 This area of the 2nd Temple was called the Royal Porch of Herod. It was, nothing less, than an architectural wonder, which consisted of 4 rows of 162 monolithic marble columns. This Royal Porch was constructed, at least, one modern storey above ground level and was an entrance for the Jews, alone. It was accessed from another magnificient, and quite unique structure, at its time ( smacking of Herodian architectual brilliance), which was constructed at the south western corner of the Temple compound. Centuries later this structure became known as Robinson's Arch (See a depiction of it below that of Solomon's Colonnade.)  The above simulation (created by the Urban Simulation Team of the Israel Antiquities Authority) gives us a good idea of the sight one would have beheld if one stood in King Herod's Royal Portico, on the southern wall of the Temple compound, looking straight north. King Herod built the Antonia Fortress, which was a military barracks, on the north western side of the Temple compound. (Not seen in this simulation)  The columns (according to some sources, a double row of 81, equaling 162 in total) shown in the photo, above, were found on the eastern side of the outer court of Herod's Temple. This entire area, which overlooked the Kidron Valley, was called Solomon's Colonnade. It was THE place in the 2nd Temple that was used by the sages of the day to teach The Scriptures to the common people. After searching for Him for 3 whole days, His parents eventually found the 12 year old Yahushua in this very colonnade, debating with the leading scholars of the day, literally astonishing them with His incredible knowledge and understanding of The Scriptures. In answer to His mother's question of why He had just disappeared without informing them, He enigmatically told them . . . "Lamah chipastem oti? Ha-im lo y'datem ki alai lih'yot ba-asher l'avi? / Why were you seeking Me? Did you not know that I had to be in the matters of My Father?" [Luqas 2:49]It is also here where Yahushua walked and taught approximately 2 decades later during the time of the Festival of Chanukah, as it is recorded for us in Yahuchanan 10:22-23. It was here, in Solomon's Colonnade, where the man, who was lame from his birth, but was completely healed by the power of Elohim, operating through the apostles Peter and Yahuchanan, showed himself as such, to not a few people, who were all filled with wonder and amazement at this incredible miracle. [See Acts: 3:1-11] It was, moreover, here where the entire episode with Chananyah and his wife Shapirah, together with the apostles, and especially Peter, by name (so vividly described for us in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 5, verses 1-12), played itself out. Notice, if you will, verse 12(b), i.e. "And they were all with one mind in Sh'lomo's Porch." Other references to the word "teaching", in this chapter, i.e. in verses 21, 25, 28, 40 & 42 also, clearly, suggests that these events happened right here, in Sh'lomo's Colonnade.
 A simulation (A creation of the Urban Simulation Team of the Israel Antiquities Authority) of what the magnificient (and quite unique, in its time) Robinson's Arch would have looked like. |
The Jewish historian, Josephus, describes the colonnades as follows: "All the cloisters were double, and the pillars belonging to them were twenty-five cubits (with 1 Roman cubit = approx. 45 cm's, 25 cubits = approx 11.25 meters) in height, and supported the cloisters. These pillars were of one entire stone, each of them, and that stone was white marble; and the roofs were adorned with cedar, curiously graven. The natural magnificence, and excellent polish, and the harmony of the joints in these cloisters, afforded a prospect that was very remarkable; nor was it on the outside adorned with any work of the painter or engraver. The cloisters (of the outmost court) were in breadth thirty cubits (approx. 13.5 meters), while the entire compass of it was by measure six furlongs (1 furlong = 201.17 meters), including the tower of Antonia; those entire courts that were exposed to the air were laid with stones of all sorts" (Jewish War 5. 5. 2) In Acts 3:11 & 5:12 the Greek word "stoa" is translated "porch". The word "portico" is even a better translation for "stoa", as is suggested in the margin of Acts 3:11, in the Revised Version. In architecture a "porch" is strictly an exterior structure forming a covered approach to the entrance of a building. A "portico" is an ambulatory (arcade, if you like), consisting of a roof supported by columns placed at regular intervals - a roofed colonnade. The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 5th Edition, Oxford University Press, p. 237, defines "colonnade" as follows: "a series of columns with entablature", and the latter (ibid. p. 404) as: "The part of an order above the column, including architrave, frieze and cornice."
 In the above photo one can clearly see the entire entablature, resting upon the capital of the column, consisting of the three orders, defined below. If one should compare the entablature, above, with that of the photo on the left (of the area immediately above the capitals of the columns, in Solomon's Colonnade), the similarities between the two should immediately become evident. The following definitions were drawn from the tab marked "Encyclopaedia" on the website: http://thefreedictionary.com architrave (n.) - in architecture, principal beam and lowest member of the classical entablature. Its position is directly above the columns and it extends between them, thus carrying the upper members of the order. frieze (n.) - in Greco-Roman architecture it is a horizontal band, often decorated with relief sculpture, between the architrave and cornice of an architectual structure. cornice (n.) - molded or decorated projection that forms the crowning feature at the top of an architectual element, specifically, the uppermost of the three principal members of the classic entablature.
 An American researcher, by the name of Edward Robinson, first realized, in 1838, that this significant protrusion on the south western retaining wall of Herod's Temple (see photo above), was, indeed, the exact place where this, once magnificient, arch was joined to the beautiful structure (which was built on the southern wall of the Temple), known as Herod's Royal Portico. For this contribution, which was very profound in the year 1838, this arch was named after him, and was, therefore, known, from that very time, as Robinson's Arch.  |
