Ashes of the Parah Adumah

In Temple times the concept of tumah and taharah [ritual purity] was a daily concern, affecting people, utensils, and food. It was given special attention at this time of year as people began preparing to ascend to the Temple for the Festival of Succos and needed to be tahor [ritually pure] in order to do so. Tumah [contamination] comes in many forms and its severity depends upon the source of the contamination. The most severe form of tumah is that which derives from contact with, or being under the same roof as, a human corpse. According to Jewish law the only way to become purified from corpse tumah is to be sprinkled with spring water which has been mixed with the ashes of a parah adumah [red cow].

Mount of Olives (Wikimedia Commons)

The preparation of the parah adumah took place on the Mount of Olives east of the Temple. After the cow was slaughtered and burned, its ashes were divided into three parts. One third of the ashes was kept in a secure location on the Mount of Olives itself, another third was kept in the Temple (see below), and the remaining ashes were distributed among the twenty-four watches of Kohanim. The leaders of these watches would take the ashes to their hometowns in order to provide purification to people in their region of the country, thereby sparing them the need to travel all the way to Jerusalem.

The ashes of the parah adumah were stored in a stone jug
just outside the gate leading into the Women's Courtyard.

The stone jug holding the ashes stored in the Temple was kept in a niche in the wall just outside the gate of the Women's Courtyard (Tiferes Yisrael to Parah 3:3 #23).

Which Temple is Tractate Middos Describing?

Tractate Middos describes the Second Temple, but it is not immediately obvious which Second Temple is being described, for this building underwent a major renovation during which some modifications were introduced to the overall design. At the conclusion of the Babylonian exile, the Jews returned to Jerusalem in 353 BCE and built the Second Temple. This structure stood until 19 BCE when it was taken down and built anew by the Roman governor Herod (See Bava Basra 3b-4a for the story of why Herod took it upon himself to rebuild the Temple.) His purpose was simply to refurbish the Temple which had fallen into disrepair and in this he was successful, as the Gemara states, “Whoever has not seen the Temple [as rebuilt by Herod] has not seen a majestic building” (Sukkah 51b). Even so, there is evidence that he engineered more than just aesthetic improvements. A comparison of the two first-hand accounts of the Second Temple — Tractate Middos written by the Tanna R' Eliezer ben Yaakov and the works of Flavius Josephus — reveals a number of significant differences. These differences collectively suggest that Tractate Middos and Josephus are describing two separate structures. Consider the following:

1. Middos 2:1 states that the the Temple Mount measured 500 amos by 500 amos, while Josephus writes that Herod undertook to rebuild the Temple “larger in compass” and so expanded the original dimensions of the Temple Mount (Antiquities, XV 11:1). The current shape of the Temple Mount (as rebuilt by Herod) is trapezoidal and measures 1601 feet on the west, 922 feet on the south, 1530 feet on the east, and 1042 feet on the north (Resnick, Holy Temple). Contemporary opinions on the size of an amah are in the range of 18-24 inches; 500 amos would therefore be equivilant to between 750 and 1000 feet. Thus, not only is the Herodian Temple Mount not square, but its eastern and western sides are clearly longer than 500 amos.

2. Middos 1:3 states that there was one gate in the western wall of the the Temple Mount, while Josephus says that there were four (Antiquities, XV 11:5).

Israel Museum model of the Herodian Second Temple. To the left of center is the western Temple Mount wall and the elevated walkways provide access to two of the four gates leading into the Herodian Temple Mount from this side.

3. Middos 2:6 states that there were two gates in the western wall of the Courtyard, while Josephus does not mention any gates in this wall.

4. Middos 1:3 states that the eastern gate of the the Temple Mount featured above it a design of Shushan, the Persian capital. According to most commentators (Rav, Tosafos Yom Tov, Rambam, Meleches Shlomo) the purpose of this design was to instill in the people an awe of the Persian Empire which controlled the region at the time. It would be a strange thing indeed for Herod, a Roman governor, to reconstruct this monument paying tribute to a defeated foreign power.

     Aside from the examples above which come from the Mishnah itself, Tiferes Yisrael's commentary (whose view I follow in my computer model) also deviates from the account of Josephus and the archeological record:

5. In Middos 2:5 §37 he concludes that there was but one gate, located in the east, which provided access to the Women's Courtyard from the Temple Mount, while Josephus writes that there were additional gates in the north and south (Wars, V 5:2).

