Study Bava Batra folio 101A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
and their width is 6 handbreadths.
R' Shimon says: He should construct the inside of each burial chamber 6 cubits wide by 8 cubits long and open up into the chamber, by digging into its walls, 13 burial niches. 4 niches should be opened up from the wall here, along the length of the chamber, and 4 from there, along the other side,
The Mishnah describes the general structure of the catacomb: And he must fashion a courtyard at the entrance of the burial chamber that should be 6 cubits by 6 cubits, which is equal to the combined length of the bier of the deceased and those who bury him, to ensure adequate room for the burial to
And he should open up two burial chambers into the courtyard, one from here and one from there, i.e., on opposite sides of the courtyard. R' Shimon says: He should open up 4 burial chambers, one on each of the courtyard’s 4 sides.
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Everything is dependent on the nature of the bedrock. If the bedrock is hard and strong it will be able to accommodate more niches, which will be more closely packed together, with less bedrock between them. If the bedrock is softer, fewer and more sparsely spaced ni