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66-509: Traditional Jewish sources mention the stone as the place from which the creation of the world began. Classical Jewish sources also identify its location with that of the Holy of Holies . The rock is located towards the centre of the Temple Mount , a term usually applied to an artificial platform built and expanded over many centuries at the top of Jerusalem's southern hill. The current shape

132-400: A mikvah ("collection of water"; a ritual of purification), not coming during or following menstruation or immediately following a seminal emission , not showing their back towards its presumed location, etc. To avoid religious conflict, Jewish visitors caught praying or bringing ritual objects are usually expelled from the area by police. According to the ancient apocryphal Lives of

198-528: A veil , and no one was allowed to enter except the High Priest , and even he would only enter once a year on Yom Kippur , to offer the blood of sacrifice and incense . The Bible reports that in the wilderness, on the day that the tabernacle was first raised up, the cloud of the Lord covered the tabernacle ( Exodus 40:33–40:34 ). There are other times that this was recorded, and instructions were given that

264-614: A Jewish convert to Islam, asking the caliph Umar to build a mosque over the rock, to which Umar responds, "O Ka'b, you are imitating the Jewish religion!" Al-Tabari then identifies the rock with the place where the Romans had "buried the temple ( bayt al-maqdis ) at the time of the sons of Israel." Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer (9th century) also wrote: " Rabbi Ishmael said: In the future, the sons of Ishmael (the Arabs) will do fifteen things in

330-759: A Student of the Ramban ( c.  1400 ) state that "on the Temple Mount stands a beautiful sanctuary which an Arab king built long ago, over the place of the Temple sanctuary and courtyard." Obadiah Bartenura says in a 1488 letter from Jerusalem that "I sought the Foundation Stone [which marks] the former place of the Ark of the Covenant , and many told me that it is beneath a tall and beautiful dome which

396-546: A weaving loom from Rosh Chodesh Av onwards (till after Tisha B'Av ), because during the month of Av the Foundation Stone [and the Temple] was destroyed. Citing this, the Mishnah Berurah rules that not only are women not to prepare or attach warp threads to a weaving loom , but it is forbidden for anyone to make, buy or wear new clothes or shoes from the beginning of the week in which Tisha B'Av falls until after

462-562: Is a translation of the Hebrew, which is intended to express a superlative . Examples of similar constructions are "servant of servants" (Gen 9:25), "Sabbath of sabbaths" (Ex 31:15), "God of gods" (Deut 10:17), " Vanity of vanities " (Eccl 1:2), " Song of songs " (Song of Songs 1:1), "king of kings" (Ezra 7:12), etc. In the Authorized King James Version , "Holy of Holies" is always translated as "Most Holy Place". This

528-871: Is also used more broadly in Catholic tradition with reference to sanctuaries other than the Temple in Jerusalem . A notable example is for the Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Palatio ad Sancta Sanctorum , a chapel in the complex of St John Lateran in Rome. The Greek phrase refers to the Tabernacle or Temple. The name in Greek for the sanctuary of a church is Ἱερόν Βῆμα ( Hieron Vema , see Bema#Christianity ), in Russian it

594-605: Is called Святой Алтарь ( Svyatoy Altar – literally: "Holy Altar"), and in Romanian it is called Sfântul Altar . A cognate term in Ge'ez is found in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church : Qidduse Qiddusan (or Bete Mekdes ), referring to the innermost sanctuary of an Orthodox Christian church, where the tabot is kept and only clergy may enter. Every Ethiopian Orthodox church has one, and it

660-956: Is connected to the location of the Jewish Temple. The location of the Temple, however, had become uncertain already less than 150 years after the Second Temple's destruction, as detailed in the Talmud . Chapter 54 of the Tractate Berakhot states that the Holy of Holies was directly aligned with the Golden Gate , which would have placed the Holy of Holies slightly to the north of the Dome of the Rock, as Kaufman postulated. Chapter 54 of

726-463: Is covered with a curtain. There are often three entry points, symbolising the Holy Trinity. In the middle, there is always an altar where the church's tabot is kept. There can be as many altars as the number of tabots. The Saint Thomas Christians (also known as Nasrani or Syrian Christians) from Kerala , South India still follow much Jewish Christian tradition. In Nasrani tradition

