Jerusalem Temple
If you make it inside you can clearly see part of the natural
rock that was cut to make way for the walls that once belonged
to the Temple. You can still see a part of the temple that was
called Holy of Holiest. The Ark of the Covenant once stood here
in the niche dug in the rock. You can tell its former location
by the shape of the impression left here.

Jerusalem Temple Reconstruction

This
is how Temple of Jerusalem looked at the time of Jesus Christ.
It was significantly increased on the orders of king Herod the
Great. Retaining walls were increased. Even today Herodian
massive stones are easily distinguished from later stones.
Western or Wailing Wall is not the only part where you can see
ruins of this religious complex. They can be seen on the South
side and on the Eastern side where they serve as a base for
later medieval walls. Left picture of reconstruction depicts the
Temple from the Eastern side from the side of the Olive
Mountain. Magnificent Golden Gate are not bricked up by the
Muslim rulers since this is the road Messiah will take to enter
the Temple Mound. Right picture shows the mount from the Western
side. Large causeway that people used to enter the inner
courtyard is mostly destroyed. Today only parts of the
Roberson's Arch are visible protruding from the West Wall at the
right upper corner. Another Wilson's Arch is visible in the
upper left corner.
History of Jerusalem Temple
The history of Jerusalem Temple start in the
deserts of Egypt and Sinai peninsula. In the events described in
the Exodus Jews left their former country of enslavement. Along
they brought their holiest shrine known as the Ark of the
Covenant. Inside the ark Jews carried the Ten Commandments given
to Moses on Mount Sinai. Once they returned to the land promised
to them by God they kept the Ark in a portable sanctuary known
as The Tabernacle.
First Temple
According to the Old Testament in the Bible the
idea of creation of a single temple was first proposed by king
David (1 Book of Chronicles 22:5) shortly after he managed to
capture the city from the Canaanite tribe of Jebusites. He
erected a small altar on top of Mount Moriah to worship single
God. Along with Sanhedrin he developed plan for a future
Jerusalem Temple. King David gathered enough resources from huge
sums of tribute that were paid by conquered peoples. (1 Kings
10:14 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was
666 talents), but he didn't get a chance to start
construction of the Jerusalem Temple. At his death bed he
transferred his plans to his son, legendary king Solomon.
First Temple was erected in 957 BC by King Solomon who
reigned between c. 970 and c. 940 BC. Unlike other religions at
the time. in Judaism the Temple became one and only place to serve
single God. So thousands of people laboured to create a
magnificent structure. Huge doors were cut from cedars delivered
from Lebanon. Stones were cut from the local quarries.
1 Kings (6:1)
And
it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the
children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the
fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif,
which is the second month, that he began to build the house of
the
Lord.
(6:38)
And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which
is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the
parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he
seven years in building it.
Shortly thereafter however Jerusalem was captured by
the Egyptian army of Egyptian pharaoh Sheshonk I (ruled between
c. 943 and 922). He stole most of valuables from the Temple, but
Ark itself it seems was preserved inside the sanctuary. In the
Bible Sheshonk I was referred to as a "Shishaq" as he is
mentioned in the 1st Kings 11:40, 14:25 and 2 Chronicles 12:2-9.
Conquerors did not destroy Jerusalem Temple, but they left it
badly damaged.
1 Kings (11:40)
Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose,
and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in
Egypt until the death of Solomon.
1 Kings (14:25)
And it came to pass in the fifth year of king
Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem
2 Chronicles
(12:2-9)
2 And
it came to pass,
that in the fifth
year of king
Rehoboam Shishak
king of Egypt came
up against
Jerusalem, because
they had
transgressed against
the
Lord,
3 With
twelve hundred
chariots, and
threescore thousand
horsemen: and the
people were without
number that came
with him out of
Egypt; the Lubims,
the Sukkiims, and
the Ethiopians.
4 And
he took the fenced
cities which
pertained to Judah,
and came to
Jerusalem.
5 Then
came Shemaiah the
prophet to Rehoboam,
and to the princes
of Judah, that were
gathered together to
Jerusalem because of
Shishak, and said
unto them, Thus
saith the
Lord, Ye have
forsaken me, and
therefore have I
also left you in the
hand of Shishak.
6 Whereupon
the princes of
Israel and the king
humbled themselves;
and they said, The
Lord is
righteous.
7 And
when the
Lord saw that
they humbled
themselves, the word
of the
Lord came to
Shemaiah, saying,
They have humbled
themselves;
therefore I will not
destroy them, but I
will grant them some
deliverance; and my
wrath shall not be
poured out upon
Jerusalem by the
hand of Shishak.
8 Nevertheless
they shall be his
servants; that they
may know my service,
and the service of
the kingdoms of the
countries.
9 So
Shishak king of
Egypt came up
against Jerusalem,
and took away the
treasures of the
house of the
Lord, and the
treasures of the
king's house; he
took all: he carried
away also the
shields of gold
which Solomon had
made.
