upon each pillar being two hundred.[745] At the summit of the whole was a sort of “lily-work"[746] or imitation of the lotus blossom, a “motive” adopted from Egypt.  Various representations of the pillars have been attempted in works upon Phoenician art, the most remarkable being those designed by M. Chipiez, and published in the “Histoire de l’Art dans l’Antiquite."[747] Perhaps, however, there is more to be said in favour of M. de Voguee’s view, as enunciated in his work on the Jewish Temple.

The third great work of metallurgy which Hiram constructed for Solomon was “the molten sea."[748] This was an enormous bronze basin, fifteen feet in diameter, supported on the backs of twelve oxen, grouped in sets of three.[749] The basin stood fourteen or fifteen feet above the level of the Temple Court,[750] and was a vast reservoir, always kept full of water, for the ablutions of the priests.  There was an ornamentation of “knops” or “gourds,” in two rows, about the “brim” of the reservoir; and it must have been supplied in its lower part with a set of stopcocks, by means of which the water could be drawn off when needed.  Representations of the “molten sea” have been given by Mangeant, De Voguee, Thenius, and others; but all of them are, necessarily, conjectural.  The design of Mangeant is reproduced in the preceding representation.  It is concluded that the oxen must have been of colossal size in order to bear a proper proportion to the basin, and not present the appearance of being crushed under an enormous weight.[751]

Next in importance to these three great works were ten minor ones, made for the Jewish Temple by the same artist.  These were lavers mounted on wheels,[752] which could be drawn or pushed to any part of the Temple Court where water might be required.  The lavers were of comparatively small size, capable of containing only one-fiftieth part[753] of the contents of the “molten sea,” but they were remarkable for their ornamentation.  Each was supported upon a “base;” and the bases, which seem to have been panelled, contained, in the different compartments, figures of lions, oxen, and cherubim,[754] either single or in groups.  On the top of the base, which seems to have been square, was a circular stand or socket, a foot and a half in height, into which the laver or basin fitted.[755] This, too, was panelled, and ornamented with embossed work, representing lions, cherubim, and palm-trees.[756] Each base was emplaced upon four wheels, which are said to have resembled chariot wheels, but which were molten in one piece, naves, spokes, and felloes together.[757] A restoration by M. Mangeant, given by Perrot and Chipiez in the fourth volume of their “History of Ancient Art,” is striking, and leaves little to be desired.

Hiram is also said to have made for Solomon a number of pots, shovels, basins, flesh-hooks, and other instruments,[758] which were all used in the Temple service; but as no description is given of any of these works, even their general character can only be conjectured.  We may, however, reasonably suppose them not to have differed greatly from the objects of a similar description found in Cyprus by General Di Cesnola.[759]