Hermas's Masonry

Hultberg, Alan alan_hultberg at peter.biola.edu
Tue May 2 19:53:03 EDT 2000



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At 11:49 AM -0400 5/2/00, Bart Ehrman wrote:
>   In the famous third vision of the Shepherd, Hermas sees a tower under
>construction:  TOUS MEN EK TOU BUQOU LIQOUS hELKOMENOUS PANTA hOUTWS
>ETIQESAN EIS THN OIKODOMHN.  hHRMOSMENOI GAR HSAN KAI SUNEFWNOUN THi
>hARMOGHi META TWN LIQWN.  hRMOSMENOI GAR HSAN KAI SUNEFWNOUN THi hARMOGHi
>META TWN hETERWN LIQWN "They placed all the stones thus drawn from the
>depths in the building; for they fit together and were straight at the
>joint [???] with the other stones.  And they were placed together, so that
>their joint [???] was invisible." (Shepherd 10:6, and throughout)
>
>   My question has to do with terms for tower construction.  Especially
>"hARMOGH" and compounds.  Is this better rendered "joint" or "edge" or
>what?  (The idea is that when one stone is placed on top of another they
>fit so well together that you can't even see the crack between them; but
>what do you call that straight edge where they meet? )

I don't know whether hAMOGH is a technical masonry term in Greek, but what it
refers to in this passage is called a "joint" among (American)
English-speaking masons.  It is the point of contact between two bricks or
stones, or the meeting line between to "courses" of bricks or stones.

Alan



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