Goldsmith

Goldsmith

צוֹרֵŠ tsoreph', Ne 3:8,32; Isa 11:16; Isa 12:6; Isa 46:6; a founder or finer, as elsewhere rendered), a melter of gold (i.q. מִצרֵŠ, matsreph', "refiner," Mal 3:2-3). SEE GOLD. In Ne 3:31, the word so rendered (צֹרפַי) is rather a proper name, ZORPHI SEE ZORPHI (q.v.). "The use of gold for jewelry and various articles of luxury dates from the most remote ages. Pharaoh having 'arrayed' Joseph 'in vestures of fine linen, put a gold chain about his neck;' and the jewels of silver and gold borrowed from the Egyptians by the Israelites at the time of their leaving Egypt (out of which the golden calf was afterwards mate), suffice to prove the great quantity of precious metals wrought at that time into female ornaments. It is not from the Scriptures alone that the skill of the Egyptian goldsmiths may be inferred; the sculptures of Thebes and Beni-Hassan afford their additional testimony, and the numerous gold and silver vases, inlaid work, and jewelry, represented in common use, show the great advancement they had made is this branch of art. At Beni-Hassan, the process of washing the ore, smelting or fusing the metal with the help of the blow-pipe, and fashioning it for ornamental purposes, weighing it, and taking an account of the quantity so made up, and other occupations of the goldsmith, are represented; but, as might be supposed, these subjects merely suffice, as they were intended to give a general indication of the goldsmith's trade, without attempting to describe the means employed" (Wilkinson, Anc. Egyptians, abridgment, 2:138 sq.). SEE METALLURGY.