Monday, April 29, 2013

(Final) View of Minor Sanhedrin Courthouse

Here is the final rendering of the minor sanhedrin courthouse. Amenities now include fine rugs for the students to sit upon, a fireplace to keep the room warm in the winter, a buffet to sustain the members of the court during long proceedings, and a large wall cabinet where transcripts of each session could be stored.


Monday, April 22, 2013

Major Change to the Minor Sanhedrin Courthouse

Last week I posted a description of the minor Sanhedrin courthouse but have since learned that a major change must be made to the overall design. Rashi to the Mishnah on the bottom of Sanhedrin 36b writes that the three rows of students who sat before the judges also arranged themselves in a semicircle, and this view is followed by Tiferes Yisrael (upon whom my model is based) to Sanhedrin 4:4 §24. The new description is as follows:

In these courts the judges sat on chairs or benches arranged in a semicircle facing south (where the door of the chamber was located) and three rows of 23 students each, also arranged in semicircles one behind the other, sat on the ground in front of the judges. A person is one amah wide which means that each semicircle had a diameter of about 16 amos and a radius of about 8 amos. Thus, from east to west the court would need 16 amos of space (to account for the diameter of the semicircle) while from north to south it needed 19 amos (8 amos for the radius of the judges' semicircle, one amah of space between the judges and students for the witnesses and litigants to enter before the court, 8 amos for the radius of the first row of students, and 2 more amos behind them for the next two rows).


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Preview of Minor Sanhedrin Courthouse

The Temple complex housed a total of three courthouses: two minor sanhedrin courts of 23 members each and the Great Sanhedrin of 71 members. The first of these courts was situated on the Temple Mount just to the right (i.e., north) of the Shushan Gate. In these courts the judges sat on chairs or benches arranged in a semicircle facing south (where the door of the chamber was located) and three rows of students, 23 in each row, sat on the ground in front of the judges. Taking into account the space required to seat the judges (their semicircle had a diameter of about 16 amos) and students, and allowing one amah of space between the judges and students where the witnesses and litigants would stand, the minimum dimensions of this chamber were 23 amos wide (east to west) by 12 amos long (north to south).

This is the next scene that I am working on in my virtual Beis Hamikdash model. In the picture here I have just started blocking out the rough dimensions of the room and where everybody will be sitting or standing. The two litigants apparently cannot agree on the size of that fish...