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TEMPLE , a See also:term derived from the See also:Lat. templum (Gr. riµEVOr), which originally denoted a space marked off by the See also:augurs for the purpose of observing the See also:flight of birds or other ceremonies; later it was applied to the dwelling-See also:place, the cedes sacrae, of the gods. In this latter sense it is the See also:equivalent of the native See also:Hebrew expression beth 'blohim, literally " a See also:god-See also:house," and of the See also:foreign he"kal, See also:palace, temple, a See also:loan-word from Sumerian through the See also:medium of the Babylonian e'-kallu (lit. See also:great house). A temple or " god-house," however, represents a comparatively advanced See also:stage in the development of Semitic See also:religion. At first the Semite recognized the abodes of his deities in certain outstanding and impressive natural
See also:objects, a spreading See also:tree, a bubbling See also:spring, a conspicuous See also:rock or See also: Another factor is to be found in the advance in material comfort which follows the transition from the nomadic to the agricultural mode of life. Among the settled Semites there arose the feeling that the gods of the community ought also to See also:share in this advance (cf. 2 Sam. vii. 2). Accordingly they were invited to take up their abode in a beth 'elohim or temple. The dignity and comfort of the gods advance pari passu with those of their worshippers.
It must be kept in mind, however, that the altar remained as before the centre of the sacrificial See also:worship. Around it or before it, under the open See also:sky, the worshippers assembled. To the temple the priests alone, or the See also:head of the sacral community in his priestly capacity, had See also:access. In this respect the worship associated with altar and temple offers a striking contrast to the more spiritual worship of the Jewish See also:synagogue and the See also:Christian See also: In an See also:early Hebrew document there is a reference to the temple of El-berith at See also:Shechem, which was large enough and strong enough to serve as a place of See also:refuge in See also:time of See also:war (See also:Judges ix. 46 ff.). The See also:Philistines also had their temples in this See also:period: thus we hear of a " house " of See also:Dagon at See also:Gaza (ib. xvi. 23 ff.) and also at Ashdod (I Sam. v. 2), while a temple of Ashtart (See also:Ishtar-See also:Astarte) is mentioned in r Sam. xxxi. ro, probably at Ashkelon (See also:Herod. i. 105). The earliest reference to a temple built by Hebrew hands is to " an house of gods " reared by See also:Micah to shelter an See also:ephod and other sacred images which he had made (Judges xvii. 5). Micah's images were soon transported to See also:Dan, where doubtless another house was built for their See also:protection (xviii. 18, 30 f.). Somewhat later we find the ark of Yahweh installed in " the house of Yahweh " at See also:Shiloh, which house was not a See also:mere See also:tent but a real temple (heekal, r Sam. i. 9, iii. 3) with doors (iii. 15) and doorposts (i. 9), and a See also: (1883), 129–177, reprinted in his Akadernische Reden, &c., with which is now to be compared Stade and Schwally's See also:critical edition of Kings in See also:Haupt's Sacred Books of the Old Test. See also, in addition to the See also:standard commentaries, See also:Burney, Notes on the Heb. Text of . . . Kings, See also:Vincent's critical and exegetical study, Rev. biblique (Oct. 1907), and the literature cited at the end of this See also:article.
(a) The Site of the Temple.—On this important point our earliest authority is silent. It is now universally acknowledged, however, that the whole complex of buildings erected by Solomon stood along the See also:crest of the eastern See also: Here another important See also:consideration comes to our aid. From the recognized persistence of sacred sites in the See also:East through all the changes in the dominant religion, it is well-nigh certain that the sanctity of the sakhra rock goes back to the days of See also:David and Solomon, or even, it may be, to prehistoric times. On it, or over it, the See also:angel was believed to have been seen by David, and there David built his altar (2 Sam. See also:xxiv. 18-25; cf. Judges vi. 20 f., 24; xiii. 19 ff.). This is undoubtedly the site assigned to the temple by the See also:oldest extant tradition (see I Chron. xxii. 1; cf. 2 Sam. xxiv.). By every token, then, Solomon's altar of burnt-offering, if it was not identical with the sakhrz (see below), at least stood upon it. Since the altar necessarily stood in front, i.e. to the east, of the temple, the site of the latter was a See also:short distance to the See also:west of, and in See also:line with, the sacred rock (see See also:JERUSALEM). The alternative view, associated in recent times with the names of Schick and See also:Conder, which places the most See also:holy place, or inner-most See also:shrine of the temple, over the sakhra, has now few See also:advocates (e.g. See also:Col. See also:Watson in the Quarterly Statement of the See also:Palestine Exploration Fund for 1896 and 1910). Apart from difficulties of space towards the east, which this location involves, it cannot be accepted in See also:face of the fact that the sakhra still bears the marks of its former use as a rock-altar (see esp. Kittel, Studien zur hebr. Archaologie, 12 ff.). Moreover the rock, measuring as it does some 55 ft. by 4o, could not have been contained within the " holy of holies,}' which was less than 30 ft. square (see below).
