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Looking Back at Becky Mountain

May 18, 2023 by Marjorie (Margie) Willingham

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh . . . Ecclesiastes 12:1

A forest has grown up now on the green slopes of Becky Mountain where Mr. Norwood’s cattle once grazed, and where we as children were wont to ramble, when we could. Mama set limits as to where we could go without her supervision — as far as the fence at the barn on the south side, to the end of the garden on the west, and to the chicken houses on the north. We had a wonderful little brook that ran behind the barn and on down between our house and the chicken houses. It was here Mama let us expand our territory just a little . . . a large fenced tract, unoccupied save for a small cemetery, lay on the north and stretched all the way from the highway, past our house, the chicken houses and the garden, all the way up to the pasture. Our little brook ran under that fence just below the chicken houses. Mama let us duck under the fence at the brook (the branch we called it) and play in that other wooded space, so long as we didn’t go too far. We didn’t know how far was too far, so sometimes we even went to the cemetery, where we had a grand time exploring and reading the tombstones. I remember one. The name of the deceased was A. J. Walker. In our childish ignorance we assumed that person met his demise by jaywalking. We took it as a warning for when we might next be in Brevard.

My youngest brother was practically an infant the first year we lived as renters at Mr. Norwood’s farm. Mama said Mr. Norwood was a “gentleman” farmer. He lived in town and drove three miles out and back every day to tend to his cows and chickens. He also had cats, which pleased us kids, for we loved cats, to the extreme. And at the barn he had a fair number of rats, which we saw from time to time. Some of them were pretty big — wharf rats Mama called them. It seemed the cats didn’t make much of a dent in those big rats. Cats are great hunters, but they do know when they are outmatched!

I was the only girl, and the oldest, so I had to help Mama. One of my jobs was to hang my little brother’s diapers on the clothesline to dry. For a reason that I can not remember, Mr. Norwood had stretched a section of electric fence on the clothesline poles. The electric wire was about waist level to me and the clothesline was on the same poles, high above the electric wire. But not high enough, we found out. Mama told me to be careful, to make sure I didn’t touch the electric wire. And I was. But Zzzzzzzt! Right away I got zapped. Had I touched the wire? I didn’t think so. So I tried again. Carefully I fastened the freshly laundered diaper to the clothesline with the wooden clothes pin. Zzzzzzzt! Again! I knew I hadn’t touched Mr. Norwood’s wire. What could be wrong? I stood back, staring at the venomous wire and the diaper hanging by one pin and flapping in the breeze. And then I saw.

In those days diapers were about fifteen inches wide and about three feet long. The unpinned side of the diaper was just long enough to flap against Mr. Norwood’s electric fence, and had not Daddy already told me? — Water conducts electricity! The diapers were wet! I didn’t see a way out of my predicament, so I left the wet diaper where it was and took my laundry back to Mama and she solved the problem. I don’t remember how.

Mr. Norwood’s was a lovely place. There were double daffodils in the early spring, and big boxwoods in the front yard with their exotic green scent. Weigela shrubbery bloomed along the road to the barn, and other unnamed by beautiful plantings graced the premises. Little pink roses and Japanese honeysuckles grew along the driveway and their fragrance was delightful. And out near the highway was the most interesting plant I ever saw. The tiny blossoms hugged the top of their stem, yellowish at the bottom, and tapering orange to near red at the tip. It was decades after we moved from there before I saw another and learned its name — red hot poker– which it certainly resembles.

We had a very shapely and attractive holly tree down near the mailbox. It was about twelve or fifteen feet tall, very lush and healthy. Every spring it was covered in white blossoms, but never ever was there a red berry in the winter, not even one! When I complained about our barren holly Mama said it was a male holly and would never bear berries. I was so disappointed! Since then I have discovered that not only hollies, but persimmons, and who knows what else, are male and female, with the male flowering but not producing fruit.

Our rented house was old, even then. Its most impressive feature was the massive double stone fireplaces upstairs and down that rose up from the center of the house. The fireplace in the living room had been altered to accommodate a wood or coal burning heater. The other three were closed and we never used them. The interior walls were plaster; the exterior pebbledash. There were big porches front and back. An ell structure attached to the main house contained a dining room and a little kitchen. An in house bathroom had been added on the back porch. There was a windowless little house out back where Daddy worked on his many projects, and behind it a stone retaining wall and an area near the brook where someone had built a fine outdoor cooking site. Two rock springs were nearby. Our water was pumped from one of them. It was readily apparent even to us young folks that painstaking care had once been lavished upon this place.

Quercus michauxii by Sophie McKenzie
Source: iNaturalist.com
Creative Commons license CC BY NC

Daddy hung a swing for us in a big sycamore tree in the front yard. I had never seen a sycamore tree before that I was aware of, There were chestnut oaks there also. I learned about chestnut oaks one fall afternoon when Daddy was walking in the woods with us. I picked up a very large acorn from the path, amazed at its size. It was almost twice as big as any acorn I had seen. Daddy identified it as a chestnut oak acorn. I wondered why in he world if it was an acorn and not a chestnut, that folks called it a chestnut oak acorn. Daddy could have told me had I asked. But at that time in my life I kept my questions to myself. Again, it was decades later before I learned: the chestnut oak is indeed an oak and not a chestnut. However, the leaf of the chestnut oak strongly resembles the leaf of the American chestnut, which you might know, is nearing extinction now. Above is a photo of the chestnut oak acorn in its cap, at almost dead center. The leaf of the chestnut oak, on the left and greenish in color, is pointing toward the acorn.

So much for oaks and chestnuts. The best trees were the magnificent beeches. There, near the French Broad River, the beeches were in their element and they were large and plentiful. We carved our initials in their smooth gray bark and hid our treasures in the intricate and spreading profusion of their above ground roots. And in the fall we hulled and ate their litle tripartite nuts. Speaking of nuts, our neighborhood friends had hazel nuts. They grew along the little road that went up to their house on the hill. We cracked them in our teeth — yes — who would dare do that now? It’s a wonder I have any molars left.

Fagus grandiflora by Barbara Katzenburg
American beech roots with hidey holes
Source: iNaturalist.com
Creative Commons license CC BY NC

The best thing about those beeches was the birds, especially on summer mornings. I must tell you that since those days I have heard nothing to match the enthralling sound of scores of birds, with their peeps, twitters, chirrups and mutters singing in bright harmony at sunrise. My brothers and I were up early and out the back door. My feet still remember the cool, smooth stones of the walkway. I can still see the green and gold of our sun dappled kingdom as Gene, Gary and I walked, three abreast, entranced by the sounds in the treetops above us. We found the words we attempted to speak to each other were lost in the din of that joyous early morning song. It was a magical time; it should have lasted forever; it almost does, in memory.

But before I go, there is one more tree I must tell you about. We found it one morning in April, most likely a Saturday, for us kids went to school and church other days. Mama was with us that day, and the littlest one, Vance, would have been also. Mama would likely have been carrying him most of the way, since he was very young when we lived there. It was one of those enticing spring days that reach inside your house with balmy fingers and draw you outside. Mama led us up through the garden gate and into the pasture. Then like little colts set free we skipped and frolicked and laughed our way up that steep grassy hill, almost to the road that runs along the top of Becky Mountain. Way up there in a small outcrop of rocks we discovered a bubbling little spring! What an amazement! Who would have known there would be water up here? My mother, of course. She would have spied it out one day while we were at school.

When we came back down the hill we took the trail that would under the chestnut oak tree, but there were no fat acorns. The animals had eaten them all during the winter. We were in the woods now, on our way back home for a bite to eat. Though it was only April, already it was getting pretty warm. A little breeze began to stir, and as it did a very pleasant scent wafted over us, delicately sweet and spicy. Oh my! How lovely! There was nothing to do but discover the source of that delightful fragrance. Very soon we found it, in a little clearing, resplendent in a host of pink blossoms — a wild crabapple tree — exuding its intoxicating perfume of roses and cloves, graciously extending a scepter of welcome to both pollinators and people. What a sight! Even my little brothers were impressed with the beauty of that young tree in full flower. It stood maybe fifteen feet high. Its lowest branches were just above my head. Though it was a wild tree, happenstance had placed it in a little open space where it had flourished in just the right setting of sun and shadow. It did bear fruit that fall, as all crabapples do. The little apples had green skins and were about an inch in diameter, hard and sour tasting, but edible, if you have good teeth and are very hungry.

That crabapple tree was just one of many treasures Mr. Norwood’s farm afforded us. But guess what. That day under the crabapple tree, just like it happened when I found the chestnut oak acorn, I looked down, and there was a nice looking smooth rock. I always liked rocks, so I picked it up. I was only about eleven years old, but I had seen a tomahawk head before, and I knew what it was. Wow! What a discovery! Mama said I could keep it, and so I did for a long time. I eventually sold it to Mr. Norwood for five dollars, which was a pile of money for a kid like me at that time.

After that nearly a lifetime passed before I had the pleasure of experiencing wild crabapples in bloom. I had not thought about that childhood experience in ages, when one Sunday after church I decided to take a little detour from my normal route home. I turned down a gravel service road in the Pisgah National Forest. I had been that way before, but not in April. To my surprise when I rounded a familiar turn, I found stretched out alongside the road before me not one, not two, or five, but many Mature crabapples in full bloom, laden with pink blossoms and scenting the air with their captivating aroma. I stopped the car and got out for a few minutes to smell the roses (apples). In previous excursions along this road I had not recognized these trees for what they were. I went back that way some years later, with a good camera, hoping for photos, but for some reason there were hardly any blossoms that year and a number of the older trees had died.

Malus angustifolia by Carol and Robert
Source: iNaturalist.com
Creative Commons license CC BY NC

Included here is a very good representation of the type of wild crabapple I am familiar with. This photo was taken within a few miles of Becky Mountain, and depicts the southern crabapple, also known as the narrow leaf crabapple. Note the obvious thorns. All apples are of the rose family, and the southern crabapple has thorns to prove it! Its scientific name is Malus angustifolia.

