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In the Baal Cycle the craftsman god Kothar works silver and gold to make the furnishings of the gods’ houses. 1 Kings gives that role to Hiram of Tyre, a bronze-worker with the skill and knowledge to make the Temple’s metal furnishings.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
The Baal Cycle
Ancient Near East
A present for the Creator of the Gods. The Skilled One approaches the bellows With tongs held by Hasis. He molds silver, he pours gold He molds silver in the thousands Gold he pours by the myriads. He molds a grand canopy and couch A grand dais two myriads in weight A grand dais coated in silver Covered with fluid gold. A grand throne with a seat of gold A grand footstool overlaid in electrum. Grand laced sandals With gold poured over them. A grand table adorned with figures Creatures from the Earth's foundation.
Date: 1500 - 1300 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
1 Kings 7:14
Hebrew Bible
13 King Solomon sent for Hiram of Tyre. 14 He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a craftsman in bronze from Tyre. He had the skill and knowledge to make all kinds of works of bronze. He reported to King Solomon and did all the work he was assigned. 15 He fashioned two bronze pillars; each pillar was 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference.
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Notes and References
... The Master Craftsman. The biblical building story mentions by name the Tyrian master artisan who forged the bronze furnishings for the Temple. The description of Hiram resembles that of Bezalel and of Oholiab son of Ahisamak who made the Tabernacle. It must be pointed out that, in all the Mesopotamian building accounts known to me, there is not a single example of an artisan mentioned by name. Admittedly, groups of artisans or experts of various sorts are mentioned, but never is there reference to any specific person who either worked individually or stood at the head of a guild of craftsmen. In distinction from what was encountered in the Mesopotamian building stories, we find in the Baal epic that the building of Baal’s (and other gods’) palace(s) is attributed to Kothar waHasis, called at times Hayin. ...
Hurowitz, Victor Avigdor
I Have Built You an Exalted House: Temple Building in the Bible in the Light of Mesopotamian and North-West Semitic Writings
(pp. 318-319) Sheffield Academic Press, 1992
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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