Similar structures with like purposes were present at Shiloh, Ramah and perhaps Dan. One cannot know how many such chambers or chedhers were in the temple when first built but narratives in the book of Jeremiah and Ezekiel's vision show that by the end of the first temple's existence they were numerous and were most likely for royal and clerical activity of a not strictly cultic nature. Continuing on, we enter the inner court something permitted only to priests. In this court stands a large altar of bronze which serves for several types of sacrificial animals and gather the blood of -- excuse me -- and libations. The priests tend to fire burning of the altar, arrange cuts of sacrificial animals, gather the blood of the victims and pour it at the base of the altar all using special -- what's this say [inaudible] bronze implements. That's a recent find we don't know if it's a drinking or a libation because we can see here to a Syrian release that the same type of vessel is used both for libation in the upper register and for drinking in the lower. Okay, sorry. At the time of King Ahas this altar was replaced by one in an Aramian style while the other Solomonic altar was pushed to the side serving now for special rituals perhaps divinations -- this is [inaudible]. I forgot to mention that. That's the [inaudible] Temple, and I'm seeking the [inaudible]. I should have done that today. ^M00:18:28 [ Silence ] ^M00:18:40 >> ...while the other Solomonic altar was pushed to the side serving now for special rituals perhaps divination by [inaudible] performed by the king. The old altar was simple having only a single upper surface and a set of horns resembling the bronze altar described through the tabernacle or the stone altar from Tel Sheva. The new altar which Ezekiel saw is the basis for the altar in the future temple is stepped having three stages. It also has horns and resembles in form the names of its parts the Mesopotamian stepped temple towers called ziggurats. Ezekiel's altar had steps leading up to it on its east side. This is in contradiction to the Law of the Altar in Exodus 19 and different from the tabernacle altar. Whether the original altar in the temple had such steps is unknown. The temple itself stands in the middle of the court but before approaching it we find in front of the building to the right and the left of the entrance, enormous bronze implements filled with water. Left of the entrance as we face the building is a huge basin or sea yom. This sea rests on 12 bronze cattle, four facing each direction of the compass. Along with them are 10 [inaudible] wheeled stands or [inaudible] made of bronze. Each stand is decorated with lions, cattle and cherubs and atop each one rests a bronze basin, a [inaudible]. According to a note in the Book of Chronicles the sea served for priestly ablutions while the smaller basins on the wagons held water in which one could wash the flesh and entrails of the sacrificial animals. Apart from the practical cultic functions of these vessels their number, size, location, decoration indicate that they have a symbolic role. Some scholars have suggested that they symbolize God's war with the primeval sea monsters around the time of creation. They would then be trophies from this battle and one can compare for example the Mesopotamian god [inaudible] displaying is vanquished enemies in the Temple at [inaudible] as described in the Sumerian text in the [inaudible] return to [inaudible]. This explanation does not particularly appeal to me but even if right it does not exhaust the symbolism. In fact the key to unlocking the symbolic meaning of the bronze water works is provided by Ezekiel's concluding vision in which he tours and describes the temple of the future. The temple contains no such vessels. Instead at exactly the place where the sea stood in Solomon's temple, Ezekiel sees well enough from under the temple threshold, a steady stream flowing out and down into the Yam HamMelah, the Dead Sea. Only the sea after receiving the waters of the stream flowing from the temple is no longer dead for this stream is a source of life for animals and plants grazing and growing on its banks. The stream heals the Dead Sea itself into which it flows. The river of the future also described by Prophet Joel reminds one of the river flowing from the Garden of Eden whereas it watered the garden and then branched into four streams. Now the Garden of Eden was God's private pleasure garden tended by newly-created man where God could walk, enjoying the afternoon breeze. If so the river flowing from Ezekiel's Temple and the bronze water implements in Solomon's Temple symbolize the river flowing from the Garden of Eden. Other ancient near eastern temples as well had in them streams of water works of various sorts. As an inscription of [inaudible] King of Ashur in the early second millennium BC tells us that from the [inaudible] Temple in the City of Ashur situated on Mount Ebal, two streams flowed forth to different gates just as we find in Deutorozachariah and Assyrian King such as Ashurnasirpal II and Sennacherib who dug canals alongside the palaces in their newly built capital called [inaudible] Nineveh. The water works of the Jerusalem temple thus helped mark it as the natural habitat of divine residence. Another important line of meaning is provided by ugeridic mythology. [Inaudible] abode on Mount [inaudible] a name borrowed by the way to designate Jerusalem in Mount Zion was located at the underground wellspring of the rivers the course of the two seas. Solomon's water works consisting of a sea and two rows of water wagons