1.3. There were five gates to the Temple Mount: the two Huldah Gates on the south, that served for coming in and for going out; the Kiponus Gate on the west, that served for coming in and for going out; the Tadi Gate on the north which was not used at all; he Eastern Gate on which was portrayed the Palace of Shushan. Through this the High Priest that burned the [Red] Heifer, and the heifer, and all that aided him went forth to the Mount of Olives. 1.4. There were seven gates to the Temple Court, three to the north and three to the south and one to the east. Those to the south were the kindling Gate, next to it the Gate of the Firstlings, and the third was the Water Gate. That to the east was the Nicanor Gate beside which were two Chambers, one to the right and one to the left; the one was the Chamber of Phineas, the keeper of the vestments, and the other the chamber of them that made the Baken Cakes. 1.5. And those to the north were the Gate of the Flame, which was a kind of portico over which an upper chamber was built, so that the priests might keep watch above and the levites below, and it had a door towards the Rampart; next to it was the Gate of the Offering; and the third was the [Gate of the] Chamber of the Hearth.

2.2. Whosoever it was that entered the Temple Mount came in on the right and went round and come out on the left, save any whom aught befell, for he went round to the left. 'What aileth thee that thou goest to the left?' 'Because I am a mourner'. 'May he that dwelleth in this House put it into their hearts to bring thee near again!' So R. Meir. R. Jose said to him: Thou wouldest make it as though they had transgressed against him in judgement—but, rather, [they say], 'May he that dwelleth in this House put it into they heart to listen to the words of thy fellows that they may bring thee near again.'

4.1. The entrance to the Sanctuary was twenty cubits high and ten cubits wide. It had four doors, two within and two without, as it is written, The Temple and the sanctuary had two doors. The outer doors opened into the inside of the entry and covered the thickness of the wall, and the inner doors opened into the inside of the House and covered the space behind the doors, for all the House was overlaid with gold, save only behind the doors. R. Judah says, They stood inside the entry and were in the form of folding door which doubled back upon themselves; these [covered] two cubits and a half and those two cubits and a half; and the door-post was half a cubit thick on the one side and the door-post was half a cubit thick on the other side, as it is written, And the doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves, two leaves for the one door and two leaves for the other. 4.2. The great gate had two wickets, one to the north and another to the south. By that to he south none ever entered, whereof it is expressly said by Ezekiel, And the Lord said unto me, This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, neither shall any man enter in by it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. He took the key and opened the wicket. He entered into a cell, and from the cell into the Sanctuary. R. Judah says: He went along the thickness of the wall until he found himself standing between both gates; then he opened the outer doors from within and the inner doors from without. 4.3. And there were thirty-eight cells there, fifteen to the north, fifteen to the south, and eight to the west. Those to the north and those to the south were [built] five over five, and five over them; and those to the west three over three and two over them. And to every one were three entrances, one into the cell on the right, and one into the cell on the left, and one into the cell above it. And in the one at the north-eastern corner were five entrances: one into the cell on the right, and one into the cell above it, and one into the passage-way, and one into the wicket, and one into the Sanctuary. 4.4. The lower [story of cells] was five cubits wide and the floor above it six; the middle one was six cubits and the floor above it seven; and the upper one was seven, as it is written, The nethermost story was five cubits broad and the middle was six cubits broad and the third was seven cubits board. 4.5. And a passage-way went up from the north-eastern corner to the north-western corner, whereby they could go up to the roofs of the cells, [The priest] went up by the passage-way facing westward, and went the whole length of the northern side until he reached the west; after he had reached the west he turned his face to the south, and went the whole length of the western side until he reached the south; after he had reached the south he turned his face to the east and went along the southern side until he reached the entrance to the upper chamber, for the entrance to the upper chamber opened towards the south. And at the entrance to the upper chamber were two cedar posts by which they could mount to the roof of the upper chamber. And in the upper chamber the ends of flagstones marked where was the division between the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies. And in the upper story were openings into the Holy of Holies by which they used to let down the workman in boxes, sot that they should not feast their eyes on the Holy of Holies. 4.6. The Sanctuary was a hundred cubits square and a hundred cubits in height. The solid basement was six cubits, and the height [of wall built thereon] forty cubits, the wall-frieze one cubit, the place of drippings ?? cubits, the roof-beams one cubit, and the plasterwork one cubit; and the height of the upper chamber was forty cubits, the wall-frieze one cubit, the place of drippings two cubits, the roof-beams one cubit, and the plasterwork one cubit; and the parapet three cubits and the scarecrow one cubit. R. Judah says: The scarecrow was not taken into account; but the parapet was four cubits. 4.7. From east to west was one hundred cubits. The [thickness of the] wall of the Porch was five and the Porch eleven; the wall of the Sanctuary??? and its interior forty cubits; the dividing space was one cubit and the Holy of the Holies twenty cubits; the wall of the Sanctuary six, the cell six, and the wall of the cell five. From north to south was seventy cubits. The wall of the passage-way was five and the passage-way three; the wall of the cell five and the cell six; the wall of the Sanctuary six and its interior twenty cubits; the wall of the Sanctuary six and the cell six; the wall of the cell six, the space for draining away the water was three cubits, and the wall five cubits. The Porch projected fifteen cubits to the north, and fifteen cubits to the south, and this was called the Chamber of the Slaughter-knives, for there they used to keep the knives. The Sanctuary was narrow behind and wide in front, and it was like to a lion, as it is written, Ho, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped; as a lion is narrow behind and wide in front so the Sanctuary was narrow behind and wide in front.