The focus of Jewish worship in ancient times. The First Temple was built in *Jerusalem by King *Solomon and by the era of King *Josiah was regarded as the only legitimate place of *sacrifice. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE on *Av 9. It was then rebuilt after the *exile under *Zerubbabel and was subsequently enlarged by King Herod I in the 1st Century BCE. The building was organised around courtyards. Through the first wall was the Temple Court which was open to everyone even *gentiles. Beyond that lay the Court of *Women which was part of the consecrated area. Through that was the Court of the *Israelites which was open to all male *Jews. From there could be seen the Court of *Priests where *sacrifices were enacted on the *altar.
Within the Court of Priests was the *sanctuary with the altar of *incense, the *shewbread table and the *menorah. Finally, beyond the outer room of the sanctuary was the *Holy of Holies. The building of the First Temple is described in I *Kings Ch. 5 and II *Chronicles Ch. 2 and the structure of the Second Temple is described in the *Mishnah and in *Josephus’ Antiquities. Temple rituals are described in the Mishnah. It was finally destroyed by the Romans in 70CE and the Arch of Titus in Rome shows Roman soldiers sacking the Temple and looting the golden candlesticks. The only part that remains today is the *Western Wall. Although Jerusalem was believed to be the only place for a Temple, the *Samaritans conducted their own *sacrifices on Mount *Gerizim and there seems to have been a temple in *Elephantine on the Nile delta. It is believed that in the days of the *messiah, the Temple will be restored.
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