drainage on the north side_ to wash the victims and cleanse the ground from blood, because there the Levites appointed for that duty flayed them, and had their chambers[362]. (6) _On the east side of the altar must be a 'place of the ashes,'_ where also the refuse of the victims might be cast. I cannot but think that this would be outside the above-named sacred courts; and in fact we find a connected system of cisterns to the west of the Golden Gate, which I believe were used for this purpose. (7) The great 'sea of bronze' was to the south-east of the altar, as we are told by the Mischna; therefore _in this direction there should be traces of the place from which it was supplied_. Now on the platform of the mosque, south-east of the rock, is a vault, and to the south of it many cisterns of water, one of which might have supplied the sea. These latter, I think, may have been in the great court; so that after the priests had purified themselves at them, they could enter the sacred enclosure. Therefore I conclude that the locality satisfies the conditions required by this position of the altar of burnt-offerings and the places in its neighbourhood; and we have only to see if the cisterns and vaults, mentioned above, are connected by subterranean passages, to admit of the flow of water or of blood, as the case may be. That this requirement is also satisfied, will be presently seen from the account of my investigations among them. I have already stated that I suppose the Temple and its sacred courts to have occupied the second plateau. The House itself was 60 cubits long and 20 wide, lying east and west; the porch in front on the east side was 10 cubits long. If then we circumscribe a square with a side of 20 cubits about the rock, facing to the four points of the compass, and produce its north and south sides westward, we inclose a space on the plateau large enough to admit a building of the required dimensions, and sufficient space is left even for the courts and buildings of Herod's Temple. We are told by Josephus that the Temple was not situated in the middle of the area on the summit of Moriah, but rather towards the north-west corner: a glance at the Plan will shew that this condition is satisfied. The same historian relates that the Temple of Herod was a square of 500 cubits; the place admits of this; consequently we may conclude that we are right in assigning this site to the ancient Temple. That the position of the third plateau has been rightly assigned, hardly needs demonstration. The made ground is still to be seen on the east side, and the levelled surfaces and projecting remnant of rock on the north-west; while we have already noticed the great works by which it was enlarged on the south. Hence the three levels of the _Haram es-Sherîf_ correspond with the three spaces occupied by the ancient Temple.