are comparable in which case the temple resembles [inaudible] and suits the well known al yahweh syncretist. Finally a large water basin found at [inaudible] was decorated with [inaudible] primordially stages and divine figures holding jugs from which streams of water flow. The [inaudible] figures resembling men with fish bottoms mark the basin as belonging to Oannes, the Mesopotamian god of wisdom, crafts and subterranean waters who is identified eventually with Cannonite Ale. An additional aspect of the water vessels ties them to the ideal world of the future on the one hand and the divine garden on the other. The [inaudible] the wagons are decorated with lions, bulls and cherubs. Cherubs are wind creatures mythological denizens of the divine Roman general and divine gardens in particular. Furthermore the combination of lions and bulls records Isaiah's prophecy, "And the wolf will dwell with the sheep and the leopard will crouch the kid and the calf and the lion cub will graze together and a small boy lead them. And the cow and the bear will graze together their offspring will crouch down and the lion like the cattle will eat straw." The prophecy then says "No one will be wicked or violent throughout my sacred mountain, if so harmony and serene coexistence between carnivorous and herbivorous animals is connected with the Holy Mountain where the temple will stand." Again the decoration of the temple implements in the present reflect the ideal divine dwelling of the future while the temple of the future provides the key for understanding the symbolism of the temple of the present. Walking between the rows of wagons, one reaches the entrance to the House of God. This building, a long-room structure consisting of forecourt large anteroom and a small inner room resembles an overall internal layout various ancient near eastern temples but in particular two first millennium temples at [inaudible] in Turkey, one discovered in the 1930s and the other discovered about a decade ago and the late second millennium temple of Andara discovered in the 1980s. This is the [inaudible] Temple. The materials of which this building is constructed contrast with those of the courtyards. It is not made of Hume stone with which the courtyards are paved but of rough unhune hull stones. The builders seemed to apply to the temple building itself, the ancient altar law prohibiting an altar of Hume stones. If the reason for this prohibition is indeed that given by traditional Jewish exegetes namely that the altar brings peace should not be desecrated by iron used to make swords symbolizing war then there's yet another expression of the paradise-like tranquility of the divine dwelling. Furthermore, the stone structures encased on its right rear and left sides by a three-story cedar wood structure reaching half the height of the temple. A unique parallel to this wooden structure is found in the Andara Temple which is surrounded on two sides and from behind by a chambered stone corridor. The upright boards of this structure are called [inaudible] while the ones laying horizontally connecting [inaudible] with the stone walls are called [inaudible] mattresses. The [inaudible] to the ridge and the sea of mattress made up together a type of cedar-wood box enveloping the building recalling the Forest of Lebanon considered by people of the ancient near east a pure or holy divine residence. So again the temple resembles the natural habitat of the God dwelling within. The horizontally laying mattresses divide the structure into three stories, the middle story having an opening to the left of the entrance to the temple itself. One whom enters can ascend and descend through trap doors or spiral staircases called [inaudible]. This structure stores temple treasures, including all valuable objects dedicated to God, His royal presence or items taken booty from holy wars. Some of the valuables in these stores predated even Solomon for Solomon is said to have put in the stores sacred objects belonging to David and temple treasures are mentioned as early as the time of Joshua in the conquest of Jericho. These treasures were emptied full or partially from time to time to pay tribute. Exit and side structure in stores and returning to the main entrance of the temple one finds in front extending the width of a building a small forecourt called a [inaudible]. This court 20 cubits wide and 10 deep is enclosed by a low wall whose height equals that of the wall around the temple courtyard itself. These walls are decorated with an enigmatic feature called [inaudible], blocked transparent windows probably false windows of the type found at Andara and more recently in a temple of the Storm God discovered at [inaudible]. In the [inaudible] stands two immense hollow pillars cast from bronze and topped with floral motifs. These pillars support nothing standing free with no architectural function being obviously of decorative and symbolic significance. Unfortunately, one can only guess what their meaning might be. On the one hand they flank the entry as silent witnesses to the great event of God's entry into the new temple when it was dedicated. If so they bear constant witness to God's presence in the temple much like the flag flying over Buckingham Palace or Windsor Palace when the Queen is in. Yes. If this is their function then they resemble the giant footprints leading from the entry to the inner sanctum that founded the Andara temple. I don't know what shoe size that is bigger than mine. On the other hand something may be learned from the physical shape of the pillars. Atop each pillar is a lotus shaped