The Western Wall of the Har Habayis, part 9 (The Trumpeting place)

    By the southwest corner of the Har Habayis, next to the gate above Robinson's arch, were chambers. On the roof of these chambers, a Kohen used to blow a trumpet every Friday, to signal that Shabbos is coming. During Binyamin Mazar's excavations, a stone was found, that mentioned this "Beis Hatekiah"-place of trumpeting. This corner is very suitable for this task, as it was high up, and faced the whole city, so it was easily heard. It was also right next to the main road of Yerushalayim, so everyone who was there knew it was time to close up shop and get ready for Shabbos. 

   This stone is one of the most interesting discoveries made during the excavations. It is a large corner parapet stone, found in the piles of stones cast down by the Romans during the Churban, by the southwest corner of the Har Habayis. In the inner slope of this stone, a niche was cut, for someone to stand in. Above this niche is a Hebrew inscription, that reads ...לבית התקיעה להכ-"to the house (or place) of trumpeting to-, and the rest is cut off. Various people have come up with various theories for what the full inscription said, the two most popular being לבית התקיעה להכריז-to the house of trumpeting to announce, and לבית התקיעה להבדיל בין בין קודש לחול-to the house of trumpeting to distinguish between the holy and the mundane. (It is unclear if the last extant letter is a Beis or Chaf.) Traces of plaster were found in the niche, possibly indicating that this stone was plastered over, and the inscription was never exposed, in which case its only purpose was to tell the builders where to put this stone.
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   This trumpeting place is mentioned by Josephus (Wars 4:9:12 [4:581-2]), who, while talking about the fighting between different Jewish factions before the Churban,  writes how one group fortified themselves on Har Habayis, and "erected four very large towers aforehand, that their darts might come from higher places, one at the north-east corner of the court, one above the Xystus (see this post), the third at another corner over against the lower city (the southeast corner of Har Habayis), and the last was erected above the top of the Pastophorion, where one of the priests stood of course, and gave a signal beforehand, with a trumpet at the beginning of every seventh day, in the evening twilight, as also at the evening when that day was finished, as giving notice to the people when they were to leave off work, and when they were to go to work again." (Pastophorion, (παστοφορίων) is a Greek word, coming from the word Pastophorus, a kind of Egyptian priest. It was used to refer to the rooms they dwelt in and used for storage for their temple. In the Septuagint, it is used twice, once while translating Yechezkel 40:17, where the Navi mentions the thirty chambers [Lishkos] that will be on a balcony in the outer courtyard of the third Beis Hamikdash, and once in Yirmiyahu 35:4 (or, according to the division of Yirmiyahu used there, 42:4) where he mentions "the chamber (Lishkah) of the sons of Chanan the son of Yigdaliah". From this we see that the term was also used to refer to Lishkos in general, so it is unclear if Josephus is referring to a specific kind of Lishkah, or is just using a general term.) 

יעל י, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Ekeidar, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0), via Wikimedia Commons

   The Mishnah in Masechtas Sukkah (5:5), which discusses the different times the trumpet was blowen in the Beis Hamikdash, mentions: On Erev Shabbos they would add six blasts, three to stop the people from work, and three to distinguish between the holy and the mundane. (וּבְעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת הָיוּ מוֹסִיפִין עוֹד שֵׁשׁ, שָׁלשׁ לְהַבְטִיל הָעָם מִמְּלָאכָה, וְשָׁלשׁ לְהַבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל.)

