When Solomon wanted to build a Temple dedicated to worship, in order to replace the mobile Tabernacle that had been created by Moses and used from the time of the Hebrews in the desert until the end of the reign of David, he called upon Hiram of Tyre. Here is how the Bible presents him to us:
And King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill, to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work. (I Kings 7:13-14)
So Hiram was Jewish on his mother's side. He worked for 20 years on the projetcs that Solomon wanted him to do, and ultimately became king of Tyre:
And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king's house-- now Hiram, the king of Tyre, had furnished Solomon with cedar-trees and cypress-trees, and with gold, according to all his desire--that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the region of Galilee. (I Kings 9:10-11)
Let us look at the continuation of the historical and biblical chronologies (for the earlier dates, refer to the previous articles since Adam):
year 2699 (1061 BCE): reign of Saul, first king of Israel
year 2700 (1060 BCE): David against Goliath
year 2708 (1052 BCE): reign of David over all Israel
year 2745 (1015 BCE): reign of Solomon, start of the construction of the Temple
year 2752 (1008 BCE): inauguration of the Temple of Solomon
Among the supplies that Hiram had made for the Temple, the Bible describes for us in detail some copper chariots:
And he [Hiram] made the ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it. And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had borders; and there were borders between the stays; and on the borders that were between the stays were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and upon the stays it was in like manner above; and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work. And every base had four brazen wheels, and axles of brass; and the four feet thereof had undersetters; beneath the laver were the undersetters molten, with wreaths at the side of each. And the mouth of it within the crown and above was a cubit high; and the mouth thereof was round after the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also upon the mouth of it were gravings; and their borders were foursquare, not round. And the four wheels were underneath the borders; and the axletrees of the wheels were in the base; and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit. And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel; their axletrees, and their felloes, and their spokes, and their naves, were all molten. And there were four undersetters at the four corners of each base; the undersetters thereof were of one piece with the base itself. And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high; and on the top of the base the stays thereof and the borders thereof were of one piece therewith. And on the plates of the stays thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubim, lions, and palm-trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths round about. After this manner he made the ten bases; all of them had one casting, one measure, and one form. (I Kings 7:27-37)
These bases of brass were some kind of chariots, or rather wheeled carts, resembling small chariots (of war) because of their wheels and axles. These carts were square in shape, namely four cubits long and four cubits wide (one cubit being about 45 cm) and on a height of three cubits. The top of each cart offered a support in the form of a round console. The whole was decorated with decorative moldings.
This description corresponds entirely to a certain type of wheeled cart, which served as a moveable support, that archaeologists have found on the island of Cyprus. Now Cyprus, at the time of the unified kingship of Israel, was in the hands of the Phoenicians, that is to say the cities of Sidon and Tyre. And the carts found there have been dated between the 10th and 12th centuries BCE. However, they do not have a determined provenance. Two hypotheses: either these carts were the result of Cypriot know-how that Hiram borrowed, or they were of Phoenician design and brought to Cyprus. In any case, the photos of these carts discovered leave no doubt about the concept that Hiram had for making them for the service of the Temple of Solomon. The carts of Cyprus are also composed of four wheels resembling a war chariot, square in shape, but they are a little smaller than the ones described for the Temple because they are three feet high (a cubit corresponds to 1.5 feet). The placement of decorations is similar to the biblical description but, obviously, the subjects of decorations are different (no pagan subjects for the Temple of Solomon). And the top of these carts forms a rounded support: in the case of those of the Temple of Solomon, these carts were made to receive basins of water for purifications.
We can therefore see that there is a correlation between these carts from Cyprus and the biblical description of those made for the Temple of Solomon: the common point being Hiram the Phoenician who used this unique know-how, that of a craftsman filled with wisdom and understanding and skill, to work all works in brass.
To finish on this subject, the term used for "cart" in the biblical text is "mekhona" (מכונה in Hebrew). In modern Hebrew, this word is used to mean "machine" that is any object that aims to help men in their tasks in a way that is, we would say, automated. This term is taken from the root כון which gives the idea of "uniform movement" (כיון for direction). So this biblical word meant utensils for transporting basins of water from one point to another on the Temple grounds. The translation used here is "cart", for want of a better one. In other English translations the word "support" is used.
I hope that this article on the theme "the Bible is true" was of interest to you. Do not hesitate to send me your comments, while waiting for a next biblical episode proven by history and archaeology.
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Albert Benhamou
Private tour guide in Israel
February 2025
