Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1904-06-10
From the Menorah.l

Josenh accumulated numberlesS ouSh.
ole of corn "as the sand or the sea-
ond virtually cornered the produc'ioh
of the world until the people coh
Tossed that all their money was sone
ond were forced to transfer their
property to Joseph, acting for fh"ro"n'
tradition says that this immense
foundation was by order of Joseph
hidden underground in three distant
narts of the world. One treasure was
nnearthed by Korah. 10 1orm al
idea of his fortune. we are lnlorneo
that il required no less than 5oo
"wbite" mules to carry the keys OF
his storehouses. and those keys were
not made of heavy metal. but OF hght
leather strips (Pesahim. page ll9a,'
Averaging FIVE "leathern" keys to the
mound. and the carrying capacity Oh
each mule to 200 pounds, there wouid
be a total of 100000 keys. Figure SO
MANY storehouses, each valued at at
least $4,000 and they equal So'ooo'.
mo 600 or thrice the amount credited
to Rockefeller. No wonder that Koran.
being so rich, thought he had pull
To influence the people against Moses
and Aaron.
King Solomon had 10000 stable
horses and 1000 stables for l4oo
cbariots with 10000 horsemen. Every
horse was worth $50 shekels, ana
everv chariot 600 shckels Il. Kings. w..
e. %: H. Chronicles j. A. The fol
lowing items might have made up his
stable inventory:
a. 600 horses. at $50 shekels. ..... 6,OOO.000
I 1o0 char;ots. at 600 shekes.... S40,OO0
4oO0 stalls. at about 1000 shekels 4,O90,OOO
70 600 horsemen, at 80 shekels.. SoO'ooo
Total shekels.. 'll'2oo'VVo
A shekel is worth about fifty cents
American money. giving a total OF
$4,000 600. But when we consider the
high purchasing value of a sheKel at
that time from the standard value OF
q slave at 80 shekels. or SO, IN COM
harrison to the value of the slaves III
tbe South before the Civil War, which
ayerag ed $1,000, at this rate the price
of the stable, multiplied by about Sixty
six would bring the total to S369,6O o.
300 at the present low purchasing
value of money. Without counting
he cost of saddles. harness. livery out
its and food for the horses and men.
Voltaire calculates that the gift OF
Queen Sheba to Solomon was worth
100. 900 German thalerS. and sarcas-
tically remarks that as Solomon was
gallant king. he must have reclpro-
Gated in double kind. which Voltaire
considers highly exaggerated a sum
for the Jewish kinglet And yet this
is a mere bagatelle with the cost OF
his luxurious stable equipment.
The, estimate of the amount expend
ed in erecting Solomon's Temple. al
approximately present day value OF
metal and labor, is as follows:
5000 talents of gold, at S24,'
900. ........ ..... ......... 9loZ ,uOO'uOS
1900 talents of silver, at $3.50. ll,2ZO,OOC
$4,000 talents of brass, at $3.50 22o,OVl
100000 talents of iron, at So. oOo,oo'
i'v Usr YEAR esp 49,. !....'........ 1880 oO(
$4,000 5000 oer YEAR ...'.... l,sOO.OOC
10000 drains, at S3.......... oo,oo'
To Hiram, King of Tyre:
$4,000 kor of wheat, 4,4SO,OOO
bushels. 80 cents. -. -. aO52,Vo'
1900 kor of barley, 4,4SO,oO0
bushels, at 81 cents. ....... l,568,Oo|
l4OO0 bath wine, 100000 gal
Ions, at 50 cents. .......... 49O,OO'
a. q, cents 49O,0O
Total. ...... $500. .......S249, S75, 0O
Besides. probably an equal amour
for precious stones, marble and othel
building materials, making CRANE
tota, of about $5OO.OO0,O00. The above
figures are based on the accom-
given in I. Kings, v, and l Chronicles
xiv. of :>avid's preparations for thu
Temple. together with the donations
by the leaders of Israel.
HerOd's temple was even superior Il
beauty and more costly. ut was bull
of intersecting beveled-edge alabaste
and marble. that resembled the wave
of the sea-"
But even Herod was outHerode
by the magnificent labyrinth in til
dual metropolis of Alexandria, Egyp
controlled by the Hellenistic JEWS
population which r. Judah estimate
as twice 100000. the number OF Jew
in the Egyptian exodus. The laby
rinth contained Seventy-One catnedra
for the seventy-one Sanhedrin of tn
Great Assembly. Every cathedra
cost no less than $1,000 talents of gold
This item alone, seventy-One time
10000 times $4,000, focts up $357
S4O.OOOOOO
When Jerusalem was besieged b'
fore the second destruction. there Wer
three rich Jews named, respectivel!
Nikodemon Ben Glorien, Ben kalbt
Sabna and Ben Tzitzithka-kesatl
They resolved. rather than to SIN
render to the enemy. to feed all til
twenty -one years if necessary. One
inhabitants of Jerusalem durin
them stipula ted to furnish wheat an
barley, another to furnish wine an
oil, and another firewOod. Assumin
that the population was 100000 (b
actual census at the Passover feStiv;
in the year Sc, or three years befol
the destruction, and allowing but SIC
q year for the maintenance of Pc
son. the sum would be So. 100000 900.
1t is interesting to note that til
daughter of NikOdemon was above
by the Jewish court Of Beth-din,
daily sum of 400 gold denarim for he