Ceiling

Ceilings in ancient Israelite architecture were typically of cedar beams or planks, and their quality was a mark of wealth and royal ambition. Solomon's temple featured a cedar ceiling covering the interior (1 Kings 6:9, 15; 7:3), and the house of the forest of Lebanon had a ceiling of cedar laid on forty-five pillars (1 Kings 7:2–3). The interior of the temple's cedar ceiling was carved with gourds and flowers (1 Kings 6:18). Jeremiah condemned the king Jehoiakim for building himself a lavish house with a paneled cedar ceiling at a time of national crisis, contrasting his father Josiah's justice with his own pursuit of luxury (Jeremiah 22:14). The use of expensive cedar ceilings became a symbol of royal extravagance in the prophetic critique of unjust rulers.