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792-519: Is in keeping with the intention of the Hebrew idiom to express the utmost degree of holiness. Thus, the name "Most Holy Place" was used to refer to the "Holy of Holies" in many English documents. A related term is debir , transliterated in the Septuagint ( Koinē Greek : δαβιρ , romanized:  dabir ), which either means the back (i.e. western) part of the Sanctuary, or derives from

858-544: Is said that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is in Jerusalem. Tawfiq Canaan , in 1922, recorded a local tradition that describes four living waters flowing from under the rock. To the south: Hammam esh-Shifa, to the east: Siloam, to the north: 'En Haddji and En Qashleh, and to the west: Hammam es-Sultan. Beneath the Foundation Stone is a cavern known as the Well of Souls . It is sometimes thought of as the traditional hiding place of

924-602: Is the result of an expansion by Herod the Great on top of vaults over a summit called Mount Moriah which three millennia ago was the highest elevation in early Jerusalem's proximity to the City of David . Early Muslim writings argue that the Dome of the Rock , completed in 691, is the site of the Holy of Holies and therefore the location of the Foundation Stone. The history by the 9th-century writer al-Tabari has Kaʿb al-Aḥbār ,

990-522: Is the view of Isaac Luria and the Maharsha , who state the prophecy that " Zion will become a ploughed field" indicates that no dwelling will be established there until the time of the Redemption . It therefore follows that the footprint of the Temple courtyard and Holy of Holies is situated in the unbuilt area between the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque . Some believe the position is north of

1056-462: The Ark of the Covenant . 31°46′41″N 35°14′07″E  /  31.7780°N 35.2354°E  / 31.7780; 35.2354 Holy of Holies The Holy of Holies ( Hebrew : קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים , romanized :  Qōḏeš haqQŏḏāšīm or Kodesh HaKodashim ; also הַדְּבִיר hadDəḇīr , 'the Sanctuary') is a term in the Hebrew Bible that refers to the inner sanctuary of

1122-675: The Babylonian Talmud Tractate Yoma , the Kodesh Hakodashim (Holy of Holies) is located in the center of the esplanade from a North–South perspective, but significantly to the West from an East–West perspective, with all the major courtyards and functional areas lying to its east. The Talmud supplies additional details, and describes the ritual performed by the High Priest. During the annual ritual,

1188-573: The Bible , where Abraham fulfilled God's test to see if he would be willing to sacrifice his son. The mountain is identified as Moriah in Genesis 22. It is also identified as the rock upon which Jacob dreamt about angels ascending and descending on a ladder and consequently consecrating and offering a sacrifice upon. When, according to the Bible, King David purchased a threshing floor owned by Araunah

1254-691: The Coniacian Stage. At the beginning of the Turonian an oceanic anoxic event (OAE 2) took place, also referred to as the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary event or the "Bonarelli Event". Sea level fall took place in the latter part of the Turonian from the highstand at the beginning of the Turonian. The Turonian (French: Turonien ) was defined by the French paleontologist Alcide d'Orbigny (1802–1857) in 1842. Orbigny named it after

1320-515: The Crusaders , whose frequent damage to the rock was so severe that the Christian kings of Jerusalem placed a protective marble slab over the rock. The marble slab was removed by Saladin . Measuring the flat surface as the position of the southern wall of a square enclosure, the west and north sides of which are formed by the low clean-cut scarp at these edges of the rock, at the position of

1386-471: The Foundation Stone , which sits under the Dome of the Rock shrine. Other Jewish scholars argue that contemporary reports would place the Temple to the north or to the east of the Dome of the Rock. The Christian Crusaders associated the Holy of Holies with the Well of Souls , a small cave that lies underneath the Foundation Stone in the Dome of the Rock. The construction "Holy of Holies"

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1452-464: The Jebusite , it is believed that it was upon this rock that he offered the sacrifice mentioned in the verse. He wanted to construct a permanent temple there, but as his hands were "bloodied", he was forbidden to do so himself. The task was left to his son Solomon , who completed the Temple in c.  950 BCE . The Mishnah in tractate Yoma mentions a stone situated in the Holy of Holies that

