ARCH (mistranslation of אֵילָם, H395, sing; אֵילִ֖ים pl. var. אוּלָמ֙, H221; LXX αἰλαμ). The roofed, semienclosed area at the front of Solomon’s Temple (1 Kings 6:3); the two porches of his palace (7:6, 7); and the porches (’êlammōth, f, pl.; ’êlammîm, m. pl.) of the gates of Ezekiel’s temple (Ezek 40:16, 21ff.).

There is no word in Heb. connoting the architectural arch form. It was known in early Egypt and in the time of Raamses II. If the form was to be learned by the Israelites, it was available in Egypt, but no instance of its use is found in Israelite Pal.

Bibliography Egyptian Architecture 54; S. Giedion, The Beginnings of Architecture (1964), 515.