1. The temple, as noted above, was built on the ridge of a strongly fortified hill. [23] At first, its top was barely enough for the church itself and the altar, since the hill was sloping and steep on all sides. But after King Solomon, the first founder of the temple, strengthened the eastern part of the hill with a wall, another colonnade was built on the earthen mound; [336] On the other sides, the church was still open. In the following centuries, the people expanded the surface of the hill more and more by means of permanent embankments; then they broke down the northern side and cut off as much space as later made up the entire volume of the temple. After the Jews had strengthened the hill from its very foot with a triple terrace-like wall, and had completed the construction that surpassed all expectations, for which long ages and all the sacred treasures that flowed from all over the world had been used, they built the upper space and the lower temple place. The lowest part of the temple rested on a foundation three hundred cubits high, and in some places even more. But not the full depth of this remarkable foundation was visible, for for the most part the ravine was filled in order to equalize it with the streets of the city. The rocks used for the foundation were forty cubits in size. The abundance of money and the zeal of the people greatly accelerated the progress of the work, and, thanks to this unflagging perseverance, in the course of time a structure was erected which had not even been hoped to be completed before.

2. The buildings erected on it were also worthy of such a foundation. All the galleries were double, twenty-five-cubit pillars, on which they rested, each consisting of one piece of the whitest marble; they were covered with ceilings of cedar wood. The high value of this material, the beautiful decoration and harmonious combination of it presented a majestic appearance, although neither the brush of the artist nor the chisel of the sculptor adorned the buildings from the outside. The width of each gallery reached thirty cubits, and their entire volume, including the castle of Antonia, was calculated in six stadia. Uncovered courtyard places were paved everywhere with multi-colored mosaics. Between the first and second consecrated places stretched a stone fence, very elegantly finished, three cubits high. At regular intervals there were pillars on it, on which was written in Greek and Roman the law of purification, which stated that a stranger should not enter the sanctuary, for this second sacred place was called a sanctuary. [24] It was fourteen steps above the first place. The sanctuary was a quadrangle surrounded by a special wall. The outer height of the latter, although it reached forty cubits, was not visible because of the steps that covered it; but inside the wall was only twenty-five cubits; for since the wall was built on a high place, to which it climbed by steps, the whole [337] of its interior was not visible, because the hill covered it. The staircase ended at the top with a platform that had ten cubits up to the wall. From here, other staircases, five steps each, led to the gate, of which there were eight on the north and south (four on each side), and two on the east. So many gates were needed here, since on this side there was a fenced place intended for worship for women; therefore, a second gate was needed here, cut in the wall against the first; and on the other sides, i.e. in the south and north, a special gate led to the women's narthex; Through the other gate, women were not allowed to enter, just as they were not allowed to leave their porch into other parts of the temple. This place was equally open to native and foreign Jewish women without distinction. The western side had no gates, the wall closed it tightly. The galleries between the gates on the inner side of the wall and leading to the treasury rested on a number of large and extremely beautiful pillars. However, in addition to size, they were not inferior in all other respects to those in the lower courtyard.

3. Nine of these gates were covered from top to end with gold and silver, as well as the jambs and lintels; some of them, which were outside the temple, were even of Corinthian copper,25 and far exceeded the value of silver-plated and gilded ones. Each gate consisted of two halves, thirty cubits high and fifteen wide. Inside the gates on both sides were spacious rooms like towers, thirty cubits wide and more than forty high. Each of these towers was supported by two columns of twelve cubits in volume. All the gates were of the same size; only those that were on top of the Corinthian gates, on the eastern side of the women's narthex, opposite the temple gates, were much larger; they were fifty cubits high, and the doors forty cubits wide; were covered with thicker silver and gold sheets, and the ornaments on them were even more magnificent than on the others. This metal cladding was donated for the nine gates to Alexander, the father of Tiberius. [26] Fifteen steps led from the wall that formed the border of the women's porch to the large gate, five steps less than those that led to the rest of the gate.

4. Twelve steps led to the temple building itself, which rose in the middle, that is, to the sanctuary. The pediment of the building [338] was, both in height and in breadth, a hundred cubits; and the back was forty cubits narrower; for on both sides of the pediment protruded two wings, each twenty cubits wide. The front side of this gate was all covered with gold, and through it one could see the entire interior of the first and large section of the temple. Inside the gate, everything around shone with gold. The interior of the temple was thus divided into two sections; but only the front remained open, which was ninety cubits high, fifty long, and twenty wide. The gate which led to this compartment was, as stated above, entirely gilded, as was the whole wall which bordered it. Above them were golden vines, from which hung tassels of human height. Of the two sections of the temple building, the inner one was lower than the outer one. Into it led golden doors, fifty-five cubits high and sixteen wide; Above them hung a Babylonian curtain of equal size, variegated in hyacinth,[27] linen,[28] sharlach,[29] and purple,[30] woven with extraordinary elegance, and striking the eye with a remarkable mixture of fabrics. This curtain was to serve as a symbol of the universe: the charlach signified fire, the fine linen the earth, the hyacinth the air, and the purple the sea; two of them are by similarity of color, and two, linen and purple, are of origin, for linen comes from the earth, and purple from the sea. The embroidery on the curtain represented the view of the entire sky, except for the signs of the zodiac. [31]

5. Through this entrance one entered the lower part of the temple building. The latter was sixty cubits high, the same length and twenty cubits wide; In its length, it was again divided into two sections: the first of them, separated from the second at a distance of forty cubits, contained three landmarking, world-famous works of art: a lampstand, a table, and an altar for incense. The seven lamps into which the lamp branched stood for the seven planets, the twelve loaves on the table — the zodiac and the year; the incense burner, filled with thirteen kinds of incense substances taken from the sea, uninhabited deserts and inhabited land, indicated that everything comes from God and belongs to God. The innermost part of the temple was twenty cubits[32] and was also separated from the outer part by a curtain. In fact, there was nothing here. [33] It remained forbidden, inviolable [339] and invisible to all. It was called the Holy of Holies. On the sides of the lower section of the temple there were many interconnected three-storey dwellings, which were accessible from both sides through special entrances. The upper part of the temple did not have any such extensions, since it was narrower and higher by almost forty cubits. At the same time, it was simpler to finish than the lower one. If we add the forty to sixty cubits from the ground, we get a total height of one hundred cubits.

