Hypermikdash
THE MAIN COURTYARD (EZRAS YISROEL)
To the west of the Women's Courtyard lay the main
courtyard (see the map). The courtyard's
forty-amah-high walls enclosed most of the buildings and objects that made
the Temple important.
The Ezras Yisroel's most noticeable structure
was the Ulam (antechamber, if that makes it any more understandable)
and behind that, the heichal (hearth). These two adjoining buildings
towered over the rest of the area - being more than twice the height of
anything else in sight.
We'll get to all that. But right now,
we're interested in the courtyard's general layout. In amongst all
the confusion of the Azarah (courtyard) lay the Ezras Yisroel ("courtyard
of the common Jew" - "common," as opposed to priests). Rectangular,
the Ezras Yisroel was bounded from the outside by the outer walls of the
Azarah and on its inside by the walls of the heichal. In all, the
Azarah measured 187 amos from east to west and 135 from north to south.
Technically, the area that had the sanctity
of Ezras Yisroel filled only the first eleven amos to the west of the Women's
Courtyard wall and the areas to the north, south and west of the heichal.
The eleven amos from the Ezras Yisroel to the altar (called Ezras Kohanim)
along with the space of the altar itself (from its south-facing ramp all
the way to the northern wall of the Azarah) were normally out of bounds
to "common" Jews (but then, who's a common Jew?).
It was in this space (in particular the easternmost
strip) that much of the business of the Bais Hamikdash was done.
The area boasted seven major buildings (or, to be more precise, two clusters
of three buildings each and the Bais Hamoked
further west along the northern wall).
The cluster
in the Ezras Yisroel's south-east corner consisted of the salt chamber
(for storing the salt used in the avodah), the Parve
Chamber (no, it had nothing to do with milk-free diets) and the washing
chamber (for cleaning out the entrails of slaughtered animals). Each
of these chambers was (according to Tosafos, Yoma 31a) built underground
with stairways leading down from the floor of the Azarah.
On the roof of the Parve chamber was a mikvah
used by the high priest on Yom Kippur (for his final four immersions).
Needless to say, there were curtains all around for privacy.
The north-east corner of the Azarah contained
the Lishkas Hagazis (the supreme court
chamber), the wood chamber (so named, according to some, because of the
wood used to build it - it was also called the Palhedrin and served as
the high priest's private chamber) and the exiles' chamber which housed
a water well built by the returning exiles.
Separating the eastern section of the Ezras
Yisroel from the Ezras Kohanim to its west were three steps. It was
on these steps (called the duchan) that an overflow crowd of levites would
stand while involved in their musical service. The main group of
levites were located on the twelve stairs
between the altar and the Ulam (antechamber).