A third site, still within the See also:present Haram See also:area, but towards its See also:south-west See also:angle, favoured by See also:Fergusson (The Temples of the See also:Jews), See also:Robertson See also: I). (I) The first of these, " the house of the Lord " in the strict sense, in which alone He was worshipped, was oblong in See also:plan, and was divided into two compartments in the proportion of 2 : I by a See also:partition See also:wall. The See also:room next the porch was 40 cubits in length by 20 in breadth, with a height of 3o cubits,' ' The length of the cubit at this period cannot be determined with See also:absolute certainty. From the fact that Herod's naos was an exact replica of Zerubbabel's as regards inside measurements, coupled with the presumption that Zerubbabel built upon Solomon's See also:foundations, it is permissible to suppose that one and the same standard of length was 'used throughout. Now the present writer has shown from an inductive study of the height of the courses in the walls of the Haram and of other existing remains of the Herodian period that the cubit used by Herod's builders was exactly 17.6 in. or 447 millimetres (see Expository Times, xx. [1908–09] 24 ff.). There is therefore See also:good reason for believing that this was also the cubit of Solomon's temple, notwithstanding the statement of 2 Chron. iii. 3 that the latter was a cubit " after a TEMPLE 605 a sive rebatements of one cubit (fig. 2) until the thickness is reduced of the beams forming the floors and ceilings of the several storeys being let into the wall of the hekal, three successive rebatements of one cubit each were made in the latter for their support (see fig. 2), consequently the width of the See also:chambers was 5, 6 and 7 cubits in the three storeys respectively (vi. 6). The See also:total height, allowing for floors and roof, of the lateral building cannot have been less than 17 cubits. Entrance to the See also:side-chambers was provided by a single See also:door on the south side (see ground-plan, fig. 1). SO far there is no difficulty as regards the See also:general plan and dimensions of the temple, provided it is kept in mind that the figures given in the text of Kings are all inside measurements. It is otherwise when one endeavours to calculate the area covered by the temple, and to determine the See also:elevation of the several parts and the general architectural See also:style of the whole. As to the area much depends upon the thickness of the walls. Here our only See also:clue is furnished by the figures for the corresponding walls of See also:Ezekiel's temple, but the necessary caution has not hitherto been observed in applying them to the proportions of the actual temple of Solomon. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that in the dimensions of his temple of the future and its courts Ezekiel is dominated by a See also:passion for symmetry and for the number 5o and its multiples,' which there is no ground for importing into the dimensions of the older temple. Nevertheless the walls of the naos may be taken at Ezekiel's figure of 6 cubits (xli. 5), with succes- to 3 cubits (4; ft.) above the side-chambers, as explained above If one cubit is allowed for the partition wall corresponding to the space in Herod's temple, where a See also:curtain took the place of the wall, we obtain a total of 73 cubits for the length of the naos and of 32 for the outside width, or 107 ft. by 47. If 3 cubits—equal to the thickness of the wall of the naos above the side-chambert —be allowed for the See also:outer wall of the latter, the extreme width of the temple See also:works out at 48 cubits, or 701 ft. Adopting Ezekiel's thickness of 5 cubits for the front wall of the porch, we reach a total of 96 cubits or 141 ft. for the extreme length from east to west (see the accompanying ground-plan). The proportion of length to breadth is thus 2 : I, precisely as Ezekiel's temple with its artificial See also:numbers of too and 5o respectively. The area of the See also:platform on which Solomon's temple stood probably measured too cubits by 60, as in the plan annexed. As regards the height of the various parts even fewer data are available. Our primary source gives the height of " the house " as 3o cubits (t Kings vi. 2). By the great See also:majority of previous students this has been understood to mean that a single See also:flat roof, at this height from the See also:floor, covered the three parts—porch, hekal and deblr—leaving an empty space of so cubits above the last of these. But the Hebrew document, as has been repeatedly pointed out, is concerned only with inside dimensions, and in vi. 2 has probably in view the inside height of the hekal, as the largest of the three compartments. On the other hand, a characteristic feature of the contemporary See also:Egyptian temples is the, See also:gradual diminution in the height of their component parts from front to back (See also:Maspero, L'Archeologie egyptienne (1907), p. 77; See also:Erman, Handbk. of Egyptn. Religion, 41; cf. the restoration of a typical temple in See also:Perrot and Chipiez, Anct. See also:Egypt. Art. i. 373, and in Erman, Life in Anct. Egypt, 280). In this respect the present writer believes that Solomon's temple followed the Egyptian See also:model, the height decreasing as one proceeded from the porch to the hekal, debar and side-chambers respectively. The porch, for instance, was probably modelled on the pylons which flank the See also:principal entrance to an Egyptian temple, tall and narrow, with a sloping front wall surmounted by a See also:cornice with its characteristic See also:cavetto moulding. The 120 cubits which 2 Chron. iii. 4 gives as the height of the porch, followed by Josephus, See also:Ant. XV. xi. t and elsewhere, seem to be out of proportion to the probable height of the See also:rest of the building. But this objection does not apply to the 6o cubits given as the extreme height for the second temple in the trustworthy document, See also:Ezra vi. 3.' This, ' This has led Ezekiel certainly to increase the See also:depth of his porch from to cubits to 12 (See also:original text of Ezek. xl. 49), and probably to add a cubit to the thickness of the partition wall (xli. 3), in See also:order to bring up the total length of his temple to too cubits. 3 The numbers of this passage have been unnecessarily called in question by recent critics. The figures given are naturally those of the two extremes, which were not to be exceeued, viz. 6o cubits for the extreme height, that of the porch, and the same figure for the extreme width, that of the raised platform. all inside measurements, and is termed in our oldest source the hekal or palace; later it was known as " the holy place." It was dimly lighted by a See also:row of latticed windows, which must necessarily have been placed in the upper third of the side walls, as will presently be seen. Adjoining the hekal on the west See also:lay the Mir or sanctuary, later termed " the most holy place " (lit. " holy of holies "). The inside space formed a perfect See also:cube of 20 cubits, say 30 ft., in length, breadth and height (vi. 20), symbolizing the perfection of the Deity, for whose abode this See also:part of the naos was specially designed. The debar, ss has been said, was separated from the hekal by a transverse wall, whose existence we are See also:left to infer from the obscure description of the door between the two compartments (vi. 31, see next See also:section) .1 See also:Scale of Cubits Seale of Feet 4 4 tO . '.° , . ao 10 Ego 7o fso 4° '40 , . '15 , . .s? Flo. 1.-Ground Plan of Solomon's Temple. (2) In front of the hekal and facing eastwards See also:rose the porch, its inside " length " 20 cubits " according to the breadth of the house " (vi. 3), and its inside depth from east to west to cubits. The more precise See also:character and elevation of this See also:element will fall to be considered at a later stage. (3) The third architectural element was a lateral building enclosing the naos on the other three sides, and consisting of three storeys, each 5 cubits in height from floor to See also:ceiling. Each See also:storey contained a number of small storage chambers, probably See also:thirty in all (Ezek. xli. 6). A peculiarity in the See also:architecture of this part of the temple is noteworthy. Instead the former measure." For this statement is probably a mere inference from Ezek. xl. 5, where the divine messenger uses a cubit of seven handbreadths or 203 in., the royal cubit of Egypt. For the smaller measurements the cubit of 17.6 in. may for greater convenience be reckoned at 14 ft. t If the view presented below as to the height of the various parts of the temple is accepted, this wall becomes a structural See also:necessity, being required to support the back wall of the hekal. FTIS;=1ZOMAM Z 4X ~L,M %///////%%%%/////~See also:DW////% %%% % i debar it may reasonably be inferred, was the height of the porch in the first temple, from which, in that See also:case, the figure was derived. The probable outside measurements for the porch are thus 32 cubits for the breadth across " the house," 15 for the depth including the front wall, and 6o cubits or 88 ft. for the height. Still following the Egyptian model, the hekal will have had its See also:separate roof of massive See also:cedar beams, covered probably by heavy See also:limestone slabs, for which 11–2 cubits may be allowed, giving a total of 32 cubits (47 ft.), equal to the outside width of this part of the temple. In the same way the roof of the debit' will have been lo cubits lower, or circa 32 ft. in all, that of the lateral building about 4 cubits lower still, say 26 ft. (cf. the section through the temple from W. to E. in fig. 2). While the measurements above given are, as they must necessarily be, in. part conjectural, it is claimed for them that they introduce the element of proportion between the parts to an extent not attempted hitherto. (c) The Interior of the Temple and its See also:Furniture.