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Page Treasures at Ein Kahal, in a Wall at Babylon
And at Tel Bruk where the Willow Tree was in Babylon
The Prophet Jeremiah and the Five Guardians of Solomon’s Temple Treasures
Part Twelve
by Robert Mock MD
mailto:rmock@biblesearchers.com
February, 2003
Topics
Mishnah 10
The Second Secret Mission of Zedekiah and
Baruk the Scribe of Jeremiah at the secret location of Ein Kahal.
Mishnah 11
Treasures hidden in a wall of Babylon and
Tel Bruk where the Willow Tree was in Babylon.
Mishnah 10
These are the weights of silver concealed at "Ein Kahal" by Baruch and Zidkiyah: 1,200,000 talents of silver, 1,600,000 of fine silver. Copper vessels: 2,000,000 pots of fine copper, and 1,100,000 of iron; [Countless] Shefatim (type of pot) without Metzukim (ladles) and copper Metzukim around the copper gate; countless Cherubim; countless copper sinks/lavers; 3,000 frying pans of fine gold; 70 priceless tables of fine gold from beneath the Tree of Life standing in the holy Garden, upon which were placed the Showbread. Golden Shekamim (type of tree) with all manner of delicacies hanging from them.
They are all made of refined gold which David, King of Israel, refined. All those were concealed by Zidkiyah.
The Second Secret Mission of Zedekiah and
Baruk the Scribe of Jeremiah at the secret location of Ein Kahal.
Once again we see Zedekiah and Baruk in a second secret mission, this time to a location called Ein Kahal. These articles of golden treasures in this inventory were made from refined gold which states that King David himself had refined. This treasure inventory included:
Bullion Metals
· 1,200,000 (1200) talents of silver.
Here we have 90,000 pounds (45 tons) of silver or 1.08 million troy ounces. Current value would be $4.32 million dollars. ($4.00/oz)
· 1,600,000 (1600) talents of fine silver.
What is the difference of silver and refined silver, except the first inventory is raw silver direct from the mine and the latter is refined bullion silver.
The refined bullion silver would have been 120,000 pounds (60 tons) or 1.44 million troy ounces of refined bullion silver. Current value would be $5.76 million dollars. ($4.00/oz)
Temple Vessels
· 2,000,000 (2000) pots of fine copper (in copper vessels)
· 1,100,000 (1100) pots of Iron
· Numerous Shefatim (pots) without Metzukim (ladles)
· Numerous copper Metzukim (ladles) around a copper gate
· Countless copper sinks/lavers
Treasures of Gold
· Countless Cherubim (probably golden)
Where would these cherubim be? The courts of the ancient kings of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon and Persia included numerous cherubim that flanked the royal throne, the hallways of the king and the sacred entrances to the temples. These cherubim were recognized as guardians to the king and were memories of the cherubim and the seraphim that were beneath and surrounding the throne of the Lord of hosts.
· 3000 (3) golden frying pans.
· 70 tables made of fine gold which stood beneath the Tree of Life in the Holy Garden (Garden of Eden). These were used for the showbread.
Ten tables of showbread were placed within the Holy Place in the Temple of Solomon. Yet as we have seen in prior articles, on the seventh day, new showbread was taken to the Holy Place and the older bread was placed on tables of showbread in the garden of Eden outside the Holy Place of the temple for the priests to east.
Also we have noted that the two pillars on the front of the entrance to Solomon’s temple were representative of the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Evidently the tables of showbread were placed besides one of the pillars at the entrance to the temple.
· Golden Shekamin (described as a type of tree) with hanging ornaments called delicacies.
Here again is an unknown treasure that resided in the Temple of Solomon. Was it the golden Almugim trees that were brought from the coral beds at Ezion-Geber in the Red Sea at the Gulf of Aquaba and then electroplated with gold? Maybe these were the golden Almug or Almogim trees that were made from the Indian Red Sandalwood and also electroplated with gold. Yet maybe these were the fruited Parvaim golden trees that stood beneath the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden in the Temple of Solomon?
