probably decorated in the Egyptian manner for the benefit of Pharaoh's
daughter);* then there were reception-halls, to which the great men
of the kingdom were admitted; storehouses, and an arsenal. The king's
bodyguard possessed five hundred shields "of beaten gold," which were
handed over by each detachment, when the guard was relieved, to the
one which took its place. But this gorgeous edifice would not have been
complete if the temple of Jahveh had not arisen side by side with the
abode of the temporal ruler of the nation. No monarch in those days
could regard his position as unassailable until he had a sanctuary and a
priesthood attached to his religion, either in his own palace or not far
away from it. David had scarcely entered Jerusalem before he fixed upon
the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite as a site for the temple,
and built an altar there to the Lord during a plague which threatened to
decimate his people; but as he did not carry the project any farther,**
Solomon set himself to complete the task which his father had merely
sketched out.

* 1 Kings vii. 8, ix. 24; 2 Ghron. viii. 11.

** 2 Sam xxiv. 18-25, The threshing-floor of Araunah the
Jebusite is mentioned elsewhere as the site on which Solomon
built his temple (2 Ghron. iii. 1).

The site was irregular in shape, and the surface did not
naturally lend itself to the purpose for which it was destined. His
engineers, however, put this right by constructing enormous piers for
the foundations, which they built up from the slopes of the mountain
or from the bottom of the valley as circumstances required: the space
between this artificial casing and the solid rock was filled up, and
the whole mass formed a nearly square platform, from which the temple
buildings were to rise. Hiram undertook to supply materials for the
work. Solomon had written to him that he should command "that they
hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy
servants; and I will give thee hire for thy servants according to all
that thou shalt say: for thou knowest that there is not among us
any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Zidonians." Hiram was
delighted to carry out the wishes of his royal friend with regard to the
cedar and cypress woods.

[Illustration: 374.jpg SOME OF THE STONE COURSE OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE AT
JERUSALEM]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph.

"My servants," he answered, "shall bring them down fro