Image Details

Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Preussischer Kulturbestitz

“Lions, oxen and cherubim” (1 Kings 7:29) embellished the ten bronze stands with wheels that stood in front of the Jerusalem Temple on either side of the forecourt. This wheeled bronze cart from Cyprus, decorated with cherubim, suggests the possible appearance of the large Temple stands called mekhonot. While this stand from the 11th century B.C.E. measures only about 13 inches high, the Solomonic stands measured approximately 4.5 feet high and supported large water basins that could hold 220 gallons.

In 1 Kings 7:13–47 we are told that Hiram of Tyre, “endowed with skill, ability, and talent for executing all work in bronze,” built the mekhonot and many of the Temple’s other bronze ritual objects.