for those who resorted thither for prayer or for conference. The most magnificent of those

was the southern, or twofold double colonnade, with a wide space between; the most

venerable, the ancient 'Solomon's Porch,' or eastern colonnade. Entering from the Xystus

bridge, and under the tower of John,  51 one would pass along the southern colonnade (over

the tunnel of the Huldah-gates) to its eastern extremity, over which another tower rose,

probably 'the pinnacle' of the history of the Temptation. From this height yawned the

Kedron valley 450 feet beneath. From t hat lofty pinnacle the priest each morning watched

and announced the earliest streak of day. Passing along the eastern colonnade, or

Solomon's Porch, we would, if the description of the Rabbis is trustworthy, have reached

the Susa Gate, the carved representation of that city over the gateway reminding us of the

Eastern Dispersion. Here the standard measures of the Temple are said to have been kept;

and here, also, we have to locate the first or lowest of the three Sanhedrins, which,

according to the Mishnah,52 held their meetings in the Temple; the second, or

intermediate Court of Appeal, being in the 'Court of the Priests' (probably close to the

Nicanor Gate); and the highest, that of the Great Sanhedrin, at one time in the 'Hall of

Hewn Square Stones' (Lishkath ha-Gazith.)

Passing out of these 'colonnades,' or 'porches,' you entered the 'Court of the Gentiles,' or

what the Rabbis called 'the Mount of the House,' which was widest on the west side, and

more and more narrow respectively on the east, the south, and the north. This was called

the Chol, or 'profane' place to which Gentiles had access. Here must have been the market

for the sale of sacrificial animals, the tables of the money-changers, and places for the

sale of other needful articles.53 54 Advancing within this Court, you reached a low breast-

wall (the Soreg), which marked the space beyond which no Gentile, nor Levitically

unclean person, might proceed - tablets, bearing inscriptions to that effect, warning them

off. Thirteen openings admitted into the inner part of the Court. Thence fourteen steps led

up to the Chel or Terrace, which was bounded by the wall of the Temple-buildings in the

stricter sense. A flight of steps led up to the massive, splendid gates. The two on the west

side seem to have been of no importance, so far as the worshippers were concerned, and

probably intended for the use of workmen. North and south were four gates.55 But the

most splendid gate was that to the east, termed 'the Beautiful.'56