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In the beginning of his reign, Solomon set about giving effect to the ideas of his father, and prepared additional materials for the building. From subterranean quarries at Jerusalem he obtained huge blocks of stone for the foundations and walls of the temple. These stones were prepared for their places in the building under the eye of Tyrian master-builders.
Solomon also entered into a compact with Hiram I, king of Tyre, for the supply of whatever else was needed for the work, particularly timber from the forests of Lebanon, which was brought in great rafts by the sea to Joppa, whence it was dragged to Jerusalem ( 1 Kings 5). As the hill on which the temple was to be built did not afford sufficient level space, a huge wall of solid masonry of great height, in some places more than 200 ft (60 m) high, was raised across the south of the hill, and a similar wall on the eastern side, and in the spaces between were erected many arches and pillars, thus raising up the general surface to the required level.
Solomon also provided for a sufficient water supply for the temple by hewing in the rocky hill vast cisterns, into which water was conveyed by channels from the "pools" near Bethlehem. One of these cisterns, the "great sea," was capable of containing three millions of gallons. The overflow was led off by a conduit to the Kidron .
In all these preparatory undertakings a space of about three years was occupied; and now the process of the erection of the great building began, under the direction of skilled Phoenician builders and workmen, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign. The building followed the Phoenician model, and in fact the Bible's description of Solomon's Temple is to historians an important source regarding the lay-out of Phoenician temples as well. David provided Solomon with a large amount of goldFor alternative meanings, see gold (disambiguation Gold is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Au ( L. aurum and atomic number 79. A soft, shiny, yellow, heavy, malleable, ductile (trivalent and univalent) transition metal, gold d and silverThis page is about Silver the element. For the color, see Silver Silver is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Ag ( L. Argentum and atomic number 47. A soft white lustrous transition metal, silver has the highest electrical and th with which to build the temple. 100,000 talents (3,000 tons) of gold and 1,000,000 talents (30,000 tons) of silver were brought to the construction of the temple. [1]
Many thousands of labourers and skilled artisans were employed in the work. Stones prepared in the quarries underneath the city (1 Kings 5:17, 18) of huge dimension were gradually placed on the massive walls, and closely fitted together without any mortar between, till the whole structure was completed. The building was 60 cubits (27 m) long, 20 cubits (9 m) wide, and 30 cubits (14 m) high.
At length, in the Autumn of the eleventh year of his reign, seven and a half years after it had been begun, the temple was completed. For thirteen years there it stood, on the summit of Moriah, silent and unused. The reasons for this strange delay in its consecration are unknown. At the close of these thirteen years preparations for the dedication of the temple were made.