Nowadays folks buy ornamental crabapple trees to plant in their yards and every spring these cultivated varieties put on a wonderful show. As they grow older and larger they are really quite beautiful, especially the pink ones. But in one thing they are lacking, and that is fragrance. In my experience the pale scent of a cultivar is no match for the tangy and provocative scent of the true wild crabapple, whose numbers, sadly, are slowly dwindling.

Posted in Brevard | Tagged American beech, American chestnut, Becky Mountain, chestnut oak, fagus grandiflora, French Broad River, holly, male and female plants, malus angustifolia, persimmons, Quercus michauxii, red hot poker plant, southern crabapple |

The Sarvis Is In Bloom

April 3, 2023 by Marjorie (Margie) Willingham

While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. Genesis 8:22

Sarvis blossoms. This is the smooth leaved serviceberry. Reddish leaves will turn green later.

There’s still a nip in the air, but it’s friendlier. Blustery, but not biting. The grass in greening; sundown comes a little later. About this time I can feel it. I always know: it’s apple blossom time. And scattery little white smudges dot the gray landscape to prove it. It’s the sarvis, the first of the wild flowering trees to put forth its blossoms. The sarvis, like the apple tree, is of the rose family. And I can’t resist interjecting here — so am I — Scottish forebears be thanked. There are twenty species in this plant family. The sarvis I am familiar with is the smooth leaved serviceberry, which is the variant laevis of Amelanchier arborea. This is a small tree having glossy leaves; its blossoms are very delicate, with longish slender petals. Like other plants of the rose family, the sarvis has five petals. The fruit is red, like an apple, and about the size of a huckleberry. It also tastes somewhat like an apple, though I was never privileged to eat very many.

My mother was an outdoor lover, “I growed up in the woods,” she would say. She was our teacher of all things wild and wonderful when we were young. She had the ability to transform an ordinary afternoon into a fascinating adventure as we followed her through the fields and forests. She identified the plants and little creatures we encountered — that is she told us what her mama said it was. For instance the little red spotted newt was a “red dog”; chipmunks were “ground squirrels”; quails were “Bob whites”; and the large river salamander was a “water dog”. Of the plants, the wild azaleas were “honeysuckles”; the mountain laurel was “ivy” (and still is around here); the rhododendron is still widely known in our country as “laurel”. When you don’t know any better, none of this is confusing in the least!

One bright day Mama led us up the road from Grandma’s house to Grandpa Johnny’s mill. If you don’t know where that was you might read my post Grandpa Johnny’s Mill. This day I was considerably older than the day of my momentous first visit to the mill. Mama wouldn’t let us go inside the mill since no one was there, but she did allow us to explore all around and to watch the frothing tumbling waters as they came over the falls. Despite its unimaginative name, Mill Shoals is a very impressive waterfall. While we were enjoying the beautiful sunshine and exploring that site’s many secrets, Mama spied some bright red berries on a high limb above the creek. Right away she knew what they were, and that they were worth whatever trouble it might take to obtain them.

Sarvis Berries
Vanessa Richins/Wikimedia Commons

“They’re sarvis berries,” she said. We didn’t know what that was. She told us there weren’t many sarvis trees, and that she hadn’t seen one in a long time. Nor had we, of course, for we lived twenty miles away, in an entirely different world. Today twenty miles is nothing. Back then twenty miles was a “fur piece” and you didn’t climb into the car just every day to go visit Grandma.

It took her a while, but Mama managed to gather a small handful of those red berries and we were happy to eat them. That gave my mama immense satisfaction for some reason.

Many years later on a grayish looking spring day I found myself at Grandma’s old house, trudging through the woods with my grown daughter looking for “honeysuckles” and whatever fascination the woods had to offer. That day she found a small cache of eggs in a bird’s nest securely anchored at eye level in a little tree. That gave me immense satisfaction. Mothers are like that.

About twenty years ago I had the good fortune of gathering and sampling a few sarvis berries from a low growing little tree in a cemetery over in Graham County, NC. I was amazed when I picked one open how the inside of the sarvis berry resembles the core of an apple!

By now you might be wondering: if this is a service berry, why is it called a sarvis berry? Well, I am not sure. Some say the word sarvis is a corruption of the word sorbus which is an identifier of a European plant of essentially the same family. Others say the flowers were used for funeral services that were held in the spring. And there is at least one more opinion. And you can add yours to that if you want to.

Sarvis in bloom

Since I have been privileged to live again at an elevation where this tree is a little more plentiful I watch for the sarvis at the end of winter. My neighbor has two or three sarvis trees at the edge of his pasture. And now, thanks to the birds and their droppings I have two of my own above my spring branch. They bloomed this year for the first time. Heretofore I knew not what they were — just part of the landscape. Imagine my delight when I looked out the back door last week and saw those frilly white blossoms! If the birds don’t get ahead of me I hope to enjoy my own sarvis berries this summer. That will give me immense satisfaction.

Posted in Lake Toxaway | Tagged amelanchier arborea var. laevis, azaleas, chipmunk, Mill Shoals, mountain laurel, quail, red spotted newt, rhododendron, Rose family, salamander, sarvis, smooth leaved serviceberry |

The Puzzle of Jerusalem, Part 3, The Temple

April 1, 2023 by Marjorie (Margie) Willingham

Muband/Wikimedia Commons

For those who love puzzles, the last piece to fit in is victory, completion, rest. And at the end of this section, Part 3, my case will rest. Fortunately the puzzle of Jerusalem is of little consequence in the grand scheme of things, for after all, we can’t all be right! Of far more significance is the coming Kingdom of God that Jesus alluded to when he said My kingdom is not of this world. (John 18:36)

If we have chosen him, above all others, and above all else, we are his subjects now, but he was speaking of a kingdom in the future, which we know very little about. Most of us can’t see into the future, but we do have the privilege of looking back, through the eyes of those who lived before us, and wrote it down. What a treasure are the ancient holy books; and not only those, but the priceless secular writings that over and over again support and confirm the veracity of scripture.

Once more we look at Jerusalem of old, the first settlement, on the southeast hill. That summit is still long and narrow, though today the northern section is substantially wider, having been filled in and added to a number of times over the years. The Jewish historian Josephus who lived in Jerusalem during the first century wrote that when Solomon built the first temple, “the plain at the top was hardly sufficient for the holy house and the altar . . . but when King Solomon had built a wall to it on its east side, there was then added one cloister founded on a bank cast up for it . . . in future ages the people added new banks, and the hill became a larger plain.” (The Wars of the Jews, Book 5, Chapter 5, Section 1, Paragraph 184-185)

It is here that Josephus’ translator, Whiston, who lived one thousand and seven hundred years after the fact of the temple, totally discredits Josephus, a Jew who saw the temple with his own eyes and lived contemporary with Jews whose business it was to hold sacred and safe the record of their heritage as the people of God! Whiston dares not alter the translation, but he casts aspersions on Josephus with a footnote, arguing that the wide and spacious Temple Mount is the correct location, and that Josephus is just plain wrong!

And how many historians, scientists, and religious leaders of today who are happy to take Josephus’ word on practically everything else want to find fault with him here . . . refusing to accept that the “plain” upon which the temple was built was very skimpy, so much that a bank had to be cast up for a cloister? Josephus had no axe to grind, no reason to make such a statement were it not so. I am convinced the words of Josephus settle the issue as to the non-location of the temple.

Unknown Artist’s Rendering of the Temple
Public Domain

Solomon was seven years building the first temple. At its dedication the Bible tells us that the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed the sacrifice and a dense cloud of glory filled the temple (First Kings 8:10) insomuch that the priests were unable to carry on their functions. And when Solomon had made an end of praying the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. (Second Chronicles 7:1-2) These words seem far fetched and fantastic to lots of people, but for folks who have felt the unseen but very real presence of the Spirit of God, they are easy to believe.

Eventually, forgetting the Lord’s supernatural acts, many of the Jews turned away from God and his temple. Sometimes the ruling class, the kings and their officers and associates were the worst offenders. Even Solomon, when he was old, was lured away from the Lord by his many pagan wives, whom he sought to please. As the years passed intrigue developed; the northern tribes split off from Judah and Benjamin and began to worship golden calves. The rulers of the northern kingdom were basically apostates. Nor were the kings of Judah much better. However God continued to raise up prophets to whom people could turn for advice and direction. Some of the kings of Judah sought the Lord’s direction, obeyed his commandments, and obtained divine assistance in desperate times. One of these was Hezekiah, who lived about the eighth century BC. And he (Hezekiah) did what was right in the sight of the Lord. (Second Kings 18:3)

Hezekiah came to the throne of Judea at the age of twenty-five. His predecessor King Ahaz had worshiped heathen gods, even sacrificed his children to them, and had done very wickedly in his reign. As a result Judah had been invaded repeatedly, and a number of its citizens carried away captive by the neighboring countries. When Hezekiah came to the throne he found the house of the Lord (the temple) neglected and in disarray, dirty and filled with rubbish. Right away, in the first month of his reign, he assembled the Levites And said to them, hear me ye Levites, sanctify yourselves and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. For our fathers have trespassed and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord and have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their back . . . Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem and he hath delivered them to trouble . . . Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel that his fierce wrath may turn from us . . . And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron. It took the priests and eighteen Levites and their brethren of which we have no number, eight days to clean and sanctify the temple. For shame! (Second Chronicles 29:5-17)

Note that the rubbish was not taken far off, but to the brook Kidron. I can’t help wondering if the temple had been situated where the Dome of the Rock now stands, would they have bothered to carry the trash all the way to the brook Kidron — round trip to the spillway and return, what, a mile or more?

If you read my first post on the Puzzle of Jerusalem, you may recall a paragraph mentioning Hezekiah’s tunnel. Yes, this is the same Hezekiah who around 700 BC ordered the building of the underground water channel diverting the runoff of the Gihon spring from its exit in the Kidron valley to a pool within he city walls. Hezekiah did this in response to a forewarning of invasion by Sennacherib, king of Assyria. In addition to the rerouting of the water supply, the massive city walls were repaired and strengthened; shields and weapons were made and soldiers organized for war.