—The entrance to the temple was through a wide and lofty opening in the front wall of the porch. See also:Crossing the See also:vestibule one entered the hekal by a large folding-door of See also:cypress wood (vi. 34)—probably ro cubits wide as in Ezekiel's temple—each of its four leaves ornamented with carved figures of See also:cherubim, palms and See also:flowers, all overlaid with See also:gold. The inner walls of the hekal and the debir were lined with boards of cedar from floor to ceiling, while the floor .was covered with planks of cypress wood.' From the hekal a door in the partition wall gave entrance to the debir. The See also:doorway was not rectangular but apparently pentagonal in See also:form (see the commentaries on vi. 31), the See also:lintel consisting of two blocks of stone See also:meeting at an angle, a feature "introduced to distribute the pressure of the superincumbent wall " (W. R. Smith).2 The walls of the debir were overlaid with " pure gold " according to our present text (vi. 2o); this enhancement of the dignity of the See also:adytum as the earthly dwelling-place of the heavenly See also: On either, side of this See also:venerable relic of the past were two cherubim, sculptured from See also:olive wood and overlaid with gold, each ro cubits high, their outstretched wings reaching right across the debir, and forming a baldachin over the ark (vi. 23-28). Although forming no part of the interior furniture of the temple, the remarkable twin pillars which stood on either side of the entrance to the porch may be mentioned here, since they belonged rather to the temple than to its See also:court. These pillars, which in the received text See also:bear the enigmatical names of " Jachin and Boaz," 3 were hollow columns-the See also:bronze See also:metal being about 3 in. in thickness—over 26 ft. in height and 6 ft. in See also:diameter, surmounted by elaborate capitals about 71 ft. high. The latter were globular in form, ornamented. by a specially See also:cast network of bronze, over which were hung See also:festoon-See also:wise two wreaths of bronze pomegranates, each row containing a See also:hundred pomegranates. As the pillars doubtless stood on plinths, the total height of each will have been at least 35 ft. Such See also:free-See also:standing pillars were a feature of temple architecture in See also:Phoenicia and elsewhere in western See also:Asia, as later reproductions on See also:local coins attest, and would appear to Solomon's ' The overlaying of the floor with gold (1 Kings vi. 30) is a later See also:interpolation; the same is probably true of the gildiitg of the sculptures on the walls, which may have been added at a later date (cf. Ezek. xli. 18). 2 This partition wall, it will be remembered, had to support the back wall of the hekal according to the view of the temple architecture advocated above. 3 The various forms which the latter name assumes, in the Greek text, suggest that Boaz is an intentional disguise of an original See also:Baal, applied of course to Yahweh (See also:Barnes, Jour. of Theol. Studies, v. 447 ff.). Phoenician architects as a natural See also:adjunct of his temple Jachin and Boaz, therefore, may be regarded as conventional symbols of the Deity for whose worship the temple was de-signed.' (d) Tke Temple Court, Altar and other Apparatus of the Cult.—The temple stood within the western See also:half of " the court of the house of the Lord," also known as " the inner court " to distinguish it from " the other court " See also:round the adjoining palace and from " the great court " which surrounded the whole complex of Solomon's buildings. All three had walls in which three courses of hewn stone alternated with a course of cedar beams (see next section). To the " court of the house " laymen as well as priests had access (Jer, See also:xxxv. i ff., See also:xxxvi. ro). Several See also:gates gave entrance to it, but their precise position is uncertain. The principal entrance from "the great court" was doubtless in the east wall. Another was in the south wall and communicated with " the other court " and the royal palace. There were also one or more gates on the See also:north side of the court. In our present text of 1 Kings vi.