Sublime Sanctuary: The Jerusalem Temple in the Dead Sea Scrolls

RECONSTRUCTION BY LEEN RITMEYER

When Judeans began returning from the Babylonian Exile in the late sixth century BCE, one of their first priorities was rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple. As Ezra informs us, however, the rebuilt Temple was a rather modest affair (6:3), with the text giving few of the meticulous details that characterized the Bible’s description of the First Temple (cf. 1 Kings 6).

The diminished reality of ancient Israel’s exclusive sanctuary to God led the returnees to imagine a far grander and more glorious Temple that would recall the magnificence of Solomon’s Temple and meet the future aspirations of the Judean people. The prophet Ezekiel, for example, envisioned a greatly expanded and idealized Temple complex in which Israel’s tribes would be gathered together around their holy shrine during the coming age of restoration in the land (Ezekiel 40–48).

In this context, it is not at all surprising that the Dead Sea Scrolls, some of which were composed as early as the third century BCE, preserve several texts that provide detailed architectural plans for an idealized temple. Here, I summarize the architectural descriptions set forward in two scroll compositions—the Temple Scroll and New Jerusalem—looking at them as alternative plans for Jerusalem and its Temple. Similar to Ezekiel’s conception, I believe both plans were an attempt to recreate the idealized image of the Israelite camp that surrounded the Tabernacle during the time of the desert wanderings (Numbers 2–4).

We begin with the plan found in the Temple Scroll (11Q19, 11Q20). Sometime during the reign of the Hasmonean ruler and high priest John Hyrcanus (134–104 BCE), the scroll’s author sought to propound his plan for a total reformation of the Hasmonean order. Although his demands for reform included the restructuring of the political system, his primary emphasis was on the rebuilding and reorganization of the Temple to conform to his interpretation of the Torah.

The plan begins with detailed instructions for the construction of the Temple, followed by a complete description of its furnishings. The text then turns to a description of the Temple precincts, specifically the three outer courts that surround the Temple (see opposite). Overall, the square complex measures 1,600 cubits (around 2,500 feet) on each side, meaning the total area of the envisioned Temple precinct would have been around 145 acres, about four times larger than the Herodian Temple Mount constructed in the first century BCE.

The text first specifies an Inner Court that has four gates, one on each side, representing the four groups of the tribe of Levi: the Aaronide priests on the east, the Levites of Kohath on the south, Gershon on the west, and Merari on the north. This arrangement corresponds exactly to the pattern of the desert camp (Numbers 3:14–39). The scroll then turns to the Middle Court, which is to be concentric with the Inner Court, surrounding it on all four sides. The Middle Court has 12 gates, apportioned to each of the 12 sons of Jacob.

The Outer Court is concentrically positioned around the Middle Court. The text then turns to the location of the respective gates for each tribe and spells out the exact design of each gate. The distribution of the gates corresponds exactly with that of the Middle Court.

ZEV RADOVAN / BIBLELANDPICTURES.COM

Especially significant is the requirement that a series of inward-facing chambers be constructed along the inner wall of the Outer Court. Each side has four sets of 18 chambers each. Above the ground floor of each chamber are two additional stories, with the upper level set aside for sukkot (booths). Eleven of these sets of chambers are apportioned to all the sons of Jacob except for Levi. The remaining five sections are allotted to the two clans of Aaron and one each to the Levitical clans—Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

LEEN RITMEYER

Now let us turn to the plan found in New Jerusalem (2Q24, 4Q554, 4Q554a, 5Q15, 11Q1). The author, who appears to have been writing in the years before the Maccabean Revolt (168–164 BCE), set down his text in the form of a tour—given probably by an angelic figure—of his ideally planned city. The plan begins by describing the city wall, which encloses a large rectangular area measuring 140 by 100 stadia. In modern terms, this city would be 11.5 by 16 miles, or 185 square miles, nearly four times the size of present-day Jerusalem.

This enclosure has 12 gates, three on each side, appropriated to each of the tribes. The gate of Levi is placed at the center of the east wall, with Simeon and Judah flanking Levi on either side, indicating the higher status of these tribes in the author’s view. Wide streets (what we might term boulevards) pass through the gates to enter the city. Three of these boulevards run east to west, with the widest and most important serving as a kind of Decumanus Maximus, and three extend from north to south.

These boulevards divide the entire area into 16 squares in which smaller streets and insulae (apartment buildings) are constructed. The scroll provides a detailed description of the insulae within these square apartment blocks. Each one consists of 60 apartments, 15 on each side. Each insula has four gates, one on each side. There is some indication that the courtyards are occupied by buildings used for preparing and eating meals. Each apartment has three floors (ground floor, upper floor, and a roof terrace), which accommodate 22 beds.

SHAI HALEVI / COURTESY OF THE LEON LEVY DEAD SEA SCROLLS DIGITAL LIBRARY, IAA

After describing the insulae, the angelic tour then proceeds to the Temple complex itself. Unfortunately, this part of the text is extremely fragmentary. The Temple likely occupied a position somewhere near the middle of the city, near the crossroads of the main east-west and north-south boulevards. In addition to a variety of expensive materials, including gold and various precious stones, specific mention is made of the Temple courtyard, the holy of holies, the altar, and the laver. It is unclear whether one or two courtyards surround the Temple. The text may have described a stream of “living waters” leading out of the Temple. Such a stream would have symbolized the divine presence flowing forth from the city.

LEEN RITMEYER

Largely because of the immense size of Jerusalem envisioned in New Jerusalem, along with its extensive discussions of living quarters, most scholars have assumed it details a plan for the entire city. In light of the evidence from the Temple Scroll, however, I believe this assumption requires reconsideration. Specifically, the inward-facing chambers of the Temple’s Outer Court in the Temple Scroll, which are apportioned in a similar way to the living quarters in New Jerusalem, seem as if they are intended for pilgrims. The dormitory-style housing in the insulae of New Jerusalem seems to be for the same purpose. It appears, then, that both plans envisaged an enlarged Temple complex that included accommodations for Temple pilgrims, divided according to their tribal affiliations.

In this shared concept, the Temple and its courtyards were a source of holiness. They had to be approached with awe and reverence and in the required level of ritual purity. The Temple symbolized the nation of Israel in its pristine perfection in the years of desert wandering. There, God’s blessings flowed out from the center, the Tabernacle, to the tribes encamped around. With the adoption of these plans for the Temple, the respective authors of these scrolls dreamed of a day when Israel would dwell, as it were, in the tent of the Lord. Both texts, I believe, were essentially proposing to turn all of Jerusalem into a holy place, in which the only residents would be pilgrims to the Temple.