Solomon’s Temple (Wonder Matches & Miracle Beads) (2013) Design door Anatolii Zhamoido

Title: Solomon’s Temple (Wonder Matches & Miracle Beads)
Series: God in the Palm of the Hand
Artists: Zhamoido Anatolii & Bulba Natalia
Original Design: 2011
Completion: 2013
Dimensions:
• Object: 160 × 210 × 65 mm
• Packaging: 160 × 210 × 115 mm
Weight: 0.761 kg
Medium:
• Eternity
• Matches
• Wire, glue
Beads and Decorative Elements:
• Swarovski crystals
• Microbeads
• Adhesive beads
• Bugle beads
• Czech rondelles
• Metal-set rhinestones
• Computer graphics
Packaging:
A protective display case made of acrylic glass.
The Temple built by Solomon is one of the most renowned and revered structures in the history of humankind. The word “Temple” is capitalized here intentionally — as a proper name — to emphasize its uniqueness: a singular sanctuary in a singular location.
Unlike in some other religions where numerous temples may exist, Judaism recognizes only one Temple, the sole site where sacrificial worship was permitted. The three Temples — two of which were destroyed, and a third that remains unbuilt — are often seen as manifestations of a single, transcendent and mystical Temple, where the Divine Presence dwells in a fullness unattainable elsewhere.
The First Temple was built by King Solomon and stood in Jerusalem until 586 BCE, when it was destroyed by the army of Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. Upon their return from exile, the Jewish people erected the Second Temple on the same site. This structure was later expanded and richly adorned under King Herod. It stood for a similar length of time as the First and was ultimately destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE during the suppression of the First Jewish Revolt. Only the Western Wall — the Kotel — remains as a physical remnant.
This miniature interpretation of the Temple draws upon both historical reconstructions developed by Russian scholars and symbolic elements from various periods of Jewish tradition. Verses from the Torah about the creation of the world are also integrated into the composition, linking the physical structure to the cosmic origins of sacred space.
Solomon’s Temple
A blaze of gold, a hush divine,
Where sacred shadows softly shine.
Stone breathes with wisdom, light takes form,
And God speaks gently through the storm.
No hand can raze, no age erase
This Temple set beyond all space.
Nations vanish, empires fall,
Yet Solomon’s Temple stands eternal.
Храм Соломона
З бісеру — зорі, з кристалів — молитва,
У кожнім з'єднанні — подих Творця.
У п’єдесталі прозорому — битва
Часу й безсмертя, тепла і свинця.

Вогонь і золото, священна тиша,
Палає Слово — в ньому світ колише.
Там камінь дихає, і світло грає,
Де Бог до людства потаємно зазирає.
Храм не зруйнує ні буря, ні час,
Він в серці збудований — в кожного з нас.
Зникають народи, Імперії, трони,
Та сяє у вічності Храм Соломона.