How Bel Temple at Palmyra Laid out Using Cord

By Robert Kerson 7/23/2014

(The reader must first read my paper, Method By Which Jewish Temple In Jerusalem Could Have Been
Laid Out before reading this paper or my introductory paper Discovery of a Sacred Ancient Survey
Technique used in the Middle east. This paper I present as a proof that the Jerusalem temple used the
same survey technique since the designers of the Jerusalem temple must have had knowledge of sacred
temple building techniques. This is confirmed stated in 2Chronicles 2:1-13. This knowledge could not
have existed in a vacuum but very likely was known throughout the region. This knowledge could be
expected to be used in Semitic pagan temples dating from the time a Jerusalem Temple existed.)

The temple complex consisted of a sacred large (outer) square marking a columned stoa,
with a smaller (inner) square marking an inner court yard area.
Below are two diagrams1: the upper one showing the outer square marked in solid lines, and
the lower one showing the inner square marked in solid lines. (The stoa is the area between the
solid and dashed lines.) The inner court yard has a rectangular raised podium on which the
rectangular temple building was placed. The building had a non- symmetrical doorway with an
accompanying staircase. An altar, marked 1 in both diagrams, and a basin, marked 2 in both
diagrams, were built in the court yard outside the temple building.
The upper and lower diagrams show 8:8:5 triangles whose long sides are the lengths of the
respective solid lines larger triangles on the top diagram, and smaller triangles on the bottom
diagram. The red dots show the 6x/8x (or 2x/8x ) point on the long side of a triangle. This was
an important point on the triangle since it was used to locate the central axis line of the
Jerusalem Temple. The black circles show intersections of triangle lines on features of the
temple complex. The reader can note how structures such as the altar and basin could have
been laid out using triangles. The sides of the inner podium also could have been marked out by
these triangles. Note how the eastern edge of the temple podium (shown as the right side of
podium) could have been laid out from both the top and bottom diagrams. Another major
observation is that the off center doorway and staircase could be explained by use of these
triangles. The center axis line shown in red in the top diagram is in line with two pairs of
triangles, shown circled in red.

Simplified and copied off of a number of diagrams. .

Fig. 1.

The interior of the Temple of Bel also shows signs of having been designed by 8:8:5 triangles
The triangles are shown in red in Fig. 2. Notice that two triangles could mark the location of the
left doorpost into the building. Again, this off center alignment of the door way we see in the
top image of Fig. 1 can be explained by Fig. 2.

Fig. 2.