On the edge of the valley, the triangle at point A became the northeastern corner of the 500C square. Then the entire square was laid out. This is the square discovered by Leen Ritmeyer (see The Quest; Carta Jerusalem; 2006; p.232.) (The northern edge of the Ritmeyer square is in line with Golgotha Rock in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Discussions of this and other details are beyond the scope of this article, but can be found in my book, Sacred Stones Sacred Stories Vol.1). All lines such as the axis line, would be parallel to the edges of the 8x (500C) square. Next the east to west center line of the square OP was created (4x or 250C). The distance from I to the closest point on this line was 50C. This located the southern half of the building. A mirror image created another 50C, giving the building a width of 100C. Point J at the center of the Rock (and the present building) was 5C north of the I, agreeing with the location of the Table of Showbread being 5C north of the center line which helps confirm this the actual location of the Temple. The line 2x (125C) measured south of the northern edge of the square, was taken as the northern edge of the Inner Courtyard. The distance from this line to the northern edge of the temple building, was 17.5C. A mirror image to the south, gives the length of the Inner Courtyard as 135C, (17.5+100+17.5). The apex line of the triangle BB` ran through the clean knife room in the Porch (see fig.2), and the slaughter/ butchering area north of the Altar. The North- South center line (MN 4x or 250C) became the eastern edge of the Inner Courtyard. They measured from here 3x (187.5 or 187C if the remainder is discarded) to get the east-west length of the courtyard. Another 135C square was laid out east of the Inner Courtyard, (where V marks the center of the square). A natural cave ( Below the Temple Mount in Jerusalem; Shimon Gibson, David Jacobson, BAR international Series 637; 1996; p.119) which was enlarged into an artificial cistern, was taken to become an area under the Chel and Barrier. This cistern 1, is archeological proof of the temple’s location. This bedrock ceiling cistern has the size (6C of stairs, 4C flat zone for a total 10C), placement, and orientation of the Barrier and Chel (at the end of the 10C Chel). Other cisterns also are important in the discussion, but is beyond the scope of this article. I would point out, cisterns 2, 3, 4, 5 are all recorded in ancient sources, 6 runs under a temple gate, and 7 is at an important location. Notice the off center well hole in 2 would have been under the flat area of the Chel which would be expected. The distance from the northern Barrier, to the northern edge of the Inner Courtyard is about 40C. This became the size of four little courts by the corners of the 135C square, which most likely were outside 135C square. An identical 40C distance was measured along the eastern, southern, and western edges to create a 40C zone on all sides which had buildings along the northern and southern sides of this zone. The Chel and Barrier would be just outside this zone. Three gates on the northern and southern parts of this zone opening into the Inner Courtyard, would be equidistant from each other. An additional two gates not opening onto the Inner Courtyard would make a count of four gates on these two sides. Asterisks mark the locations of 13 openings in the barrier on Fig.1. (See Fig.1.D) The 3x distance from B to C marked out the western edge of the 32C altar H. Note how the western edge was in a direct line with the intersection of the center line OP and the triangle DC`B`, the point labeled H2. Another identical mirror image triangle DB`C` could also have been laid out as shown. No Altar can be erected at any other site as this would violate the geometry. The length of the altar (32C) and ramp was 1x (62C). If we divide1x by 2, we get 31C. The difference is 1 cubit. The base of the altar was not a perfect square but had a discrepancy at its base of 1 cubit. The center of the rock J, which became the center facing direction in the Moslem Dome of the Rock building, which was originally the Jewish facing direction for prayer, the first kiblah of Mohammed, was the location of the Table of Showbread in the Holy Place. Figure 1 is my determination for the location of Herod’s Temple with its various courtyards. A detailed description of this figure is beyond the scope of this article, but I shall point out some important facts. The line from B to C in Fig.1 is shown superimposed on Fig.2. In fig.1 note the S.E. corner of the 135C square is at cistern 5. Point B was in line with one of two gates at the western end of the Hal. A trench dug on the temple mount has revealed the remains of a portion of a wide wall. Point G marks the exposed location of this wall.
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