-vii., there is no mention of so indispensable a part of the apparatus of the cult as the altar of burnt-offering. This silence has been explained in two ways. The majority of critics believe that the original account did contain a reference to the making of a bronze altar(cf. 2 Chron. iv. I), but that it was excised by a later editor, who assumed that the bronze altar of the See also:tabernacle accompanied the ark to the new sanctuary. Others, with greater See also:probability, maintain that the silence of our oldest source is due to the fact that Solomon followed the See also:primitive Semitic See also:custom and used the See also:bare sakhra rock as his great altar. In this case the altar, which was removed by order of See also:Ahaz to make way for his new altar after a,See also:Damascus model (2 Kings xvi. io-16), must have been introduced by one of Solomon's successors.' In the court, to the south of the line between the altar and the temple, stood one of the most striking of the creations of Solomon's Phoenician artist, Huram-abi of See also:Tyre. This was the " brazen See also:sea," a large circular tank of bronze with the enormous capacity of over 16,000 gallons (1 Kings vii. 23-26), resting on the backs of twelve bronze bulls, which, in See also:groups of three,. faced the four See also:cardinal points. It is doubtful if this See also:strange " sea " served any See also:practical purpose (see a Chron. iv, 6). Most recent writers agree in assigning to it a purely symbolical significance, like the twin pillars above described. Babylonian temples are now known to have had a similar apparatus, termed+See also:apse, which symbolized either the primeval See also:abyss, personified as the See also:monster Tiamat subdued by See also:Marduk, whose See also:symbol was the See also:bull, or, according to a later theory, the upper or heavenly sea, bounded by the See also:Zodiac with its twelve signs. Associated with the " brazen sea " were ten lavers of bronze, also the See also:work of Huram-abi (vii. 27–39). Each laver consisted of a circular See also:basin holding over 300 gallons, and See also:borne upon a wheeled See also:carrier or " See also:base."' The sides of the See also:carriers were open frames composed of uprights of bronze joined together by transverse bars or rails of the same material, the whole richly ornamented with See also:palm trees, lions, oxen and cherubim in See also:relief. Underneath each stand were four wheels of bronze, while on the See also:top was fitted a See also:ring or See also:cylinder on which the basin rested. According to Kittel, " it is highly improbable that these lavers served any practical purpose. They were rather like the great ` sea,' the embodiment of a religious See also:idea; they were symbols of the See also:rain-giving Deity " (op. cit.. p. 242). The Relation of the Temple to Contemporary Art.—Of the many problems raised by the description of the temple in r Kings none is of greater See also:interest than the question of its relation to ' Robertson Smith's theory that they were huge cressets in which " the See also:suet of the sacrifices" was burned (Rel. Sem., 2nd ed., 488) has found no support. For recent attempts to explain the symbolism of the pillars in terms of the " early See also:oriental Weltanschauung," see A. jemmies, See also:Des alte Test., &c., 2nd ed., 494; Benzinger, Heb. Archaol., 2nd ed., 323, 331. 'For a detailed study of the successive altars that stood upon the sakhra and their relation thereto, see Kittel, Studien zur kebr. Archaologie,pp. 1–85, with illustrations and diagrams. 6 This section of Kings is peculiarly difficult, and has been made the subject of a See also:special study by Stade in his Zeitschrift (1901), 145 if. (cf. " Kings " in Haupt's critical edition), and more recently by Kittel, op. cit., pp. 189-242, with illustrations of similar apparatus found in See also:Cyprus and See also:Crete. contemporary art. Where, it has often been asked, shall we look for the model or prototype of the temple edifice? Whence were derived the motifs to be seen in its decoration? What influences can be detected in the elaborate apparatus above described? Now it has for See also:long been recognized that See also:Syria, including Phoenicia and Palestine, was from the earliest times the meeting-place of streams of influence, religious, See also:artistic and other, issuing from the two great fountains of civilization and culture in the See also:ancient world, Egypt and Babylonia. To these must now be added the early civilization of the See also:Aegean as revealed by the excavations in Crete, and the later but highly See also:developed culture of the See also:Hittites. As a result the art of Phoenicia and Syria, originally borrowed from Egypt mainly, had by the loth See also:century become thoroughly eclectic. Of this See also:syncretism the best See also:illustration is furnished by the masterpieces of contemporary art, for which Solomon was indebted to Phoenician architects and Phoenician artists. Thus the general disposition of the temple with its walled court, porch or vestibule and naos has been shown by See also:modern excavation, and by later representations on coins, to be characteristic of Phoenician and North Syrian temple architecture. Here, however, we have an See also:adaptation of the earlier temple architecture of Egypt. Egyptian influence is most clearly seen in the gradual decrease in the See also:illumination of the several parts. In the temple court, as in its Egyptian