However it took another century before Jehoash,
King of Judah gathered enough resources to start reconstruction
of the Temple in 835 BC. Around 700 BC new enemy, this time
Assyrian army under leadership of king Sennacherib, stormed
Jerusalem. Despite the fact that Jews frantically tried to
preserve their city and erect new fortifications like the
Broad Wall their
attempts to stop mighty military machine proved to be futile.
Isaiah (22:10) And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the
houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.
Assyrians breached the walls and stormed into
Jerusalem. They stole many of the riches from Jerusalem
residents and of course didn't forget about the Temple. However
they too saved the building itself. The First Temple was
completely destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonians who sacked the
city and stole everything they could carry away.
Ark of the Covenant disappearance
Destruction of the First Temple started one of
the biggest archaeological hunts in history. It was described as
a wooden box covered in gold. The lid of the Ark contained two
winged cherubims kneeled over the box. Inside the Ark Moses put
Tablets of Stone with written Ten Commandments, the pot of manna
that fell from the sky to feed the Jews and Aaron's rod. The Ark
of the Covenant that disappeared from the altar of the Temple
still capture many people's mind. We also don't have any
official documents that records the Ark among loot. The general
assumption is that the Ark probably disappeared during the final
destruction of the Temple. Book of Esdras that is accepted as
canonical in the Eastern Church, but not in the Western
Churches.
(1 Esdras 1:54) "took all the holy vessels of
the Lord, both great and small, and the ark of God, and the
king's treasures, and carried them away into Babylon."
Golden plating plates from the Ark might have
been stolen earlier, but its most valuable contents probably
didn't leave the sanctuary until 586 BC.
Some legends have other claims about the fate of
the Ark of the Covenant. One of these legends claim that the Ark
apparently disappeared from the Jerusalem long before the siege.
Although the Bible is silent on this, some legends claim that Menelik, son of Solomon and Queen of Sheba, stole it from the
Temple Mount and fled to Ethiopia, where it was kept ever since in
Axum.
Golden
Artefact of Mycenae
This Golden depiction was discovered by
archaeologists in the ancient Greek settlement of
Mycenae.
Today it is housed in the
Archaeological Museum in Athens. According to the filmmaker
Simcha Jacobovici this is depiction was made by the Greek
artisans who helped Jews to build the Ark of the Covenant. As
the two groups departed Greeks made a depiction of the Ark with
two birds on both sides. Additionally the added the view of the
stairs that led to the altar that stood before the Ark. It is
visible in the centre of the composition.
Second Temple
The end to Babylonian Empire came when new
Empire, the Persians, under leadership of Cyrus the Great
defeated the Babylonian army. New monarch allowed its Jewish
suzerains to reconstruct their Temple to worship their God as it
was mentioned in the Book of Ezra. Construction of the Second
Temple started in 538 BC and it took 23 years to complete. It
was dedicated by Jewish governor Zerubbabel on the third day of
Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the Great or 12th
March 515 BC.
Jews lived in relative peace under control of the
Persian Empire. Its end came with the attack of a Greek
coalition under leadership of Alexander the Great of Macedon.
Legendary ancient general came close to destroying the Temple
when Jews refuse to accept his deification. He changed his mind
after Jewish officials changed his mind with flattery and
diplomacy. After death of Alexander his generals divided the
immense empire and Ptolemies (descendants of general Ptolemy)
got Judea along with Egyptian province. Ptolemies were liberal
and granted its Jewish subjects rights and certain liberties,
but it didn't last long. Another part of the Alexander's Empire
ruled by descendants of general Seleucid known as Seleucids
attacked Ptolemaic Empire and defeated them at battle of Panium
under command of Antiochus III in 198 BC. Judea along with
Jerusalem fell under control of the Seleucids and Jews were
forced to Hellenize (accept Greek culture and way of life).
Antiochus III went even further and tried introduce a pantheon
of pagan Ancient Greek gods to the Second Temple. Rebellion
shortly ensued, but it was crushed by the army.
After Antiochus III died in 187 BC in Luristan
and his son Seleucus IV Philopator was shortly thereafter
assassinated, younger brother Antiochus IV Epiphanes became the
new king of the country. He continued brutal Hellenization of
his empire. Among many laws that he passed he outlawed
circumcision and prohibited the religious observation of
Sabbath. Additionally Antiochus IV ordered placement of a statue
of Zeus in the Temple. And to make things worse he allowed
traditional sacrifice of pigs on the grounds of the former
Jewish sanctuary. It is unclear why did Seleucids were so
obsessed with getting rid of traditional religion of its
subjects. It is likely that the conflict in the region started
as a conflict between traditional or conservative Jews and those
who accepted and embraced Greek culture and way of life. The
civil conflict that ensued between these two groups of Jews had
to be stopped and this was probably the idea behind enforcing
Hellenic life style. It is certain that Seleucids did not try to
repeat similar moves in other parts of their Empire.
