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Jerusalem Archaeological Park
Philo, The Special Laws I

(69) And we have the surest proof of this in what actually happens. Countless multitudes from countless cities come, some over land, others over sea, from east and west and north and south at every feast. They take the temple for their port as a general haven and safe refuge from the bustle and great turmoil of life, and there they seek to find calm weather, and, released from the cares whose yoke has been heavy upon them from their earliest years, to enjoy a brief breathing-space in scenes of genial cheerfulness. (70) Thus filled with comfortable hopes they devote the leisure, as is their bounden duty, to holiness and the honouring of God. Friendships are formed between those who hithero knew not each other, and the sacrifices and libations are the occasion of reciprocity of feeling and constitute the surest pledge that all are of one mind.
(142) From all this it is clear that the law invests the priests with the dignity and honours of royalty. Thus he commands that tribute should be given from every part of a man's property as to a ruler, and the way in which the tribute is paid is a complete contrast to the spirit in which the cities make their payments to their potentates.
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