The pre-herodian Temple II: The building project of Simeon the Just on the Temple Mount

The building project of Simeon the Just (219-196 BCE), described in a poetic style in The Wisdom of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) 50:1-5, is complemented by the Edict of Rights to the Jews of Antiochus III (Ant. XII. 138-144), and by his decree concerning the sanctity of the Temple and Jerusalem (Ant XII.145-146), both issued in 198 BCE. In addition to the digging of a water reservoir "enormous like the sea", the Temple was restored, the inner court (azarah) was fortified and a new peribolos was erected, resting on high foundations with prominent corners, enclosing an elevated leveled courtyard. The peribolos comprised porticos that surrounded the elevated courtyard. Gentiles were prohibited from proceeding beyond a barrier (labeled in later sources Soreg) that had marked the sacred outer precinct. Simeon the Just's elevated and leveled precinct is to be identified with the square peribolos, 1×1 stadia in dimensions of Ant. XV.400, and with the "second sacred precinct" of the Herodian outer court, which was slightly elevated relative to the Herodian "first sacred precinct" (Ant. XV.417).