See
4,000+ year-old sketches of building layouts on clay tablets. They are very rare.
This is a temple plan and the captions next to the drawn walls give their
lengths in cubits. Whereas the outer walls of the building have a thickness of
three cubits the walls inside the building are two cubits thick. The entrance
to the building, which can most probably be identified as temple was in the
middle of the left outer wall. In a straight line four rooms are indicated, of
which the second room has almost a square layout. From this more or less
central room one could reach further rooms that lie to the side of the
building. Most interesting is an elongated room in the upper part of the
sketch, in which a flight of stairs might be indicated. See these amazing
photographs at -- http://mesopotamianheritage.tumblr.com/post/99991285037/sumerian-clay-tablet-ur-southern-iraq-ca
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to...
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