capital decorated with pomegranates and intertwined tangled branches making them essentially stylized trees. This raises the possibility that they represent the two trees which grew in the middle of the Garden of Eden namely the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life. This symbolic interpretation accords well of course with the other motifs already observed connecting the temple with divine gardens. The pillars were given the names Joachim and Boaz names no less enigmatic than the pillars that bear them. They may be related to inscriptions often engraved on cultic objects and one might mention inscription of [inaudible] describing two wooden pillars dedicated to the god Ashur each one engraved with an inscription. They may also be words of some blessing or a prayer for the king who built the temple and made the pillars. It has been suggested that they are first words of the prayers, "May the Lord establish the throne of David and his kingdom to his descendents forever and by might of the Lord, may the King rejoice." The first of these suggested names resembles the name of the Gate of Ninevah given to it by [inaudible] period stable. If this interpretation of the name is accurate it provides the only explicit link between the temple design and aspirations of the royal dynasty and the only architectural expression of the temple being a [inaudible] a royal temple. Passing between the two pillars one reaches the temple's entrance. The entrance is framed by four interlocking door frames; one inside the other. The frames are of oil wood which has been taken to be either a type of olive wood or pine. The step door frames resembled those found in tomb entrances in Cypress or windows depicted on ancient ivory such as the famous Woman in the Window from [inaudible], down here at the bottom of that. Most importantly they resemble the architectural feature representing temples [inaudible] and divine symbols used in Mesopotamian iconography. Such representations appear in the divine symbols of the so-called [inaudible], the boundary stones on which a god is represented as a standard symbol mounted upon a square mount which shows several interlocking squares. The same thing appears on the relief atop the [inaudible] where Shamush, the Sun God sits upon a temple entrance consistent of four interlocking frames. That's the bottom right; Shamush sitting down [inaudible] standing up. In certain Mesopotamian pictures we find gods depicted framed within such entry ways in which case the particular type of a frame may be symbolic of divine presence in the temple. Just a few weeks ago, Jerusalem archeologist Yosef Garfinkel revealed a model shrine unearthed at Khirbet Qeiyafa and dating in his opinion to the time of David and whose entrance is surrounded by four interlocking door frames, exactly as attributed to Solomon's Temple. In the door frame hang two doors, each made of two planks of cypress or Juniper wood. The doors are engraved with cherubs, palmettes and open calyxes and the decorations are covered with gold applied in a way designated enigmatically as [inaudible], straightened. These doors are opened and closed every morning and evening with golden implements certainly a type of key called [inaudible] but which can be corrected on the basis of the Book of Chronicles to [inaudible] openers. Door opening rituals are known from other ancient near eastern temples and we should mention in particular Shiloh, where young Samuel who slept in the temple opened its doors on the morning after his vision. Having entered the temple itself one is found in a long room measuring 20 by 40 cubits known as the [inaudible] a term derived from Sumerian [inaudible] meaning big house and related to Acadian [inaudible]. The Sumerian and Acadian terms usually designate a royal palace but an ugeridic and biblical Hebrew the word is often applied to temples or to deities or to a deities' heavenly dwelling place. Similar to the doors from the outside, the floor of this room is of cypress or perhaps juniper wood, but the walls and ceiling are cedar wood and the room was assumedly somewhat fragrant. The two side walls as well as the walls through which one enters from the outside are engraved with gourds and calyxes but the far wall at the back of the [inaudible] through which one enters the inner chamber is decorated more ornately. It is covered not with gourds and calyxes but with calyxes, palmettes and cherubs. The cherubs engraved in the doors to the [inaudible] represent certainly guards and they may be compared with the cherubs holding the ever turning sword guarding the entry to the Garden of Eden and the way to the Tree of Life. The cherubs on the back wall of the [inaudible] represent in contrast, the honor guard standing outside the throne room in which the divine King sits in throw in all His radiant glory. I will be finished in two minutes -- no five minutes. In the [inaudible] the main daily ritual was performed. Accordingly, it is furnished with cultic furnishings outfitted with appropriate implements and the ritual performed aims at arousing emotions and providing daily needs of the divine resident. Along the side will stand golden lamp stands [inaudible] five to the right and five to the left. All the [inaudible] golden oil lamps which burn from dusk until dawn as God's lamp did at Shiloh. Each lamp stand probably held only a single lamp although some scholars think that the lamp stands were more elaborate with seven branches as in the tabernacle. The priest tends these lamps with golden implements. In the middle of the [inaudible] stands a table, upon