1518-523: The Land of Israel   [...] They will fence in the breaches of the walls of the Temple and construct a building on the site of the sanctuary." Jewish sources have debated the precise location of the rock. Benjamin of Tudela wrote ( c.  1170 ) that the site was in front of the Dome, on the site of the Western Wall. The Travels of Petachia of Ratisbon , c.  1180 , and Travels of

1584-589: The Shekhinah ( Exodus 25:22 ). When the Temple was rebuilt after the Babylonian captivity , the Ark was no longer present in the Holy of Holies; instead, a portion of the floor was raised slightly to indicate the place where it had stood. In Jewish tradition, two curtains separated the Holy of Holies from the lesser Holy place during the period of the Second Temple. These curtains were woven with motifs directly from

1650-610: The Tabernacle , where the Shekhinah ( God's presence ) appeared. According to Hebrew tradition, the area was defined by four pillars that held up the veil of the covering, under which the Ark of the Covenant was held above the floor. According to the Hebrew Bible, the Ark contained the Ten Commandments , which were given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai . The first Temple in Jerusalem , called Solomon's Temple ,

1716-618: The Tractate Yoma and chapter 26 of the Tractate Sanhedrin , on the other hand, assert that the Holy of Holies stood directly on the Foundation Stone . The Crusaders associated the Holy of Holies with the Well of Souls , which is located under the Foundation Stone of the Dome of the Rock . Most Orthodox Jews today completely avoid climbing up to Temple Mount , to prevent them from accidentally stepping on any holy areas. A few Orthodox Jewish authorities, following

1782-646: The liturgy , symbolizes the Holy of Holies. Some Christian churches, particularly the Catholic Church , consider the Church tabernacle , or its location (often at the rear of the sanctuary), as the symbolic equivalent of the Holy of Holies, due to the storage of consecrated hosts in that vessel. The Latin Vulgate Bible translates Qṓḏeš HaqQŏḏāšîm as Sanctum sanctorum (Ex 26:34). Reproducing in Latin

1848-523: The Arabs built in the Temple, but the space beneath this dome is secured, such that no man may come to it, viz. to the place of the Foundation Stone, for the dome is very large." David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra was convinced ( c.  1570 ) that "under the dome [on the Temple Mount] – there is the Foundation Stone, undoubtedly – which the Arabs call al-Sakrah ". Other sources, operating under

1914-592: The Diaspora spoke it; the Vulgate was a faithful translation for Christian Rome. Certain branches of Christianity , including the Eastern Orthodox Church , and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church continue to have a tradition of a Holy of Holies that they regard as a most sacred site . The ciborium , a permanent canopy over the altar in some churches, once surrounded by curtains at points in

1980-620: The Dome of the Rock, opposite the Gate of Mercy , which Immanuel Hai Ricchi identifies as the Shushan Gate mentioned in the Talmud . This gate was described as being opposite the opening of the sanctuary. Modern Jewish academics list four possible locations of the Foundation Stone: Although the rock is part of the surrounding 90   million-year-old, Upper Turonian Stage, Late Cretaceous karsted limestone ,

2046-721: The French city of Tours in the region of Touraine (department Indre-et-Loire ), which is the original type locality . The base of the Turonian Stage is defined as the place where the ammonite species Watinoceras devonense first appears in the stratigraphic column . The official reference profile (the GSSP ) for the base of the Turonian is located in the Rock Canyon anticline near Pueblo, Colorado (United States, coordinates: 38° 16' 56" N, 104° 43' 39" W). The top of

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2112-484: The Hebrew construction, the expression is used as a superlative of the neuter adjective sanctum , to mean "a thing most holy". It is used by Roman Catholics to refer to the Eucharist in the tabernacle which represents the presence of Christ. The Vulgate also refers to the Holy of Holies with the plural form Sancta sanctorum (2 Chr 5:7), possibly a synecdoche referring to the holy objects hosted there. This form

