Expert: Maria - 11/11/2010

Question
QUESTION: Is it true that Albanus Gaius (director of engineering and construction for Roman general Pompey) used mustard plants/trees to quarry rock from the limestone mountains in ancient Israel (approximately 63 BC)?

ANSWER: Hello,

As far as I know, there is no primary Greek / Latin source which confirms that the Romans have used mustard plants/trees to quarry rock from the limestone mountains in Judea (ancient Israel) when Judea lost its independence to the Roman legions led by Pompey in 64-63 BC, by becoming first a tributary kingdom, then a province of the Roman Empire.

Neither Plutarch in his “Life of Pompey” nor Flavius Josephus in his “Antiquities of the Jews”, book 14, chapters 46 ff., talk in fact about Albanus Gaius and his strange way of quarrying  rock from the limestone mountains.

We know that the mustard seed is used by Jesus in the parable of the Mustard Seed as a model for the kingdom of God which initially starts small but grows to be the biggest of all garden plants.

Moreover in Matthew 17:20  and in Luke 17:6  we read respectively: “ If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” and  “The Lord said, If your faith was only as great as a grain of mustard seed, you might say to this tree, Be rooted up and planted in the sea; and it would be done”.

Anyway all these quotations do not refer to the way of quarrying  rock from the limestone mountains, but to faith that should be like a mustard seed [ “granum sinapis” (in Latin), i.e. “κόκκον σινάπεως” ( in ancient Greek)] which starts small but grows to be the biggest of all garden plants.

Best regards,
Maria
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P.S. If you have the primary source about Albanus Gaius (director of engineering and construction for Roman general Pompey)and his use of  mustard plants/trees to quarry rock from the limestone mountains in ancient Israel, please let me know.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you Maria!  I appreciate your quick response.

Interestingly, the reason for my initial question was to check up on an article that I was reading which was a commentary on the exact passages of the bible that you included in your answer.  I have posted the portion of the article in question in post script.

I was wondering if you have any advice for how I might find out if there has ever been this kind of strategy in quarrying rock?  In any time period...by any culture?  Also, if it is even a plausible mechanism for quarrying rock?

Thank you again!
Tim

Excerpt from the article I was evaluating:

"History records that in 63 BC, the Jordan area was conquered by Pompey and came under Roman rule. Pompey had a director of engineering and construction named Albanus Gaius, a close friend. Pompey desired to build new harbors and ports on the Mediterranean Sea as well as the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee and also the existing harbors and ports needed to be upgraded. One of the needs was for large stones to be quarried from the mountains to fill the harbors. Pompey needed slave labor and funds to do the job and asked the Roman Senate for this but did not hear from them for over 2 years.

Determined to accomplish the job for Pompey, Gaius, an amateur biologist, noticed that mustard, a rugged spice plant, grew abundantly and effortlessly in Judea and Galilee. He also noticed that it grew best in soil that had abundant lime content so he tried an experiment. He decided to sow mustard seeds on the sides of limestone mountains. To his surprise the seeds grew quickly because of the abundance of lime on the mountains and they grew effortlessly. As the plants grew, they pulled the lime out of the rocks and big boulders began to break away and tumble down the mountain. The stones were collected by laborers and hauled to the port, literally being "cast into the sea". So the tiny mustard seed had the ability to disintegrate a limestone mountain regardless of the size of the mountain."  

Answer
Hello,

First of all the article you mention is not a primary source.
(www.thedesireofallnations.com/Faith%20as%20a%20Mustard%20Seed.doc)

Moreover the author of this article  does not mention the primary source which is the basis of his information about Albanus Gaius and his strange way of quarrying  rock from the limestone mountains.

In short, this article is not a reliable source.

As for  your questions about how you might find out if there has ever been this kind of strategy in quarrying rock  in any time period by any culture, and  if it is even a plausible mechanism for quarrying rock, I’m sorry, but this is NOT my field of expertise, of course, since this matter has to do with quarry techniques in building industry & materials, not with history.

Bye,
Maria