Tubal-cain is recorded as the first artificer in brass and iron (). In the time of Solomon, Hiram of Tyre was celebrated as a worker in brass (; comp. ). To judge from Hesiod and Lucretius, the art of working in copper was even prior to that in iron, probably from its being found in larger masses, and from its requiring less labor in the process of manufacture. Palestine abounded in copper (), and David left behind him an immense quantity of it to be employed in building the Temple (). Of copper were made all sorts of vessels in the Tabernacle and Temple (;;; ), weapons, and more especially helmets, armor, shields, spears (;; ), also chains (), and mirrors (). The larger vessels were molded in foundries, as also the pillars for architectural ornaments (1 Kings 7). It would however appear () that the art of copper-founding was, even in the time of Solomon, but little known among the Jews, and was peculiar to foreigners, particularly the Phoenicians. Michaelis observes, that Moses seems to have given to copper vessels the preference over earthen, and on that ground endeavors to remove the common prejudice against their use for culinary purposes. From copper, also, money was coined ().
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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