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Hypermikdash: The BAIS HAMIKDASH In Word And Picture

Note: This program is currently missing from the Electronic Text Center's collection.

I. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF CONTENT AND FEATURES:

HyperMikdash is a software program which allows you to explore an electronic book called The Bais Hamikdash In Word and Picture--a discussion of the second Bais Hamikdash (the Second Temple, built in Jerusalem during the era of Ezra and Nehemiah), including 3D graphic images representing what the Second Temple may have looked like.

II. STARTING UP HYPERMIKDASH

  • Click the Start button (in the lower left-hand corner of the screen). Move to Programs, then to HyperMikdash, and then click on Temple.exe. If you do not see these menu options, please ask a staff member for assistance.
  • The program will launch, and an initial license notice will appear: click Continue. The main Menu screen will appear, displaying 15 buttons from which you can choose.

III. USING HYPERMIKDASH

HyperMikdash is very easy to use. The program has three kinds of screens: the main Menu (with a red background), text screens (with a blue background), and screens displaying images.

The Main Menu

From the main Menu, click on any button to enter a text screen. For example, you could click Introduction or Overview to get started.

The Text Screens

To navigate through the text on any given screen, simply click the on-screen PgDn button on the right (or PgUp to go back up, or Line to scroll one line of text at a time). The buttons along the botton of the screen take you to further topics related to the topic you are currently viewing. Each button is labeled in correspondence to keywords in the current text. Any button whose label begins with P- will take you to a graphical image.

The Images

HyperMikdash includes several 3D images (or in some cases 2D maps) representing imaginative reconstructions of what parts of the Second Temple may have looked like. (As the author explains, these representations are based not on archaeological evidence, of which there is little, but on indications in the Mishnah and Gemara--that is, on rabbinic tradition.)

For example, from the main Menu, click THE ANTECHAMBER, then click P-ULAM. A 3D image representing the antechamber will appear.

To access all of the images at once (without sorting through the various text screens), click Graphics: Sneak Preview from the main Menu.

IV. EXITING THE PROGRAM

When you are finished exploring HyperMikdash:

  • From the main Menu or from any text screen, click Exit.