was the prevailing characteristic in Israel. Occasionally a piece of carefully dressed masonry is

found, but it is the exception and is often a re-use of an earlier type akin to "sawed stone" from

the time of Solomon (Patch 1913). The unskillfully laid rubble masonry discovered in

archaeology may have been the work of individual home owners rather than the masons

described in the time of the Kings of Israel. In the time of King David, stonemasons were sent

from Tyre to help build his personal house (2 Samuel 5:11). During King Solomon's reign as

king, masons were used for building the walls of cut stone (1 Chronicles 22:15). In the Bible

masons are mentioned in conjunction with the construction of the walls of large buildings and

city walls, but no reference in connection with smaller houses, although it is very likely that

masons were involved with helping build many of the walls of houses that existed in Israel.

Stonecutting

 Stonecutters were hewers of stone. King Solomon had 80,000 hewers of stone go into the

mountains to hew or quarry large stones to build the temple and his houses. These men were

foreigners who were captives of war working as forced laborers (1 Chronicles 22:2; 2 Chronicles

2:17, 18). Stonecutters had the difficult task of cutting blocks from mountain sides or large

boulders. This task required the skill to cut perfectly flat sides from hard to cut rounded objects.

In King David's and King Solomon's reign the stones were to be cut to size without any

modifications done on site. This could only be accomplished with the greatest care and skill.

Although this work required skill it was done by forced labor because of its laborious nature.

There are no trades that compare to the stonecutters in Biblical times because we now use

machinery to accomplish what they once did by hand.

Metal-Working (Smith)

 Among the oldest objects that have been preserved from ancient times are those of silver,

gold and bronze. These are proof that the ancients understood the various processes of mining,