Fig. 3.—Plan of Herod's Temple and Courts.
From the Dictionary of the Bible (1909),[1] by kind permission of T. & T. Clark.
(a) The Outer Court, its Gates and Colonnades.—The outer court of Zerubbabel's temple (500 × 500 cubits) was doubled in area according to Josephus (Bell. Jud. I. xxi. 1). The extension was principally on the south, which involved enormous substructions on both sides of the hill, in order to secure the necessary level 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 1000 ft. in all, meets the east wall of the Haram a little to the north of the Golden 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 bridge or viaduct which spanned the Tyropoeon at the spot marked by Wilson's arch. It is first mentioned in connexion with the siege of Pompey in 63 B.C., and according to the Mishnah it bore the name of the Gate of Kiponos (probably Coponius, the first procurator of Judea). Of the other three gates which Josephus assigns to this side (Ant. XV. xi. 5), the two leading to “the suburb” necessarily lay further north; one is represented by the old entrance now named Warren's gate, the other has not been identified. Josephus' third gate which led to the “other” or lower city was undoubtedly Barclay's gate, and not, as is usually maintained, an entrance from Robinson's arch. In the south wall were two gates—the Huldah or “mole” gates of the Mishnah (Middoth, i. 3)—represented by the present “double” and “triple” gates. Like the three last mentioned they had to be placed at the foot of the lofty retaining wall. From either gate a double ramp, which passed under the royal porch, led into the court in the direction shown on the accompanying plan. The Mishnah also names the “Shushan gate” on the east and the “Tadi gate” on the north.
Round the four sides of the great court ran a 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 aisle; the eastern colonnade bore the old name of “Solomon's Porch” (John x. 23; Acts iii. 11). The southern portico was still more imposing and magnificent.
It had three aisles formed by four rows of monolithic marble columns of the Corinthian order,[3] the first row engaged in the south wall of the court. The two side aisles were 30 ft. in width, the central aisle half as wide again (45 ft.); the height of the former may be estimated at circa 60 ft., that of the latter at 100 ft. (Exp. Times, xx. 68 f.). The roofs were formed of deeply coffered cedar beams, that of the centre aisle being supported on pillars partly engaged in an ornamental stone balustrade. The “royal porch,” as it was termed, worthily represents the high-water mark of Herod's architectural achievements in connexion with the reconstruction of the temple.
(b) The Inner Courts and Gates.—To the outer court Jew and 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 sōrēg, which bore at intervals notices in the Greek tongue warning all Gentiles against advancing further on pain of death. Beyond the sōrēg a narrow stone terrace, approached by flights of steps, was carried round all sides of the sanctuary 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 H1 to H9 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 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 brass, the gift of a certain 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 women (A) since women as well as men were admitted to this court, which indeed was the regular place of 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 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”
- ↑ Which see for key to the several parts.
- ↑ The area of the “court of the Gentiles,” including the walls, was thus 800 cubits in length from N. to S., with an average width of circa 650 cubits of 17·6 in.—the present south wall measures 922 ft.—i.e., circa 520,000 sq. cubits as compared with the former area of 250,000, a remarkable confirmation of Josephus' statement as to the doubling of the temple courts. For the statements and measurements in this and the following sections differing from those of previous writers, reference may be made to the series of preliminary studies entitled “Some Problems of Herod's Temple,” by the present writer, which appeared in The Expository Times, vol. xx (1908-1909), pp. 24 ff., 66 ff., 181 ff., 270 ff.
- ↑ One such gigantic monolith was discovered a few years ago in a disused quarry (see Exp. Times, xx. 69).
- ↑ For this triple identification see Schürer's essay, Zeits. f. neutest. Wiss. (1906), 51-58; Berto, Rev. des études juives, lix. (1910), 30 f.; also Exp. Times, xx. 270 f.