Hezekiah laid out the message before the Lord.
The Art Bible/Wikimedia Commons

And then: sure enough, before long the Assyrians were at the door. The king of Assyria dispatched a servant with a message to Hezekiah and the people of Judah. Here King Sennacherib made a fatal mistake in that his message spoke against the Almighty. The king’s message read: Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered? (Second Kings 19:20-21) When Hezekiah received this message from the Assyrian king’s servant he went immediately to the temple and laid it out before the Lord, praying earnestly for deliverance from the Assyrians. In a little while Hezekiah received word from the prophet Isaiah that God had heard his prayer and that God himself would prevent the Assyrians from harming Jerusalem.

The angel of the Lord smites the Assyrians
Rubens/Wikimedia Commons

And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred, four score and five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed. (Second Kings 19:35-36) Oh! How marvelous are his works! He is the same today as he was in the days of Hezekiah. Pray that you will live to witness the things he will do in our time.

A hundred years more or less after this remarkable deliverance from the Assyrians, in the year 605, we find Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon has come to Judah, plundered the treasury, and taken certain of the nobility captive. This should not have surprised anyone and should have been a wake up, since the prophet Jeremiah had been warning them for more than twenty years that if they did not mend their ways they would find themselves ousted from their land and would spend seventy years in servitude to the Babylonians (Jeremiah 25:1-11) Jeremiah continued preaching, but his message fell on deaf ears. Then, in the winter of 598 BC Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem and by spring had conquered the city. Many thousands of Jews were exiled to Babylon at that time. Later, in 588 BC the Babylonians again laid siege to the city of Jerusalem. The city was better fortified this time, but it was unable to outlast the Babylonians, who pounded away at them. Two and a half years later, starving and weakened to exhaustion, the city fell. The walls were breached, the temple was destroyed and the city lay in ruins. Those remaining citizens who had escaped with their lives were deported to Babylon. The prophet Micah had spoken truly. Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. (Micah 4:10)

Over and over have we seen how God in his mercy sends prophets to his people. We would do well to heed them even in this day. Surely the Lord will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)

Nehemiah Surveys the Ruined Walls of Jerusalem
Dore/Wikimedia Commons

The day of the Jews’ redemption finally came. Nebuchadnezzar and his sons were no longer in power, having been defeated by the Persians. King Artaxerxes issued the decree: the Jews were free to go home. Zerubbabel led the first group of exiles back to Jerusalem; the year was 536 BC. But wouldn’t you know, there was opposition, there were delays; the rebuilding of the temple would not be complete until twenty years later. Though a number of the Jews were eager to return to their mother country, many remained in Babylon. One of these was Nehemiah, the king’s cup bearer. Some time around 444 BC Nehemiah learned from a fellow Jew Haniah, who had been to Jerusalem and was just returning, that Jerusalem was still in a sad state of affairs. The people were in great affliction and reproach, Haniah said, and the city walls and gates which had been destroyed by the Babylonians a full century earlier still lay in ruins. (Nehemiah 1:2-3) Nehemiah was so moved by this report that he petitioned the king for permission to go to Jerusalem to rebuild. Soon afterwards we find Nehemiah riding a “beast” (probably a donkey), at night, surveying the ruins of Jerusalem and considering what to do first.

A Section of Hezekiah’s Wall Ian Scott/Wikimedia Commons

You will recall from the discussion of Hezekiah above that in preparation for a possible invasion by the Assyrians, the ancient city walls were repaired and strengthened. These were the original mid-slope Jebusite walls. They were very strong, being several feet thick. Nevertheless large sections of them had been toppled by the Babylonians. These were the walls that Nehemiah repaired. Sections of these massive walls are extant today. The Bible says it took fifty two days to repair the wall. (Nehemiah 6:15) During the whole of that time the other inhabitants of the land hindered the work at every opportunity and made plans to attack the workers. When Nehemiah heard of this he divided the men and the work continued, with half the people working on the wall and the other half standing guard with shields, spears, and bows. (Nehemiah 4:16)

When the repairs to the wall were done a great dedication processional was held, complete with musicians and singers, and with much pomp, ceremony and celebration. Jewish officials, the “princes” of Judah, priests and Levites and many others gathered in two great companies of them that gave thanks. (Nehemiah 12:31) Walking on top of the wall, these two companies of celebrants began on the west side of the city, one group going south and the other group going northward, with loud rejoicing and blowing of trumpets and much jubilation. The first group heading south passed the Dung gate, and then the Fountain gate and ended up on the east at the Water gate. That great archaeologist Benjamin Mazar identified the Water gate as that one nearest the Gihon spring. http://www.biblicalarchaeologytruth.com/the-water-gate.html The northbound group passed their several gates and ended at the Guard or Prison gate on the east. From there the two companies continued into the house of God. Also that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced: for God had made them to rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off. (See Nehemiah 12:31-43.)

This celebration at the dedication of the wall took place four hundred and some years before the birth of Christ. Except for Malachi’s prophecies, which date to this same era, the Old Testament section of the Bible — the sixty-six-book canon we are accustomed to — ends here.

We have covered many years in this three part series, touching on much of the history of Jerusalem in this puzzle we have been working on. And still have not solved, I might add! The compelling saga of this city and the land of Israel can not be true, and yet it is! To quote a modern saying, “You just can’t make this stuff up!”

My desire, when I began writing this treatise was to set forth in an easily understood format my opinion as to the location of Jerusalem’s temple(s). I think I have accomplished that. I hope in the process I have piqued someone’s curiosity about that One, greater than the temple that John wrote about, Jesus of Nazareth, the suffering Savior and the coming King.

end

Posted in Tellit On The Mountain | Tagged Artaxerxes, Assyrians, Babylonians, hezekiah, Jebusites, jerusalem, Josephus, Nebuchadnezzar, Sennacherib, Solomon, temple, Whiston |

The Puzzle of Jerusalem, Part 2, The Akra

April 1, 2023 by Marjorie (Margie) Willingham

Excavated Jebusite Wall
Darko Tepert/Donatus
Wikimedia Commons

Continuing with our puzzle of a thousand pieces — ancient Jerusalem — we are going to look at the citadel or fortification inside the walled settlement of Jebus, that is Salem or Jerusalem. When King David attacked and took that city the Jebusites occupied roughly twelve acres atop a crescent shaped ridge, surrounded on three sides by steep ravines and hemmed entirely in by massive stone walls. So secure was their position the men of the city taunted David, boasting that their blind and lame individuals would prevent his forces from penetrating their wall.

Nevertheless, as the historian Joesphus in the Whiston translation tells us, David took the lower city. But the citadel “held out still.” Here David issued a challenge to his men: the first to go up by way of the “tsinor” and smite the Jebusites would be captain, and here it was that Joab won that position for himself. The “tsinor” (also understood as gutter or pipe) spoken of by David could have been the covered aqueduct from that era that channeled waters from the Gihon spring. (See Second Samuel Chapter 5.)

After David and his men conquered the Jebusites David took up residence in Salem (Jerusalem). The record tells us he erected buildings from the Millo (a filled area perhaps) and inward, “round about the lower city; he also joined the citadel to it,” (See Psalm 22, verse 3) and named Jerusalem The City of David. (The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 7, Chapter 3, Sections 1 and 2) (See also Second Samuel Chapter 5.) It’s too bad we don’t have a little map to show us Just where the Millo and the citadel and the lower city lay.

But we do have in the words of Josephus an excellent clue as to where the citadel was with respect to the rest of Jerusalem. The lower city mentioned here is that part of the city that was lower in elevation to the citadel, which would have been the entire remainder of the city. Remember, these were the first days, the beginning of David’s Jerusalem. If we look at ancient Jerusalem today, the twelve acre crescent shaped southeast ridge and the section known today as The City of David, there is no evidence of an elevation significantly higher than the rest of the ridge. However, we know the citadel was higher than its surroundings. Josephus plainly states this later on in The Antiquities. Further, we find scriptures in First Maccabees that support this conclusion. So? Eventually we are going to find the hill that supported the citadel/Akra in the ancient city was leveled by the citizens of Jerusalem under the Hasmonean king/priest Simon. Leveled, taken down, and carried away.

We do not find the word Akra in the Old Testament, or the New, for that matter. It is a derivative of the Greek word acropolis and denotes a fortress or citadel, and would not have come into common use until the Hellenistic period of Jewish history. Well before that however, we find another clue as to the Akra’s location. About 444 BC, when the Jews, who had earlier been taken captive to Babylon, were allowed to return to Jerusalem, the Jewish leader Nehemich asked King Artaxerxes for timber to make gates for the citadel by the temple and for the city wall. (Nehemiah 2:8) Note the narrative indicates the citadel was by (beside) the temple. The fortress (citadel) is mentioned again where one Hananiah is identified as commander of the fortress (Nehemiah 7:2)

Tomb of Mattithias, Father and Leader of Maccabees
Ariel Palmon/Wikipedia

We find more about the Akra in the later non-canonical books of First and Second Maccabees. These books (and others) were taken from most Bibles in the 1800’s, but are still available from booksellers in the collection known as the Apocrypha. The Maccabean Revolt took place in the interim between the recordings of the Old Testament and the Gospels of the New Testament. The story of the Maccabees and their leadership in the struggle for Jewish independence during that time is quite inspiring.

At the conclusion of the Babylonian exile, when the Jews were allowed to return to Israel they remained under the nominal control of the Persians and their successors the Greeks — the Ptolemys and the Selucids. But in 175 BC, with the advent of the new Selucid ruler Antiochus IV of Syria, conditions began to change. Seeking to Hellenize the Jews, Antiochus imposed grievous laws and harsh punishments upon them. On pain of death he forbade reading of the Torah, observance of the Sabbath, and circumcision of boys. These Greeks cared naught for the God of Israel. They were pagans, worshipers of Zeus and a host of other false gods. Determined to do way with the Jewish religion, Antiochus devastated the city of Jerusalem in 163 BC, and among other heinous acts, sacrificed a pig on the altar of the temple, thus defiling it and causing temple worship to cease.

