HEROD’S TEMPLE

Altar of Incense

Beyond the porch was a slim rectangular room called the Holy Place that was lit by a single menorah – a seven-branched candelabra that disappeared when the temple was destroyed in 70 CE. This room also contained a specially dedicated table of shewbread as an offering to God, as well as the crowned Altar of Incense that was made from acacia wood clad in gold upon which holy incense was burned and offered twice a day.

The holy sanctuary

It was believed that Herod’s Temple became more holy the further west someone ventured. As such, the sanctuary building was at