Israel Museum model showing the Women's Courtyard from the northeast. Aside from the entrance into the Women's Courtyard from the east there were additional entrances in its northern and southern walls.

6. In Middos Diagram §8 he writes that the entire expanse of the the Temple Mount up to the walls of the Temple was covered by a roof, while Josephus makes no mention of what was certainly a  remarkable architectural achievement.

7. In Middos 2:3 §26 he writes that all the gateways of the Temple had frames with diagonal cornerpieces, copying the design used by King Solomon in the First Temple, while archaeological evidence shows that typical Herodian gateways lacked such a feature.

Israel Museum model, southern wall of the Temple Mount, showing typical Herodian-style gateways.

8. In Middos 1:6 §(5) he writes that the walls of the Temple were comprised of a repeating pattern of three courses of stone followed by one course of wood, while Josephus and the archaeological evidence show the walls to be of solid stone.

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SUMMARY A comparison of the text of Tractate Middos and the works of Josephus indicates that the the two sources are describing different buildings.

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Columns of the Temple

Just inside the walls of the Temple Mount ran a cedar-covered portico supported by marble columns.

View of the Israel Museum Temple model. Columns of the Temple Mount
are visible on the left side of this photo.

Josephus writes that the columns of the Herodian Temple were hewn from single blocks of white marble whose natural beauty rendered additional carvings or painting unnecessary. In Herod's palace at Masada there are similar columns, each of which was comprised of drum-shaped sections which were fitted together and plastered. This outer surface was then carved and painted to appear as a single piece of stone. The same technique may have been used in the Temple, fooling the eye of Josephus and testifying to the Herodian artisans' mastery of their craft.

The design of the columns which I use in my computer model is based on archeological evidence found in Persepolis (in modern Iran), the capital of the Persian Empire. The Jewish artisans who returned from the Persian-held lands to Jerusalem may have borrowed elements of the royal architecture they saw in Persepolis and incorporated this style into the columns of the Second Temple.

Column of the Second Temple

The columns stood 25 amos tall and each measured "as wide as three men can reach." A man’s reach is about 4 amos, thus the columns had a circumference of 12 amos and a diameter of 3.8 amos. The columns were spaced approximately 15 amos apart (on centers) and arranged in three rows along the walls of the Temple Mount, with the first row of columns engaged with (partially set into) those walls.

Sefer Ezras Kohanim — ספר עזרת כהנים

The work Ezras Kohanim by R' Yehoshua Yosef HaKohen (originally printed in Warsaw, 1873) is an indispensable tool and resource for any serious student of Tractate Middos. The author cites an impressive variety of sources related to the Mishnah, many of them hard to find and/or out of print, and spends much time analyzing the various opinions, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of each. There are also numerous diagrams throughout the text.

This work was recently reprinted in a two-volume set by Mifal Torah Hamikdash, under the guidance of Rabbi Avrohom Yeshayah Neuwirth. The difference between the printings available up till now and this new one is like night and day and much credit is due Rabbi Neuwirth for all of his efforts in making this remarkable sefer more accessible to the public.

Animated Temple Tour Intro

In addition to the still images which I use in my Beis Hamikdash slideshows, I have also been interested in using the same virtual model to create an animated tour of the Mikdash. Here is an idea I have for part of the opening title sequence. Like all of my other 3D shots, this is modeled and rendered in Cinema 4D.

View of the Short Columns

To the north of the Altar, within the butchering area, were eight short columns from which the sacrificial animals would be hung for flaying. The columns were shorter than a man’s height and topped by a square piece of heavy cedar. This block of wood was not fastened to the columns but remained in place due to its own weight. Along three sides of the cedar block, except for the western side, were affixed a row of three iron hooks. One handbreadth of the hook protruded from the block and 2 handbreadths were embedded in the wood.

View of the Salt Chamber

Early in the morning a Kohen prepares a supply of salt for the day's service.