​   The Gemarah in Shabbos (35b) gives more details about the blowing of the trumpet on Erev Shabbos, which happened then in all Jewish communities: 
ת"ר שש תקיעות תוקעין ערב שבת ראשונה להבטיל את העם ממלאכה שבשדות שניה להבטיל עיר וחנויות שלישית להדליק את הנר דברי ר' נתן ר' יהודה הנשיא אומר שלישית לחלוץ תפילין ושוהה כדי צליית דג קטן או כדי להדביק פת בתנור ותוקע ומריע ותוקע ושובת אמר רשב"ג מה נעשה להם לבבליים שתוקעין ומריעין ושובתין מתוך מריעין תוקעין ומריעין הוו להו חמשה אלא שתוקעין וחוזרין ותוקעין ומריעין ושובתין מתוך מריעין מנהג אבותיהן בידיהן מתני ליה רב יהודה לרב יצחק בריה שניה להדליק את הנר כמאן לא כר' נתן ולא כר' יהודה הנשיא אלא שלישית להדליק את הנר כמאן כרבי נתן תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל שש תקיעות תוקעין ע"ש התחיל לתקוע תקיעה ראשונה נמנעו העומדים בשדה מלעדור ומלחרוש ומלעשות כל מלאכה שבשדות ואין הקרובין רשאין ליכנס עד שיבואו רחוקין ויכנסו כולם כאחד ועדיין חנויות פתוחות ותריסין מונחין התחיל לתקוע תקיעה שניה נסתלקו התריסין וננעלו החנויות ועדיין חמין מונחין על גבי כירה וקדירות מונחות על גבי כירה התחיל לתקוע תקיעה שלישית סילק המסלק והטמין המטמין והדליק המדליק ושוהה כדי צליית דג קטן או כדי להדביק פת בתנור ותוקע ומריע ותוקע ושובת א"ר יוסי (בר) חנינא שמעתי שאם בא להדליק אחר שש תקיעות מדליק שהרי נתנו חכמים שיעור לחזן הכנסת להוליך שופרו לביתו אמר לו אם כן נתת דבריך לשיעורין אלא מקום צנוע יש לו לחזן הכנסת בראש גגו ששם מניח שופרו לפי שאין מטלטלין לא את השופר ולא את החצוצרות:ה                                                                             פירוש רש"י                                                                                               שש תקיעות. אף התרועות במנין דסדר שלהן תקיעה תרועה ותקיעה: להבטיל ממלאכה שבשדות. ויהא להן שהות ליכנס לעיר: להבטיל העיר. ממלאכה: והחנויות. ממקח וממכר: לחלוץ תפילין. והדלקת נר ברביעית: להדביק פת בתנור. ועדיין יש שהות כדי שיקרמו פניה שהיו ממהרים התקיעות כדי להוסיף מחול על הקדש: ותוקע ומריע ותוקע. הרי שש: ושובת. חל שבת עליו: מלעדור. מלחפור: ויכנסו כולם כאחד. שלא יחשדו הנכנסים באחרונה לומר שעסקו במלאכתן אחר ששמעו קול השופר שאין הכל מכירין מי קרובים ומי רחוקים: תריסין. הן דלתות החנויות ומסלקין אותן ומניחן ע"ג יתדות ומוכרין עליהן תבלין ושאר דברים ולערב מחזירין אותן לפתחים: חמין. מים חמין למזוג בהן יין לשתות: סילק המסלק. קדרות העשויות להסתלק למאכל הלילה: והטמין המטמין. את הראויות למחרת: חזן הכנסת. שמש הציבור: להוליך שופרו לביתו. שהיה גג מיוחד בגובה העיר ואמצעיתה לתקוע שם ומשם מוליכו לביתו אלמא אכתי לא נקיט קדושת שבת עלייהו: לשיעורין. פעמים שביתו קרוב פעמים שביתו רחוק: בראש גגו. שתקע שם: שאין מטלטלין. אפילו ברשות היחיד:
  