Mattathias the priest leads the Maccabean Revolt Danger/Wikimedia Commons

Not long afterwards, at Modein, a nearby village, one of Antiochus’ officers attempted to coerce Mattathias the priest into sacrificing swine to the Greek god Zeus. When Mattathias refused, a turncoat Jew that was present offered to do the sacrifice, whereupon Mattathias killed both him and the Greek officer and his attendants. Thus began the Maccabean Revolt, led by Mattathias who was quite elderly at that time. Mattathias died about two years later in 166 BC after which, one by one, his sons took up leadership, beginning with Judas. Judas became known as Judas Maccabeas, maccabeas being an Aramaic word meaning hammer, which though not a surname was altogether a fitting title for this valiant family of Jewish believers, better known as the Hasmoneans.https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/history-and-overview-of-the-maccabees

The struggle between the Selucids/Greeks and the Jews lasted for years, but Judas and his men won a decisive victory in 164 BC. After routing their enemies at Beth Zur the Jews were able to take control of their temple and to cleanse and rededicate it. That dedication — the first Jewish Festival of Lights or Hanukkah — continues to be celebrated every year. Here it must be understood that Judas led a resistance movement, not a large army. Always outnumbered, their success was due in large part to the brilliance and ingenuity of their leaders, and the favor of God.

As Judas was well aware after the victory at Beth Zur, they had won the battle, but the war was not over. For one thing, a number of Greeks and sympathetic Jews, fleeing from Judas and his forces upon their triumphal entry into Jerusalem, had taken refuge in the citadel, newly constructed (or perhaps reconstructed) by Antiochus — The Akra in the Greek language — where they remained. About this time a reprieve was granted the Jews and they were allowed to return to their customary worship and traditions. But the Selucid forces remained in power and continued to occupy the Akra. the Hellenists in the Akra, from their advantageous position overlooking the temple courtyard did not hesitate to harass and even kill Jewish temple worshipers. Meanwhile Judas and his warriors were occupied elsewhere.

Though the Maccabees and their forces were a thorn in the side of their Syrian oppressors and their Hellenist sympathizers in Judea for many years, it was not until 142 BC that Simon, the last of the Maccabee sons, high priest and ruler of Judea attacked and starved out the Selucid forces from the Akra.

After that Josephus tells us in his Antiquities, the Hasmoneans (Maccabees) filled the Tyropean (Cheesemongers) valley with earth they took from the Acra (that is the entire hill) making it of less elevation than before, that the temple might be superior to it. (Wars of the Jews, Book 5, Chapter 4, Section 1, Paragraph 137.) Reinforcing that statement he gives more detail: “Simon, (high priest of Jerusalem, of the Hasmonean family above) took the citadel of Jerusalem by seige (Which was then occupied by Hellenistic Syrians/Greeks and apostate Jews, and cast it down to the ground, that it might not be any more a place of refuge to their enemies . . . and when he had done this he thought it . . . for their advantage to level the very mountain upon which the citadel happened to stand so the temple might be higher than it. And indeed when he had called the multitude to an assembly he persuaded them to have it so demolished, . . . so they all set themselves to the work, and leveled the mountain, and in that work spent both day and night without intermission, which cost them three whole years before it was removed, and brought to an entire level with the plain of the rest of the city. After which the temple was the highest of the buildings. (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 13, Chapter 6, Section 7, Paragraphs 215-217)

Dr. Ernest Martin in his book The Temples That Jerusalem Forgot suggested the Akra structure was built on a tel, and likely it was, which is a disconcerting thought when one considers that many priceless artifacts from that place could now be lying way down deep under the dust of the ages.

Givati Parking Lot dig
Israel Antiquities Authority/Wikipedia/Author name in Hebrew

Around 2015 archaeologists excavating the Givati parking lot just south of the temple mount discovered that they believe are the remains of the Akra. Artifacts recovered tend to confirm this conjecture. It is interesting that one archaeologist believes the Givati parking lot structures pertain not to the Akra, but to the northernmost defensive walls of the City of David. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Givati_Parking_Lot_dig. This is an amazing idea, and perhaps he is right, since Josephus in the Antiquities tells us David joined his citadel to the lower city and made it one body. (See the third paragraph of this post.) Antiochus had practically destroyed Jerusalem earlier, and then “built up the City of David with a high strong wall and strong towers and it became their citadel.” (First Maccabees 1:33) Would not that complex have included the former Jewish citadel? Hmmm. . .

Even more amazing is the cognitive dissonance educated people are experiencing as they puzzle over the finds of the Givati site, attempting to reconcile (1) the obvious fact that before the leveling of the Akra (regardless of where it was located) that structure was significantly higher in elevation than the temple, with (2) their ironclad tradition that the temple was located up on the Muslim hill of Moriah. For those who re wondering just what was up on that hill, here is a very scholarly article: https://www.cob-net.org/inspire/Fortress-or-Temple.pdf

Regardless of that, we all have a little blind spot somewhere, maybe a log in our eye as Jesus said, and we don’t see clearly. Reminds me of how He quoted the words of Isaiah: Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, by hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive. For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted and I should heal them. (Matthew 13:13-15)

When all that we know is being questioned and our certainties are gone, He is still the same. Maybe in the past you refused to see or hear. His invitation still stands. Come unto me . . . and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28) One day even time will have an end, and these stones that today we take such pleasure in (Psalm 102:14) will lack their luster when our Savior walks among us again.

. . . . .

Next: The Puzzle of Jerusalem, Part 3, The Temple

Posted in Tellit On The Mountain | Tagged Acra, Akra, Antiochus IV, fortress, Hasmoneans, Hellenists, Jebusite, jerusalem, Josephus, Judas Maccabeus, King David's citadel, maccabean revolt, Mattithias, Salem, seleucids |

Grandpa Johnny’s Mill

May 21, 2022 by Marjorie (Margie) Willingham

A Painting of Grandpa Johnny’s Mill

I was five years old when I learned to shell corn. It was in the fall. Grandpa Henry had harvested his corn crop and the crib was stuffed to bursting with corn in the shuck. Grandpa retrieved a fair number of ears from the crib, shucked them, and put them in a sack which he carried up the hill to the house. We had a long bench made of wood slats under a poplar tree in the front yard, and there we parked our sack of corn. Grandpa went to fetch a bucket and when he returned I watched in amazement as he very skillfully removed the dried corn from the cob. The white grains dropped into the bucket like a summer rain. Right away I knew it was an art I was destined to master, and begged him to show me how.

Grandpa Henry was a patient man, and he consented. He taught me to single out one grain at the very tip and to use the force of my tiny thumb to dislodge that one grain. After that it was easier to dislodge the next. I found that after I shelled all the uneven grains at the tip it was smooth sailing to shell one row at a time in the straight body of the ear. My little five year old hands had not much strength. I was not able to shell more than one grain at a time. But I had inherited Grandpa’s patience, and besides that he had promised when I got the bucket full we would take it to Grandpa Johnny’s mill and grind it into corn meal. I had watched Grandma make corn bread from meal and I very much wanted to see the process of changing hard grains of corn into soft powdery meal.

The dogwood tree in the foreground replaced the poplar tree.

For three days whenever Grandma would let me I’d be hard at work under the poplar tree, dropping corn into the bucket. By the third day I was wondering if I would ever get to go to Grandpa Johnny’s mill. Hard as I had worked, the bucket was just not getting full. And to make matters worse I had developed a blister on my right thumb which forced me to work left handed, which was not so bad except that my left thumb was also getting pretty sore. Looking back, I realize what was happening to my corn. Grandpa Henry was taking a daily ration of it to feed his chickens!

Not to worry. All ended well. On the morning of the fourth day Grandpa helped me and we shelled lots of corn. That is Grandpa shelled lots of corn. I was not able to shell much with two ruined thumbs. Grandpa poured corn from the bucket into the sack until he had sacked up fifteen or twenty pounds of shelled corn. Then he slung the sack over his shoulder and we walked all the way to the mill. It seemed like a very long way, but it was actually about a quarter of a mile, more or less. It was the first time I had ever been there, at least the first time I remember being there.

Newspaper photo of the mill from the rear. A flying rock from road construction put a hole in the roof.

The mill house stood to the west of the narrow road, at the foot of the waterfall. It was a small building, made of stout notched poles and clad with milled lumber. There was a tall little room downstairs with a fireplace to the right. It was cold that morning and I was glad Grandpa built a fire. On the left side of the room was a chute where the freshly ground meal dropped down into a box. A stairway led up to the hopper where the corn was fed to the grindstones. There were windows upstairs, open to the creek, to let in some light to the one who was working at the hopper. Above the mill house, at the top of the falls was a little dam that could be opened and shut with a pole, operated from the mill house. When the dam was opened the creek could flow unhindered, but when the dam was shut part of the creek waters were diverted into a shallow trough or ‘race’ where they ran downhill and turned the wheel. The wheel attached to a shaft that rotated one stone against another and ground the corn. Grandpa Johnny’s mill was a ‘tub’ mill, or turbine mill. The mill wheel turned horizontally, and did look like a round tub, with spokes radiating from the center to the rim.

Grandpa Henry busied himself filling the hopper with corn and getting all things in readiness. Then, with a loud ‘CLACK’ the dam at the top of the falls shut; and the mill race opened. Suddenly it seemed like nearly all the water in Flat Creek was rushing down the mill race toward the waterwheel. I will never forget when that great wheel began to turn. That little mill house began to growl. It shook and rumbled like a great cat purring; and then — a miracle! White and beautiful, fluffy as snow, the ground corn began at first to sift and then to pour. Grandpa held a cloth bag under the chute, gathering up the fine meal as it fell. When all the corn was ground, Grandpa closed the mill race. The purring and rumbling died away as the mill wheel slowly ground to a halt.