Shown is the interior of the Salt Chamber. It was located in the southeastern corner of the Courtyard and served as a repository of a large quantity of salt. The Temple used this salt for three main purposes: 1) to apply to every offering which was burned on the Altar; 2) to sprinkle on the Altar's ramp to absorb the oils and blood which spilled there and thereby prevent the Kohanim from slipping; 3) to tan the hides of sacrificial animals.



salt2 from Yoav Elan on Vimeo.

Sun Study of the Temple Walls: Other Issues

In the previous post I used a sun study of the Temple walls to help determine whether the interior wall height of the Courtyard was 40 amos or 70 amos. As I described there, this was based on the premise that the second row of rings from the Altar must be exposed to direct sunlight even on the shortest day of winter. After watching the sun study animation I thought that this criterion could be used in other places where the exact Temple measurements are disputed to rule out one or more of the opinions.

The first question I wanted to address is how the 24 rings to the north of the Altar were oriented. The Mishnah tells us that the rings were arranged on the floor of the Courtyard in a number of rows running from east to west and that these rows either contained 4 rings each or 6 rings each. All agree that the total length from north to south allowed for the rings is 24 amos and that the distance between the Altar and the first row of rings is 8 amos.


• Opinion #1 Each row had 6 rings from east to west. There were 4 rows in total and the space between the row centers would be 8 amos. This would put the second row of rings 16 amos (8 + 8 = 16) away from the northern edge of the Altar.


• Opinion #2 Each row had 4 rings from east to west. There were 6 rows in total and the space between the row centers would be 4.8 amos. This would put the second row of rings 12.8 amos (8 + 4.8 = 12.8) away from the northern edge of the Altar.

There does not seem to be any indication in the sources that the orientation of the rows would make any practical difference. If, however, it can be shown  that one of these orientations fails to have the second row of rings in full sunlight during the shortest days of winter then this orientation may be ruled out.

Once the height of the Courtyard walls have been set at 40 amos, the shadow cast by the Altar becomes the most influential factor. The closer the second row of rings is to the Altar, the more likely it is to fall within that shadow, and it is therefore Opinion #2 which stands to be eliminated. Well, upon closer inspection I see that Opinion #2 is the one I used in my original sun study and the second row of rings was clearly in direct sunlight. So it emerges that both opinions meet the criterion and neither can be eliminated on the basis of the Altar's shadow.

The other question is the north-to-south placement of the Altar within the Courtyard. Although the dimensions of the Courtyard are given in the Mishnah, some details are omitted, and one of those details is how far the Altar was from the southern Courtyard wall. Various opinions are given among the commentators, but the shortest distance on record is that of the Tanna, R' Eliezer ben Yaakov, who maintains that the Altar was only 5.5 amos from the southern wall. If it can be shown that when the Altar is this close to the south, the shadow of the southern wall falls upon the second row of rings then this opinion may be ruled out. Here is another sun study animation with the Altar placed according to the opinion of R' Eliezer ben Yaakov:



As it turns out, the shadow of the southern wall does not approach the rings at all, and thus we must conclude that the sun study cannot shed any light upon the issue of where the Altar was placed.

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SUMMARY The sun study of the Temple walls does not help determine the orientation of the 24 rings north of the Altar nor does it help determine the north-south placement of the Altar.

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Height of the Temple Walls

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SUMMARY There are two main views regarding the height of the Courtyard walls: 40 amos or 70 amos. Two proofs, including a sun study of the Temple walls, show that the height was most likely 40 amos.

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Tour of the Temple: Class 15

The Tauim and Upper Level of the Sanctuary

Exterior of the Sanctuary Building
as viewed from the southwest

Outside the walls of the Sanctuary were three levels of small storage chambers called tau'im (sing., tau) which held the treasures of the Temple. In the north and south each level was divided into five rooms while in the west there were three rooms on each of the first two levels and two rooms on the top level, for a total of 38 tau'im.

While most of the 38 tau'im had just three openings, the northeastern tau on the middle level had five: one opening east to the Antechamber, one opening west to the adjoining tau, one to the Holy in the south, one to the winding ramp in the north (see below), and one to the tau above. This tau was entered each morning in order to open the Sanctuary doors. First, the Levi unlocked the small eastern door by kneeling down and putting his arm through a hole in the wall near the door and inserting the key into the lock from the inside. Once this door was unlocked, he entered the tau and then unlocked the southern door to the Holy whose lock was directly before him. Now in the Holy, he would remove the bolts and open the keyed locks of the Sanctuary’s inner set of doors and swing them open and then repeat the procedure for the outer doors. Outside this tau’s northern door was a 6-cubit ladder leading down to the foot of the winding ramp at the floor of the Courtyard.