2178-540: The High Priest would pronounce the Tetragrammaton , the only point that it was pronounced out loud. According to Jewish tradition, the people prostrated themselves fully on the ground when it was said. According to the Talmud, the High Priest's face upon exit from the Holy of Holies was radiant. While under normal circumstances, access to the Holy of Holies was restricted to the High Priest and only on Yom Kippur ,

2244-649: The Holy of Holies is kept veiled for much of the time. The red veil covers the inner altar or the main altar. It is unveiled only during the central part of the main Nasrani ritual. The main ritual of the Saint Thomas Christians is the Qurbana . The Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) contains a Holy of Holies wherein the church's president —acting as

2310-590: The Holy of Holies, the Foundation Stone is believed to have been the rock upon which the Ark of the Covenant was placed in Solomon's Temple. During the Second Temple period when the Ark of the Covenant was not present, the stone was used by the High Priest who offered up the incense and sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices on it during the annual Yom Kippur service. The Jerusalem Talmud states: Women are accustomed not to prepare or attach warp threads to

2376-403: The Holy of Holies. According to Ritmeyer, a rectangular rock-cutting he discovered on the Foundation Stone marks the location where the Ark of the Covenant stood within the Holy of Holies. Ritmeier's analysis was welcomed among biblical archeologists; however, scholars stated that this theory cannot be actually verified. The rock has several artificial cuts in its surface generally attributed to

2442-749: The Israelites. Christ will come and bless his people after cleaning the Holy of Holies in heaven (Heb 9:23). Turonian The Turonian is, in the ICS ' geologic timescale , the second age in the Late Cretaceous Epoch , or a stage in the Upper Cretaceous Series . It spans the time between 93.9 ± 0.8 Ma and 89.8 ± 1 Ma (million years ago). The Turonian is preceded by the Cenomanian Stage and underlies

2508-429: The Lord would appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat ( kapporet ), and at that time the priests should not enter into the tabernacle (Leviticus 16:2). According to the Hebrew Bible , the Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant with representation of Cherubim . Upon completion of the dedication of the Tabernacle, the Voice of God spoke to Moses "from between the Cherubim" ( Numbers 7:89 ). The Holy of Holies

2574-517: The Presiding High Priest—enters to fulfill the relationship between the High Priest of Israel and God in accordance with the LDS Church's interpretation of the Book of Exodus ( Exodus 25:22 ) and Latter-day Saint religious texts. Seventh-Day Adventism (SDA) believes that the Holy of Holies on Earth was a copy of the true tabernacle in heaven , and this view can also be seen in other Christian denominations . Because in Hebrews , God commands Moses to make sure that all things according to

2640-402: The Prophets , after the death of Zechariah ben Jehoiada , the priests of the Temple could no more, as before, see the apparitions of the angels of the Lord, nor could make divinations with the Ephod , nor give responses from the Debir . The Greek New Testament retains the pre-Christian Septuagint phrase "Holy of the Holies" hágion ( sg n ) tōn hagíōn ( ἅγιον τῶν ἁγίων ) without

2706-412: The Talmud suggests that repair crews were allowed inside as needed but were lowered from the upper portion of the room via enclosures so that they only saw the area they were to work on. Judaism regards the Torah ark , a place in a synagogue where the Torah scrolls are kept, as a miniature Holy of Holies. The exact location of the Holy of Holies is a contentious issue, as elements of questioning

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2772-402: The Turonian Stage (the base of the Coniacian) is defined as the place in the stratigraphic column where the inoceramid bivalve species Cremnoceramus rotundatus first appears. The Turonian is sometimes subdivided in Lower/Early, Middle and Upper/Late substages or subages. In the Tethys domain , it contains the following ammonite biozones : Other important index fossils are species of

2838-408: The actual measurement of the rock within the Dome he estimates as a "height of two men" above the ground. He concluded that many changes in the natural configuration of the Temple Mount have taken place which can be attributed to excavations made by the various occupiers of Jerusalem since the Second Temple construction. The Roman-era midrash Tanhuma sums up the centrality of and holiness of

2904-406: The belief that the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount as it stood in their time was the Southern Wall of the Biblical era, argued that the measurements given in the Talmud do not reconcile. The Holy of Holies ends up being too far north and they therefore locate the Foundation Stone as being directly opposite the current exposed section of the Western Wall , where no building currently stands. This

