Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/651

 1S69.] Cedai 527 the coast; and landed at Joppa, the nearest port to Jerusalem. On this most singular circumstance, we will only remark, that Solomon, with all his wis- dom, would not have been able to do such a thing, — at all events not in Eng- land, — in the Nineteenth century. Our wise carpenters, bricklayers, and stone- masons, have far too much good sense, to permit their timbers to be worked in the forest, their stones at the quarry, or their bricks in the field, even although it can be demonstrated, that the builder would obtain a better article, save much time, and the cost of transporting su- perfluous materials. Whether they are wiser, in their generation, than Solomon, is a question which we will not stay here to determine. To proceed. The roof of Solomon's Temple was constructed with beams and boards of Cedar, as well as the lining, or panelling of the walls, and even the foundations. We must always remem- ber, however, that the Eastern customs of construction, respecting the roof, are veiy different from our own. We construct our ceilings with plaster, and our roofs with wood. They, on the other hand, constructed their floors of plaster, or painted tiles, and their ceil- ings of wood. As to foundations of timber, these, of course, are only possi- ble in a dry, porous, sandy soil, such as that of Palestine. We need not dwell on the Cedar ornaments of the Temple ; indeed, the whole timber used, even to the most minute finishing or decoration of that celebrated Temple, was composed of Cedar. The altar was of Cedar over- laid with gold ; the oracle was of Cedar ; "and the Cedar of the house within was carved with gourds and open flow- ers ; all was of Cedar ; there was no stone seen." Cedar timber, thus so lavishly used by David and Solomon, in their build- ings, was also, we read, used in the sec- ond Temple, rebuilt under Zerubbabel. The Cedar employed was Cedar from Lebanon, (Ezra iii. 7.) Cedar is also said, by Josepluis, to have been used by Herod, in constructing the roof of his temple. And the roof of the Rotunda of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, at Jerusalem, is said to have been of Cedar ; and that of the Church of the Virgin, at Bethlehem, to have been of Cedar or Cypress. Nor was the use of this famous tree always confined to the purposes of honse-building ; it was sometimes em- ployed, we are told, even in ship-build- ing. The Prophet Ezekiel tells us, (xxvii. 5,) in that valuable historical ac- count of the ancient Phoenician commerce then at the period of its greatest prosper- ity, (B. C. 600,) that the Tyrian ship- builders constructed their ship-boards of the fir-trees of Senir, and their masts of the Cedars of Lebanon. It should always be remembered, how- ever, in speaking of the Cedars of Leb- anon, used in building by the ancient Jews — particularly when beams, pillars, or ceiling-boards are mentioned — that it is extremely probable, the wood of more than one tree was employed. The gen- eric name, indeed, of the tree was used. But under that name (Pinus Cedrus) were also (as Dr. Boyle has shown) comprehended the Cedrus Deodora, the Yew, (Tasns Baccata ?) and the Scotch pine, (Pinus Sylvestris.) The latter tree might have furnished the material of the ships' masts, mentioned by Ezekiel, which recent commentators consider was the case. In our day, the chief consumption of Cedar, for building purposes, lies in the States of South America. There is a species of Cyprus, called White Cedar in the Brazilian territories, which is valu- able timber ; and in Bermuda, and other islands of the West Indies, a brown quality of wood is much emploj-ed. The tree gives the name to a range of hills called the Cedar Mountains, in Cape Colony, which supply the township of Clan Willans, and its neighborhood, with planks for building. It is very little known in Africa, although the Cedar of Algiers is compact, very dura-