Mishnah 11
Treasures of gold and silver [stored away] from the days of David until Zidkiyah and until Israel was exiled to Babylon: Hundreds of thousands of golden shields, and countless silver [shields]; 1, 353,000 precious stones and fine stones.
All of these were hidden and concealed in the wall of Babylon and in Tel Bruk under the big willow tree in Babylon upon which they hung their lyres (cf. Psalm 137:2).
And from the House of the Forest of Lebanon (i.e. the Temple), they took 1,900,000 Korin (measures) of gold.
All the prophets, wise men, and scribes [in the world] could not calculate the wealth and the glory that was in Jerusalem.
Treasures hidden in a wall of Babylon and
Tel Bruk where the Willow Tree was in Babylon.
Treasures of gold and silver [stored away] from the days of David until Zidkiyah and until Israel was exiled to Babylon: Hundreds of thousands of golden shields, and countless silver [shields]; 1, 353,000 precious stones and fine stones.
From the land of Babylon, the five guardians of the treasures of Solomon’s Temple continued their work of hiding, this time in the land of Babylon. These were not the only treasures that were taken to Babylon. Part of these treasures were deposited also in the city of Baghdad How so we wonder? The religious leadership and intellectual mercantile class were transported in bulk to the land during the first deportation which included Daniel and the young nobles of Judah. Since there were three invasions and three deportations that took place, by the end of the reign of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, only seven thousand fighting men were left in the military and security forces of the land and they and the peasant population were deported in the third deportation.
What if, the whole population of Judah was in the ‘secret’ of hiding the temple treasures? What we do know is that Mishnah 4 and 11 reveal treasures that were secreted and taken to Babylon and there stored in safety. We have to ask a loaded question. What if each family took a cup, a stone, a shield, a gemstone, a margolit, a tray or a bread mold and hid it in their own possessions?
Looking at the ancient base relief of Egyptian, Assyrian and Babylonian murals, we note pictures of whole populations being transported by their captors, while they carried their family belongings on the back of a donkey or a laden wagon. Would it suggest that all the personal belongings would not have been searched by the Babylonian forces? The large inventory of treasure could have been transported under the noses of the Babylonian soldiers and guards not realizing that the largest gold and silver heist in world history was being accomplished by preventing these treasures from becoming booty to the Babylonian captors.
Here is the inventory of the treasures left in the walls of Babylon and near the willow tree at Tel Bruk:
· Hundreds of thousands (>1000) of golden shields.
· Countless (Unknown) silver (shields)
· 1,353,000 (1353) precious stones and fine stones.
· From the House of the Forest of Lebanon (the Temple), they also took 1,900,000 (1900) Korin (measures) of gold.
Here possibly lies the bullion deposit of the “Fort Knox” of the Kingdom of Judah. This was the gold and silver depository of the royal house of David. As such they are the legal possessions of the House of David to this day.
These deposits included the bullion that was used to coat the exterior walls of the Temple of Solomon, the golden plated floors of the temple proper, the gem encrusted gold lining of the Holy Place and the exterior and interior plating of pure red gold on the Shrine of the Holy of Holiest. Here the sacred oracle of the Hebrew, the ark of the covenant was kept. Many of these treasures and bullion deposits we have already examined and their hiding places.
This Mishnah on the deposit of gold in the walls of Babylon is actually the bullion deposits that were stored in the depository of the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Some authors think that this was the Temple of Solomon, but this author personally believes that it was a separate building. In an earlier chapter we identified the House of the Forest of Lebanon as part of the palace complex of Solomon next to the temple which included the Throne Room of Solomon, the grand banquet halls, and the depository for the golden shields used in the ceremonial entry of the king to the house of the Lord. Here also now with this Mishnah can identify as the depository that stored a special collection:
“Treasures of gold and silver [stored away] from the days of David until Zidkiyah and until Israel was exiled to Babylon”
Did this depository lie in a vault-like high security room in the House of the Forest of Lebanon as part of the palace complex of Solomon? Or rather, did this vault storage lay beneath the palace complex accessible by secret tunnels to the large underground grottos beneath the present Temple Mount today? Evidently these were treasures of gold and silver bullion that were not used in any building complex. According to the Mishnah 11, they were archives kept in secret from the days of King David all the way until Zedekiah was captured and the city was finally destroyed. Think of the implications. These would have included the golden shields, the silver shields, the precious gemstones and the large inventory of gold measured out in an unknown standard of measurement called a Korin.
