1950.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



m 



Pelasgic walls and ffatewnys, in no essential point differing from 

 those already described. 



Deeply interostinj; as is the liistory of the Jews in other respects, 

 as far as regards architecture it is almost a blank. The Jews, 

 having been a ])astoral people, never became great builders, and 

 acquired no style of their own. Though Jerusalem is a city of 

 great antii|uity, having been fouiuled (according to Manetho) by 

 the Hycsos after tlieir expulsion from Egypt, we have no descrip- 

 tion of any of its buildings previous to the erection of Solomon's 

 'I'emple. The first Jewish structure i>n record is the Tabernacle, 

 which Jospphus describes as "a moveable and audnilatory temj)le." 

 It was o'i feet in length by 21 feet in breadth and hcieht, and liad 

 twenty quadrangular pillars on each side, and six at the end or post- 

 icus. The front was placed so as to have an eastern aspect, that it 

 might catch the first rays of the sun. The pillars were of wood, 

 covered with thin plates of gold; and as the structure was to be 

 moveable, the pillars were titted into their bases, and the gold or gilt 

 bars forming the architi-ave into each other, by a tenon and mortice, 

 so that they could easily be taken down, and set u]i in a new place. 

 The interior of the Tabernacle was divided into three parts, as it 

 might be the vestibule, pronaos, and adytum; the latter being the 

 most holy ]dace, where the ark was deposited. The Tabernacle 

 was ]daced in the midst of a court, or sacred inclosure, formed by 

 slender brazen pillars or staves, with cords from one to another, 

 on which curtains were hung; tliese staves terminated in a sharp 

 end, like a spea.r-hcad, which was stuck firmly in the ground. 

 ^\'ithin the court was the brazen laver or vessel for purifica- 

 tion. 



We learn from the sacred writings, that when David built his 

 house, he sent for an architect from Phoenicia; and king Solomon 

 followed the example of his father, wljen preparing to build his 

 temple and palace at Jerusalem. Hiram, king of Tyre, not only 

 sent an architect, but also provided other wurkmen, and much of 

 the necessar)' materials. It is very difficult to obtain any clear 

 conception of the Temi)le of S(domon; the description in the 

 1st Kings, and 2nd t^ironicles, dazzling the imagination with a 

 vague idea of gorgeousness, but not giving suflicient data for an 

 accurate plan. Many different opinions prevail on the subject: 

 Mr. Bardwell, says, "the temple of Solomon had not in its pro- 

 portions and details any thing in common with the temples of 

 Greece;" and presumes it to have been altogether copied from 

 those of Egypt; while Mr. W'ilkins, in his valuable work on Magna 

 Griecia, supposes tlie Temple of Solomon to have been tlie model 

 after which the Greek temples were constructed. Objections 

 may be made to both these opinions. The Temple, which was to 

 be a stationary Tabernacle, closely resembled it in proportion and 

 distribution of parts; and so far, the first idea of the building may 

 have been borrowed from what they had seen in Egypt; but it is 

 scarcely likely that tlie Hebrews would liave been desirous of 

 building a temple to the Most High, constructed exactly alter the 

 model of the idolatrous temples of the abhorred land of Egy])t, 

 every recollection of which was so associated with slavery and 

 degradation, that even brick-making became as great an abomi- 

 nation in tlieir siglit, as the Shepherd life was to the Egyptians. 

 On the other hand, it is unlikely that the Greeks should have 

 copied from Solomon's Temple; they had no religious motive for 

 so doing, and had but little intercourse with Judea Jose|dius, in 

 his letter against Apion, says, "there was no occasion ofl'ered us 

 in ancient ages for intermixing among the Greeks;" and afterwards 

 obser\ed, that being an inland people, the Hebrews were com- 

 paratively unknown to them. The most probable conclusion is, 

 that as a Phoenician architect was employed, he would construct 

 the Temple of Sidomon as nearly as possible after the plan of those 

 of his own country; and as there is little doubt that Greek archi- 

 tecture also originated in Phoenicia, there would naturally be a 

 great similarity between the Jewish and Greek temples, though 

 the plan would be adapted to the requii-ements of the people, and 

 their peculiar mode of worship. 



Three years were occupied in preparing materials and hewing 

 stones for the temple of Jerusalem, and seven years more in its 

 erection ; the walls were constructed of stone covered with cedar, 

 and the roof entirely of cedar wood. Josephus says, speaking of 

 the skill displayed in the masonry, that the polished stones were 

 "laid together so very harmoniously and smoothly, that there 

 appeared to the spectators no sign of any hammer or'other instru- 

 ment of architecture; but as if, without any use of them, the entire 

 materials had naturally united themselves together, that tb.s 

 agreement of one part with another seemed rather to have been 

 natural than to have arisen from the force of tools upon them." 

