6
(illegible text)rches were double, supported by many (illegible text) twenty cubits high, all of one piece of marble; the tops of cedar so exactly wrought astonished beholders; the porches, thirty cubits broad, and the compass of the temple was six furlongs; the courts were curiously paved and wrought with all sorts of stones, and the gates were covered with weighty plates of gold; only one with Corinthian brass, which for beauty excelled the others, dazzling the eyes of the spectators.
Then the Sanctum Sanctorum, or Holy of Holies, situated in the midst, bad twelve stairs to go up to it, the fore part of it was an hundred cubits high, and as many broad, and backwards it was forty cubits on each side. It had, as it were, two shoulders twenty cubits high, and twenty-five wide, and had no doors, to shew that heaven was always open. All the fore parts were gilded within and covered with fine gold: the inner part was divided into two rooms, whereof the first only might be seen, which was in height ninety cubits, in length forty, and in breadth twenty. Round about the wall was a golden vine, whereon hung grapes in clusters, being six feet long; it had golden gates fifty-five cubits high, and sixteen broad, and curious hangings of the same length, wrought with purple, velvet, scarlet, and silk. All the fabric was so exquisite and rich, that none could imagine any workmanship to be wanted, for it was all covered with massy plates of gold, which astonished the beholders; the top also was set with rods of