As a final insult to Jewish religion Greek
official ordered Mattathias, Jewish priest, to perform a
Hellenistic sacrifice to a Zeus. Mattathias killed Greek
official and started a rebellion against Seleucid Empire along
with his five sons. Rebels cleared the Temple from all signs of
presence of foreign polytheistic gods. In 165 BC son of priest
Judas Maccabeus "The Hammer" re- dedicated Temple for Jewish
religious rituals. It is still celebrated during Jewish holiday
of Hanukkah that can be translated as "establishing" or
"dedication" in Hebrew as a reference to re- dedication of the
Jerusalem Temple.
A new power player the Roman Republic started to
extend its presence in the region. Two member of the first
Triumvirate (political coalition of Julius Caesar, Gnaeus
Pompeius Magnus aka Pompey, Marcus Licinius Crassus) made it to
the Jerusalem Temple. First Pompey entered and therefore
desecrated (by being a pagan layman) the Holy of Holies of the
Temple in 63 BC. Later Crassus looted the Temple Treasury in 54
BC on his ill fated military expedition against Parthian Empire
where he was killed at the Battle of Carrhae (53 BC). Jews
perceived defeat of the Roman politician and a general as a good
sign so they rebelled once they got news about the catastrophic
battle. Rebellion was put down in 43 BC.
Herod's Second Temple
King Herod the Great ordered reconstruction and
increase of the Second Temple. He went beyond just increasing
the size of the Temple itself. Jewish engineers and artisans
went on to change the landscape of the city. Mount Moriah stood
overlooking the city below. Herod the Great decided to cover it
with a platform that rested on retention walls. In essence his
architects took a stone box and put it upside down on the
mountain. Judea lost its independence and became a province of
the Roman Empire, but Jerusalem Temple was still kept in the
hands of the religious Jewish authority. Construction of this
immense structure took several decades to complete. In the time
when Jesus Christ walked here the Temple was still a large
construction site.
Herod's Second Temple was badly damaged during
Jewish Rebellion that started in 68 AD. Romans conquered
Jerusalem at the conclusion of the Siege of Jerusalem. They
demolished parts of the retaining walls, preserving only
Western Wall
or the Wailing Wall to demonstrate the size of the fortress that
Roman soldiers managed to take. However current platform that
allows access to the retaining wall of the Herod's Temple is
situated several meters above street level of the first century
AD. If you want to appreciate the size of the original structure
visit
Ophel Archeological Museum.
Archaeologists uncovered the whole extent of the ancient wall
along with huge stones at its base.
Another Jewish Rebellion was started in 132 AD
under leadership of Simon bar Kokhba. Along with Rabbi Akiva
they wanted to rebuild parts of the damaged Temple. These plans
were cut short with end of rebellion in 135 AD. Jews were
expelled from Jerusalem (except for Ninth day of Av month aka
Tisha B'Av) and Judea became part of Syrian province of the
Roman Empire.
Medieval Period
Muslim Arabs conquered Jerusalem from the
Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD. Umayyad Caliph (ruler)
al- Malik ibn Marwan ordered construction of an Islamic temple
in 691 AD on the site where Jerusalem Temple once stood. It
became known as the Dome of the Rock or the al- Aqsa Mosque.
Knights Templar and Jerusalem Temple Mount
legends
One of the most famous legends of Temple Mount is
tied to a medieval Roman Catholic order of warrior monks that
became known as Knights Templars. In 1120 the French knight
Hugues de Payens requested a lands on top of Temple Mount for
headquarters of a new monastic order. He suggested that European
pilgrims to the Holy Land will require protection from military
order. Christian order of warriors would offer this protection.
King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Patriarch of Jerusalem Warmund
complied with the request. Knights became known as Templars due
to location of their central headquarter on top of ruins of
former Temple of Solomon.
Shortly thereafter impoverished small order
become increasingly rich and increasingly powerful. In fact it
becomes largest banking system in Europe. Monarchs and nobility
grant money and land to the order. Their sons join the ranks of
warriors. And finally Pope Innocent II issues a papal bull in
1139 Omne Datum Optimum. It basically exempted the order
from obedience to local laws. Needless to say such rise in
wealth and power gave rise to multiple alternative theories on a
hidden history of this mysterious and highly influential
medieval order. Many suggested that the underground vaults of
Temple Mount yielded hidden documents and artefacts that were
related to the life, death and possibly marriage of Jesus
Christ. It is certain that some knights did attempt to do
archaeological digs on the mount and even tried to break through
underground vaults of the Herod's Temple. However we have
absolutely no proof that they found anything of valued in these
artificial caverns and tunnels.
Modern Period
Upon creation of modern state of Israel,
Jerusalem was divided. After Six- Day War in 1967 Jerusalem was reunited under rule of
the Israeli state, however Temple Mount and various buildings on
the site are under administrative control of the Temple Mount.
Although many Jews (and Christians) alike believe that a Third
Temple will be constructed on its previous site.