Among larger stones, besides niill-stonea (for
618
STONE
STOXE
which see MILL, vol. iii. p. 369), mny lie noticed
;hose which covered wells (Gii 29-'- '•
iind de-
posits of treasure (Sir 29'"), and those which closed the mouths of caves (Jos 10'*- "), pits used as dens ( On 6"), and rock-hewn tombs (Mt 27°"). The entrances of tombs were closed sometimes by stone doors hunj; on stone pivots, and sometimes by circular slabs like milLstones set on edge, which rolled in grooves athwart the openings, the grooves being sloped so as 63 luaks the stone easj- to roll to the door and difficult to roll away again. The entrance to the Tombs of the Kings at Jerusalem has both kinds of stone doors (see Tristram, Land of Israel, pp. 406-7, and SU'P Special Papers, p. 28011'.). Og's ' bedstead of iron' (Dt 3") was probably a sarco- phagus of basalt, such as have been found in abund- ance E. of the Jordan (see Driver, Deut. in loc).
Certain large stones served as landmarks, such as the great stone in Gibeon (2 S 20'), the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben (Jos 15° IS"), the stone of Zoheleth (1 K V), the stone Ezel (1 S 20" MT). Other large stones had a more or less sacred char- acter. Rude stone monuments of religious origin are still plentiful E. of the Jordan, though they are not found W. of it except in Galilee. They have been divided into four classes, menhirs or pillars, dolmens or stone tables, cairns or stone heaps, and cromlechs or stone circles. Examples of the hrst class are the 'pillar' which Jacob set up at Bethel and anointed (Gn 2S'° 35"), and that wliich he erected at Mizpah (Gn Sl''^). In early Sem- itic religion these pillars were associated with the presence of a deity, and were smeared with blood or oil as an act of worship (see PlLLAR, vol. iii. pp. S79-S1). In some cases a rude stone pillar seems to have served simply as a memorial (Jos 2i-'>- -'',
1 S 7'-) or as a monument to the dead (cf. 1 Mac 13'-",
2 K 23" RV, Ezk 39'^). While at tirst the sacred stone representing the deity served also as an altar, the latter came to be distinct at a very early period. It might be a natural rock ( Jg 6™- -' 13's, 1 S gu 1433) Of artificially built of stone. In the latter case the stones were unhewn (Ex 20^, Dt 27'' '', Jos 8"). Elijah's altar on Carmel was, no doubt, of this kind (1 K IS^'"-). Under the Maccabees the stones of the altar of burnt-oli'ering in the temple were laid aside as defiled and a new altar was built (1 Mac 4*^-*'']. Ezekiel's ideal temple was to be provided with hewn stone tables for slaj'ing the sacrihces (Ezk 40^-) (see ALTAR, vol. i. pp. 75, 76, and Robertson Smith, US 184 tt., 214). The narra- tive in Gn 31 mentions a cairn (S;) as well as a jiillar at Mizpah. The stones set up by Joshua at Gilgal (Jos 4) were an example of a circle with a memorial significance (Conder, Syrian Stone-lore, 220 ; Ben- zinger, Meb. Arch. 56 H"., 379, 380). Inscriptions might be placed upon monumental stones (Dt 27''- "), on altars (Jos 8^'-), or on stone tablets such as those on whicli the Law was engraved. Stone, like wood, was among the commone.st materials out of which idolatrous images were made (Jer 2-', Hab 2'" etc.). Such images, as well as sacred pill.irs, were forbidden in Lv 26^.
Tliu most important use of stone was, of course, for Imildin". For this purpose it was regarded as superior toljrick (Is 9'"), which was substituted for it in Babylonia (Gn IP). The chief references to stone as a building material are in connexion with the temple. Stone was among the preparatory stores collected by David (1 Ch 22"- 1» 29-). The foundation of the temple consisted of great costly hewn stones (1 K 5"- "* 7'°), and the superstructure was also of stone, though covered with wood ( I K gi8 -». 11. 12) -piig stones were brought to the site in a prepared state (1 K 6'). Hewn stone is men- tioned in connexion with the repairs executed by Joash (2K 12'=) and Josiah (2K 22«, 2 Ch 34"), and stone was among the materials of the second
temple (Hag 2'=, Ezr 5^ 6*, 1 Es 6»- =»). The size and s]ilendour of the stones of Herod's temple are referred to in Mt 24'- -||. Contrasted with the process of building is that of deniolisliing (Mic 1", La 4'). The stones in the ruins of Jerusalem were dear to the exiles (Ps 102"). The opponents of Nehemiah laughed at the idea of rebuUding the city walls with stones from among the rubbish (Neh 4-").
Some of the great stones in the foundation wall of the temple are visible in the Jews' Wailing Place. Other jiarts of the wall have been reached by recent excavation, notably at the S.E. comer. The lowest stone at this point is 14 ft. long and
3 ft. 8 in. high, 'squared and polished, with a finely dressed face.' If the present foundation, which rests on the solid rock, be really that of Solomon's temple, then this stone is the ' founda- tion' or 'chief corner stone' so often referred to in Scripture (Is 2S'°, Ps 118--, Mt 21*^ || Ac 4", 1 P 2"). While the 'head of the corner' is a founda- tion stone, the 'head stone' (■i»ni jjk Zee 4') is the highest and the last to be placed. Large as the temple stones are, they are small compared with some found in the ruins of Baalbek. Three of these, forming one course, are the largest hewn stones in the world. They are all 13 ft. high and as many thick, and their respective lengths are 64, 63^, and 63 ft. A still larger stone, 70 ft. long, 14 ft. thick, and 14 ft. high, lies in the adjacent quarry. For methods of transporting such stones, see WDkinson, Anc. Eg. ii. 3U2-10. The remains of quarries are visible in many places in Palestine, and their extent aflords a measure of the antiquity of the building sites near them. The greatest quarries at Jerusalem are the caverns under Bezetha, from which a great part of the stone work of the city has been excavated. Traces of the process of working the quarry still remain. The blocks were separated from the rock bj' cut- tings from 3 to 6 in. wide made all round them with some instrument like a pick. The margins of the stones were dressed with toothed chisels (Benzinger, Heb. Arch. 238). In the basaltic rocks of Bashan there are many circular holes