the First Temple and by two curtains in the Second Temple. The sanctuary contained the seven branched candlestick, the table of showbread and the Incense Altar. The main courtyard had thirteen gates. On the south side, beginning with the southwest corner, there were four gates: The Upper Gate (Sha'ar HaElyon) The Kindling Gate (Sha'ar HaDelek), where wood was brought in The Gate of Firstborns (Sha'ar HaBechorot), where people with first-born animal offerings entered The Water Gate (Sha'ar HaMayim), where the Water Libation entered on Sukkot/the Feast of Tabernacles On the north side, beginning with the northwest corner, there were four gates: The Gate of Jeconiah (Sha'ar Yechonyah), where kings of the Davidic line enter and Jeconiah left for the last time to captivity after being dethroned by the King of Babylon The Gate of the Offering (Sha'ar HaKorban), where priests entered with kodshei kodashim offerings The Women's Gate (Sha'ar HaNashim), where women entered into the Azara or main courtyard to perform offerings The Gate of Song (Sha'ar HaShir), where the Levites entered with their musical instruments. The Hall of Hewn Stones (Hebrew: לשכת הגזית Lishkat haGazit), also known as the Chamber of Hewn Stone, was the meeting place, or council-chamber, of the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period (6th century BCE – 1st century CE). The Talmud deduces that it was built into the north wall of the Temple in Jerusalem, half inside the sanctuary and half outside, with doors providing access both to the temple and to the outside. The chamber is said to have resembled a basilica in appearance, having two entrances: one in the east and one in the west. On the east side was the Gate of Nicanor, between the Women's Courtyard and the main Temple Courtyard, which had two minor doorways, one on its right and one on its left. On the western wall, which was relatively unimportant, there were two gates that did not have any name. The Mishnah lists concentric circles of holiness surrounding the Temple: Holy of Holies; Sanctuary; Vestibule; Court of the Priests; Court of the Israelites; Court of the Women; Temple Mount; the walled city of Jerusalem; all the walled cities of the Land of Israel; and the borders of the Land of Israel. The Talmud speaks also of important presents which Queen Helena of Adiabene gave to the Temple at Jerusalem. "Helena had a golden candlestick made over the