North of the 5-cubit (7½-foot) thick wall around the tau'im was a gap, 3 cubits (4½ feet) wide, which housed the winding ramp. A ramp began here at the floor of the Courtyard in front of the bottom, northeast tau and rose due west to the roof of the top, northwest tau. To the north of the ramp was another 5-cubit wall, equal in height to the top of the tau'im, which acted as a protective fence for those walking on the ramp.


Upon reaching the top of the winding ramp one would find himself on the roof of the top, northwest tau. Like all accessible roofs, those of the tau'im had a fence around their perimeter for safety. From here one would walk south along the roofs of the western tau'im to the southwest corner of the Sanctuary Building. In the south, corresponding to the winding ramp in the north, was a 3-cubit space called the Place of Drainage Water. Rainwater which drained off the roofs of the Sanctuary and tau'im was directed to a pool of water here. To the south of the Place of Drainage Water was a 5-cubit wall like that of the winding ramp, added both for symmetry and support.



Starting at the southwest corner of the Sanctuary Building was a ramp which rose due east from the roof of the top, southwest tau up to the door of the  second story of the Sanctuary. All the dimensions of the second story — height, width, and length — matched those of the first level. The interior was similarly decorated with gold plating and carvings. Opinions vary as to what may have been stored there, from vessels of the Tabernacle to sacred writings. 

Above the Holy of Holies were openings in the floor of the second story spaced an arm’s reach apart. When repair work had to be done in the Holy of Holies, workers would be lowered down through these openings in three-sided boxes so that they would not be able to see any more of the Holy of Holies than absolutely necessary for their work.

Immediately inside the door to the second story were two very thick vertical beams, 40 cubits (60 feet) tall, which were connected by rungs to form a sturdy ladder up to the roof of the Sanctuary Building. This roof was covered with iron tiles, 1 cubit (1½ feet) square, and protruding from these tiles were sharp iron spikes, 1 cubit tall, designed to keep birds from landing on the Sanctuary Building and soiling it.

Tour of the Temple: Class 14

The Holy of Holies

Beyond the Holy was 1 cubit (1½ feet) of space called the Traksin which divided the Holy from the Holy of Holies. This word is derived from the Greek, connoting a place which is both inside and outside, since it divided between the inside—the Holy of Holies—and the outer Holy. In the First Temple there was a wall built in this space with a doorway opening to the Holy of Holies. However, in the Second Temple the ceiling of the Sanctuary was 40 cubits (60 feet) high, 10 cubits (15 feet) higher than in the First Temple, and it was not possible at that time to construct a structurally sound wall which was 40 cubits tall and only 1 cubit thick. They could not make the wall any thicker since that would take away space from either the Holy or the Holy of Holies, the dimensions of which were not subject to modification. Therefore, they hung two curtains across the Holy in place of the original wall to act as the divider. One curtain would have sufficed but for their uncertainty as to whether that wall was considered part of the Holy or the Holy of Holies, thus they hung two curtains on either side of the Traksin and left that 1 cubit as undefined.

Each curtain was 20 cubits wide, 40 cubits tall, and 1 handbreadth thick. They were woven of wool dyed with many colors at an incredible cost of 820,000 golden dinars (according to one opinion). It was described as “the most praiseworthy item in the world.” Spanning the top was a band of gold, 2 handbreadths tall and 2 fingerbreadths thick, which kept it taut so that the entire width of the Holy was covered (the curtain of the Antechamber also had such a feature).

The outer curtain was folded back at the southern end and held by a golden band and the inner curtain was similarly folded back at the northern end. This allowed the Kohen Gadol to walk between them without having to open them manually as he entered the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur while at the same time they completely blocked off the interior of the Holy of Holies from the view of anyone standing in the Holy.

