[252] Fergusson, _Temples of the Jews_; E. Robbins, _Temple of Solomon_. [253] Eupolemos (Euseb., _Præp. Evang._, ix. 30) and Alex. Polyhistor (Clem. Alex., _Strom._, i. 21) idly talk of help furnished to Solomon in building the Temple by an Egyptian King Vaphres, and of letters interchanged between them. Vaphres seems to be a mere anachronism for Hophra. [254] The Phœnician style may, however, have been borrowed in part from Egypt. [255] I have spoken of the Temple in _Solomon and his Times_ (Men of the Bible), and have there furnished some illustrations. The following special authorities may be referred to. Stade, i. 311-57, Friederich, _Tempel und Palast Salomo's_ (Innsbruck, 1887); Chipiez et Perrot, _Le Temple de Jérusalem_ (Paris, 1889); Warren, _Underground Jerusalem_; Wilson and Warren, _Recov. of Jerusalem_ (1871). [256] _Parbarim_ (2 Kings xxiii. 11). Comp. 1 Chron. xxvi. 18 (A.V., "suburbs"; R.V., "precincts" and "Parbar"). Descriptions of the Temple, imperfect, and not always accordant with each other, are found in 1 Kings v.-vii.; 2 Chron. ii.-v.; Josephus, _Antt._, VIII. iii. 7, 8. [257] As we infer from Psalms lii. 8, lxxxiv. 3, lxxvi. 2 (where "tabernacle" should be "covert"). Eupolemos (_ap._ Euseb., _Præp. Evang._, etc.). Scattered passages of the Talmud which refer mainly to Herod's Temple are full of extravagances. [258] Jer. xxxvi. 10. [259] 2 Chron. iv. 1. This could not have been the brazen altar of the wilderness, the fate of which we do not know. It was far larger, but probably on the same model, except that steps were forbidden as an approach to the altar of the Tabernacle (Exod. xx. 24-26). It is difficult to reconcile the description of the brazen altar with the distinct prohibition of that passage. Comp. Ezek. xliii. 17. [260] The huge stone vase of Amathus was borne on a bull (Duncker, ii. 184). Josephus says that in making these oxen Solomon broke the law (_Antt._, VIII. vii. 5), as well as by the lions on his throne. The Romans called huge vases _lacus_. [261] The descriptions of these lavers, whether in the Hebrew, the LXX., or Josephus, are not intelligible, and are wholly unimportant. [262] Like the palace of Ecbatana (Polyb., x. 27, 10; Herod., i. 98), and possibly the upper stories of the great temple of Bel at Birs-Nimrud (Borsippa). [263] In 1 Kings x. 12 "pillars" should be "a rail" or "balustrade." Heb., מִסְעָד; LXX., ὑποστηρίγματα; Vulg., _fulcra_. [264] Lilies symbolised beauty and innocence; pomegranates good works (so the Chaldee in Cant. iv. 13, vi. 11, Bähr, _Symbol._, ii. 122). Raphael crowns his Theology with pomegranates, Giotto places a pomegranate in the hand of his youthful Dante, and Giovanni Bellini in the hand of the Virgin Mary.