(a.) The principal building situated with-
in the palace was, as in all East- ern palaces, the great hall of state and audience ; here called the " House of the Forest of Leba- non." Its dimensions were 100 cubits, or 150 feet long, by half that, or 75 feet in width. Ac- cording to the Bible (1 Kings vii, 2) it had "fuui- rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars;" but it is added in the next verse that " it was cov- ered with cedar above the beams that lay on 45 pillars, 15 in a row." This would be easily ex- plicable if the description stopped there, and so Josephus took it. He evidently considered the hall, as he afterwards described the Stoa basilica of the Temple, as consisting of four rows of col- umns, tliree standing free, but the fourth built into the outer wall (Ant. xi, 5); and his ex- pression that the ceiling of the jialace hall was in the Corin- thian manner (.1 nt. vii, 5, 2) does not mean that it was of that order, which was not then invented, but after the fashion of what was called in his day a Corinthian cccus, viz. a hall with a clerestorv. If we, like Jose- phus, are contented with these .indications, the section of the hall was certainly as shown in tig. 2, A. But the Bible goes ou to say (ver. 4) that '• there were windows in three rows, and light was against light in three ranks," and in the next verse it repeats, " and light was against light in three ranks." Josephus escapes the difficulty by saying it was lighted by ^vpwi.tam rpiy\i<(j)otc, or by windows in three divisions, which might be taken as an ex- tremely probable description if the Bible were not so very spe- cific regarding it; and we may therefore adopt some such ar- ragement as that shown in fig. 2, B. In short, Fergusson suggests a clerestory, to which he thinks Josephus refers, and shows the three rows of columns which the Bible description recjuircs. Besides the clere- story, there was on this theory a range of openings un- der the cornice of the walls, and then a range of open doorways, which would thus make the three openings required by the Bible description. In a hotter climate the first arrangement (fig. 2, A) would be the more prob- able ; but on a site so exposed and occasionally so cold
Fis
2. CoDjectnral Sections of "the House of the Cedars of Lebanon," according to Fer- gusson.
PALACE
543
PALACE
as Jerusalem, it is scarcely likely that the great hall of the palace was permanently open even on one side.
Another difficulty in attempting to restore this hall arises from the number of pillars being unequal ('■ 15 in a row"), and if we adojit the last theory (tig. 2, B), we have a row of columns in the centre both ways. Fer- gusson holds that it was closed, as shown in the plan, by a wall at one end, which would give 15 spaces to the 15 pillars, and so provide a central space in tlie longer dimension of the hall in which the throne might have been placed. If the first theory be adopted, the throne may have stood either at the end, or in the cen- tre of the longer side, but, judging from what we know of the arrangement of Eastern palaces, we may be al- most certain that the latter is the correct position.
(6.) Next in importance to the building just described is the hall or porch of judgment (ver. 7), which Jose- phus distinctly tells us (.!«/. vii, 5, 1) was situated op- posite the centre of the longer, side of the great hall: an indication that may be admitted with less hesita- tion, as such a position is identical with that of a sim- ilar hall at Persepolis, and with the probable position of one at Khorsabad. Its dimensions were 50 cubits, or 75 feet square (Josephus says 30 in one direction at least), and its disposition can easily be understood by comparing the descriptions which we have with the remains of the Assyrian and Persian examples. It is thought by Fergusson to have been su]iported by four pillars in the centre, and to have had three entrances; the principal one opening from the street and facing the judgment-seat, a second from the court-yard of the palace, by which the councillors and officers of state might come in (fig. 1, in the direction M), and a third from the palace, reserved for the king and his house- hold, as shown above (fig. 1, in the direction N).
(c.) The third edifice is merely called " the Porch." Its dimensions were 50 by 30 cubits, or 75 feet by 45. Josephus does not describe its architecture; and we are unable to understand the description contained in the Bible, owing apparently to our ignorance of the syn- onyms of the Hebrew architectural terms. Its use, however, cannot be considered as doubtful, as it was an indispensable adjunct to an Eastern palace. It was the ordinary place of business of the palace, and the recep- tion-room— the Guesten-Hall — where the king received ordinary visitors, and sat, except on great state occa- sions, to transact the business of the kingdom.