These  preparations  completed,  the  work  was  begun  on  the
site  bought  by  David  from  Oman  the  Jesubite,  on  Mount
Moriah,  an  eminence  near  Jerusalem,  at  once  rendered  sacred
as  the  spot  where  Abraham  had  offered  up  Isaac,  and  where
the  plague  had  been  stayed  during  the  last  reign.  The
rugged  top  of  Moriah  was  levelled  with  great  labor;  its
sides,  which  to  the  east  and  south  were  precipitous,  were
faced  with,  walls  of  great  stones,  built  up  on  the  sloping
sides,  the  interval  between  being  occupied  by  vaults  or  filled
up  with  earth.  The  lower,  bevelled  stones  of  the  wall  re
main,  the  relics  of  the  eastern  wall  alone  being  Solomon's.
They  bear  Phenician  red  marks  on  their  bottom  rows,  at  the
depth  of  90  feet,  where  the  foundations  rest  on  the  rock
itself.  No  sound  of  hammer  or  of  axe,  or  of  any  tool
of  iron,  was  heard  as  the  structure  arose  (III  Kings  vi,  7);
every  beam  already  cut  and  squared  before  being  floated
down  to  Joppe,  every  stone  already  hewn  and  bevelled
in  the  quarries  recently  discovered  under  the  present  city
of  Jerusalem,  near  the  Damascus  gate,  was  laid  silently  in
its  appointed  place  (MACLEAR,  Old  Testament  History,

P-  356)-

Like  the  Tabernacle,  on  the  general  model  of  which  it  was
built,  the  Temple  faced  the  east.  It  consisted  of  the
"  House  of  Jehovah  "  or  Temple  proper,  erected  on  the  top  of
the  sacred  mount,  and  of  two  concentrated  enclosures  or


224  OUTLINES    OF    JEWISH    HISTORY.
"Courts  of  Jehovah's  House"  surrounding  the  Temple  proper
in  such  a  manner  that  the  inner  court  stood  upon  higher
ground  than  the  outer  one,  and  the  House  of  Jehovah  upon
a  position  highest  of  all.
