**The Holy of Holies (***Devir***)**

This is the innermost room in the building, 20 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 20 cubits high; that is, it was cube-shaped and each of its sides measured about 8 m. The doorway of the Holy of Holies was built with five recessed doorposts (1 Kings 6:31).

It should be noted that the Bible indicates that the Outer Sanctum was 30 cubits high, while the Holy of Holies was 20 cubits high, or 4 m lower. A number of suggestions have been made as to how this height difference was resolved architecturally. Vincent (1956) reconstructed the roof of the structure as stepped, with the back part, in the area of the Holy of Holies, being lower. Watzinger (1933) suggested that the floor of the Holy of Holies was higher and reconstructed a staircase, which is not mentioned in the biblical tradition. Another solution suggests a second story on top of the Holy of Holies and none atop the Outer Sanctum (Stade 1887; Hurowitz 1992). Busink (1970, p. 600) shows the Holy of Holies as a large wooden container inside the Outer Sanctum, rather than a separate architectural unit. This interpretation cannot be accepted, as excavated Iron Age temples are divided into three parts and the innermost room is separated by a true wall from the other parts of the building.

The height of the Holy of Holies in relation to the entire building can be established by archaeological data. In the Iron Age temples of Arad and Ain Dara and the Late Bronze Age temples at Tel Lachish and Tel Beth She'an, the floor of the Holy of Holies was higher than that of the Outer Sanctum (Aharoni 1973; Abu Assaf 1990; Ussishkin 2004, Figures 6.3, 6.30; Rowe 1940, Pls. VI, VII). In all of these temples there was a staircase from the Outer Sanctum to the Holy of Holies. Thus, in our proposal for the reconstruction of Solomon's Temple (as in Figures 7 and 8), we add a staircase in the Outer Sanctum and accept the reconstruction proposed by Watzinger (1933).

**Figure 7.** Ground plan of Solomon's Temple based on our analysis of the text and relevant archaeological data.

**Figure 8.** Longitudinal section through Solomon's Temple based on our analysis of the text and relevant archaeological data.
