The Egyptian pyramids still afford us a proof of the colossal nature of such undertakings in ancient times. The largest two of these, as has been already stated in this work, being 470 and 456 feet high, by 704 and 654 on each side.
When we reflect on the sacred character of Jerusalem in the eyes of all the Jews; how deeply the temple worship was wrought into all their systems, both civil and religious; how earnest their zeal, how entire their devotedness as regards this structure—we are prepared for something extraordinary.
Josephus computes the number of “pure” persons who came up yearly to the feast of the Passover at about 3,000,000. (De Bel. lib. 11. cap. 14. § 3. lib. vi. cap. 9. § 3.) The vanity of the historian may have led him to some exaggeration, but still the number was prodigiously great. Many of these brought rich presents to the temple, and all were ready to contribute their labor as well as means whenever called upon. Agrippa, at one time, had 18,000 men employed in repairing the Temple. (Jos. Antiq. lib. xx. cap. ix. § 7.) Solomon employed 80,000 men to cut stone; 70,000 to transport the materials, and 10,000 men constantly on Mount Lebanon to cut wood for the Temple, and was seven years in completing it.
The space comprehended by these lofty walls was not entirely filled with earth, a large portion being occupied with vaults and subterranean passages. Their extent and the subsequent violence will account for the complete abrasion of this mountain. See Jos. de Bel. lib. v. cap. iii. § 1. Antiq. lib. xv. cap. ii. § 7.
[66] Thrice referred to in the New Testament, John x. 23. Acts iii. 11. and v. 12.
[67] Acts iii. 2.
[68] I have been unwilling to break the thread of description by references; but my authorities are in Josephus, Antiq. lib. xv. cap. 11. lib. viii. cap. 3. de Bel. lib. v. cap. 5.
If the reader should think this account of the richness of the Temple incredible, he is requested to consult ancient authors about similar structures in other countries. The Parthenon at Athens cost sixty millions of dollars; the Propylaea, or entrance to the Acropolis, on which it stands, cost half as much; the statue of Minerva in the former was of ivory and gold; the gold alone cost more than half a million of dollars. The statue, decorations, and utensils in the Temple of Belus, according to Diodorus Siculus, were equal in value to more than 200 millions of our dollars. When Titus had taken Jerusalem, gold was so abundant among his soldiers, that in Syria a pound of it sold for half its former value. See Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. 6. § 1.
[69] Stones are still to be seen at the Great Temple of Baalbec sixty-four feet in length.
[70] See Jos. de Bel. lib. vi. cap. v. § 3. Ibid. cap. ix. § 3; and for the prodigies, see also Tacitus, Hist. lib. v. cap. xiii.