2970-409: The blood was sprinkled where the Ark would have been and the incense was put on the Brazen Altar of incense). The animal was sacrificed and the blood was carried into the most holy place. The gold was also found in the Most Holy Place. The Magdala stone is thought to be a representation of the Holy of Holies carved before the destruction of the Temple in the year 70. Traditional Judaism regards

3036-399: The days when Selichot are recited, in the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur , the supplications include the following references: טענתנו גפי קרת נתונים, ישבתנו שן סלע איתנים You carried us and placed us on the [Holy] City's height, You settled us on the Patriarch's rocky peak. רבוצה עליו אבן שתית חטובים ...שמה בתוך לפני מזיב מאשנבים Upon it lying the stone from which

3102-414: The definite article as "Holies of Holies" hágia ( pl n ) hagíōn ( ἅγια ἁγίων ) in Hebrews 9:3. In the Vulgate of Saint Jerome , these are rendered as sanctum sanctorum and sancta sanctorum , respectively. The Greek language was the common language upon Hellenization of much of the Middle East after the death of Alexander the Great , and the division of his empire among four generals. The Jews of

3168-424: The elevated Stone – Please save! The Temple Mount , where the Foundation Stone is located, is thought by commentators of the Quran to be the place from where Muslims believe Muhammad began his Night Journey . Although the Quran does not specifically mention Jerusalem in name as the ascension site, labelling the site as the "farthest mosque" (from which the later-built Al-Aqsa was named), in certain Hadith it

3234-399: The exact placement of the Temple are often associated with Temple denial . There are three main theories as to where exactly the Temple stood on the Mount: where the Dome of the Rock is now located; to the north of the Dome of the Rock (Professor Asher Kaufman); or to the east of the Dome of the Rock (Professor Joseph Patrich of the Hebrew University ). The location of the Holy of Holies

3300-429: The fast, and that people should ideally not do so from the beginning of Av. This period is known as The Nine Days . In further commemoration of the Foundation Stone, it is also forbidden to eat meat or drink wine from the beginning of the week in which Tisha B'av falls until after the fast. Some have the custom to refrain from these foodstuffs from Rosh Chodesh Av, while others do so from the Seventeenth of Tammuz . In

3366-400: The foundation was hewn... Who gives ear from which the waters flow [i.e. the foundation stone "from which flow all the waters of the world"]. During Sukkot , the following references to the Foundation Stone are mentioned in the Hoshanot recital: הושענא! – אבן שתיה – הושענא Please save! – Foundation Stone – Please save! הושענא! – תאדרנו באבן תלולה – הושענא Please save! – Adorn us with

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3432-405: The holy place, because from it the world was founded. According to the sages of the Talmud, it was from this rock that the world was created, itself being the first part of the Earth to come into existence. In the words of the Zohar , "The world was not created until God took a stone called Even haShetiya and threw it into the depths where it was fixed from above till below, and from it

3498-427: The hypothetical centre is a rectangular cut in the rock that is about 2.5 cubits (min. 120.4 cm SI) long and 1.5 cubits (min. 72.24 cm SI) wide, which are the dimensions of the Ark of the Covenant (according to the Book of Exodus ). The Mishnah gives the height of the rock as three thumb-breadths (min. 6 cm SI) above the ground. Radbaz discusses the apparent contradiction of the Mishnah's measurements and

3564-441: The location where the inner sanctuary was originally located, on the Temple Mount ( Mount Moriah ), as retaining some or all of its original sanctity for use in a future Third Temple . The exact location of the Holy of Holies is a subject of dispute. Traditional Judaism regards the Holy of Holies as the place where the presence of God dwells. The Talmud gives detailed descriptions of Temple architecture and layout. According to

3630-415: The loom, rather than embroidered, and each curtain had the thickness of a handbreadth (ca. 9 cm.; 3½"). Josephus records that Pompey profaned the Temple by insisting on entering the Holy of Holies in 63 BCE. When Titus captured the city during the First Jewish–Roman War , Roman soldiers took down the curtain and used it to wrap therein golden vessels retrieved from the Temple. The Holy of Holies

