Guide
Temple and Priesthood
By Carol Bakhos
Related Primary Sources
Primary Source
Herod’s Renovation of the Temple
Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities includes a detailed account of Herod’s renovation of the Temple in the late first century BCE. See also “Renovation of the Temple” and the jerusalem temple.
Primary Source
Rabbinic Descriptions of the Second Temple Structure
1:3. There were five gates to the Temple Mount: the two Huldah Gates on the south, which were used for both entrance and exit; the Kiponus Gate on the west, which was used for both entrance and exit…
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The Qumran Community as Temple
[ . . . ] When these things exist in Israel the Community council shall be founded on truth, to be an everlasting plantation, a holy house…
Primary Source
The Temple as Sacred Space
8. Within the wall [of Jerusalem] was holier [than outside the wall], for they would eat the lesser holy offerings and the produce of the second tithe there. The Temple Mount was holier than [within…
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The Altar as Source of Life
Both the stones of the altar ramp and the stones of the altar were from the valley of Beth Kerem. They dug from the virgin ground below and brought whole stones [to the Temple] over which no iron had…
Primary Source
The Samaritan Temple at Mount Gerizim
Now it happened that the Jews in Alexandria and the Samaritans who worshiped at the temple on Mount Gerizim, which was built in the days of Alexander, were in conflict. They were disputing about their…