when the temple was rebuilt after the babylonian captivity, the ark was no longer present in the holy of holies; instead, a portion of the floor was raised slightly to indicate the place where it had stood. in jewish tradition, two curtains separated the holy of holies from the lesser holy place during the period of the second temple. these curtains were woven with motifs directly from the loom, rather than embroidered, and each curtain had the thickness of a handbreadth (ca. 9 cm.). josephus records that pompey profaned the temple by insisting on entering the holy of holies in 63 bce. when titus captured the city during the great revolt, roman soldiers took down the curtain and used it to wrap therein golden vessels retrieved from the temple.