Mitzvat Hakhel requires the presence of men, women, and children in the Azara (135x135 Ama incl. 4 Lishachot), with a tremendous density (for 600K grown-up men it's around 4M people per 4,000 sq.m.), as the Mishnah in Avot testifies "עמדו צפופים" and a Torah portion (Kodesh) is read in public.
The only separation of men and women in the Azara in the Temple I recall is mentioned in Mishnah Midos 2,5 and Succah 51b and, seemingly, was only instituted in the Second Templesource needed:
מאי תיקון גדול? אמר ר' אלעזר כאותה ששנינו (משנה מידות ב, ה): חלקה היתה בראשונה והקיפוה גזוזטרא, והתקינו שיהיו נשים יושבות מלמעלה ואנשים מלמטה.
Is such a separation mentioned anywhere about Hakhel?
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