counterpart, men worshipped under the See also:bright eastern sky; in the covered porch there was still no door to exclude the See also:light which streamed in through the lofty entrance. But in the holy place only a dim light was admitted through latticed windows high up in the side walls, while the holy of holies, like the Egyptian See also:cella, was completely dark.' The sculptured panels of the interior were shown by Robertson Smith (Encv. Brit., 9th ed., art. " Temple ") to reveal See also:familiar Phoenician motives, although Babylonia is probably the ultimate See also:home of the cherubim. Excavations at Sinjirli in See also:Northern Syria and at Megiddo have, further, solved the problem of the " three rows of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams " which was the architectural feature of the walls of the various courts (1 Kings vii. 12)? The use of wooden beams alternately with courses of stone was a familiar expedient in early times. The practice of building walls with recurring rebatements has also been illustrated by the recent excavations. While the prototype of the temple itself is to be sought, as has been said, in Egypt, Babylonian influence is clearly traceable in the symbolical " brazen sea," the apsu of contemporary Babylonian, and doubtless also Phoenician, temples. The bronze lavers, finally, have been found to be dependent, both in their construction and in the motifs and See also:execution of their reliefs, on the art of the Aegean. From Crete and Cyprus they passed through Phoenician intermediaries to Syria and Palestine. The temple of Solomon, in short, is a product of the best Syro-Phoenician art of the period, itself the product of ideas which had their source in other lands. The Temple of Zerubbabel.—In the year 586 B.C. the temple of Solomon was committed to the flames by order of See also:Nebuchadrezzar (2 Kings See also:xxv. 8; Jer. lii. 12 f.). Seventy years later its successor was finished and dedicated, the foundation having been laid in the second year of See also:Darius See also:Hystaspes (52o) during the governorship of Zerubbabel (See also:Hag. ii. 18). There is every reason for assuming that the massive foundation courses of the earlier temple were still in situ, and available for the new building.' The latter's inferiority, attested by Hag. ii. 3, was rather in respect of its decoration and equipment, as compared with the magnificence of the first temple, than as regards the See also:size ' This feature gives valuable support to the view presented above that Solomon's temple resembled its Egyptian contemporaries in an equally striking characteristic, the decrease in height with the de-crease in illumination. 2 This description possibly applies to all the buildings (note See also:verse 9), including the temple itself, and was so understood by the writer of Ezra vi. 4. ' From Hag. i. 8. See also:Driver indeed infers that " there would probable he almost sufficient stonework remaining [for all purposes] from Solomon's temple " (Cent. See also:Bible in See also:lac.).of the building. The dimensions given in the royal See also:decree (Ezra vi. 3)—6o cubits for height and the same for breadth—probably refer, as was pointed out in a previous section, to the extremes of height and breadth applicable to the porch and platform respectively. In these and most other respects it may be supposed that Zerubbabel's builders followed the lines of Solomon's temple. It is probable, however, that the walls of the naos, including both the holy and the most holy place, were now raised to a See also:uniform height, the separate back wall of the former having been abolished and the naos covered by a single roof. This seems a legitimate inference from the See also:absence in the second and third temples of a supporting partition wall within the naos. Its place, as separating the two compartments, was taken by a magnificent curtain or " See also:veil," which is mentioned among the spoils carried off by See also:Antiochus Epiphanes (r Macc. i. 22).¢ In the See also:matter of the sacred furniture, - the holy place contained from the first the table of shewbread, and one golden " See also:candlestick " or See also:lampstand in place of the ten which illuminated the hekal in the later days, at least, of the first temple (Jer. lii. 19). The golden altar of See also:incense, which See also:fell a See also:prey with the rest of the furniture to Antiochus (1 See also:Mace. i. xxi. f.) was probably introduced later than the time of Zerubbabel, since a Jewish author, See also:writing in the 3rd century B.c. under the name of Hecataeus of See also:Abdera, mentions only " an altar and a candlestick both of gold," and it is natural to identify the- former with the gold-plated table of shewbread.s In one important respect the See also:glory of the second house was less than that of the first. The holy of holies was now an empty shrine, for to one had dared to construct a second ark.
