• ark: An ornamental, enclosed repository in a synagogue for the scrolls of the Torah.
• Holy Ark: The cabinet in a synagogue in which the scrolls of the Torah are kept, set into or against the wall that faces toward Jerusalem.
• echal: The cupboard in a synagogue which contains the rolls of the Law.
• almemar: Reading desk in a synagogue.
• almemor: Reading desk in a synagogue.
• ulam: The outer hall of the Temple of Solomon, which served as an anteroom.
• debir: The holy of holies in the Temple of Solomon which held the ark of the covenant.
• bimah: The platform in a synagogue from which services are conducted. Also called almemar, bema.
• tebam: The reader’s platform in a synagogue.
• hekhal: The sanctuary or largest main room in the Temple of Solomon.
• mikdash: A sanctuary; a temple in ancient Israel.
• beth-knesset: A Jewish house of assembly and prayer; a synagogue.
• beth-mikdash: A synagogue.
• synagogue: A meeting place for Jewish worship.
• Temple of Solomon: The first Temple of Jerusalem, completed c950 B.C. by Phoenician artisans under the direction of King Solomon and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II in 586 B.C. Based on Canaanite and Phoenician prototypes, it was oblong in shape, and consisted of three main parts: an outer hall (ulam), the main sanctuary (hekhal), and the holy of holies (debir), all decorated with massive carvings in ivory, gold, and cedar.
• yatzia: The three-storied structure which surrounded the Temple of Solomon on three sides.

Also see Architecture index.