SEA, MOLTEN (pyln tv. The immense brazen reservoir sthich, with smaller lavers [LAvEn], stood in the court of Solomon's temple, was thus, by hyperbole, denominated. It was of a hemi spherical figure, ten cubits in width, five deep, and thirty in circumference. In Kings vii. 26 it is stated to have contained 2000 baths, equal to 16,0oo gallons ; but in 2 Chron. iv. 5 it is said to have contained 3000 baths, and the latter estimate is followed by Josephus. It was probably capable of holding the larger quantity, but did not usually contain more than the smaller. It was decorated on the upper edge with figures resembling lilies in bloom, and was enriched with various ornamental objects ; and it rested, or seemed to rest, upon the backs of twelve oxen, three looking to the north, three to the east, three to the south, and three to the west (1 Kings vi. 26 ; vii. 4o-47 ; 2 Chron. iv. 3-5). The Jewish writers state that this great basin was supplied with water by a pipe from the well of Etam, although some few allege that it was filled by the manual labour of the Gibeonites. It
was, according to tbe same accounts, kept con stantly flowing, there being spouts which dis charged for use from the basin as much water as it received from the well of Etam. If this be cor rect, it is not improbable that the spouts discharged their water through the mouths of the oxen—or, as some suppose, through embossed heads in the sides of the vessel. This is perhaps the largest vessel of molten brass which was ever made—other large reservoirs, which might compete in dimensions with it, being either of wood, marble, or sheet copper. The Fountain of the Lions in the Moorish palace (Alhambra), at Grenada, is of stone, and the animals which support it are lions : but it sup plies some remarkable analogies to Solomon's great work, in imitation of which it is said to have been constructed. The conception, and still more the successful execution of this great work, gives a very favourable idea of the state of the metallurgical arts in the time of Solomon.—J. K.