which loaves of bread are arranged as well as pouring and draining vessels, all for the divine repast. The meals served periodically on this table were accompanied by music played upon gold covered instruments called [inaudible]. This table parallels in function the offering stable found in Mesopotamian tables. There are also indications that a bread table was found in the pre-Jerusalem temple at [inaudible]. If so the Israelite temples with an internal table and an altar in the courtyard for burnt offerings seem to have had two parallel systems of cult be performed simultaneously indicating perhaps a blending of cultic tradition of varying origins. In front of the door leading into the inner chamber stands an altar for incense. This altar is made of cedar wood overlay with gold. The attending priest place incense upon it using golden spoons called [inaudible], literally palms, in order to burn the incense coals were brought from the courtyard altar upon golden pans or [inaudible]. To enter the inner chamber called the [inaudible] or holy of holies one passes through a short corridor surrounded by five frames; one inside another. The doors to the holy of holies are made of oil wood and decorated with cherubs, palmettes and calyxes and covered with gold applied by a process called [inaudible]. The [inaudible] itself is cubit; 20 cubits to each dimension and made entirely of cedar wood. The walls of this chamber are covered with gold and decorated with calyxes, palmettes and cherubs representing God's heavenly residue reminding us of the divine throne room scenes described in the prophecy of [inaudible] son of [inaudible] Isaiah's throne vision and the opening chapters in the book of Job. Above the [inaudible] is an attic or loft. This secret room may have been the bedroom used by a [inaudible] or [inaudible] to hide her nephew [inaudible] from wicked Queen Natalia and one scholar suggested that it was used for performing a sacred marriage right. In the middle of the [inaudible] stand two enormous cherubs each 10 cubits high with 10 cubit wing spans. The outstretched wings filled the chamber from side to side. These cherubs represent God's throne and are the basis of the epithet He Who Sits upon the Cherub [inaudible]. This throne is not stationary but mobile and when moving from place to place it serves as God's sedan chair giving the title [inaudible] writer of the cherubs. According to the book of Chronicles this cherub throne is the model of the [inaudible] a term used in post biblical Hebrew as early as the book of [inaudible] to designate the divine chariot described in the first and 12th chapters of Ezekiel. According to the more recent theory the cherubs are of a different type and they shelter the divine residence sitting behind them. Under the outstretched wings of the cherub stands the [inaudible] or the ark literally a box. This ark brought to Jerusalem from Shiloh where it stood earlier is God's footstool when he sits upon the cherub throne. Just like other footstools known from the ancient near east in which copies of treaties were placed this one stores the tables of the covenant recording the covenant between God and his people Israel. The importance of this inner room is emphasized by the grand doors and its entrance and also by the form of the temple in its entirety. Looking back on what we have seen thus far we recall that the way from the courtyard into the holy of holies passes cultic implements and decorations which increase in material worth and technological sophistication as we progress inward. In the courtyard everything was made of bronze but when entering the building we encountered only gold and the amount of gold increased going from the [inaudible] to the [inaudible]; the outer sanctum into the inner sanctum. The wood in the [inaudible] was both cedar and cypress while in the [inaudible] it was cedar with cherubs of oil wood. The outer door was surrounded by four tiered door frames while the frame of the inner door was five tiers. The walls of the [inaudible] were decorated with gourds and calyx while the walls of the [inaudible] bore calyxes, palmettes and cherubs. The gradual increase in the value of the material and the technological sophistication parallels an increase in sanctity and strictness on who may enter. The outer court would have been visited by the people at large while the inner court was the main of the priests and the inside of the temple was only open to the high priest. All in all Solomon's Temple is a luxurious divine residence in a mountaintop pleasure garden and its general design focuses on the inner room and is meant to glorify and magnify the divine residence sitting on its cherub throne. I think I'll stop here. ^M00:41:37 [ Applause ] ^M00:41:44 I'm sorry for going over. >> Big Foot and Ancient Mesopotamia, who would have thought of that one [chuckle]. Thank you for a wonderful lecture. I think we have a few minutes for a few questions. Let me mention that this entire event is being webcast for future viewing on the library's website, so we encourage the audience to ask questions, really tough questions, for Professor Hurowitz, but please be advised that by asking you are basically giving your permission to have your voice and your image on this webcast. So please are there any questions? No questions? >> Joanie -- Joan Waddelton [phonetic]. ^M00:42:31 [ Inaudible audience question ] ^M00:42:49 >> Repeat the question. >> The question is, what is the scale, what are the proportions what are the dimensions of these buildings? The temple itself, there was a forecourt which was 10 cubits in