The second temple also differed from the first in having two courts, an outer and an inner, as prescribed by Ezekiel for his temple of the future: The outer court formed a square, each side of which was 500 cubits in length, also as prescribed by Ezekiel, with the sakhra rock in the centre (see Exp. Times, xx. t82). Within the inner court stood the altar and the temple. The former, as described by Hecataeus, was composed of See also: But long before this date the temple had assumed a character which it retained to the end of the Jewish state. It had become a fortress as well as a place of public worship, and existing records tell of the repeated strengthening of its defences. " At the time of See also:Pompey's See also:siege (63. Inc.) it constituted an almost impregnable fastness, strengthened on its weakest or northern side by great towers and a deep ditch (Ant., xiv. 4, § 2). Twenty-six years later the temple was again besieged by Herod, who, attacking like Pompey from the north, had to force three lines of See also:defence—the city wall, and the outer and inner temple," i.e. the walls of the outer and inner ,courts (W. R. Smith). The Temple of Herod.—In the r8th year of his reign (20-19 B.C.) Herod obtained the reluctant consent of his subjects to his ambitious See also:scheme for rebuilding the temple and for enlarging and beautifying its courts. The former was finished in eighteen months by a thousand priests trained for this special purpose; the courts in eight years, but the See also:complete reconstruction occupied more than eighty years, lasting almost till the final See also:breach with See also:Rome, which culminated in the destruction of the sacred edifice by the soldiers of See also:Titus in A.D. 70. • M. Clermont-Ganneau has put forward the interesting conjecture that the veil presented by Antiochus to the temple of See also:Zeus at See also:Olympia (See also:Pausanias, V. xii. 4) was that taken from the temple at Jerusalem (see " Le Dieu satrape," &c., in the Journ. asiatique, 1878). ' The See also:witness of the Pseudo-Hecataeus and of another Jewish Hellenist, the Pseudo-Aristeas, regarding the second temple has recently been examined by G. A. Smith in his volumes on Jerusalem (see esp. See also:index to vol. ii., and cf. Vincent, " 1erusalem d'apres la lettre d'Aristee," Rev. biblique (1908), 520 if. (1909), 555 ff.). (a) The Outer Court, its Gates and Colonnades.—The outer court of Zerubbabel's temple (500X500 cubits) was doubled in area according to Josephus (Bell. Jud. I. xxi. I). The See also:extension was principally on the south, which involved enormous substructions on both sides of the hill, in order to secure the necessary level See also:surface. There can be little doubt that this part of the present Haram area with its containing walls is essentially the work of Herod. The northern boundary of this great court, termed " the mountain of the house " in the Mishnah, and now generally known as " the court of the Gentiles," remained as before, and is represented by a line of scarped rock immediately to the north of the present inner platform of the Haram. This line of scarp, when prolonged east and west for about See also:i000 ft. in all, meets the east wall of the Haram a little to the north of
Fm. 3.—Plan of Herod's Temple and Courts.
From the See also:Dictionary of the Bible (rgog); by See also:kind permission
of T. & T. See also:Clark.
the Golden See also:Gate, at a point 390 yds. (800 cubits) from the S.E. angle, and the west wall at the same distance from the S.W.
angle .2
The principal entrance to the temple enclosure, and the only one on a level with it, was on its western side by a See also:bridge or viaduct which spanned the Tyropoeon at the spot marked by See also: XV. xi. 5), the two leading
Which see for See also: Round the four sides of the great court ran a See also:succession of magnificent porticoes in the style of contemporary Hellenistic architecture (Ant. XV. xi. 5). Those on the E., N. and W. sides had each three rows of columns forming a double walk or See also:aisle; the eastern See also:colonnade bore the old name of " Solomon's Porch " (See also: The " royal porch," as it was termed, worthily represents the high-See also:water See also:mark of Herod's architectural achievements in connexion with the reconstruction of the temple. (b) The Inner Courts and Gates.—To the outer court See also:Jew and See also:Gentile, under certain conditions, had alike access. The sanctuary proper, from which the Gentile was rigidly excluded, began when one reached the series of walls, courts and buildings which rose on successive terraces in the northern half of the great enclosure. Its limits were distinguished by an artistic stone balustrade, named the soreg, which bore at intervals notices in the Greek See also:tongue warning all Gentiles against advancing further on See also:pain of See also:death. Beyond the soreg a narrow stone See also:terrace, approached by flights of steps, was carried round all sides of the sanctuary See also:save the west (see Bell. Jud. V. i. 5 [§ 38]), and extended to the foot of the lofty fortified walls of the temple enclosure (see X Y Z on plan, fig. 3). The walls, over 35 ft. in height (25 cubits), were pierced