Who could forget so great an adventure! It was one I was fortunate to repeat a few more times before Grandma began to buy meal at the grocery. But that ‘bought’ meal was never the same as Grandpa Henry’s. Now that I am old, I am privileged again to have fresh ground meal, and wonderful memories of an earlier time.

For genealogy buffs, Grandpa Johnny was John McCall, Jr. and Grandpa Henry his grandson.

Posted in Quebec NC | Tagged corn meal, corn mill, old turbine mill, tub mill |

The African Helmeted Guinea — Just Poterackin’ Around

May 20, 2022 by Marjorie (Margie) Willingham

Here is a republication of an article I wrote some years ago. I no longer have guineas, but I still recommend them. Read on to learn about this unique and beneficial domestic bird.

Guineafowl, or guineas, as they are known in the South, are low maintenance domesticated fowl. A free ranging guinea’s diet consists mostly of insects; hence the guinea’s growing popularity on farms and in rural areas. Like other fowl, guineas can be eaten, and their eggs are delicious. Guineas are about the size of chickens, but easier to care for; their benefits far outweigh their requirements. Guineas come in many colors, from white all the way to black, but most are some variation of gray. They resemble turkeys somewhat, but their necks are longer and slimmer, and topped off with funny looking little heads. As a bird they are not very attractive, but once you get to know them you forget all about that. If you live in a rural area and have a little land where they can roam you might consider keeping guineas. Here is your basic information.

You are better off starting with young guineas as older ones will sometimes try to go back to their previous residence. Young guineas are called keets. You can buy them from a breeder or purchase the eggs and hatch them in an incubator. It is impossible to tell the sex of a young guinea so you will just have to trust your luck. Get several to be assured of a mix of males and females. If you are using an incubator you will have to wait a week longer than usual for the eggs to hatch. Guinea eggs hatch in four weeks, whereas chickens hatch in three.

Newly Hatched Guineas

When the little ones hatch you must place them in a brooder, or a box or cage with a light in it. They will need to stay warm for a few weeks. They are very tiny; two of them can be held in the palm of a woman’s hand. For the first few days they need a textured surface such as a rough sawn board or a towel in the bottom of the cage. If you use a slick surface such as paper they will not be able to grasp it with their toes. Their feet will tend to slip out from under them, and they will be at risk of developing splayed or spraddled legs. This condition can sometimes be corrected if caught early. It is better to prevent the problem in the first place. Your baby keets will begin to eat in a day or so. Feed them a poultry starter and warm water.

As they grow they will need a wire bottomed cage. When they are between four and six weeks old and feathered out they can go into some sort of enclosure outdoors. If the weather is cold cover them at night and continue to keep a light on for them. You will need to keep them separate from older foul until they are nearly grown, as bigger birds will pick on little ones that have no mother bird to defend them. Continue to feed them as you would chickens.

It is possible for guineas to hatch their own, in the wild. After all, that is how they did it for thousands of years. However, I have never known guineas in my area to accomplish this. There are too many predators. The easiest way to hatch guineas is to set the eggs under a chicken that is ready to begin the natural process of incubating their own eggs. Just take hers away and replace them with the guinea eggs. She will continue to set until the eggs hatch. We did this once and that hen was just as proud of her adopted children as she would have been of her own. She continued to mother the young keets and roamed with them foraging for bugs and the like even after they reached maturity.

After guineas have achieved some growth and learn they have a voice they will begin calling, or “poteracking” as the old timers say. Then you can begin to separate the males from the females. The sound of a guinea’s call is the only foolproof method of identifying them by sex. The males make a one syllable sound. The female call has two syllables. The other method of determining sex is by inspecting the wattles of mature birds. Those having larger wattles are usually males.

Free Ranging Guineas

If allowed to range freely guineas will congregate in groups and forage together most of the time. If you have different age groups of guineas you will notice those from one hatching will form a group separate from those of another hatching. While they are roaming out there in the wild the females will lay eggs in well hidden communal nests. Like chickens, guineas usually lay one egg every day in season. If you find a guineas’ nest outdoors, there might be two or three gallons of eggs in it, depending on how many females are in the group. Most people do not realize that an egg can stay fresh for a long time without refrigeration provided the shell is not cracked. Guineas and other fowl do not begin incubation until they have finished laying their eggs. Until then the eggs simply accumulate. A setting bird will defend her nest if she can, but eggs left unattended are often gobbled up by dogs, foxes, coyotes and other predators. Those same predators kill free ranging fowl from time to time, but for some reason guineas are more adept at evading them than are chickens.

Guineas are wonderful for pest control. Any creepy crawly that dares to cross a guinea’s path is as good as gone. I’ve seen guineas in the vegetable garden going up and down the rows, snapping up bugs. They eat practically all day long, consuming insects of every kind, spiders, even small lizards and mice. Though mainly carnivorous, guineas will also eat certain seeds, including millet and cracked corn.

Guineas kept fenced or housed with chickens will lay eggs in the chickens’ nests. You can tell the eggs apart by their size and shape. Guinea eggs are smaller and more pointed than chicken eggs. Here is a short video comparing guinea eggs with chicken eggs. https://youtube.com/watch?v+VbPdvGLbRQo The shell is also harder, a fact you will notice if you use them for cooking. The taste of guinea eggs is about the same as other free range eggs, wonderful! Some people eat guineas; the meat is reputedly very good, similar to chicken. I can not give a personal opinion. I never had the heart to kill one.

Guineas are aloof. They keep their distance more than chickens. Further, they tend to panic when you are blocking their exit door. I have never understood this. It would seem they’d learn after a while that I am merely coming in to get the eggs, not them! In that same vein, chickens seem to instinctively know the safest place at night is inside. At dusk nobody has to ask them to go into the chicken house and get on their roosts. Some guineas will go in at night, but they will usually be the last ones. Most of our guineas prefer roosting outdoors in nearby trees. Perhaps that is because as a species they are only a few centuries removed from the wilds of Africa where they originated. Our chickens seem to trust us, but the guineas are still not sure.

Some people would keep guineas but for the noise. If guineas are disturbed they will set up a loud ruckus which will continue until they are satisfied the danger has passed. When a strange dog, a fox, or even a person they do not recognize enters their domain they try to eject him by loud calling and cackling. Guineas are nervous and sometimes the slightest rustle of the leaves can set them off. If you have several guineas that can amount to quite a din and a racket, which can be very disturbing to people who are not accustomed to such carryings on. And that, of course, is exactly what the guineas intended to start with!

As people have become more knowledgeable of the value of this unique barnyard fowl, we have seen an increased demand for them. Buyers pay high prices for baby guineas at local animal sales and then ask for more. Folks are finding that the virtues of guineas far outweigh their one noisome fault, if indeed that loud “poteracking” can be considered a fault. To us guinea lovers, it is just music to our ears!

Posted in Lake Toxaway |

Flower Power — Dahlias: A Short Primer

May 6, 2022 by Marjorie (Margie) Willingham

All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, ‘Twas God that made them all. (From a song by Cecil Frances Alexander)

Here is an interesting article for flower lovers. For those who will notice, this article is not written in my usual tone. That is because it is a republication of a story written long ago specifically for Yahoo Voices, of which complete rights were returned to me when that platform was taken down.

Beautiful Bi-colored Dahlia.
note the stakes

Dahlias are stunning, and they almost seem to know it. Tall and imposing, clad in bright colors, they dominate the landscape wherever you put them. In the categories of big, bold, bright, and beautiful they are rarely outdone. If your desire is for a steady supply of cut flowers, or if you need a tall specimen against a fence or wall, or if you just want a nice splash of color in your garden, let me tell you about dahlias.

I grew up with dahlias. My grandmother always planted a long row of them along the fence enclosing her vegetable garden. She traded dahlia bulbs (tubers) with her aunts, cousins, and neighbors. I think everyone in my world at that time grew dahlias. We were so enamored of dahlias that we photographed them, and framed the best shots to hang on the wall. I still love dahlias.

There are 30-some species of dahlias, and innumerable variations. They range in size from the tree dahlia, which can reach a height of 20 feet, to the dwarfs, small enough to grow in a terra cotta pot. Dahlia colors can be quite striking. They go from white, through yellow, orange, and pink, to very dark red. Many dahlias are a mix of colors. There are no blue dahlias, but some beautiful pinky lavender shades are available. There’s even a choice of petal types, Some are spoon shaped; others are pointed. The cactus dahlia is very attractive with its spiky looking petals.

Pompon Dahlia
Dwergenpaartje Wikimedia Commons

For plants with real pizazz, I recommend those that grow three to four feet tall and a little higher. At the upper end of this size range are the dinnerplate dahlias, between five and eight feet in height, with blossoms up to 12 inches in diameter. The smallest I can honestly recommend are the pompons. They stand at about three feet; their blooms are two to three inches across. Whether short or tall, dahlias come in a plethora of sizes and colors.

Dahlias of this mid-size range are somewhat labor intensive, but well worth the effort required to grow them. You do have to stake them, and in winter you must dig up the tubers and save them. Besides that, their main requirements are water and sunshine. They start blooming in early summer and keep on producing large colorful blossoms until frost. They will keep you in gorgeous cut flowers for weeks on end, for free.

If you’re going to grow them, set the tubers after the last killing frost is expected. They will sprout quickly. Dig a shallow hole with a hoe or shovel, break up the clods of dirt, and put a tuber in with its eye up. The plant will sprout from the eye. You will see the eyes; they are the same as potato eyes. Cover the tuber with the crumbled dirt from the hole. That’s all you need to do at first. When they are about two feet high you will need to stake them. You can use tomato stakes for the pompons, but you will need something more substantial if you are growing dinnerplate dahlias. Old broom handles are great, and so are small saplings cut from the woods, trimmed, and sharpened on one end. Drive them into the ground with a heavy hammer. They need to go in far enough not to be wobbly. Use strips of old cloth or hemp twine to tie the plant loosely to the stake. As they grow they will need to be tied again.