 The interior of the temple was divided into two parts, the oracle 



and the sanctuary ; there was also a porch or vestibule before the 

 front of the temple towards the east. 



The proportions of the building (taking the cubit at 21 inches,) 

 were, including the porch, 140 feet in length, by 35 feet in breadth; 

 the oracle was a cube of 35 feet, the sanctuary 70 feet in length, 

 the remainder being given to the porch. Instead of a peristyle, 

 the Temple of Scdomon was surrounded on three sides by a num- 

 ber of small cells or chambers three stories high, each chamber 



8 ft. 9 in. square, thus giving a total width to the building of 43 ft. 



9 in. This arrangement was not unique: there are the ruins of a 

 temple in Lydia which has a set of small cells extending the whole 

 length of the flank. Access was gained to the upper stories by a 

 staircase in the thickness of the wall, and light admitted into the 

 sanctuary by a row of narrow windows or loop-holes above the 

 chambers. The wlude of the interior of the temple, including 

 floor and ceiling, was overlaid with gold. The oracle was divided 

 from the sanctuary by a pair of folding doors of carved cedar wood 

 rbbly gilt, and also by coloured and embroidered veils of fine 

 linen : the sanctuary had similar doors leading to the porch. la 

 the porch were the two great pillars, called Jachim andBoaz; 

 these were massive brazen columns, with vase-shaped capitals, 

 enriched with net-work and foliage. Round the temple were 

 three courts, each one elevated a few feet above the next. The 

 highest, nearest the temple, was called the Priest's court, because 

 the priests only were permitted to enter ; here stood the great 

 brazen altar, and the molten sea, and other lavatories ; this sacred 

 inclosure was surrounded by a wall between 5 and 6 feet in height. 

 Tlie next, the court of Israel, was quadrangular, contained clois- 

 ters, and was entered by a great gate on each of the four sides ; 

 into this, says Josephus, " all the people entered that were distin- 

 guished from the rest by being pure and observant of the laws." 

 The outer division was called the court of the Gentiles; this was 

 surrounded by a diuible row of cloisters, supported by stone 

 columns, and roofed over with polished cedar; here only the public 

 were freely admitted. 



This magnificent edifice was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, 586 

 B.C. The tenijile was rebuilt on the return of the Jews from 

 captivity, but not in its original splendour, for we are told that 

 wjien tiie festi\al of its completion was celebrated, the old men 

 and priests, remembering the superiority of the original building, 

 broke out into tears and lamentations, so that "their wailing over- 

 came the sounds of the trumpets and the rejoicing of the people." 

 This second temple, after sustaining various injuries, such as 

 having been plundered by Antiochus Epiphanes, and desecrated 

 by Pompey, was consumed by fire during the siege of Jerusalem by 

 Titus, A.D. 70. 



The Palace of Solomon was situated near the temple, and must 

 have vied with it in splendour ; it appears to have been arranged 

 on a similar plan to the Eastern palaces of our own day, in large 

 open courts, surrounded by different apartments. Solomon's 

 palace consisted of three divisions, the centre one containing the 

 great hall of judgment and other public offices ; the rest of the 

 building formed the residences of Solomon and his Egyptian queen. 

 The principal apartments are described as having floors of cedar; 

 the walls were inlaid part of their height with polished marble. 

 Above this was a row of sculptured slabs representing foliage, and 

 between these slabs and the ceiling the wall was plastered and 

 richly painted; thus closely resembling the interior of the palaces 

 of Nineveh. There were also cloisters for exercise, and, according 

 to Josephus, "a most glorious dining-room." He continues: "Now 

 it is very hard to reckon up the magnitude and the variety of the 

 royal apartments; how many rooms there were of the largest sort, 

 how many of a size inferior to those, and how many that were sub- 

 terraneous and invisible, the curiosity of those that enjoyed the 

 fresh air, and the groves for the most delightful prospect, for the 

 avoiding the heat and covering of their bodies ; and to say all in 

 brief, Solomon made the whole building entirely of white stone 

 and cedar wood, and gold and silver. He also adorned the roof's 

 and walls with stones set in gold, and beautified them in the same 

 manner as he had beautified the Temple of God with the like 

 stones." 



Of the private houses of the ancient Jews we know little, 

 except that they were flat-roofed, and of two or more stories, as 

 frequent mention is made of " the upper chamber." The flat roofs 

 were used, as in the East at the present day, both for exercise and 

 repose, and it was commanded by law that each house should have 

 the roof protected by a parapet. 



Most of the buildings now existing in Palestine are Saracenic; 

 the most ancient do not date beyond the time of Herod, with the 

 exception of the tombs of the Patriarchs. The celebrated Sepnl- 



