The one who won the privilege of the tamid pulls it and goes to the slaughtering area, and [those] who won the privilege of [carrying] the limbs fol-low him. The slaughtering area was [located] to the north of [the] Altar, and on it were eight dwarf pillars, and a square of cedar [was] on top of them, and iron hooks were set into [the cedar blocks], and there were three sets [of hooks] for each and every one, from which they would hang [the animals] and skin [them], upon marble tables that [stood] between the pillars.

The ones who won the privilege to clear the ashes from the Inner Altar and from the Menorah would precede, and four vessels were in their hands: the basket, the jug, and two keys. The basket is similar to a large tarkav [vessel] [made] of gold; [it] holds two kavs and a half. And the jug is similar to a large pitcher made of gold. And [regarding] the two keys, [there is] one [that he] thrusts to the armpit and one [with which he] opens quickly.

He came to the northern minor doorway. The Great Gate had two minor doorways: one on the north and one on the south. The one to the south, no man ever entered through it, and [the reason for] this is explained by [the prophet] Ezekiel (Ezekiel 44:2): “Hashem said to me, `This gate shall be closed; it shall not be opened; a man shall not come through it, because Hashem, the God of Israel, comes through it; it shall be closed.’ ” [He] took the key and opened the minor doorway [and] entered the cell, and from the cell to the Heichal, until [he] reached the Great Gate. [When] he reached the Great Gate, he removed the bolt and the locks, and opened it. The slaughterer would not slaughter, until he heard the sound of the Great Gate being opened.

From Jericho they would hear the sound of the Great Gate being opened. From Jericho they would hear the sound of the “shovel.” From Jericho they would hear the sound of the wood that Ben Katin fashioned [into] a wheel for the Laver. From Jericho they would hear the sound of Gevini the Crier. From Jericho they would hear the sound of the flute. From Jericho they would hear the sound of the cymbals. From Jericho they would hear the sound of the [Leviim’s] song. From Jericho they would hear the sound of the shofar. And some say: Also the sound of the Kohen Gadol when he mentions the Name [of God] on Yom Kippur. From Jericho they would smell the fragrance of the compounded incense. R’ Eliezer ben Diglai said: There were goats in my father’s household on the mountain of Michvar, and they would sneeze because of the fragrance of the compounded incense.