The Second Temple for Lilliputians
The Romans destroyed Herod’s Temple more than 2,000 years ago. Now Alex Garrard, a 78-year-old British farmer, is hand-crafting a replica. At 20 feet by 12 feet, the mock-up is 1/100 of the size of the original.
“I have been working on it for decades but it will never be finished as I’m always finding something new to add,” the model-maker recently told The Daily Telegraph.
Still, the project has won the attention and approval of historical experts. Many say that the painted clay bricks, the courtyard and 4,000 half-an-inch tall figurines offer an accurate portrayal of what the Temple actually looked like. Not surprisingly, Garrard’s process is quite painstaking: He cuts plywood frames for the walls and buildings and bakes the clay bricks in the oven so they stick together.
Visitors come from far and wide to see the re-creation with the binoculars that the craftsman supplies. But the model appears to be safe from any enemies; it resides in a massive structure in Garrard’s Norfolk, England backyard.
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