The innermost chamber of the Sanctuary was the Holy of Holies. It measured 20 cubits (30 feet) square and, like the Holy, was plated with gold and set with precious stones. Protruding 3 fingerbreadths (2¼ inches) above the floor was the Foundation Stone and on this stone they placed the Ark during the First Temple era. In the Second Temple the Holy of Holies was empty since the Ark had been concealed in a labyrinth of underground tunnels before the First Temple was destroyed. The Holy of Holies also had windows which, according to Josephus, were angled so that no one could see in from the outside.

Tour of the Temple: Class 13

The Sanctuary

Looking west within the Holy.
Inner Altar is in the center.

Separating the Sanctuary from the Antechamber was a 6-cubit (9-foot) thick wall and centered in this wall was the single doorway to the Sanctuary. It had two doorposts and a mantel and measured 10 cubits wide and 20 cubits tall (15 feet by 30 feet). Two sets of double doors were hung in this doorway, one set at the eastern edge of the doorway closer to the Antechamber, and one set at the western edge closer to the Sanctuary. Just in front of the outer doors hung a curtain which was raised and lowered very much like a stage curtain by means of ropes. Normally the curtain was left open so as not to hinder the Kohanim as they came and went from the Sanctuary during the sacrificial service. However, when the Kohen Gadol wished to enter the Sanctuary alone, his assistant would stand outside the doorway and lower the curtain to give him privacy. Upon hearing the bells of the Kohen Gadol’s tunic as he retreated towards the entrance the assistant would raise the curtain once again.

Inside the Sanctuary was the Holy, 20 cubits wide, 40 cubits long, and 40 cubits high (30 feet by 60 feet by 60 feet). As in the Antechamber, the interior was plated with gold and magnificently decorated. Covering the floor were wooden panels plated with gold. The only part not covered with gold was the area hidden behind the inner Sanctuary doors when they were open. Since this area was not visible while the doors were open, plating it with gold would have served no purpose and the Torah does not needlessly waste the money of the Jews.

View of the Golden Table from Yoav Elan on Vimeo.

The Holy housed the Menorah [candelabra], the Table [which held the loaves of Showbread], and the Inner Altar [for the offering of incense], with the Menorah in the south, the Table in the north, and the Inner Altar centered between them and slightly off towards the east.

Each of these vessels was an exact replica of those built by Moses for the Tabernacle. Unlike the Laver which may actually have been Moses’ original, the Menorah and Table were only duplicates since the originals were hidden before the destruction of the First Temple. All three of these vessels were placed in the middle third of the Sanctuary’s length with the Menorah in the south, the Table in the north, and the Inner Altar centered between them and slightly off towards the east. King Solomon fashioned ten copies of both the Menorah and the Table which were arranged in rows of five on either side of the originals, and the same practice was followed in the Second Temple.

There were twelve windows in the Sanctuary corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. It was common at the time to construct windows with narrow outer openings and wide inner openings, both for security purposes and to allow more light to enter the room. The windows of the Sanctuary were designed with the narrow openings on the inside and the wide openings on the outside to symbolize that the Temple, far from needing light, was the source of light for the world.

Tour of the Temple: Class 12

The Antechamber

Looking west towards the face of the Antechamber.
Altar is in the foreground

To the west of the Altar stood the massive entrance hall of the Sanctuary Building called the Antechamber. It measured 100 cubits (150 feet) wide and towered 100 cubits above the floor of the Courtyard. Leading up to the large central doorway was a set of twelve steps which ran the entire width of the building. Like all the steps in the Temple these steps were half a cubit (9 inches) high while the lengths of the steps varied. The first two steps were 1 cubit (1½ feet) long and the third step was 3 cubits (4½ feet) long. This pattern repeated itself four times, save for the very top step which was 4 cubits (6 feet) long. Being that there were 22 cubits (33 feet) between the Antechamber and the Altar and these steps took up 21 of those cubits, only 1 cubit (1½ feet) of walking space was left between the first step and the Yesod of the Altar.

