The large house where the Kohanim on duty sleep, on the north wall of the Azara: it is the third gate of the north counted by Middot 1:5, the easternmost in the tour. It straddles the wall, which breaks off across its width: a large hall at the level of the Azara, its door to the sacred area in the south, the one to the Cheil in the north, at the top of twenty steps. Four small chambers open onto the hall, two in the sacred area, two outside, a marble strip (rashei pispasin) marking the boundary: the lambs for the korban, the showbread, the altar stones hidden by the Hasmoneans, and the descent to the ritual bath. Along the walls, the stone tiers where the elders sleep.
Dimensions
- straddling the north wall
- two sha'arim: to the south onto the Azara, to the north onto the Cheil
- four chambers opening onto the hall, two in the sacred area, two outside
- stone tiers along the walls, marble slab with a ring
- third gate of the north counted from the west
Sources
- Middot 1:5“שֵׁנִי לוֹ, שַׁעַר הַקָּרְבָּן. שְׁלִישִׁי לוֹ, בֵּית הַמּוֹקֵד”
- Middot 1:6“וְאַרְבַּע לְשָׁכוֹת הָיוּ בְּבֵית הַמּוֹקֵד, כְּקִיטוֹנוֹת פְּתוּחוֹת לִטְרַקְלִין, שְׁתַּיִם בַּקֹּדֶשׁ וּשְׁתַּיִם בַּחֹל, וְרָאשֵׁי פִסְפָּסִין מַבְדִּילִין בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לַחֹל”
- Middot 1:7
- Middot 1:8“בֵּית הַמּוֹקֵד, כִּפָּה, וּבַיִת גָּדוֹל הָיָה, מֻקָּף רוֹבָדִין שֶׁל אֶבֶן, וְזִקְנֵי בֵית אָב יְשֵׁנִים שָׁם”
- Bartenura Middot 1:8“אִצְטַבָּאוֹת סָבִיב שֶׁל אַבְנֵי גָזִית… וְהָיוּ כְּעֵין מַעֲלוֹת זוֹ עַל זוֹ”
- Middot 1:9“וְטַבְלָא שֶׁל שַׁיִשׁ וְטַבַּעַת הָיְתָה קְבוּעָה בָהּ”
- Tamid 1:1
- Bartenura Middot 1:6“שֶׁבֵּית הַמּוֹקֵד קְצָתוֹ בָּנוּי בְּתוֹךְ הָעֲזָרָה הַמְקֻדֶּשֶׁת וּמִקְצָתוֹ בַּחֹל”
- Rambam, Hilchot Beit HaBechirah 5:9“וּבַיִת גָּדוֹל הָיָה בְּצַד הָעֲזָרָה בִּצְפוֹנָהּ מִבַּחוּץ בֵּין הָעֲזָרָה וְהַחֵיל וְהָיָה בָּנוּי כִּפָּה”
- Middot 2:6“וּלְעֻמָּתָן בַּצָּפוֹן סְמוּכִים לַמַּעֲרָב”
- Rambam, Hilchot Beit HaBechirah 5:4“שְׁלֹשָׁה מִן הַצָּפוֹן הַסְּמוּכִין לַמַּעֲרָב”
Project decisionAdopted: straddling the boundary of the sacred area — two of its chambers “in the sacred area” and two “outside” (Middot 1:6), the building “partly within the Azara” according to Bartenura. Set aside: the Rambam (Beit HaBechirah 5:9), who puts it “on the north of the Azara, outside, between the Azara and the Cheil”; and the kippa of Middot 1:8, a vault for Bartenura (“כִּפָּה ארקוול"ט”) as for the Rambam (“וְהָיָה בָּנוּי כִּפָּה”) — the tour shows none. Tour's choice: the order of the gates counted from the west, the view of Abba Yossi ben Chanan (Middot 2:6) taken up by the Rambam (5:4), and their even spacing, which puts the Beit HaMoked near the north-east corner; the hall at the level of the Azara, the size of the four small chambers, the placement of the twenty steps and the furnishings.