text: Newton extensively studied and wrote about the Temple of Solomon, dedicating an entire chapter of The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended to his observations of the temple. Newton's primary source for information was the description of the structure given within 1 Kings of the Hebrew Bible as well as the Book of Ezekiel, which he translated himself from Hebrew with the help of dictionaries, as his knowledge of that language was limited.
  In addition to scripture, Newton also relied upon various ancient and contemporary sources while studying the temple.  He believed that many ancient sources were endowed with sacred wisdom and that the proportions of many of their temples were in themselves sacred. This concept, often termed prisca sapientia (sacred wisdom and also the ancient wisdom that was revealed to Adam and Moses directly by God), was a common belief of many scholars during Newton's lifetime.
  A more contemporary source for Newtons studies of the temple was Juan Bautista Villalpando, who just a few decades earlier  had published an influential manuscript entitled In Ezechielem explanationes et apparatus urbis, ac templi Hierosolymitani (1596–1605), in which Villalpando comments on the visions of the biblical prophet Ezekiel, including within this work his own interpretations and elaborate reconstructions of Solomons Temple. In its time, Villalpando's work on the temple produced a great deal of interest throughout Europe and had a significant impact upon later architects and scholars.
  Newton believed that the temple was designed by King Solomon with privileged eyes and divine guidance. To Newton, the geometry of the temple represented more than a mathematical blueprint, it also provided a time-frame chronology of Hebrew history. It was for this reason that he included a chapter devoted to the temple within The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended, a section which initially may seem unrelated to the historical nature of the book as a whole.
  Newton felt that just as the writings of ancient philosophers, scholars, and biblical figures contained within them unknown sacred wisdom, the same was true of their architecture. He believed that these men had hidden their knowledge in a complex code of symbolic and mathematical language that, when deciphered, would reveal an unknown knowledge of how nature works.
  In 1675 Newton annotated a copy of Manna – a disquisition of the nature of alchemy, an anonymous treatise which had been given to him by his fellow scholar Ezechiel Foxcroft. In his annotation Newton reflected upon his reasons for examining Solomon's Temple by writing:
  During Newtons lifetime, there was great interest in the Temple of Solomon in Europe, due to the success of Villalpandos publications, and augmented by a vogue for detailed engravings and physical models presented in various galleries for public viewing. In 1628, Judah Leon Templo produced a model of the temple and surrounding Jerusalem, which was popular in its day. Around 1692, Gerhard Schott produced a highly detailed model of the temple for use in an opera in Hamburg composed by Christian Heinrich Postel. This immense  and  model was later sold in 1725 and was exhibited in London as early as 1723, and then later temporarily installed at the London Royal Exchange from 1729 to 1730, where it could be viewed for half-a-crown. Isaac Newtons most comprehensive work on the temple, found within The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended', was published posthumously in 1728, only adding to the public interest in the temple.