tes & main Temple structure might have had straight walls rather than pylon shaped walls. For this particular architectural rendering the older Egyptian and Mesopotamian style was used rather than straight walls of later temples. Many of the gigantic buildings and gates built in the middle east prior to the Greek & Persian Empire’s were built with sloping walls inward such as the ziggurat towers, pyramids, Egyptian temples and most probably Phoenician temples were probably designed after their contemporary temples and buildings. The blueprints of the Temple were drafted by King David. The Temple door faced East. However the inside Temple entrances were from the south. So that the priests first entered into the lower chamber from east to west and then ascended into the upper chambers from the south. The Temple was engineered by a Phoenician King Hiram who sent a mason who was half Hebrew and half Phoenician to execute the principal works of the interior including casting, masonry, arch stone angles and the logistics of raising the arch stones 20 stories in the sky. The mason’s name was also Hiram.
ORIGINAL TEMPLE OF SOLOMON WAS 500 CUBITS SQUARE
Along the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount near the Northern end of the wall there is an underlying layer of pre-Herodian stone which displays a corner of a very old wall protruding out. Archeologist Leen Ritmeyer has called this unique corner spot the “offset”. It is clearly an older protrusion of an existing wall and corner upon which King Herod had his masons built a new wall. Could this “offset” have been the original NE corner of the outer courtyard of Solomon’s Temple?
The original outer courtyard of Solomon’s Temple measured 500 cubits square as is documented by the exhiles in the Mishna. The Jewish exhiles who were freed by the Persians returned to Israel to rebuild a Second Temple. When the exhiles returned they measured the outer courtyard as being 500 cubits square. They did not build the outer courtyard the 500 cubit square was the remains of the First Temple. This fact dovetails with Ezekiel’s measurements as being Solomon’s Temple each had a 500 square outer courtyard. So this means that the original Temple had a courtyard of such dimensions. The only contemporary scholar who recorded that was Ezekiel.
In this picture the Northeast corner of the outer courtyard of Solomon’s Temple is placed at the “offset”. The results of this is, the Rock (which is in the Dome of the Rock Mosque) fits smack dab in the center of the Main Temple of the model. Using any other location North or South on the Eastern Wall the Rock under the Mosque does not fit in the Main Hall of the Temple where it probably once sat. So possibly this “offset” might have served as the original NE corner of Solomon’s Temple.
Furthermore when the North East corner of Solomon’s Temple is placed at this “offset” location the Laver (Molten Sea or Brass Sea) where the priest’s wash their hands, lines up directly above the largest underground cistern #5 as noted by Charles Warren in his “Plans, Elevations, Sections for the Palestine Exploration Fund”. Possibly the Molten Sea wash basin was located directly above the long cistern #5 so that water could have been drawn directly above and into the Molten Laver. This unusual underground cistern #5 reaches both inside the inner court and to the outer court. Which means rainwater could have drained from both the inner and outer courtyards into this cistern.
The inner court inside the pillars was a 100 cubit square. In the center of the square was the altar which had stairs which faced east. The priests would march around the altar from West to East by way of the South. This kept their left hand closest to the altar at all times.
Does the “offset” have to be used? Not necessarily however if it is used as a corner this model lines up extremely close of allowing the Rock to be centered in the main tower structure.