medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Hi, Chris,
>From: rochelle altman <[log in to unmask]>
>[excellent topographical description of the Galilee/Nazareth/Jerusalem area
>ruthlessly snipped]
Coming from you, that's high praise. :-)
> >> So, yes, there was wood available. Olive wood, however, is
> available only in
>small portions good for small boxes and other small manufactures. Conifers, in
>general, yield lumber good for chairs, tools, shelves, doors, door-frames,
>bed-frames, etc.... also are limited in the width of the lumber and are not
>the most durable of woods. <<
> >durable enough (if kept out of the weather), but knotty as hell
> and, thus, difficult to do fine work in.<
And that's why so many antique chairs, etc., from the general area
are (1) with very little shaping -- straight backs, legs, and frames
-- and (2) painted.
> >> So, there was plenty of wood -- and work -- available for a jointer, a
>cabinet-maker, but not much for a general carpenter. ...the dominant building
>material was stone.... Wood was used in door and window frames, doors,
>furniture, shelving, and household items. etc.<<
>
> >and for roofs.
>
>the construction of which would fall to the carpenter.<
True -- if the roofs had wood cross beams. No wood in the roofs in
the older plastered-stone houses (I've been inside one that dates to
the 12th-century.) We were talking about wood, so I didn't mention
that the stone from the Judean Hills is sandstone, chalky and soft
(you can "inscribe" it with a fingernail) and it's soft enough to be
not difficult to cut cross-beams out of. Flat roofs themselves may
have been matting that was tarred (Dead Sea not far away) to
water-proof. And domes (of whatever size) are stone -- corbelled and
plastered, inside and out. The arch, corbel and other developments,
has been used in construction in the general area since the fourth
millennium.
Buildings in Petra (the rose-red city built of stone) were cut into
the rock. No wood in the roofs. (And precious little wood available
in that area.) In Egypt, the general population built their houses of
reed stalks bound together for support posts and woven reed mats for
roofing. Again, no wood and no need for general carpenters.
Today, of course, it's poured concrete and concrete block -- much
cheaper than a stone mason. It's still plastered, though.
>c
Cheers, and Season Greetings to you and to all,
Rochelle
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