When the flowers begin to bloom you can start using them for arrangements. Do not try to pick a dahlia. They are succulents; the stem will simply crush in your fingers and the flower will flop over and hang there. Cut them with scissors or hand pruners. Dahlias are really spectacular in bouquets and arrangements, but they are not particularly long lasting. If you are using them for a special occasion it is best to cut them the same day, certainly no earlier than the day before. Another thing you will need to do is change the water daily. This is important. Not only will your flowers last longer, but they will smell better. Dahlias do not have a noticeable fragrance but the stems develop an unpleasant odor very quickly in water. You can mitigate this problem by changing the water every day.

If you have more than enough dahlias you can sell your excess. My cousin sold dahlias. She grew them in rows, just like a vegetable garden. She had about twelve 20-foot rows. She said that once the word got out, she had all the customers she wanted. People bought them for weddings, funerals, parties, and just because they were beautiful. If you have only a few bunches of dahlias to sell you can take them to a local tailgate market where farmers sell their own produce. It is very common to find flowers, bulbs, and other non-food items for sale at these markets.

When the petals drop from your unused dahlias, snip off the spent blooms and let them fall to the ground. This is called deadheading. Not only does deadheading improve the looks of your garden, it encourages your plants to produce more blossoms. Keep the weeds from around your dahlias, and you will have a steady supply of attractive blooms until cold weather. A little fertilizer will not hurt them, but you won’t need much.

Newly Harvested Dahlia Tubers
attached to the old stem
F.D. Richards/Wikimedia Commons

After the plants have died in the fall, and before the ground freezes, you should dig your tubers. When you do you will be happy to see they have multiplied. There will be one or more new tubers attached to the old. At this point you will need to tag them unless you are growing all the same kind. If you don’t, come next spring, you will not be able to tell them apart, and you will not know what to plant where. You can make tags of string and cardboard. Use a permanent marker so your writing will not fade. Or, you can buy metal tags from your garden supplier. Do not separate the new tubers from the old stem at this time. Come spring, when the eyes have swollen, you can separate them, discarding any tubers that do not have an eye. Save your dahlia tubers as you would potatoes, covered, in a cool, dry place where they won’t freeze.

That’s it! Next spring, plant more dahlias, or share your extra tubers. Repeat.

. . . . .

As I was creating this post I found myself asking: “Why are you talking about flowers, when all around is so much distress, unease and uncertainty?” The answer was quick: “Because, we walk by faith.” We don’t know what’s coming tomorrow, but we look for tomorrow to come. We need to be prepared — food for the body, and flowers for the soul. We do what we can; the rest is in the Lord’s hand.

Posted in Lake Toxaway | Tagged dahlias, flowers, gardening, tubers |

The Puzzle of Jerusalem, City of God, Part 1, The Gihon

April 14, 2022 by Marjorie (Margie) Willingham

It is the glory of the Lord to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. (Proverbs 25:2)

When I started my series of articles about the Hebrew people five years ago I thought it might take two articles to say the things I wanted to. My goodness! What a miscalculation. I will probably never be finished! This article in its original form was posted a year ago and was quite lengthy. I have divided it now into three separate parts – The Gihon , the Akra, and The Temple. I trust now the reading will not be so cumbersome.

When I began to investigate the early history of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. I found many fascinating facts, and in some cases much disagreement as to facts, among my sources. I have concluded that part of what we have accepted as the “gospel truth” pertaining to this ancient era is little more than tradition. Today I hold an admittedly unpopular opinion as to the location of Solomon’s temple and its successors. Does that matter? Maybe. But I want to say up front, at the top of the page: Opinions about the temple are nothing in light of Jesus, the One greater than the temple (Matthew 12:6) who said unequivocally Ye must be born again! (John 3:7) See my post from May 2016 “Marvel Not That I Say Unto You: You Must Be Born Again.”

Cuyp, Aelbert
Christ Riding into Jerusalem

Jesus was a Jew. His mother was a descendant of Abraham and his father the Creator of the universe. Yes! Jesus was no ordinary man, but he was a man. God came to us as a man. Think of that! He walked the streets of Jerusalem and the dirt roads of the countryside. He was a friend of sinners and political dissidents. He hung around with smelly fishermen as well as educated publicans. He dumbfounded priests, scholars and learned elders. And in the end he took our place, for we were under a death sentence for our sins. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:23) He gave his life for ours and God accepted his sacrifice, for he was sinless, an unblemished Lamb. And then he went back home, where he is waiting for those of us who accept and love him.

. . . .

From time to time during the three years of his public ministry Jesus had occasion to be in the city of Jerusalem. Perhaps you know some of the stories — how he was so furious they were selling animals and exchanging monies in the temple that he took a whip and drove the merchants from the temple courtyard. He was no wimp, even if he was a gentle man! Maybe you know that he was a miracle worker: he healed sick people, blind people, even raised the dead. One time he rode into town on a donkey as people spread their cloaks and palm branches in the road before him, rejoicing and saying, Blessed is the king of Israel! (John 12:13) But he said My kingdom is not of this world. (John 18:36) Many high ranking Jewish teachers did not understand all the prophecies concerning Jesus. Isaiah clearly depicted Jesus as a suffering savior. (See Isaiah 53.) But the powerful Pharisees were looking for a political or military deliverer, which he certainly will be when he comes again. (See Psalm 2, and then Numbers 24 and Deuteronomy 19:10) It should be noted that the Jews today for the most part still do not believe Jesus was their Messiah. Nevertheless, he is. He is indeed King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 19:6)

James Tissot
Disciples Admire Buildings of the Temple

In the New Testament is recorded an occasion when Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem. Jesus’ disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. (Matthew 24:1-2) The disciples were obviously impressed with the magnificence of the temple and attendant structures. These were remarkable, for Herod had spared no expense in building this new temple, using costly materials and employing the finest artisans. But here Jesus is saying that not one stone will be left in its place, not one! This is an important statement, for we find the same words repeated in the gospels of Mark and Luke — not one stone left upon another.

And further, there is a very ominous warning written in Luke’s gospel: And when he (Jesus) was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. (Luke 19:41-44)

As foretold by Jesus, the Romans attacked Jerusalem in 70 AD, and very soon all of Jewish Jerusalem was in ruins, including the whole of the splendid temple that Herod had built. Scavengers dug to the bedrock in various places, seeking melted gold and valuables. The toppled stones were eventually recycled into other building projects until what had been the city of Jerusalem was unrecognizable. So complete was the destruction that in time the hill where the temple and attendant buildings had stood was plowed for crops. The only remaining structure was the Roman fortress Antonia, on the hill overlooking the desolation. And that was pretty much the end of Jerusalem, for centuries.

And then, two thousand years later — Amazement! Israel officially became a nation, recognized throughout the world, in 1948. The rest is history — recent history. But by that time, for the most part, we (Christians and Jews) had lost the centerpiece of our heritage, the place where God put his name, the holy hill of Zion and the temple of his presence. Oh, there is a presence for sure, erected by the Muslims in 691 AD within the perimeter of the old fortress. But God’s house and David’s citadel seem to be misplaced. We don’t know where they are……

Stepped Stone Structure
Omerm/Wikimedia Commons

Archaeologists are digging and looking, and a lot has been found, and artifacts dated. It is wonderful to see the ancient stones exposed, and to know the era to which they pertain, even if we don’t know for certain what some of them mean structurally. But, in our desire to assemble the puzzle as quickly as possible, we have forced some pieces into places where they do not belong. Then, we have empty spaces that will never be filled until we dislodge those ill fitting places and move them to their proper locations.

…..

It is an easy thing to move a name. Moriah, for instance, or Zion. People do it every day. Read my article Whatever Happened to Whetstone Gap? A land developer liked the name of that place apparently, and so he moved it eight miles to the west and named the road into his housing project Whetstone Gap Road. Within fifteen to twenty years everyone knew Whetstone Gap Road and where it went — to the cul-de-sac at the border of that man’s subdivision, never mind there wasn’t a hint of a gap there. In silent witness however, the little whetstones for which Whetstone Gap was originally named remain to this day, right where they always were, eight miles east, strewn across the slopes of the Whetstone Ridge. There, every day, hundreds of travelers on a busy highway pass through the Whetstone Gap. A name is nothing. It is the ground that tells the story.

I don’t know where Ornan’s threshing floor was, but I promise you the coordinates of that landmark have not moved! Was there really a threshing floor up there on that rugged wild mountain that they call Moriah, or was it within the perimeter of the walled settlement of Salem? Certainly the pockmarked stone under the Dome of the Rock does not qualify as a threshing floor. Some day that ground will give up its secrets, or lack thereof.

Gihon: The Key and Center Piece

In modern times, water from various sources supplies the city of Jerusalem. But that has not always been so. In ages past when King David and his men conquered the walled Jebusite city of Salem, the mighty Gihon spring supplied an abundance of water for that entire city. In that era the Gihon was an intermittent gushing spring whose waters washed away from the Temple the blood of the many animals sacrificed there on a regular basis. (See my article on the Gihon Spring for more information.)

The Hebrew word gihon is a verb which means to burst forth, as applied to giving birth for instance. This was the nature of Gihon in its periodic gushing. We are fortunate to have ancient documents, wherein are recorded (1) the eye witness account of Aristeas, an Egyptian official who visited Jerusalem https://www.ellopos.com/blog/4508/letter-of-aristeas-full-text-in-greek-and-english/34/and (2) the account of the historian Tacitus (The History of Cornelius Tacitus, V,11), both stating there was water springing up within the confines of the Jewish temple.

Old Water Tower
Frostproof, FL

These accounts are summarily dismissed as false or impossible. After all, the springs we are accustomed to flow from the surface of the ground downhill to lower elevations. Very well, but now think of the thousands of small towns that are served by water tanks or towers standing high above the level of the structures. The water flows down out of the tank into pipes below ground level, and then up from the ground into spigots in the various buildings. How does it do that?

