THE SECOND TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM

Plan of the Second Temple

The new Temple was built on the site of Solomon's Temple, to ensure continuity.

It had the same floor plan, with the three areas called Ulam, Hekhal and Devir (see Solomon's Temple). It was separated from the houses of the city by a stone wall. A double gateway led into an outer court surrounded by various offices, storehouse, and apartments for the priests, which were built into the surrounding wall.

There was an inner court where the altar of sacrifice stood - a white, unhewn stone.

The old magnificence was gone. There was no royal palace nearby, since Judah no longer had a king.

There was another glaring difference: the Devir, the Holy of Holies, was now empty. In the sack of Jerusalem and the ensuing years, the Ark of the Covenant had completely disappeared.

Now the place where it had stood was empty. Yahweh was no longer represented by a tangible object. This encouraged the Jewish people to imagine God as a transcendent deity, a universal God who did not need to be tied to one place or object.

The poverty of the materials used in this new Temple fell far short of Solomon's Temple. Even so, the Judeans were proud of what they had achieved, and many of the psalms record their pride. 

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