All of these were hidden and concealed in the wall of Babylon and in Tel Bruk under the big willow tree in Babylon upon which they hung their lyres (cf. Psalm 137:2).
These treasures were not inspected by the emissaries of Nabonidus of Babylon, who came to visit King Hezekiah. These treasures were not taken by the forces of King Nebuchadnezzar in the first and second deportations to Babylon did not take these treasures and deposit them in the temple of Esagila dedicated to his god, Marduk. Yet somehow they were transported to Babylon and held in two depositories apparently known only to the Levites. There in a wall of the mighty city of Babylon and at Tel Bruk, where the famed huge and ancient willow tree stood where the deportees hung their lyres, this large deposit of temple treasures was hidden. Where are they now?
According to the Psalmist, the Jewish harpist from the temple harp choirs refused to play their harps while in exile in Babylon. Since the harp was a representation of the angelic choruses and the services in the heavenly temple, the use of the harp died when the temple was destroyed.
Psalms 137:1-6 - “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, we also wept, when we remembered Zion. We hung our lyres on the willows in its midst. For there those who carried us away captive required of us mirth, saying, sing us one of the song of Zion.”
“How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember you, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.”
Where was this huge willow tree that made such an impression upon the Jewish population? The banks of the Euphrates were lined with willow trees, yet apparently there was one, with its majesty weeping limbs hanging into the water of river that became a favorite of the Jewish exiles. There harps were hung on the tree and in the secret of the night, one of the most valuable caches of treasures of David and Solomon were deposited near its roots.
This invincible walls of Babylon, some upwards to three hundred feet in height and eighty feet wide and built with special baked brick imbedded with the name of Nebuchadnezzar were recorded by the writers of antiquity. They were part of the mental barrier of Babylon being impregnable and invincible. Yet is was probably an Persian general, Gobryas, whose family living in Media probably were Israelites who were deported a hundred years early by Assyria to the land of Media who was the master strategist on how to conquer Babylon without shedding any blood. Yes the fall of Babylon to the forces of the Media-Persian king, Cyrus is one of the most amazing coups in military history.
The grandeur and might of Babylon remained as the Persian emperors kept this city intact and impregnable. Here next to the Iraqi village of Hilla, the archeological remains of the ancient city of Babylon is found with those invincible walls reduced to a pile of rubble.
Knowing that the Jewish population became a sizeable entity in the city of Babylon we must make one observation. The Jewish people in the writing of the prophets have been described as a stiff necked and rebellious people. Yet this description was in their relationship with their God, the God of their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Even so, there is no description of any rebellions or uprisings of the Jewish people in their exile under the imperial rule of Babylon or Persia. Only one account was made of an uprising and very effective rebellion in the land of Persia, and this was in the days of Queen Esther and under the orders of the prime minister of Persia, Mordecai and sealed with the ring of the king, Ahasueras. Why? The Jewish people have always been known to assimilate easily into the adopted cultures of the world. This is called the Diaspora and with now over six million Jews in the Land of Israel, most of the known or unknown Jewish sub-populations of the world still live outside the land. Not only that, the whole House of Israel, who also has been promised to be redeemed back to the land of their fathers and known to be a multitude like the sand of the sea have yet to be identified nor redeemed back to their homelands.