If you think about that for a little while you might get some idea of how Solomon’s temple could have been supplied with fresh water. Gravity! Pressure! Water can and does flow uphill! Under the right conditions it does so without any assistance from us. And when it doesn’t, there’s always man’s ingenuity. Ever heard of a ram pump? Or how the Romans were able to pull water uphill into their city, using siphons they created? “Workers dug winding channels underground … to span a valley, they built a siphon … a vast dip in the land that caused the water to drop so quickly it had enough momentum to make it uphill.” https://sage-answers.com/how-can-i-make-my-water-flow-uphill-without-a-pump/

In my article about the Gihon Spring I mentioned a small (less than ten feet across) spring in South Carolina that reportedly gushed periodically as much as six feet in the air. That little spring in South Carolina worked on the same principle as the Gihon, and like the Gihon, it has ceased its spouting. But, here is a fascinating article about another of these springs — The Bubble, a man made lake in the community of Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania. https://www.fandm.edu/news/latest-news/2017/07/06/f-m-researchers-find-ground-water-runs-deeper-than-hydrologists-thought

This lake is fed by a group of about 30 springs arising from a whopping 1800 feet below the surface. Furthermore a recent study has determined the main source of the springs’ water (the catchment area) is some 50 miles away, on the other side of the mountain. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2017GL073790

Based on this study, water is gushing into The Bubble at the rate of 16 million gallons a day. (Figure appears to be correct. I double checked.) A 13 minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_r9y_abG2w shows two of the bubbling inflow sites; one is bubbling rapidly. Note in the following article that water under pressure is forced to the surface, creating the bubbles. https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC680XC_the-bubble?guid=0c346836-34df-40db-9489-3bf8da62a433

Both the Gihon and The Bubble are karst springs, which means the subsurface rock is pretty much limestone, a soft rock that forms caves, pipes and cisterns due to percolating water over the millennia. Great quantities of water can be stored in these underground compartments. Karst waterways can be quite complex; and, they can be connected over long distances. In the case of the Gihon, an additional feature was present — a natural siphon which drained a large subterranean cavern, which, when refilled to a certain level, would activate the siphon and drain again, resulting in periodic gushing.

Hezekiah’s tunnel

Presently the Gihon is no longer pulsing. http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10040-010-0600-6

However the yield is quite significant, witness the photo of Hezekiah’s tunnel. Some time before 700 BC, in response to a threatened attack from the Assyrians, King Hezekiah stopped up the old watercourses and diverted the waters of the Gihon spring from its exit into the Kidron Valley through a new underground channel that emptied into a pool inside the city walls. Second Chronicles 32:4 tells us they stopped up “springs” and then the brook (Kidron). The new channel, known today as Hezehiah’s tunnel, is a prime tourist attraction in Jerusalem. The threatened Assyrian invasion came to naught as a result of Hezekiah’s earnest intercession and the Lord’s intervention.

Now let us go back to the old days, when the Gihon was a gushing spring, that is during the time of the kings of Judah/Israel. There must have been a lot of water originating at the Gihon spring. At eight pounds a gallon, even a little water can exert a lot of pressure. Now, think about The Bubble — the lake in Pennsylvania. Hydrologists have determined that water bubbles up from 1800 feet under the ground! Even if the pulsing of the Gihon had not been sufficient to raise its waters to the surface of the Jebusite ridge, some simple engineering could have, and if necessary did remedy that problem. I am not alone in this belief. Remember the Romans! (above)

And now, just for fun, here is an example of some simple engineering. Andrews Geyser, near Old Fort, North Carolina is a man made fountain whose waters flow downhill about 500 feet and spray through a half inch opening. Pretty impressive! https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/north-carolina/andrews-geyser-old-fort-nc/

The Gihon spring is the key to the temple location. Think about how many thousands, tens of thousands, of animals, even big animals such as oxen, were sacrificed on feast days, when the twelve tribes gathered in Jerusalem. How do you suppose they got rid of all that blood and gore? In the early days there were no aqueducts to Jerusalem. And the only other water was the relatively insignificant little watering hole of En Rogel which lay well outside the city. Pity the hundreds of poor donkeys that (theoretically) would have had to trudge for days on end up and down hill from the Gihon all the way to the Dome of the Rock! No, no, no! There was a better way!

Next: The Puzzle of Jerusalem, Part 2, The Akra

Posted in Tellit On The Mountain | Tagged Akra, city of david, Gihon, Hehemiah, hezekiah, Jebusite, Jebusites, jerusalem, Maccabees, Ornan, temple mount, The Bubble, threshing floor | Leave a Comment »

Where Was the Land of Moriah? The Mount of Jehovah-jireh

March 29, 2022 by Marjorie (Margie) Willingham

Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh — the Lord will provide

Count the stars. From an old woodcut. Wikipedia

Most of us have heard the story of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son Isaac — near, because it nearly happened! If you have read the book of Genesis, or the articles preceding this one, you know Abraham and his wife Sarah had a son in their old age, Isaac, the first of a vast multitude of descendants, the Hebrew nation, the Israelites. Look now toward heaven, God said to Abraham, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them, . . . so shall thy seed be. (Genesis 15:4-5)

God had promised this son years earlier, but as time drew on and Sarah did not conceive, she gave her handmaiden Hagar to Abraham as a wife. Here is what she said, Go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. (Genesis 16:2) We don’t know why she did this. Was she trying to help God fulfill his promise? Was she trying to diminish the reproach of her barrenness? We don’t know. But, we do know Hagar gave birth to a son, Ishmael.

Thirteen years later the Lord spoke to Abraham and told him that Sarah would have a son the next year. When Abraham voiced some concern for Ishmael at this point, God was quick to tell him what he had already promised Hagar, that he would make Ishmael fruitful, and . . . multiply him exceedingly; . . . and . . . make him a great nation. (Genesis 17:20)

God further stated: But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. Though long in coming, this was God’s plan. May we be patient to wait for his plan. There had been conflict between Hagar and Sarah already, and now Ishmael is causing distress in the family. In Galatians is a comment by Paul that indicates Ishmael “persecuted” Isaac, who was much younger than him. (Galatians 4:28-29) Then Sarah said to her husband, Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son. (Genesis 21:10) The Bible says Abraham was grieved about this, but God told him, Let it not be grevious in thy sight . . . in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. (Genesis 21:12) So Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away, and the angel of the Lord took care of them. After that Hagar and Ishmael lived in Paran. (See Genesis 21.)

Now, can you imagine what consternation Abraham experienced later on when God spoke to him saying, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one the mountains which I will tell thee of. (Genesis 22:2) By then Isaac was a youth, old enough to understand that an animal was necessary for a burnt offering. He questioned his father as they were on their way to the land of Moriah, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? In answer Abraham told his son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. (Genesis 22:7-8)

Rembrandt painting
Abraham and Isaac

Here we need more revelation than Genesis provides. Let’s go to Hebrews Chapter 11 where the writer is talking about faith. By faith Abraham, when he was tested (that is, while the testing of his faith was still in progress), offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises (of God) was ready to sacrifice his only son (of promise); to whom it was said “IN ISAAC SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE CALLED.” for he considered (it reasonable to believe) that God was able to raise Isaac, even from among the dead. (Hebrews 11:17-19 Amplified Bible)

When they came to the place God showed him, Abraham made an altar, laid the wood on it, bound his son and laid him upon the wood. Oh my! And as he took up the knife to kill his son the angel of the Lord stopped him. And he said, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything to him, for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. (Genesis 22:12) At that point Abraham saw a ram caught by his horns in a thicket. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh. (Genesis 22:13) And it is said to this day, On the mount of the Lord it will be provided. (Genesis 22:14 Amplified Bible) Isaac’s life was spared by God, who provided the lamb for the burnt offering. What a wonderful picture of Jesus, the Lamb who died in our place!

After the sacrifice of the ram Abraham and Isaac came down from the mountain and joined their two traveling companions who were waiting for them, and together they left the land of Moriah and returned home to Beersheba. Where had they been? Just where is the land of Moriah? There is only one other mention in scripture of the word Moriah and that is: Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. (Second Chronicles 3:1) Here is a mount Moriah which is synonymous with the temple and another place — the threshing floor of Ornan. Now that puts the temple, the threshing floor, and Mount Moriah all in one place. Who can argue with that!

Well, the Samaritans will. Their land was the land of Moreh, the place where God first spoke to Abraham, promising his descendants the land on which he stood. Their city was Shechem of old, and their mountain, Gerazim, the Mount of Blessing, where Joshua convened all of Israel upon their entrance into their promised land. The Samaritans believe their mountain to be the sacred mountain, where God provided his own sacrifice, the ram caught in the bushes. The Samaritans number less than a thousand today, yet those few cling tenaciously to their beliefs and customs, as witnessed by their annual celebration of Passover. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/samaritans-perform-sacrificial-passover-ritual-452001

Samaritan ruins at Sebastia

These people are a remnant of those Jews in the northern kingdom of Israel of whom nearly all were taken captive by the Assyrians and resettled along the Euphrates River and beyond. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25079122/ Those Jews that were taken captive are now considered “lost tribes” since they never returned to Israel. The northern tribes of Israel had separated from their southern brothers shortly after the death of Solomon and in time established the city of Samaria as their capital. The northern kingdom lasted over 200 years, but finally fell in 722 BC after a three year siege by the Assyrians. Many years later Samaria became a Roman possession and the Emperor Augustus gave Samaria to King Herod; he renamed it Sebaste. Today, the ruins of ancient Samaria can be seen near the modern town of Sebastia.