On these steps towards the south stood the Laver where the Kohanim sanctified their hands and feet for the sacrificial service. The Laver was a sanctified vessel and the law dictates that anything suitable for a sanctified vessel which was left inside that vessel overnight becomes unfit for use in the Temple. This would have required the Kohanim to empty the water in the Laver each night and refill it the next day which is both degrading to the sanctified water of the Laver and a time-consuming task. To avoid this, they took advantage of the fact that if the water in the Laver were to be connected to the water table its sanctity would be nullified and thus would not become unfit for use if left out overnight. To this end they dug a pit in the floor of the Courtyard and directed a stream of water through it. The Laver was lowered into this pit where it remained submerged in, hence connected to, the stream overnight and the water inside was thus prevented from becoming unfit and could be used the next day.

The Laver and Muchni

A rope and pulley system called the Muchni was used to raise and lower the Laver. It was a permanent structure, made of wood, and had a ratchet or gear purposely designed to generate a lot of noise as it operated. The Laver could be raised by just one person, quite a feat of engineering considering that the Laver, when full of water, weighed over 2½ tons!


At the top of the steps leading up to the Antechamber was its large gateway. This gateway was the largest in the Temple, measuring 20 cubits wide and 40 cubits high (30 feet by 60 feet). Queen Heleni [the queen of Adiabene, a province in the Middle East, who converted to Judaism in the Second Temple era] donated a golden candelabra which was mounted on the roof of the Antechamber and centered in the eastern wall. Each morning the rays of the rising sun would strike this candelabra, causing it to shine and sparkle, which was the signal for the people of Jerusalem that the time of reciting the morning Shema had arrived. [The Shema prayer must be recited once each morning — at a certain time — and again in the evening.]

Interior of the Antechamber, looking north

Inside the entrance to the Antechamber was its main hall, 11 cubits (16½ feet) long and 60 cubits (90 feet) wide. Every inch of the walls and floor was plated with brilliant gold and decorated with carvings of flowers, palm trees, and cherubs, all connected by a network of chain designs and set with precious stones.

In the north and south of the Antechamber were two chambers called Chambers of the Knives where they kept the knives used for slaughtering sacrifices. Each of the twenty-four watches of Kohanim had private cabinets for their knives (twelve in the north chamber and the other twelve in the south) and these were set into the walls of the chambers. The southern chamber was also used as permanent storage of knives which became unfit for use. They would not be fixed since one operating principle of the Temple was, “there are no displays of poverty in a place of affluence.”

Above the doorway of the Sanctuary, inside the Antechamber, was a large grapevine of solid gold weighing over 25 tons. Donations of gold and other precious materials such as carbuncles, sapphires, and diamonds, were presented in the shape of leaves, individual grapes, or whole clusters (some of which were as tall as a man). These additions were hung upon the vine until they were needed for repairs to the structure or to support poor Kohanim. The vine itself was suspended from strong cedar poles, similar to a real grapevine.

Tour of the Temple: Class 11

The Butchering Area

The Butchering Area north of the Altar

At a distance of 8 cubits (12 feet) from the northern edge of the Altar were twenty-four iron rings set into the floor of the Courtyard where animals would be held during slaughter. The rings took up an area of 24 cubits (36 feet) square, arranged in six rows north to south of four rings each (the four rings ran east-to-west). Each ring was a half-circle, hinged on one side so that the other side could be lifted for the animal’s head to be inserted and then locked down. The rings were oriented so that the animal would be facing south when put into the ring. Each watch of Kohanim was assigned their own ring which they would use during their shift. The exception to the above was the Tamid offering [the continual offering brought twice daily] which was always slaughtered in a specific ring in the morning and a specific ring in the afternoon, regardless of which watch was on duty.

The eight short stone columns north of the rings were much shorter than a man’s height and topped by a heavy piece of square cedar. This block of wood was not fastened to the columns but remained in place under its own weight. Along each of the three sides of the cedar block, save for the west, were affixed a row of iron hooks from which the animals were hung for skinning. These hooks protruded one handbreadth (3 inches) from the blocks of wood. There were similar hooks in the walls of the Courtyard which were used for skinning the Pesach sacrifice. It is not clear how many of these additional hooks there were, but presumably there were enough to cater to the multitudinous crowds that filled the Courtyard before Pesach.

There were eight stone tables near the columns used to support large animals during the skinning, to rest knives upon, and to wash the innards upon. More analogous to small footstools, the tables measured just 1 cubit tall and 1 cubit square (1½ feet per side).