What we do know is that the remnants of the Hebrews, the Jews of the House of Judah have been the only peoples in all the lands of the world who have preserved their tribal, national and religious identity of all the known peoples and populations in world history. Today there are no peoples that represent the national, language or religious identity of the ancient Sumerians, the Akkadians, the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Marians, the Hittites, the ancient Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the neo-Babylonians, the Medes and the Persian, the Grecian city states and the powerful Roman Empire. We no longer worship Enki, Ra, and Marduk, Zeus nor even the cult of the Caesars, but we still have the remnant of the children of God, who were still proclaiming or protesting their loyalty to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The first deportation took to Babylon most of the sons of the nobles, the learned men, the educated, the religious leaders and the scribes. These Jewish nobles and thought leaders in the land were trained in the governmental institutions of higher learning. Because they were bright, educated, and responsive students, they quickly were vaulted to the highest positions of government in the land. Here was Daniel, a relative of King Hezekiah, who became the prime minister of the land of Babylon. Here were Hanani-yah, Mishael, and Azari-yah, who became ministers in the government of Nebuchadnezzar.
Also quickly, an infra-structure for the Jewish population was built in the city of Babylon. These included yeshivas for training the children in the ways of Torah and institutes to help preserve the Hebrew-Judaic religion. We also would have found institutes of linguistic studies to preserve the writing of their forefather and the Hebrew language. This is where the scribes of Israel under the leadership of Ezra began to compile the historical archives and chronicles of their ancestral kings and begin the process of the canonization of the Torah, books of the prophets and writers. All of these cultural institutions were valuable in preserving the national identity of the Jewish people. What we have to assume is that in spite of what images we have of the deportation of captures peoples, they did take the sacred relics of their forefathers, the large depositories of scrolls, parchments and tablets to Babylon and here began a new renaissance of Jewish culture.
A
gold crown found in one of the royal tombs in Nimrud, the ancient Assyrian
capital.
Photograph copyright Bill
Lyons
For the first time in history, the land of Iraq, since the fall of the regime of Sadaam Hussein, is beginning to open up for the largest archeological exploration and discovery by the western world. The emotions that have been expressed by watching the destruction of the great Museum of Baghdad which housed the great collections of Mesopotamian archeology including the collection of treasures from Nimrud has sensitized the world to the rich archeological heritage of the land that lay outside the eastern gate of the Garden of Eden and became the first places of habitation after the deportation of Adam and Eve outside of their home in the garden.
What ever amount of wealth resided in the land of Babylon, as these Levite captives walked the streets of the largest, strongest and most famed city in the ancient world and they watched the national archives and treasures coming into that city that had come from conquered lands they still could say,
“All the prophets, wise men, and scribes [in the world] could not calculate the wealth and the glory that was in Jerusalem.”
When presenting this concept to Biblical scholars, I am suddenly presented with protests. They exclaim, the citizens of Judah when taken to Babylon were taken in chains, naked and treated as yoked animals. This is true, when in discussing the remaining ‘rebels’ under the leadership of Zedekiah at the final destruction of Jerusalem. These were the remaining citizens that bound Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon to let him die when he prophesied to them the words of the Lord of hosts if they chose to resist Nebuchadnezzar.
But what about the first deportation with Daniel and the princes of Judah? There is no biblical evidence that they were taken as common criminals, but rather Nebuchadnezzar was seeking to train a whole level of Judean bureaucrats in the management and roles of managing his empire. Yes, Nebuchadnezzar was seeking to bring together a one-world government. He did this with skill and diplomacy, lots of money and perks for the population, academic training and university training in nation building. Yet if a nation chose not to abide by the will of Nebuchadnezzar, that nations was chosen for annihilation. At the final destruction of Jerusalem, the rebellious nature of the remaining population had so angered Nebuchadnezzar that at the third deportation, he ordered his commander Nebuzar-adan to destroy the city and the temple. After the captives had been taken bound on the road to Babylon, Jeremiah trying to catch up with his people, followed a road littered with corpses of dead Jews. Finally he found his own people and requested that he be bound like his own people. Yet the captain of the forces of Nebuchadnezzar anxious to carry every order of his master, always came along and removed the chains from the Prophet Jeremiah. Finally in frustration he said;
Pesik., ed Buber, xiv, 113; Lam. R., Introduction, p34. - "You are one of these three: a false prophet, one who despises suffering, or a murderer. For years you have prophesied the downfall of Jerusalem, and now when the prophecy has been fulfilled, you are sorry, which shows that you yourself do not believe in your prophecies. Or you are one who voluntarily seeks suffering; for I take care that nothing shall happen to you, yet you yourself seek pain. Or perhaps you are hoping that the king will kill me when he hears that you have suffered so much, and he will think that I have not obeyed his commands"
The final destruction of the city of Jerusalem was a catastrophic moment to the land and to the psychic of the Jewish people. Yet by this time, the Lord of hosts had put all of the treasures He desired into hiding to await a day of future redemption.
