The Temple was situated on a large rectangular platform on the Temple Mount that was divided into a large open area to the east called the Ezrat Nashim and a large area to the west called the Ezrat Kohanim, where the Temple itself was located, together with an open area which was where the animals were slaughtered and prepared for sacrifice. This area also contained the outer altar. Between the Ezrat Nashim and Ezrat Kohanim there was a much smaller area called the Ezrat Yisra’el.
The Gemara on today’s daf relates that the following baraita was taught before Rav Naḥman – that the azara, the Temple courtyard to the east of where the Temple was situated, was 187 amot by 135 amot. Rav Naḥman responded by quoting his father who taught that it was only in this area where kodashei kodashim – the meat from the holiest sacrifices – were eaten by the kohanim, and it is here that kodashim kalim – the ordinary sacrifices – were slaughtered, and that someone who was ritually impure would be held liable for entering the Temple precincts.
From the Talmud Yerushalmi we know that Rav Naḥman’s father’s name was Ya’akov – in the Babylonian Talmud this Rav Naḥman is referred to simply by his own name. In the Gemara Bava Metzia (16b) Rav Naḥman identifies his father as one of the judges in the court led by the amora Shmuel, and that as a child Rav Naḥman would accompany his father to his work and study. It appears that Rav Naḥman’s foundational learning was acquired from the time that he spent with his father, and we find in Massekhet Beitza (24b) that he asks questions based on his father’s teachings. Although we do not find Rav Naḥman’s father appearing anywhere in the Talmud as a participant in discussions of halakha or aggada, nevertheless it is clear from our Gemara and from other stories that he not only taught his son straightforward Mishna, but also the concepts upon which they were based, even in areas like kodashim.