depth. Now a cubit is an arm length from your finger to your elbow. So that's about half a yard. So 10 cubits would be 15 feet right? And the temple itself was 20 cubits wide so that's 30 feet wide and 60 cubits so that's -- how much is that yeah, that's 40 feet. >> Ninety feet. >> Excuse me. Ninety feet. Been a long time, my son does that all the time. I'm doing the arithmetic backwards inverting the denominator and numerator. Yes? ^M00:43:49 [ Inaudible audience question ] ^M00:44:19 >> He cites [inaudible] as doubting that this building could have existed in the 10th Century BC which is the time of Solomon. He asked me when I think that this type of structure -- as I said certain of the features are reflected in Ezekiel's vision which is from the early 6th Century. The temple stood according to biblical tradition for about 400 years. So somewhere in those 400 years it went through rebuilding and additions until it reached its final form. Exactly when the description we have in the Bible is from is a difficult question to answer. Even if we say that the Book of Kings, according to traditional dating, the Book of Kings was written by Jeremiah. That's at the time of the destruction of the first temple. So that's the maximalist. So the Book of Kings was written at the time of destruction. By the way most scholars would agree with that but the Book of Kings is a book from the time of the destruction, so by that time the temple had reached its form. But you're right; I treat this as a literary description. There may be a certain amount of idealization but I think that at heart there's a basic historical reality but this is a broad question which we have to discuss on the side. Thank you. ^M00:46:00 [ Inaudible audience question ] ^M00:46:24 >> Well it was roofed with cedar bulks, the terms used in the Bible are [inaudible] and [inaudible]. Now let me show you an interesting thing. This is from the [inaudible]. ^M00:46:43 [ Inaudible audience question ] ^M00:46:54 >> Let's take this picture here. Do you see these? Yosef Garfinkel has identified them incorrectly in my opinion as the [inaudible] and [inaudible] which I take as the side chambers. But these, which happen to be the earliest form of a certain feature known from Greek architecture, I think they date -- their appearance in Greek architecture. These may be the ends of the beams roofing the temple. I think there are seven here; that may be a schematic thing. So the Bible uses the term [inaudible], so I take them to be long beams and short beams going the other way or else... >> [Inaudible]. >> Right cross beams, right that may be or something like that. Whether it was... >> [Inaudible]. >> It would have been flat, yes, although I mentioned there may have been a room up there called a -- which Jehoash was hidden by his sister. Okay. Yes? ^M00:48:17 [ Inaudible audience question ] ^M00:48:30 >> The question is, can I discuss the cherubs? The cherubs are a fascinating creature and many recently several books have been written about them. But I'll try to make things as I see them. A cherub is basically a -- it's a compound creature. It's what we call in English a [inaudible]. Remember Flub a Dub from Howdy Duty made up of -- they were sphinxes. We know sphinxes and griffins. By the way the term griffin may be etymologically related to cherubs to [inaudible] would be an [inaudible] which means to bless like [inaudible]. It's the same root. Anyway these are compound creatures with legs and bodies and wings. Now in the Bible the [inaudible] serve various functions. We hear of them in a mythological context in the story of the Garden of Eden where God places the cherub with the constantly whirling sword to guard the path to the Tree of Life. In other places we hear of God riding on cherubs, so they'll be the same creature but serving a different function. In the temple we also have cherubs in different roles. We have guards at the entrance. They would probably be standing and I could find some iconography to show you things like this. And they would like be at the doors. They would be engraved on the doors and they would represent divine - [inaudible] slide. Ah, here. Do you see this down here at the bottom? This is an Assyrian Palace. Can you sit - should I go into the view slides -- slide show. Let's go all the way down on there. ^M00:50:45 [ Silence ] ^M00:50:51 Tell me when I get to it. Ah, yeah, there. >> [Inaudible]. >> Okay. Here down at the bottom. Has anyone ever been in the British Museum? Okay. You've been in the British Museum in the Louvre, I think in the University of Chicago -- Penn doesn't -- I don't think Penn has them. But these would be corresponding to these cherubs in guarding positions. They're called [inaudible] which gets into Hebrew as [inaudible] demon. They could also be called [inaudible], and they have all sorts of fancy names. But these are guarding the entrance to the palace. They keep wicked people out. They're scary. They're actually much like gargoyles. They're like gargoyles on gothic - yes, on medieval churches where you're afraid that demons are going to go in through the joints. So they place gargoyles at the corners and all over to protect them from -- these are essentially what the cherubs do. So again they're [inaudible] and they're Flub a Dubs that they serve -- they're part of the divine retinue and God uses them for whatever purpose they need. Is that enough? Okay. ^M00:52:16 [ Silence ] ^M00:52:20 >> That was absolutely fascinating. Let's thank Professor Hurowitz [applause]. >> This has been a presentation of the Library of Congress. Visit us at loc.gov.