Tour of the Temple:Class 10

The Altar

The Outer Altar of the Temple

The Outer Altar served as the focal point of the sacrificial service. [The smaller, Inner Altar — located within the Sanctuary Building — was used for offering incense.] After an animal offering was slaughtered, its blood was applied to the walls of the Altar and certain parts of the animal were then burned on the fires located on the Altar's top.

The Altar was a three-tiered structure made of stones held together with cement and coated with plaster. The first tier was called the Yesod, or base, and measured 32 cubits (48 feet) square and 1 cubit (1½ feet) high. It only protruded from the body of the Altar on the west and north. Above the Yesod was the Sovev, or ledge [since it formed a ledge upon which the Kohanim would walk], measuring 30 cubits (45 feet) square and 5 cubits (7½ feet) high. Above the Sovev was the top level, called the Altar, measuring 28 cubits (42 feet) square and 3 cubits (4½ feet) high. On the four corners of the Altar were extensions called Keranos (sing., Keren), meaning horns [since they protruded upward like the horn from the head of an animal] which were hollow and open on top, 1 cubit square and 1 cubit high (1½ feet per side).

On the top of the Altar, starting near the outer edge, the first 2 cubits (3 feet) were depressed into the top, leaving a small lip around the edge of the Altar to prevent the Kohanim from falling off (there was a similar feature around the edge of the Sovev). The Kohanim would walk within this channel as they performed their various tasks on the top of the Altar.

Three different fires were kept burning on the Altar every day. The largest one was located on the eastern side and everything brought to the top of the Altar to be burned was placed on this fire. Each morning this fire would be rebuilt by laying down two logs, parallel to each other, and then stacking two more logs on top, perpendicular to the first two, to form a square. A few more layers were added to make it very large.

The second fire provided the coals used in offering the incense. The size of the incense fire was large enough to produce 5 se’ah (1.5 cubic feet) of coals per day and 8 se’ah (2.3 cubic feet) of coals on the Sabbath.

The third fire was a maintenance fire, the pilot light of the Altar whose purpose was to fulfill the requirement of maintaining a “constant flame” (Leviticus 6:6) on the Altar. If the main fire would go out they would relight it from this small fire.

Near the southwest Keren on the top of the Altar were two silver bowls. These bowls were receptacles for the libations which were offered on the Altar: water libations were poured into the western bowl and wine libations into the eastern one. Water libations, offered only on Succos, were brought together with the wine libations and both were poured into their respective bowls simultaneously. In order for them to empty at the same rate, the drain in the wine bowl was made slightly wider than the drain in the water bowl to account for the difference in viscosity. The drains of both bowls led down through the Altar to a deep subterranean hollow under the southwest Keren of the Altar.

On the southwest corner of the Yesod were two round depressions with small holes at the bottom which served as drains. Both drains were located towards the southern edge of that corner with the eastern drain being further south than the western drain. Blood poured on the western Yesod flowed along the top of the Yesod via a channel which directed it to the western drain. Blood poured on the southern Yesod (i.e. directly on the southwest corner) flowed into the eastern drain. This eastern drain also had a channel leading to it since the drains themselves were very small and it would be impossible to pour the blood directly into such a small hole.

In the Courtyard was a channel of flowing water called the Amah [“cubit”] — 1 cubit wide and 1 cubit deep, hence the name. This channel started near the southwest corner of the Altar and ran due south to the Water Gate. When the Kohanim wished to clean the floor of the Courtyard they would block the pipe of the Amah at the Water Gate, causing the water to back up and flood the Courtyard. The pipe was then reopened and all the refuse would be carried away with the water. Directly under the southwest corner of the Yesod was a small hollow, called the Shis, which was connected underground to the nearby Amah. All the blood poured on the Altar would run down the two drainage holes into the Shis and from there into the Amah. This blood-enriched water would be carried out to the Kidron Valley where it was sold to farmers as fertilizer with the proceeds going to the Temple.

The Torah requires that the Kohanim ascend the Altar via a ramp, as opposed to steps. The main access ramp of the Altar was centered on its southern side and measured 32 cubits (48 feet) long, 16 cubits (24 feet) wide, and 9 cubits (13½ feet) tall. The main ramp was flanked by two smaller ramps. On the eastern side was a ramp to the Sovev and on the western side a ramp to the Yesod.