The workmen and the materials employed in the erec- tion of the Temple were chiefly procured l)y Solomon from Iliram.king of Tyre, who was rewarded by a liberal importation of «'heat. Josephus states (.4 «^ viii, 2) that duplicates of tire letters -which passed between Solomon and king Hiram were still extant in his time, both at Jerusalem and among the Tj'rian records. He informs us that the persons employed in collecting and arrang- ing the materials for the Temple were ordered to search out the largest stones for the foundation, and to prepare them for use on the mountains where they were pro- cured, and then convey them to Jerusalem. In this part of the business Hiram's men were ordered to assist, Josephus adds that the foundation was sunk to an as- tonishing depth, and composed of stones of singular mag- nitude, and very durable. Being closely mortised into the rock with great ingenuity, they formed a basis ade- quate to the support of the intended structure. Jose- phus gives to the Temple the same length and breadth as are given in 1 Kings, but mentions sixty cubits as the height. He says that the walls were composed en- tirely of white stone ; that the walls and ceilings were wainscoted with cedar, which was covered with the purest gold ; that the stones were put together with such ingenuit}' that the smallest interstices were not perceptible, and that the timbers were joined with iron cramps. It is remarkable that after the Temple was finished, it was not consecrated by the high-priest, but by a layman, by the king in person, by means of extem- poraneous prayers and sacrifices. See SiiiiCiiiNAH.
The Temple remained the centre of public worship for all the Israelites only till the death of Solomon, af- ter which ten tribes forsook this sanctuary. But even in the kingdom of Judah it was from time to time des- ecrated by altars erected to idols. For instance, "Ma- nasseh built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he caused his son to pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. And he set a grav- en image of the grove that he had made in the house," etc. Thus we find also that king Josiah commanded Hilkiah, the high-priest, and the priests of the second order to remove the idols of Baal and Asherah from the house of the Lord (2 Kings xxiii,4, 13): "And the al- tars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of tlie Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron." In fact, we are informed that, iu
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spite of the better means of public devotion which the sanctuary undoubtedly afforded, the national morals de- clined so much that the chosen nation became worse than the idolaters whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel (xxi, 9)— a clear proof that the pos- session of external means is not a guarantee for their right use. It appears also that during the times when it was fashionable at court to worship Baal the Temple stood desolate, and that its repairs were neglected (xii, (5, 7). We further learn that the cost of the repairs was defrayed chiefly by voluntary contribution, by of- ferings, and by redemption money (ver. ■!, 5). The original cost of the Temple seems to have been defray- ed by royal bounty, and in great measure by treasures collected by David for that purpose. There was a treas- ury in the Temple in whicli much precious metal was collected for the maintenance of public worship. The gold and silver of the Temple were, however, frequent- ly applied to political purposes (1 Kings xv, 18 sq. ; 2 kings xii, 18; xvi, 8; xviii, 15). The treasury of the Temple was repeatedly plundered b_y foreign invaders: for instance, by Shishak (1 Kings xiv, 20); by Jeho- ash, king of Israel (2 Kings xiv, 14) ; by Nebuchadnez- zar (xxiv, 13) ; and, lastly, again by Nebuchadnezzar, who, having removed the valuable contents, caused the Temple to be burned down (xxv, 9 sq.), summer, B.C. 588. The building had stood since its completion 415 years (Josephus has 470, and Ruflnus 370, years). Thus terminated what the later Jews called "jVi'Xin H^j, the first house. See Jerusalkm.
2. The Second Temple. — \n the year B.C. 536 the Jews obtained permission from C\'rus to colonize their native land. Cyrus commanded also tliat tlie sacred utensils which had been pillaged in the first Temple should be restored, and that for the restoration of the Temple assistance should be granted (Ezra i and vi; 2 Chron. xxxvi, 22 sq.). The first colony which return- ed under Zerubbabel and Joshua having collected the necessary means, and having also obtained the assist- ance of Phoenician \vorkmen, commenced in the second year after their return the rebuilding of the Temple, spring, B.C. 535. The Sidonians brought rafts of ce- dar-trees from Lebanon to Joppa. The Jews refused the co-operation of the Samaritans, who, being thereby offended, induced the king Artachshashta (probably Sraerdis) to prohibit the building. It was only in the second year of Darius H\'staspis (summer, B.C. 520) that the building was resumed. It was completed in the sixth year of this king, winter, B.C. 516 (comp. Ezra v and vi; Hagg. i, 15). According to Josephus (^Ant. xi, 4,7), the Temple was completed in the ninth year of the reign of Darius. The old men who had seen the first Temple were moved to tears on beholding the sec- ond, which appeared like nothing in comparison with the first (f^zra iii, 12; Hagg. ii, 3 sq.). It seems, how- ever, that it was not so much in dimensions that the second Temple was inferior to the first as in splendor, and in being deprived of the ark of the covenant, which had been burned with the Temple of Solomon. See Captivity.