Old Timber | AdventAI

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jun 17, 1875

Old Timber.

Probably the oldest timber in the world which has been used by man is that found in the ancient temples of Egypt in connection with the stone work, which is known to be at least four thousand years old. This, the only wood used in the construction of the temple, is in the form of ties, holding the end of one stone to another to its upper surface. When two blocks were laid in place, an excavation about an inch deep was made in each block, into which a tie shaped like an hourglass was driven. It is therefore very difficult to force from its position. The ties appear to have been of the tamarisk or shittim wood of which the ark was constructed, a sacred tree in ancient Egypt, and now very rarely found in the valley of the Nile. The dovetailed ties are just as sound now as on the day of their insertion. Although fuel is extremely scarce in the country, these bits of wood are not large enough to make it an object with the Arabs to heave off layer after layer of heavy stone to obtain them. Had they been of bronze, half of the old temples would have been destroyed years ago, so precious would they have been for various purposes.