Returning now to our subject — concerning the words the land of Moriah, Robert Harris, a professor of ancient languages in an excellent web publication from 2006 tells us that the translation is actually the land of THE Moriah. He also gives us the medieval interpreter Rashbam’s opinion that God was sending Abraham to the Amorites. Professor Harris does not claim to give us any clear facts, which is understandable (since there aren’t any) but he does give a short discussion of Moriah from an important (and very old) Jewish commentary. https://www.jtsa.edu/torah/examining-the-word-moriah/

So, what do we have now? We know the threshing floor of Ornan (or Araunah, see First Chronicles) was named Mount Moriah according to Ezra the writer of Second Chronicles, and that Solomon built the temple there. We have the traditional narrative (repeated by Josephus in the first century AD) that the temple was built on the site of Abraham’s intended sacrifice of Isaac. Then, we know the Samaritans claim their land to be the land of Moriah and their mountain of Gerazim to be the sacrificial site. Further, we have the translation (in the foregoing paragraph) that speaks of the land of THE Moriah.

Proximity of Temple Mount to City of David. Temple Mt. at top; City of David on hill east of paved street. Avram Graicer/Wikimedia Commons

Now, some folks hold fiercely to a tradition that the Temple Mount was the place Abraham brought his son Isaac intending to sacrifice him to the Lord. But, we need to consider that we still don’t know for certain where the land of Moriah was, let alone the mountain where it all took place. Further, and more importantly, we need to consider that the Temple Mount is a mere one third of a mile (or less) from the City of David, which at the time of Abraham’s sacrifice was an inhabited settlement, the walled city of Salem. We know Abraham had been there before and was already acquainted with Melchizedek, king and priest of that city. Melchizedek had come down out of Salem bringing bread and wine to Abraham in the valley of Shaveh as he was returning from the battle of Siddim. (Genesis 14:18-20) The Temple Mount location, so near the city of Salem, within shouting distance even, seems very unlikely.

So where is that mountain that Abraham saw afar off? Obviously the answer can not be found in the Bible. Is there a preponderance of extrabiblical evidence that gives a clear answer to that question? Not that I have found. But I have found some scholarly folk who admit not knowing where it was the Lord sent Abraham. Regardless of that, by the first century AD certain suppositions about this event were already beginning to solidify. Josephus, the Jewish historian from that era wrote that the temple was built on the site of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son. (The Antiquities of The Jews, Book 1, Chapter 13, Section 2, Paragraph 226) Josephus can be counted a reliable source reporting the events he actually saw and lived through; but, can he be expected to give a first hand account of an event 2,000 years before his time. Of course not.

But, there are certain things people want to believe. It sounds right. It seems right. Grandma said it. It must be so. It is here we come up against an immovable stone — the rock of tradition — can we ever chip it all away?

Posted in Tellit On The Mountain | Tagged Abraham, Araunda, Hagar, Isaac, Ishmael, Jebusite, Jews, Josephus, Land of Moriah, Melchizedek, Moriah, Mt. Gerazim, mt. moriah, Salem, Samaritans, Sebastia, Solomon's temple, temple mount, Threshing floor of Ornan |

Let’s Talk About the Gihon Spring

March 12, 2022 by Marjorie (Margie) Willingham

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God. (Psalm 46:4)

On feast days in ancient Israel as smoke rose up from the temple courtyard, the waters of the Gihon Spring washed away the blood of thousands of sacrificial animals. Today one sacrifice remains, and that is Jesus, who continually offers us cleansing that an ocean of the blood of bulls, sheep and goats could never accomplish. Just so you know.

Old photo of the entrance to Gihon Spring
Wikipedia

The Gihon Spring is a big, big spring. Until the twentieth century it was the only significant water source for that great city Jerusalem. However, due to population growth, most of Jerusalem’s water is now piped in from outside sources.

The word gihon is Hebrew for bursting forth or gushing, which described the activity of this fascinating water work. Gihon is called an intermittent or rhythmic spring due to periodic gushing and tapering of its flow. Typically this type of spring is fed by accumulations of groundwater in naturally formed underground caves and cisterns, which are numerous in the area of Jerusalem, due to the high incidence of limestone and dolomite. The pulsing feature of these springs is generated by a natural siphon channel that empties the water out of the underground reservoir until air breaks the pull of the siphon and the process begins again. An easy to understand explanation of siphoning is available at http://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/how-does-a-siphon-work.

Hezekiah’s tunnel Wikimedia commons

Some years ago a group of hydrologists monitored the Gihon for a while and reported the spring was not pulsing during the time of their inspection. http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10040-010-0600-6. Whether pulsing or not, a tremendous amount of water still flows from the Gihon Spring. Today, thanks to the efforts of the Israelis, tourists can now wade these waters in the channel known as Hezekiah’s tunnel.

Siphon springs are rare and they do not necessarily go on forever. A small spring of this type that early settlers in Spartanburg County, South Carolina called the Boiling Spring gushed periodically as much as six feet in the air and was quite an attraction for many years. This was apparently a cold water geyser and not part of a geothermal system, as people watered their horses from the spring. But, civilization took its toll. As the town of Boiling Springs prospered and grew, the boiling spring gradually ceased its boiling. However, the spring flows today and is protected by a small park. http://www.sciway.net/city/boilingsprings.html. Besides urbanization, changes in landforms such as that produced by earthquakes can damage delicate subterranean systems, causing springs to fail.

Jerusalem is an ancient city, located in Biblical Canaan, the land promised by God to the Hebrews through their earliest ancestor Abraham. The first mention of Jerusalem in the Bible occurs in Genesis 14, where we find Melchizedek, the king and priest of Salem (ancient Jerusalem) coming out to meet Abraham as he returns from the battle of Siddim (the battle of the four kings). Jerusalem was then a city of roughly twelve acres situated atop the ridge above the Gihon spring which at that time emptied down the side of the hill and into the Kidron Valley. Easily defensible from its high elevation, Jerusalem had already been inhabited some thousands of years.

Here is a primitive illustration of the “blind and the lame” taunting David.

Several generations later, around 1,000 BC, King David captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites. By then the Hebrews had been attempting to take that city for nearly four hundred years. The Jebusites held a very advantageous position at the top of their ridge and they taunted David, saying their city was so impregnable their “blind and lame” could defend it. David knew it was impossible to attack them from below. Somehow David and his men had to get inside the city walls.

From earliest times the Jebusites had furnished their settlement with water from the Gihon Spring. They took advantage of naturally occurring shafts and tunnels, adding to these by their own efforts as necessary, chiseling through the soft limestone and dolomite subsurface of their hill. Dating these subterranean water structures today remains a difficulty; however, we know there were Jebusite waterways in use in David’s time. One such channel, which positively dates before David was cut from the surface and covered with stones.

We are not privy to David’s military “intelligence” about these various underground watercourses. All we know is that eventually David said to his men, Whoever getteth up to the tsinor, and smiteth the Jebusites, . . . he shall be chief and captain. (Second Samuel 5:8) (The word tsinor is ambiguous, probably it means pipe or tunnel, or perhaps gutter.) Joab, one of David’s “mighty men” went up first. We have no more details. In all likelihood Joab and his men entered the city through a water passage. They succeeded in taking the strong hold of Zion: the same is the City of David. (Second Samuel 5:7)

While he was yet living, King David amassed a great supply of building materials in preparation for the magnificent temple of the Lord that his son Solomon would build in Jerusalem. Construction began soon after David’s death and took seven years. Solomon spared no expense, using the finest materials and employing the most skilled artisans, plus thousands of workers. First Kings Chapter 6 gives details of the temple’s ornate features: for example, doors carved with cherubims, palm trees and flowers, and overlaid with gold. It was here the Israelites brought their sacrifices and offerings including, yes, live animals and birds that were slain by the priests and Levites, their blood sprinkled upon the altar, and their flesh consumed by fire. Water from the Gihon Spring (for there was no other water source) cleaned up the mess in short order. Thank goodness, I say! But how? We will see.

Though there were times when worship at the temple of Solomon was neglected due to the apostasy of the people, the magnificent structure stood nearly 400 years before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians who invaded Judah, killing thousands, and finally taking thousands captive to Babylon. Seventy years later the Jews under the leadership of Zerubbabel were allowed to return to their land and rebuild their temple. Recorded in the book of Ezra is the celebration that was held when the foundation of the rebuilt temple was laid. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks to the Lord; And all the people shouted with a great shout; because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, . . . wept with a loud voice. (Ezra 3:11-12)

This second temple, known as Zerubbabel’s temple is the one we read about in the letter of Aristeas from the third century BC. Aristeas was an Egyptian official, sent to visit Eleazar, the high priest in Jerusalem. Here is an exerpt from his eye witness account:

The whole of the floor is paved with stones and slopes down to the appointed places, that water may be conveyed to wash away the blood from the sacrifices, for many thousand beasts are sacrificed there on the feast days. And there is an inexhaustible supply of water, because an abundant spring gushes up from within the temple area . . . There are many openings for water at the base of the altar . . . so that all the blood of the sacrifices which is collected in great quantities is washed away in the twinkling of an eye. http://www.ellopos.com/blog/4508/letter-of-aristeas-full-text-in-greek-and-english/34/

A replica of the Temple

The historian Josephus gives us some detail about the next temple, the magnificent structure built by the Roman ruler Herod on the site of Zerubbabel’s temple. Herod’s temple was lauded for its beauty and artistry, its gates covered with gold, doors hung with beautifully colored veils, and decorative vines made of gold. (The Wars of the Jews, Book 5, Chapter 5, Section 4) When Herod spoke to the people of his elaborate plan for a new temple many were afraid he might tear their temple down and not be able to accomplish his monumental building plan. But he told them “he would not pull down their temple until all things were gotten ready for building it up entire again. And as he promised them this beforehand, so he did not break his word to them.” (The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 15, Chapter 11, Section 2) This, then, is the temple of Jesus’ time. It was made of beautiful white stones, and was so impressive that one of Jesus’ disciples exclaimed to him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! And Jesus answering said unto him, seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. (Matthew 13:1-2)

And so it was. Not even a stone is left of these three temples. Only the water remains — the sacred Gihon Spring.

Posted in Tellit On The Mountain | Tagged gihon spring, Herod, Hezekiah's tunnel, king david, Solomon's temple, Zerubbabel |

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