6. The exterior of the temple presented everything that could only delight the eye and soul. Covered on all sides with heavy gold sheets, it shone in the morning sun with a bright fiery shine, dazzling to the eyes like the sun's rays. To strangers who came to worship in Jerusalem, from a distance it seemed covered with snow, for where it was not gilded, it was dazzlingly white. Its top was equipped with golden pointed needles so that the bird could not land on the temple and pollute it. 34 The blocks of stone of which it was built were up to forty-five cubits long, five thick, and six wide. And before him stood an altar fifteen cubits high, and the breadth and length of it were fifty cubits of equal size. It was a quadrangle and had horn-like protrusions at its corners, and a slightly rising terrace led to it from the south. It was built without an iron tool, and the iron never touched it. The church, together with the altar, was surrounded by an elegant lattice made of beautiful stones, about the elbow high, which separated the priests from the laity. The festering and lepers were forbidden to enter the city in general; women were not allowed to enter the temple during their month-long purification, but even when they were clean, they were forbidden to cross the above-mentioned boundary. Men, when they were not completely clean, were not to enter the inner court, just as priests were to do on such occasions.

7. Persons of priestly descent who, owing to some bodily defect, were unable to perform the sacred service, were kept inside the lattice near the physically irreproachable and also received parts of the sacrifices that belonged to them on account of their ancestral origin, but wore simple clothing, for only those who participated in the service were required to wear sacred vestments. At the altar and in the temple, only clean and blameless priests, dressed in fine linen, served; Out of reverence for their sacred duties, they especially abstained from the use of wine, so as not to violate any rite. The high priest ascended with them, but not every time, but only on Saturdays, new moons, annual feasts, and if any public festival was celebrated. He performed the sacred service in a belt that covered the body from the loins to the shins, in linen undergarments and hyacinth-blue, reaching to the feet, embracing the entire body, outer garments trimmed with tassels. Golden bells with granite apples were hung to the tassels alternately: the first as an emblem of thunder, the second as lightning. The bandage attaching the outer garment to the chest was a variegated fabric of five strips: gold, purple, charlach, fine linen, and hyacinth, the same fabrics of which, as mentioned above, the curtains of the temple were woven. On top of this, he also wore a robe over the shoulders, embroidered from the same colored fabrics with a predominance of gold. The cut of this vestment resembled a shell, two golden clasps fastened it, and in these golden clasps were set the most beautiful and greatest sardonyx, on which were carved the names of the tribes of the people. On the other side hung twelve other stones in four rows, three in each: carnelian, topaz, and smaragdus; carbuncle, jasper and sapphire; agate, amethyst and amber, onyx, beryl and chrysolite. [35] On each of these stones was one of the names of the tribes. His head was covered with a tiara woven of fine linen and hyacinth-blue fabric; it was wrapped around a golden diadem with inscribed sacred letters. These were four vowels. [36] He did not wear this vestment at all times, since a lighter garment was used for the usual wear, but only when he entered the Holy of Holies, and then only once a year, when all the Jews fasted in honor of God. [37] Of the city, the temple, and the customs and laws which concerned them, I shall speak still more at length, for much remains to be said about them.

8. The Castle of Antonia with two galleries and on the outer temple square, western and northern, formed a corner. It was built on a steep cliff on all sides, fifty cubits high. It was the work of King Herod, by which he proved his love of splendour. First of all, the rock was covered with smooth stone slabs from its very foot, partly for decoration, and partly so that those who tried to climb up or down would slide down from it. Then, in front of the castle building, a wall rose three cubits, within which the castle itself rose forty cubits. The interior was distinguished by the spaciousness and arrangement of the palace; It was divided into chambers of various types and purposes, into galleries, baths and spacious royal tents, so that the furnishings with all the amenities gave the castle the appearance of a city, and the splendor of the arrangement gave the appearance of a royal palace. On the whole it was in the form of a tower, but at its four corners it was again furnished with four towers, two of which were fifty cubits high, and the other two, namely, the lower and eastern ones, were seventy, so that from them it was possible to view the whole temple square. Where the castle came into contact with the temple galleries, stairs led from it to the latter, by which the soldiers of the Roman legion, which was always quartered in the castle, went down armed to place themselves in the galleries to watch over the people on holidays in order to prevent riots. Just as the temple served as a citadel for the city, so Antonia served as a citadel for the temple. It also housed a garrison for all three. [38] In addition, the Upper City had its own citadel, Herod's palace. The hill of Beceta, as stated above, was separated from Antonia; it was the highest of all the hills, and one part of it was connected with the Upper City. He alone also obscured the view of the temple from the north side. As I have in mind to speak of the city and the walls of each separately below, we may for the time being confine myself to what has been said.

Chapter Six

About the tyrants Simon and John. — How Nicanor was wounded during Titus' circumambulation of the wall, as a result of which the siege was intensified.