Crowds funnel through the eastern gates of Jerusalem at an elevation of 2,400 feet above sea level. Pilgrims carry palm branches in heavy heat during the autumn harvest festival. Smoke from burning animal fat coats the air in the upper courtyards. Temple priests chant rhythmic verses to maintain order among thousands of travelers pressing toward the main sanctuary.
Returnees from Babylon finished building the second iteration of this central complex around 515 b.c. Persian officials governed the province of Yehud at this time. They extracted heavy taxes from the population but permitted local religious rituals. The walled religious platform spanned roughly 35 acres. Priests maintained a massive fire on a square masonry structure measuring 30 feet across.
Workers constructing this complex salvaged materials from the ruined first sanctuary. Laborers dragged heavy ashlar blocks up the steep ridges of the city. Foremen inspected each piece of masonry for structural integrity and discarded blocks with deep fractures or irregular edges. A cast-off foundation block eventually became the primary corner anchor for a massive retaining wall and inspired a local chant about reversal and vindication.
The block the builders discarded became the head of the corner.
Pilgrims chanted this phrase while ascending toward the horned altar. Temple guards bound sacrificial animals to the elevated corners of the bronze grate with thick cords. Blood pooled and drained into dedicated channels cut into the pavement. Singers called out to the Deity for salvation and praised his endurance as the priests slaughtered the next offering.