Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/196

 1 78 A History of Art in Sardinia and Jud/EA. fanaticism contracted during the captivity and so patent in the post-exillic period. 1 Among- the men furnished by Hiram were Giblites, or men of the mountain, famous as stone-cutters and builders (1 Kings v. 18), whose city, Gebel, was not addicted like Tyre and Sidon to mari- time enterprise ; being contented to supply the two great emporiums with ships that sailed all over the Mediterranean. Who was the directing hand, or, as we should say, the chief architect of Solomon's important works ? Was his name Hiram, or Hiram Abu, of whom special mention is made as "a skilful artificer," the son of a widow of the tribe of Nephtalim, whose father was from Tyre, and a worker in brass ? The author of Chronicles, with his proneness to exaggerate, endows him with universal genius, familiar with every art ; but in Kings the range of his technical skill is reduced to a thorough knowledge of " brass work." The number and the description of pieces he fabricated for the king are given in detail, and the place of his workshop is stated. 2 The fact that the name of Hiram Abu is the only one of Solomon's workers whose name has been preserved would be explained if we suppose that he combined the general management of affairs, with the strict super- vision of the works of his special calling. These, displayed all over the temple, were of a nature to strike the vulgar far more than did the monumental walls around them. Hence the name of Hiram Abu lived in the imagination of the people, whilst that of the architect was forgotten. However this may be, there is no doubt as to his having been a Phoenician. 1 Consult Chronicles. In them only do we find exaggerations that were so flattering to the national pride. As an instance of the same spirit in modern times may be cited a passage in Father Pailloux {Monographie du Te>?iple, Paris, Roger and Chernoviz, 1885). The author has taken literally the words: "All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern" (1 Chron. xxviii. 19). "It would be unpardonable," he writes, " to suppress a text or attenuate the sense, as it would be rash to hesitate recognizing the plan of the temple as a Divine plan," p. ii. A little further he alludes to "primitive plans, tracings, dimensions and explanatory notes," "scripta manu Domini." He is obliged to own, however, that they no longer exist ; on the other hand, he thinks that in Ezekiel he possesses " second-hand plans," taken on the spot through angelic agency, p. i» ; and this, he adds, with charming simplicity, is more than we had any right to expect. But specialists have declared that his restoration is creditable to neither prophet nor the angel who is supposed to have inspired it. 2 1 Kings vii. 13-15, 47 ; 2 Chron. ii. 13, 14. To avoid confusion, we shall designate Solomon's artificer as Hiram Abu.