small army of
priests were trained as masons and carpenters in order to do the work in
the immediate proximity of the temple. To bring the ancient temple into
proportions with the rest of his buildings, a huge porch or facade was
reared in front of it on the east, rising, according to Josephus, to the
height of one hundred and twenty feet. For the roof that covered the
porches he apparently brought cedar from the distant Lebanons. Only with
all the resources of the kingdom at his command was it possible to carry
through this vast enterprise.

III. The Approaches to the Temple. The entire temple area was
rectangular in form, about twelve hundred feet in length and six hundred
feet wide. Its chief approaches were on the south and west. A small gate
through which sacrificial animals were introduced immediately into the
temple precincts opened from the north. The one gate on the east, which
opened into the Kidron Valley, was apparently opposite the eastern
entrance to the temple. The two gates on the south opened toward the City
of David. The one was a double gate with an incline leading into the
temple area, and the other farther to the east was a triple gate. The main
approaches were from the west. The southern of these was a low viaduct
spanning the Kidron Valley and thence by steps or inclined approach
ascending to the temple area. Remnants of the arches that spanned the
valley at this point and a little farther north are still traceable on the
present walls of the temple area far down in the Tyropoean Valley. The
third approach farther to the north was probably also a viaduct leading
directly into the temple area, while the extreme northern approach,
according to Josephus, led from the palace of Herod directly to the
temple. The entire temple area was encircled by a colonnade. One row of
pillars was built into the high wall that surrounded the area. On the
south was found the royal porch with its four rows of columns, the first
and second about thirty feet apart, the second and third forty-five, and
the third and fourth thirty. The pillars on the sides were about
twenty-seven feet in height, while the two rows in the middle were double
this height. Each of these colonnades was covered with a richly ornamented
cedar roof, thus affording grateful shelter from the sun and storm. The
great space at the south of the temple area was the Court of the Gentiles,
the common park of the city where all classes of its population fre