The Disappearance of The Altar of Incense.

The Author of Hebrews (who I believe is Paul but I won't belabor the point here) in chapter 9 talks about the Menorah and the Table of Shewbread in the Holy Place, and then The Golden Censer and The Ark in the Holy of Holies.

There is a common claim that this is an error or contradiction because many people assume that by "Golden Censer" the Author must mean the Altar of Incense even though you would use completely different words for that.  In the Greek this is the same word for Censer used in Revelation 8, where completely different words are used for Altar and Incense.

Now it is true that normally even the Golden Censer would not be in The Holy of Holies, but it is taken into The Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur as made clear by Leviticus 16:12.  And I believe the rituals of Yom Kippur are the thematic focus of much of Hebrews especially in this section even if it's not being mentioned by name.

The main argument of those who refuse to accept this explanation, both among Bible Skeptics invested in seeing a contradiction here and Apologists who try to imagine some more creative explanation, is that if the Golden Censer is just the Golden Censer then why is the Altar of Incense completely missing?  

The simple answer is Paul didn't mention it because he didn't feel like it, but I have a potentially deeper theory.

I once noticed that the Arch of Titus depicting Titus and Vespasian's Triumph after conquering Judea in 70 AD shows the Menorah and Table of Shewbread as spoils of war but the Altar of Incense is missing.  Then I read Josephus's account of that Triumph in Wars of The Jews Book 7 Chapter 5 Section 5 and noticed that he likewise The Menorah and the Table of Shewbread but not the Altar of Incense.

At the very least these other 1st Century descriptions of the contents of The Temple show leaving out the Altar of Incense during this period was not unique to Hebrews.

However it is now my theory that The Altar of Incense was never in Herod's Temple.

The Books of Maccabees and Josephus describe an Altar of Incense being included in the Purification of The Temple that marks the first Hanukkah.  But Antiochus Epiphanes' plundering of The Temple wasn't the last one to occur before the New Testament era.

Josephus in Antiquities of The Jews Book 14 Chapter 7 describes Crassus's plundering of all the Gold in The Temple right before he's killed.  This plundering is in truth principally why Herod's renovation of The Temple was necessary.  I think for whatever reason the Herodian renovation neglected to include The Altar of Incense.

Maccabees describes their Menorah as still having the Three Legged base that the Pentateuch describes, but the Menorah on the Arch of Titus has an Octagonal base showing it's Hellenistic influence.