**7. Solomon's Temple: Vertical Aspects of the Architecture in Context**

Thus far, we have presented the horizontal ground plan of the structure. We will now discuss three aspects relating to the superstructure: recessed doorframes, windows, and the beams of the roof.

#### **Four- and Five-Sided Doorposts**

The Bible relates that, in the entrance from the Forecourt to the Outer Sanctum, there were four *mezuzot* (doorposts) of olive wood (1 Kings 6:33). As for the entrance between the Outer Sanctum and the Holy of Holies, here there were five *mezuzot* (doorposts) of olive wood (1 Kings 6:31). The meaning of the terms "four *mezuzot*" and "five *mezuzot*" is not clear. The elaborate stone building model from Khirbet Qeiyafa, which includes a doorway ornamented with recessed frames, clearly shows that temple entrances could be decorated with four or five recessed frames (Garfinkel and Mumcuoglu 2013, 2016, pp. 46–58; Mumcuoglu and Garfinkel 2018).

#### **Windows**

The question of whether the Temple had windows is ostensibly a simple one, as the text mentions windows (1 Kings 6:4). However, the windows described by the Hebrew words *sequfim ve'atumim* mean "transparent and opaque." How can windows be both transparent and opaque? The King James Version translates it as "windows of narrow lights" and the Jewish Publication Society Tanakh translates these terms as "recessed and latticed." Rivers of ink have been spilt on this matter in the attempt to explain the biblical text (Zwickel 1999, p. 66; Monson 2006).

The idea that the temple had no real windows seems problematic for a number of reasons. First, windows let light into the building. In the ancient world, which lacked effective lighting devices, windows were the main source of light. Illumination was needed for the holding of various ceremonies in the building, as well as for cleaning and maintenance work. Second, windows ventilated the structure, preventing the development of mold, damp and bad odors. The Temple certainly contained costly items made of organic materials, such as the walls paneled with cedar, wooden furnishings, clothing and woven textiles. These would have deteriorated if the interior was dark and damp. Third, clay building models that depict temples usually feature windows (Muller 2002; Katz 2016; Garfinkel and Mumcuoglu 2016, pp. 102–5).

Additional artistic evidence of the presence of windows in temples comes from ivories that show a female figure at a window, interpreted as a statue of a goddess in a temple. As pointed out by various scholars, this is the type of window described in the biblical text (Yadin 1956, p. 181; Cogan 2001, p. 238; Garfinkel and Mumcuoglu 2016, pp. 56–8; but see Millard 1989).
