A highly vertical layout is theorized. Pheonician design.
Possible copy of Melquart'ts temple in Tyre
Temple construction: a question for Leolaia and the board's scholars
by behemot 22 Replies latest watchtower bible
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behemot
I'd like to clarify that my question was about a possible connection between the dates of beginning/end of the construction of the temple and the yearly cicle of the Cananean baal.
Please stay on topic.
Behemot
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BurnTheShips
I'd like to clarify that my question was about a possible connection between the dates of beginning/end of the construction of the temple and the yearly cicle of the Cananean baal.
Please stay on topic.
Behemot
And I was pointing out a possible architectural relationship with the Phoenician Melquart, being that it was actually built with Phoenician expertise. Melquart is the Pheoenician Baal of Tyre.
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BurnTheShips
Here are some mock ups of the Temple of Melqart (Heracles) in the S. of Spain:
http://chiclana.costasur.com/en/sancti-petri.html
Looks a lot like what the Temple in Jerusalem was supposed to look like.
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Narkissos
Hi behemot,
Reading the comments on this thread, I suddenly realise I had misunderstood your question as referring to the building of the second temple, according to the historically plausible records of Ezra etc.
If J.A. Soggin does refer to the story of "Solomon's temple" in 1 Kings, the "Baalist" connections are much more likely indeed, since (1) the building starts in Ziv (April-May), which is later than the Passover reference of Ezra and suits better the beginning of the dry season, (2) ends in Bul (= "Rain," October-November), and (3) takes seven years (a period which is prominent in the Ugaritic Baal cycle, referring to several recurrent attacks of Mot against Baal and his brothers and corresponding periods of drought -- one essential feature of this cycle being the construction of Baal's temple).
This has certainly been the object of systematic studies and I would be interested too if Leolaia has further information...
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Leolaia
Some of the articles and books that develop the seasonal interpretation of Baal include:
T. H. Gaster (1933). "The Ritual Pattern of a Ras-Shamra Epic." ArchOr 5:118-23.
J. C. de Moor. (1971). The Seasonal Pattern in the Ugaritic Myth of Ba'lu: According to the Version of Ilimilku. AOAT 16. Kevelaer: Butzon & Bercker: Neukirchener Verlag des Erziehungsvereins.
J. W. Robertson (1982). "The Ritual Background of the Dying God in Cyprus and Syro-Palestine." Harvard Theological Review 75:314-59.
If you consult Mark S. Smith's translation and commentary of the Ugaritic Baal Cycle (Vol. 1), he gives a very lengthy and detailed discussion of the theories of Gaster, de Moor, and Robertson, as well as the many criticisms of them (see pp. 60-75).
I'm not sure what article was specifically the one that drew parallels between the construction of the Jerusalem Temple and the seasonal cycle, but there is something vaguely similar in Herbert Gordon May's old article "The Departure of the Glory of Yahweh" in JBL (December 1937), pp. 309-321, which looks to seasonal evidence about Yahwism. I don't think that's it though, and there may be better or more recent works.
There is a curious reference to Hiram in a quotation of Menander of Ephesus (second century BC, whose work claimed to translate Phoenician records into Greek) in Josephus, who twice cited the same passage in Antiquities and Against Apion. The passage in question notes the month either when temple construction began for the god Melqart (called "Heracles" in Greek sources), OR when an annual festival was observed for the god's awakening:
Version A: "He [Hiram] also went in quest of timber and felled cedar trees from the mountain called Lebanon, for the roofs of temples. He demolished ancient temples and built new ones, both to Heracles [= Melqart] and to Astarte. He was the first (prótos) to have the awakening (egersin) of Heracles, in the month Peritius" (Antiquities 8.146).
Version B: "He [Hiram] also went in quest of timber and felled cedar trees from the mountain called Lebanon, for the roofs of temples. He demolished ancient temples and built new ones, both to Heracles [= Melqart] and to Astarte. That of Heracles was the first one (próton) raised up (egersin), in the month Peritius" (Against Apion 1.118-119).
This remark is ambiguous because egersin can either refer to an "awakening" or "rising up" of Heracles, or it could refer to the temple of Heracles being "raised up" (cf. 1 Esdras 5:62 on the "raising up (egersei) of the house of the Lord"). But the awakening of Melqart is well-known from other sources, including the OT:
"And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, 'Cry out loud: for he is a god; either he is lost in thought, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened' " (1 Kings 18:27).
That Melqart is in view here is probable in light of the fact that this "Baal" was depicted as introduced and/or promoted by Jezebel, so it is a god from the Phoenician pantheon. BTW, the month of Peritius corresponded to the February-March in our calendar.
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R.Crusoe
Leo is like some 50/60s starlet with Oxfordisms in her eroticisms!
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Indo_Dude
Oh! By just posting in this thread does that entitle me to "board scholar" status? Puleeeeze!?!?
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JCanon
I know this is slightly off topic but somewhat parallel, but apparently Melqart's temple had no images, no idols, just those two pillars. So how directly that relates to Baal?
But this was not the original focus, it was the Baal cycle and the temple. I see absolutely no connection since the temple was buit over a 7-year period and the Baal, "dying king" ritual is an annual one associated with spring rites. Further it was noted Melqart was more associated with a sea god than a mountain god like Baal. So lots makes the temple construction seem incidental and the actual dating for the temple construction didn't even incidentally match the two special times for Baal worship, so there is no casual or specific comparison that is broadly discussed that I can tell. It doesn't seem to be commonly known.
But thanks for posting this. There is a lot of exegetical commentary linking Baal worship with Druids and Halloween that I didn't know about. Again, my suggestion if this is of specific concern is to query the author himself to get his specific references.
Cheerio.
JC
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Leolaia
Just a note of clarification, I posted the material on Hiram as an aside because of his traditional role in the construction of the Jerusalem Temple; the reference to him in Menander associates him with the building of other temples -- including one for Melqart, the tutelary god of Tyre, for whom Hiram may have also initiated a seasonal festival to celebrate the god's awakening (cf. the myth of Heracles being killed by Typhon but being roused back to life by the scent of roast quail). It should be clear that Melqart had no connection with the deity usually referred to as Baal, i.e. Baal-Hadad, although Melqart was the tutelary deity of Tyre just as Baal was the tutelary deity of Ugarit (cf. the tutelary function of Yahweh for Judah). There may be confusion because the term "Baal" was used quite loosely in the OT to refer to a number of male deities in Phoenician/Canaanite/Israelite religion, cf. also the "Baals" of Judges 3:7, 8:33, 10:6, 2 Chronicles 28:2, 33:3, Jeremiah 2:23, Hosea 2:13-17, etc., and Melqart himself was known as Baal-Tsur "Lord of Tyre".