Bema

[1][2][3][4][5] The original use of the bema in Athens was as a tribunal from which orators addressed the citizens as well as the courts of law, for instance, in the Pnyx.

The post-Biblical Hebrew bima (בּימה), 'platform' or 'pulpit', is almost certainly derived from the Ancient Greek word for a raised platform, bema (βῆμα).

The bimah (Hebrew plural: bimot) in synagogues is also known as the almemar or almemor among some Ashkenazi Jews,[6] from Arabic minbar "pulpit".

In antiquity, the bima was made of stone, but in modern times it is usually a rectangular wooden platform approached by steps.

It was originally a raised platform with a lectern and seats for the clergy, from which lessons from the Scriptures were read and the sermon was delivered.

In Byzantine, Armenian Rite, West Syriac and Alexandrian Rites of Eastern Christianity bema generally remains the name of the platform which composes the sanctuary; it consists of both the area behind the iconostasion and the platform in front of it from which the deacon leads the ektenias (litanies) together with the ambo from which the priest delivers the sermon and distributes Holy Communion.