The Sages taught in a baraisa: They sound six blasts on Shabbos eve. [Rashi-These include the Teruos and Tekios, the six blasts being two set of tekiah, teruah, and tekiah. [ the first one is in order to stop the people from work in the fields. The second one is to stop those who are working in the city, and to close the stores. The third one is to inform them to light the Shabbos candles; that is the statement of Rabbi Nosson. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: The third one is to tell them to remove their Tefillin, (Tefillin used to be worn the whole day, but they may not be worn on Shabbos,) [Rashi-and they would light the candles by the fourth blast.]. And he pauses after the third blast for the length of time it takes to fry a small fish or to stick bread to the sides of the oven. One who forgot to do so and needs those foods for Shabbos may do so then. And he sounds a Tekiah, and sounds a Teruah, and sounds a Tekiah, and he accepts Shabbos. It is then that Shabbos begins in every sense.
     Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: What shall we do to the Babylonian Jews? They stray from the custom, as they sound a Tekia and a Teruah, and they accept Shabbos during the Teruah, i.e., upon hearing the blast of the teruah. The Gemara asks about this: Do the Babylonians really sound only a Tekiah and a teruah and no more blasts? If so, there are only five blasts and not six, as it was taught in the baraisa. Rather, the correct version is: They sound a Tekiah, and they again sound a Tekiah, and then they sound a Teruah, and they accept Shabbos during the Teruah. They do so because they continue the custom of their fathers that was handed down to them.
Rav Yehuda taught to Rav Yitzchak, his son: The second blast that is sounded before Shabbos is to inform people to light the candles. The Gemara asks: In accordance with whose opinion did he say this? It is neither in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Nosson nor in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. Rather, certainly he told him that the third blast is in order to inform people to light the candles, and in accordance with whose opinion did he say this? It is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Nosson.
     The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught in greater detail: Six blasts are sounded on Shabbos eve. When one begins sounding the first tekiah, the people standing and working in the fields refrained from hoeing, and from plowing and from performing all labor in the fields. And those workers who work close to the city are not permitted to enter the city until those who work farther away come, so that they will all enter together. [Rashi-Otherwise, people who don't know who works closer will suspect that the workers who came later continued to work after the blast.] And still, at this time, the stores in the city are open and the shutters [Rashi-of the stores, upon which the storekeepers would arrange their merchandise in front of the stores] remain in place. When he began sounding the second blast, the shutters were removed from where they were placed, and the stores were locked. However, in the homes, hot water was still cooking on the stove and pots remained in place on the stove. When he began sounding the third blast, the one charged with removing food from the stove removed it, and the one charged with insulating hot food [Rashi-for the Shabbos day meal] so that it would not cool off insulated it, and the one charged with kindling the Shabbos candles lit. And the one sounding the shofar pauses for the amount of time it takes to fry a small fish or to stick bread to the sides of the oven, and he sounds a Tekiah, and sounds a Teruah, and sounds a Tekiah, and accepts Shabbos.
Rabbi Yosei bar Chanina, said: I heard that a person who was pressed for time and comes to light Shabbos lights after six blasts may light without concern, as even the moment of the sixth blast is not yet Shabbos. Proof for this is that the Sages provided the sexton of the synagogue a period of time to take his shofar, which he used to sound the blasts on a tall roof in the middle of the city, to his house. Clearly, during that interval it is not yet Shabbos. He said to him: If so, then you have rendered your statement subject to circumstances, and it would not apply uniformly to all. Shabbos would start at a different time in each place based on the distance between the site where the shofar is sounded and the home of the sexton. Rather, Shabbos began immediately after the final blast with no pause in between. The sexton had a concealed place on top of his roof, [Rashi-where he would sound the shofar,] in which he would place his shofar because one may move neither the shofar nor the trumpets on Shabbos (because of Muktzah).

The Kohen blowing the trumpet. note the box that he would put it into when he was done.

reference
„Pastophorion“. In: Wikipedia – Die freie Enzyklopädie. Bearbeitungsstand: 28. Juni 2021, 08:49 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pastophorion&oldid=213361001 (Abgerufen: 13. Mai 2022, 05:14 UTC)  

Ritmeyer, Leen. The Quest: Revealing the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Israel: Carta, 2006.

Wikipedia contributors, "Trumpeting Place inscription," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trumpeting_Place_inscription&oldid=10702 54708 (accessed May 12, 2022).