by nine gateways, marked 111 to 119 on the accompanying plan, of which four were in the north and south walls respectively, and one in the east wall. These nine gates opened into massive two-storeyed towers, each 30 cubits deep (Bell. Jud. V. v. 3). Eight were " covered over with gold and See also:silver, as were also the jambs and lintels " (ibid.), while the ninth, the principal entrance to the sanctuary, in the east wall (H5) was composed entirely of Corinthian See also:brass, the See also:gift of a certain See also:Nicanor. Hence it was variously named " the Corinthian gate," " the gate of Nicanor " and " the beautiful gate " (Acts iii. 2, 10) 4 Entering the sacrosanct area by this gate one found oneself in a colonnaded court, known as the court of the See also:women (A) since women as well as men were admitted to this court, which indeed was the See also:regular place of See also:assembly for public worship. The four corners of the women's court were occupied by large chambers for various ceremonial purposes, while between these and the gate-houses were smaller chambers, one set being known as " the See also:treasury " (Mark xii. 42). The western side was bounded by a high wall, beyond which, on a higher level, lay the inner or priests' court. The entrance to the latter was by an enormous gateway, 50 cubits by 40, through which an uninterrupted view was obtained of the altar and of the temple beyond it. To this " upper gate " 3 One such gigantic monolith was discovered a few years ago in a disused See also:quarry (see Exp. Times, xx. 69). ' For this triple See also:identification see See also:Schurer's essay, Zeits. f. neatest. Wiss. (1906), 51–58; Berto, Rev. des etudes juives, lix. (1910), 30 f.; also Exp. Times, xx. 270 f. 1.;.; :: i...; :k1/i Hu1E+hGU H.IA.t~Gt.fl (H to) a flight of fifteen semicircular steps led up from the court of the women. On a level with the entrance and See also:running round three sides of the inner court (so Josephus) was a narrow See also:strip (B), about 18 ft. broad, called the " court of the men of Israel." The rest of the oblong area, however, was reserved for the priests and such of the laity as might require See also:admission for the offering of their sacrifices. As in the lower court, the spaces between the gates were occupied by chambers, as to the purpose of which details are given in the Mishnah. With regard to the more precise location of these temple courts, the present writer in the series of essays above referred to (see esp. Exp. Times, xx. 181 ff.),1 has endeavoured to prove that the whole fortress-sanctuary within the great walls stood on what is now the inner platform of the Haram, the present extended area of which is indicated by the double dotted line on the plan. According to the Mishnah (Middoth, ii. 5, 6) the upper and lower courts together formed a rectangle measuring 322 cubits from west to east by 135 cubits from north to south, the upper court 187 by 135, the lower 135 by 135. But, on the one hand, no account is taken of the gate-towers and priests' chambers which lined the courts, and on the other, the frequent recurrence of the number it and its multiples in the details which make up the above totals awakens suspicion as to their accuracy. The measurements of the accompanying plan are based on a critical comparison of the data of the Mishnah and those of Josephus with the relation of the whole to the altar on the sakhra (see next section). The total area covered by the sanctuary, including the terrace or khel, is entered as 315 cubits (462 ft.) across the rock from west to east, and 250 cubits (367 ft.) from north.to south (for the detailed measurements see Exp. Times, xx. 181 if., 271 ff.). The upper court shows an area of 170 cubits by 16o, the lower court has a free space between the colonnades of 135 cubits (the Mishnah figure) by an average width of Ho cubits. (c) The Altar of Burnt-offering.—Herod's great altar (D on the plan) was formed of unhewn stones, like that which preceded it. Its size, however, was increased till it formed a square, each side of which measured 32 cubits or 47 ft. at the base, thus occupying almost the whole of the exposed surface of the sakhra. The sides of the square decreased upwards by three stages until the altar-See also:hearth was only 24 cubits square. The priests went up by an inclined approach on the south side (cf. Exod. xx. 26). To the north was the place where the sacrificial victims were slaughtered and prepared for the altar (cf. Levit. i. II). It was provided with rings, pillars, hooks and tables. A laver (0 on the plan) for the priests' ablutions stood on the west of the altar ramp. (d) The Temple Building.—A few yards to the west of the altar rose the temple itself, a glittering See also:mass of white marble •t h so See also:ica .See also:Seth ofC 4/t& and gold. Twelve steps, corresponding to the height (12 half-cubits) of the platform, led up to the entrance to the porch. In the disposition of its parts Herod's temple was in all essential 1 A See also:summary of the results is given in the article " Temple " in See also:Hastings' Dict. of the Bible (1909). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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