5 min read

The King Sent Temple Gifts Too Beautiful to Count

Ptolemy pours his treasury into sacred objects for Jerusalem, and the craftsmen make things so beautiful that witnesses lose their words.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. He Asked Jerusalem What Jerusalem Already Had
  2. Gold Learned the Discipline of Stone
  3. The Bowls Defeated Description
  4. The Craftsmen Worked Under His Eyes

He Asked Jerusalem What Jerusalem Already Had

Ptolemy could have sent whatever pleased him. He was wealthy enough to impose his own taste on the order, and no one in Alexandria would have told him the Temple's dimensions were wrong. Instead he sent inquiries to the Jews of the local community, asking about the table already standing in the sanctuary at Jerusalem. He wanted to know the size. He wanted to know what already existed, so that what he was making would be worthy of the place to which it would go.

That detail is the pivot of the story. The gifts became extraordinary because the king began by asking rather than deciding. He personally superintended the craftsmen, one by one, so that no part of the work could be rushed or finished carelessly. He made the table of exceptionally large dimensions, and he asked the artisans to work at a standard higher than anything they had produced before.

Gold Learned the Discipline of Stone

The table's edges were elevated and sharp. Along the sides, precious stones were woven into embossed cord-work and interlaced with one another by a device that Aristeas calls inimitable. Every stone was fixed to the surface with golden needles inserted through perforations, and at the corners fastenings held everything firm against movement. The rim was three-sided, visible from any angle, and the description spirals down into details that suggest the craftsmen were trying to outrun language: the interweaving of stone and metal, the weight of each needle, the precision of each perforation.

The feet of the table were made to look like ivy growing out of ruby stone, interwoven with acanthus and surrounded by a vine bearing clusters of grapes carved from precious stones all the way to the top. When air moved near the table, the leaves appeared to move. Everything was wrought to correspond with the actual reality it represented. The text says it plainly: remarkable skill and knowledge were expended on making it true to nature.

The Bowls Defeated Description

Two golden mixing bowls were made alongside the table. From the base to the middle they were engraved with scales, and between each scale a precious stone was inserted. Above this came a band of inlaid stones in the shape of a rhombus, net-like, rising to the brim, where lilies in bloom and clusters of grapes completed the design. Each bowl held more than two firkins.

The silver bowls were different: smooth, made as if intended for mirrors, so polished that everything brought near them appeared more clearly reflected than in an actual mirror. When the vessels were finished and placed side by side, first a silver bowl and then a golden, then silver again and then golden, the impression they produced is described in words that finally give up trying. It was altogether indescribable. Those who came to see them could not tear themselves away from the sight. When a man looked at the gold, his soul was thrilled with wonder. When he turned toward the silver, everything seemed to flash with light. The spectacle changed character depending on where the eye landed.

The Craftsmen Worked Under His Eyes

Not less than five thousand precious stones were used in the whole commission, all of large size. Ptolemy neglected his official business repeatedly to stay among the artisans while they worked, anxious that everything be finished in a manner worthy of the place to which the gifts were being sent. The cost of the stones and their workmanship came to five times the value of the gold itself.

When it was done, the gifts went to Eleazar. They went from a king who had never set foot in Jerusalem to a high priest who had never been to Alexandria. What passed between the two courts was a table that looked like a living vine and bowls so smooth they showed the viewer back to himself more clearly than his own reflection could.

Letter Of AristeasTemplePtolemyWisdomApocrypha
← All myths

From the tradition

Sources

7 sources

The texts this telling draws on, in full. Open a card to read inline, or expand it for a wider, quieter read.

Letter of Aristeas 1:52Letter of Aristeas

Such was the answer which Eleazar and his friends gave to the king's letter. I will now proceed to redeem my promise and give a description of the works of art. They were wrought with exceptional skill, for the king spared no expense and personally superintended the workmen individually. They could not therefore scamp any part of the work or finish it off negligently. First of all I will give you a description of the table.

The king was anxious that this piece of work should be of exceptionally large dimensions, and he caused enquiries to be made of the Jews in the locality with regard to the size of the table already in the temple at Jerusalem.

Full source
Letter of Aristeas 1:61Letter of Aristeas

The upper edge of the two sides, being elevated, was sharp since, as we have said, the rim was three-sided, from whatever point of view one approached it. And there were layers of precious stones on it in the midst of the embossed cord-work, and they were interwoven with one another by an inimitable artistic device.

For the sake of security they were all fixed by golden needles which were inserted in perforations in the stones. At the sides they were clamped together by fastenings to hold them firm.

Full source
Letter of Aristeas 1:70Letter of Aristeas

The basis of the foot on the ground consisted of a ruby and measured a hand's breadth high all round. It had the appearance of a shoe and was eight fingers broad.

And they made the foot appear like ivy growing out of the stone, interwoven with akanthus and surrounded with a vine which encircled it with clusters of grapes, which were worked in stones, up to the top of the foot. All the four feet were made in the same style, and everything was wrought and fitted so skillfully, and such remarkable skill and knowledge were expended upon making it true to nature, that when the air was stirred by a breath of wind, movement was imparted to the leaves, and everything was fashioned to correspond with the actual reality which it represented.

Full source
Letter of Aristeas 1:74Letter of Aristeas

Of the mixing bowls, two were wrought (in gold), and from the base to the middle were engraved with relief work in the pattern of scales, and between the scales precious stones were inserted with great artistic skill.

Then there was a 'maeander' a cubit in height, with its surface wrought out of precious stones of many colours, displaying great artistic effort and beauty. Upon this there was a mosaic, worked in the form of a rhombus, having a net-like appearance and reaching right up to the brim.

Full source
Letter of Aristeas 1:76Letter of Aristeas

In the middle, small shields which were made of different precious stones, placed alternately and varying in kind, not less than four fingers broad enhanced the beauty of their appearance. On the top of the brim there was an ornament of lilies in bloom, and intertwining clusters of grapes were engraven all round.

Such then was the construction of the golden bowls, and they held more than two firkins each. The silver bowls had a smooth surface, and were wonderfully made as if they were intended for looking-glasses, so that everything which was brought near to them was reflected even more clearly than in mirrors.

Full source
Letter of Aristeas 1:78Letter of Aristeas

It is impossible to describe the real impression which these works of art produced upon the mind when they were finished. For, when these vessels had been completed and placed side by side, first a silver bowl and then a golden, then another silver, and then another golden, the appearance they presented is altogether indescribable, and those who came to see them were not able to tear themselves from the brilliant sight and entrancing, spectacle.

The impressions produced by the spectacle were various in kind. When men looked at the golden vessels, and their minds made a complete survey of each detail of workmanship, their souls were thrilled with wonder. Again when a man wished to direct his gaze to the silver vessels, as they stood before him, everything seemed to flash with light round about the place where he was standing, and afforded a still greater delight to the onlookers. So that it is really impossible to describe the artistic beauty of the works.

Full source
Letter of Aristeas 1:82Letter of Aristeas

For often times he would neglect his official business, and spend his time with the artists in his anxiety that they should complete everything in a manner worthy of the place to which the gifts were to be sent. So everything was carried out on a grand scale, in a manner worthy of the king who sent the gifts and of the high priest who was the ruler of the land.

There was no stint of precious stones, for not less than five thousand were used and they were all of large size. The most exceptional artistic skill was employed, so that the cost of the stones and the workmanship was five times as much as that of the gold.

Full source