3696-410: The opinion of the medieval scholar Maimonides , permit Jews to visit parts of the Temple Mount known not to be anywhere near any of the sanctified areas. Orthodox Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount, who come especially from those groups associated with the Temple Institute and its efforts to rebuild a Temple , seek to conform to the minimal requirements for coming near the Temple, such as immersing in

3762-435: The pattern shewed to thee in the Mount Sinai (Heb 8:2, 5). After the " Great Disappointment ", preacher O. R. L. Crosier , Hiram Edson , and F. B. Hahn published new insights into Christ's sanctuary ministry that Jesus began to minister in the heavenly sanctuary after His ascension (Heb 9:24). Seventh-Day Adventism (SDA) believes that just as the high priest completed the special ministry on Yom Kippur and blessed

3828-402: The site in Judaism: As the navel is set in the centre of the human body, so is the land of Israel the navel of the world... situated in the centre of the world, and Jerusalem in the centre of the land of Israel, and the sanctuary in the centre of Jerusalem, and the holy place in the centre of the sanctuary, and the ark in the centre of the holy place, and the Foundation Stone before

3894-407: The southern side forms a ledge, with a gap between it and the surrounding ground; a set of steps currently uses this gap to provide access from the Dome of the Rock to the Well of Souls beneath it. Archaeologist Leen Ritmeyer reported that there are sections of the rock cut completely flat, which north-to-south have a width of 6 cubits , precisely the width that the Mishnah credits to the wall of

3960-405: The verb stem ד־ב־ר "to speak", justifying the translation in the Vulgate as oraculum , which the traditional English translation "oracle" (KJV, 1611) derives from. According to the Hebrew Bible , in order that God may dwell among the Israelites, God gave Moses instructions for erecting a sanctuary . The directions provide for: According to the Bible, the Holy of Holies was covered by

4026-427: The world expanded. It is the centre point of the world and on this spot stood the Holy of Holies." According to the Talmud, it was close to the Foundation Stone, on the site of the altar, that God gathered the earth that was formed into Adam . It was on this rock that Adam—and later Cain and Abel and Noah —offered sacrifices to God. Jewish sources identify this rock as the place of the Binding of Isaac mentioned in

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4092-455: Was called Shetiya and had been revealed by the early prophets (i.e. David and Samuel ). An early Christian source noting Jewish attachment to the rock may be found in the Itinerarium Burdigalense , written between 333 and 334 CE when Jerusalem was under Roman rule, which describes a "perforated stone to which the Jews come every year and anoint it, bewail themselves with groans, rend their garments, and so depart." Situated inside

4158-423: Was entered once a year by the High Priest on Yom Kippur , to sprinkle the blood of sacrificial animals (a bull offered as atonement for the Priest and his household, and a goat offered as atonement for the people (this is where the term scapegoat originates from)) and offer incense upon the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat that sat on top of the ark in the First Temple (the Second Temple had no ark and

4224-401: Was in darkness and contained the Ark of the Covenant, gilded inside and out, in which was placed the Tablets of Stone . According to both Jewish and Christian traditions, Aaron's rod and a pot of manna were also in the ark. The Ark was covered with a lid made of pure gold, known as the " mercy seat " ( Exodus 37:6 ), which was covered by the beaten gold cherubim wings, creating the space for

4290-421: Was said to have been built by King Solomon to keep the Ark. Ancient Jewish traditions viewed the Holy of Holies as the spiritual junction of Heaven and Earth, the " axis mundi ". As a part of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies was situated somewhere on Temple Mount ; its precise location in the Mount being a matter of dispute, with some classical Jewish sources identifying its location with

4356-442: Was the inner sanctuary within the Tabernacle and Temple in Jerusalem when Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple were standing. The parochet , a brocade curtain with cherubim motifs woven directly into the fabric from the loom, divided the Holy of Holies from the lesser Holy place. The Holy of Holies was located at the westernmost end of the Temple building and was a cube: 20 cubits by 20 cubits by 20 cubits. The inside

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