Chapter 5. A description of the temple.

Now this temple, as I've already said, was built upon a strong hill.

At first the plain at the top was hardly sufficient for the Holy House and the altar,

for the ground about it was very uneven and like a precipice.

But when King Solomon, who was that person that built the temple,

had built a wall to it on its east side, there was then added one cloister founded on a bank

cast up for it, and on the other parts the Holy House stood naked. But in future ages the people

added new banks, and the hill became a larger plain. They then broke down the wall on the north side and took

in as much as sufficed afterward for the compass of the entire temple. And when they had built

walls on three sides of the temple round about from the bottom of the hill and had performed a work

that was greater than could be hoped for, in which work long ages were spent by them, as well as

all their sacred treasures

were exhausted, which were still replenished by those tributes, which were sent to God from

the whole habitable earth. They then encompassed their upper courts with coasters, as well as

they did the lowest court of the temple. The lowest part of this was erected to the height of 300

cubits, and in some places more, yet did not the entire depth of the foundations appear for they

brought earth and filled up the valleys as being desirous to make them on a level with the narrow

streets of the city, wherein they made use of stones of 40 cubits in magnitude,

for the great plenty of money they then had, and the liberality of the people made this

attempt of theirs to succeed to an incredible degree, and what could not be hoped for as ever to be

accomplished was by perseverance and length of time brought to perfection.

Now for the works that were above these foundations, these were not unworthy of such foundations.

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