Monetary Conversion Table
Talent- In the Hebrew system of measurement we have the following:
The talent, mina, shekel, Öpim, beka, and gerah.
Talent - 3000 shekels 75.600 pounds.
Mina - 50 shekels (60 Babylonian) 1.260 pounds.
Shekel (‘to weigh’) 0.403 ounces
Fractional Shekels:
Öpim, beka and gerah.
12 English tons = 2000 pounds
1.00 pound = 12 troy ounces
Credits and Links:
Bible Searchers Sites
The Oracles of Zechariah by Robert D. Mock MD
Jeremiah and the Five Guardians of Solomon’s Temple Treasures by Robert D. Mock MD
Vendyl Jones Research Institute Sites
Vendyl Jones Research Institute Home Page
Emeq HaMelekh by the Vendyl Jones Research Institute
The Copper Scroll and the Excavations at Qumron by Vendyl Jones
Dead Sea Scroll Deception Part One by Vendyl Jones
Dead Sea Scroll Deception Part Two by Vendyl Jones
Dead Sea Scroll Deception Part Three by Vendyl Jones
The Ark of the Covenant by Vendyl Jones
A Door of Hope by the Vendyl Jones Research Institute
Ashes for Beauty--The Mysterious Ashes of the Red Heifer by Jim Long
The Gate Between Two Walls, by Vendyl Jones
Vendyl Jones and the Ark of the Covenant by Gerard Robins
Temple Mount Sites
The Temple Institute on recreation the Furnishing for the New Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem by the Temple Mount Organization
The Gihon Springs Temple Site by Ernest Martin
Emeq HaMelekh Sites
Emeq HaMelekh by Robert D. Mock MD
Emeq HaMelekh by the Vendyl Jones Research Institute
The Temple and the Copper Scrolls by the Order of the Nazarene Essenes
Emeq HaMelekh and the Ark in King Tut’s Tomb by Emeq HaMelekh by the Vendyl Jones
The Treasures in the House of the Lord by Lambert Dolphin
The Baghdad Museum
Looters swoop into new areas of Baghdad by the Guardian
US failed to save Iraqi Treasures by Reuters
Mosul descends into chaos as even museum is looted by the Guardian
Saving Iraq’s Treasures by the Smithsonian Institute
Iraqi Artifacts and Manuscripts found by Washington Post
No Mass Theft of Antiquities by WorldNetDaily
Ancient Assyrian Treasures found intact in Baghdad by National Geographic
Missing Iraqi Artifact found in secret vault – the Nimrod Collection by Reuters
US has recovered many artifacts by Philip Shenon
Art World gives Tomb Raiders a cold shoulder by Anthony Thomcroft
Go to Part Thirteen
Jeremiah and the Last Years of Judah
Topics
The Last Years of the Nation of Judah
The Restoration of the Temple by King Josiah (622/621 BCE) -
First Babylonian Invasion - 605 BCE
The Second Invasion of Babylon - 597 BCE
The Final Destruction of Jerusalem - 586 BCE
Zedekiah flees thought the Gate between the Walls
The Guardian of the Treasuries in Babylon
Chaggai and Zechariah return to Jerusalem
Baruk, scribe of Jeremiah dies in Babylon
Jeremiah and Temar Tephi, daughter of King Zedekiah in Egypt