bema

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Judaism The platform from which services are conducted in a synagogue. Also called almemar.
2. n. Eastern Orthodox Church The area of a church in which the altar is located; the sanctuary.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. In Greek antiquity, a stage or kind of pulpit on which speakers stood when addressing an assembly.
2. n. In the Gr. Church, the sanctuary or chancel; the inclosed space surrounding the altar. It is the part of an Oriental church furthest from the front or main entrance, originally and usually raised above the level of the nave. The holy table (the altar) stands in its center, and behind this, near or skirting the rear wall of the apse, is the synthronus, or seat for the bishop and clergy.
3. n. An architectural screen (iconostasis) with a curtain (amphithyra) at its doors, or, as was the case especially in early times, a curtain only, separates the bema from the body of the church. On either side of the bema are the para-bemata, called respectively the prothesis and the diaconicon. These regularly communicate with the bema, and in poor churches often have little more than an indication of separation from it. Rubrically they are often counted as part of the bema.
4. n. A step; a rough measure of length employed by the Greeks and Macedonians when stadia were paced off, and not merely estimated by shouting. It was considered to be 2½ feet, which for this purpose are practically identical with English feet. In a late form of the Philetæreian (i. e., Pergamenian) system it became as exact measure 2½ feet; but these feet were of the Babylonian cubit, so that the bema was 0.888 meter, according to Lepsius. In the later Jewish system, the bema appears as two royal cubits, or 1.054 meters.

Wiktionary

1. n. A platform from which speakers addressed an assembly.
2. n. Raised area of worship in a synagogue upon which rests the Holy Ark containing Scrolls of Torah.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Gr. Antiq.) A platform from which speakers addressed an assembly.
2. n. That part of an early Christian church which was reserved for the higher clergy; the inner or eastern part of the chancel.
3. n. Erroneously: A pulpit.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. area around the altar of a church for the clergy and choir; often enclosed by a lattice or railing