(3) _Solomon’s Palace._--Just to the south of the temple court, separated from it only by a wall, was a middle court in which was Solomon’s own palace and the palace of Pharaoh’s daughter (1 Kings 7:8). These palaces were a little lower down the hill than the temple, and Solomon had a private “ascent” by which he could go up into the temple (1 Kings 10:5). The royal palaces were so near that a shout in the court around the altar could be heard in the palace (2 Kings 11:12, 13). These palaces were built of hewn stone and cedar. South of this court was still another, separated from it by a wall. In this most southerly and lowest of the courts stood the hall of state, in which was the throne room, where Solomon sat in judgment. This hall was paneled with cedar from floor to roof. The throne was of ivory, was approached by six steps, and flanked on each side by lions (1 Kings 10:18-20). South of this and probably intended as its vestibule was the “porch of pillars,” 86 by 52 feet (1 Kings 7:6). Still south of this stood the “house of the forest of Lebanon” (1 Kings 7:2), so called because its four rows of cedar pillars were poetically suggestive of a Lebanon forest. This was the largest of all the buildings, being 172 feet long, 86 feet wide, and 52 feet high. There seem to have been two stories, the uppermost of which was supported by 45 pillars in three rows. Josephus says that the upper room of this hall was designed to “contain a great body of men, who would come together to have their causes determined.”[246] He may have been influenced, however, in making the statement by the customs of his own time. As one went northward, then, up the hill from the “city of David,” he passed through a gateway into the large court. In this court he came first to the “house of the forest of Lebanon.” Beyond this he would enter through the “porch of pillars” into the splendid hall of judgment with its imposing throne. If he were a favored servant or an honored guest of the king, he might be admitted to the inner court, in which case he would behold the imposing palaces of Solomon and his principal queen. A passageway to the eastward of this more private court led the person not so favored to the sacred court about the temple. In the construction of these buildings Solomon employed Phœnician architects and workmen. His buildings were, therefore, more imposing than those ordinarily erected in Palestine. The Phœnicians were the intermediaries of the ancient world, and were the recipients of influences from Babylonia, Egypt, the Hittites, Cyprus, and the Mycenean world. Through them something of the world’s architectural culture touched the buildings of Solomon.