Temple Mount
The temple mount is the place where the Jewish temple was built, starting from King Solomon almost 3,000 years ago. The temple was destroyed by the Romans and never rebuilt again by the Jews. It was replaced by the Muslim shrines in the 8th C AD which stand there today, with the Golden Dome of the Rock - the city's symbol.
1 Kings 2: 10: "So David dwelt in the fort,
and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo
and inward.
And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with
him".
Home > Sites > Jerusalem > Temple Mount
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Overview:
The temple mount is the place where the Jewish temple was built, starting from King Solomon almost 3,000 years ago. The temple was built in 3 phases (Solomon, Zerubbabel, and Herod) and was destroyed by the Romans. The temple was never rebuilt again by the Jews, and replaced by the Muslim shrines in the 8th C AD which stand there today.
Location:
The temple mount is located in the walled city of Jerusalem, on the eastern side of the old city. There are two tourist entrances, but the entrance is often limited.
History of the place:
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First temple
The
first temple was built by King Solomon at about 950 BC, and was
located on the highest point above the Kidron valley - on mount
Moriah. As per the Bible (2 Chronicles 3:1: "Then Solomon began to
build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the
Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had
prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite".
The temple was destroyed after the intrusion of Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar II ( as per Jeremiah 34: 7: "When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem"), which destroyed Jerusalem in 587BC (2 Kings 24: 10,13:"At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged....And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said" ).
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Second temple
The
population was transferred to Babylon, but returned after 50 years.
After their return, on 536, Zerubbabel built the second temple.
(Ezra 3: 8: "Now in the second year of their coming unto the house
of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel ...
to set forward the work of the house of the LORD").
Herod the Great, King of Israel under the Romans (37BC - 4BC), enlarged and rebuilt the second temple, and made it a magnificent temple. The destruction in 70 AD, after the Jewish revolt against the Romans, left most of Herod's second temple in rubble. Only few remnants of this remarkable structure remained, such as the western wall and excavations in the southern wall.
During the Byzantine period a large church was built in the 6th C AD in the area of El-Aksa mosque.
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Arab period
The Arabs conquered Jerusalem in 638AD, and Khalif Omar visited and prayed in the site in that year. The dome of the Rock mosque, with the large golden dome and an octagon structure, was built by the Umayyad Khalif Abdul-Malik ibn Marwan in 696 (72 year according to Muslim calendar), and named it after Omar. It is one of the most beautiful and enduring shrines in the World, and remained almost untouched throughout the years. The rock is, according to Muslim tradition, the spot where prophet Mohamed ascended to heaven.
Years later, either in 696 (by the same Khalif) or in 705AD (by his son), another dome was built on the far south side: the Al-Aksa mosque (also "Al-Aqsa", which means "the remote" mosque). It was named after the tradition of prophet Muhammad's imaginative travel from Mecca to a remote mosque.
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Crusaders
In 1099 the Crusaders called the Temple mount as "Templum Domini", turned the Dome of the rock to a church, adding a cross on the dome. They turned the Al-Aksa mosque to a prayer house and then to Baldwin's royal palace in 1104, naming it King Solomon's palace.
The Templar Knights military-religious organization was established in 1118, and named their organization after the temple. The vast halls under Al-Aksa mosque was believed to be King Solomon's stables, a name still used today in the area that the was cleared under the mosque.
The Crusaders were driven out from Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187.
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Modern Years
The Dome of the Rock and al-Aksa mosques remain Muslim Mosques until today. In 1967 Israel reunited Jerusalem, but left the control of the temple mount to the Muslim Wakf. From time to time there are religious and political frictions ignited at the site, for example the riots in year 2000 that sparked the 5-years Palestinian uprising, called the "Al-Aksa Intefada". The situation seems explosive almost periodically, and the Israeli police staffs thousands of policemen in some Fridays, limiting the age and residence of the allowed persons to enter the temple mount in order to reduce the friction. There are some extreme Jewish groups who want to rebuild the "third temple", but this is a small group which is limited by the authorities. In addition, there are political debates over the fate of the city, which spells out more trouble in this hot spot.
Photos:
(a) Temple mount
One of the best views of the temple mount can be seen best from the bell tower of the Redeemer church, near the Holy Sepulcher. The Golden Dome of the Rock is in the center. Behind it is Mount of Olives.
Click on the photos to view in higher resolution...
A view from the north side is seen below. This was taken from the the Al-Omariya school, near station 1 of Via Dolorosa.
The following photo shows an aerial view of the the temple mount area, as seen from the south-west side. The Dome of the Rock, an octagon structure with the Golden dome, is seen in the upper middle of the photo. Al-Aksa silver dome mosque is seen on the right side of the raised temple mount, which is adjacent to the southern wall. On the west side of Al-Aksa mosque is the Islamic Museum. Just above the walls, between the two mosques, is the Western wall. On the east side (left of the photo) is the Kidron valley, and beyond it is Mount of Olives.
This photo is part of a collection of aerial images of BibleWalks's partner. For purchasing details, visit our shop.
(b) Dome of the Rock
The photo below shows the Golden Dome of the Rock, as seen from the western wall area.
A view from the east side (Mount of Olives) is seen below. Behind the golden dome are the houses of the old city and the bell towers of the Christian churches (Redeemer on the left and Holy Sepulcher on the right).
(c) El-Aksa mosque:
The El-Aksa mosque is located on the southeast side of the temple mount. Its silver dome towers over the southern wall.
Another view from the south shows the Al-Aksa mosque, the old city wall, and Mount of Olives in the background.
Biblical References:
David builds his city (1 Kings 2: 10)
"So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of
David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.
And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him".
Historical References:
Jozefus Flavius (Jewish Antiquities; Book 15 Chapter 11)
Josephus, the Commander of the Jewish revolt against the Romans, and later a historian of the period. He writes about the construction of the 2nd temple by Herod, which expanded the previous temple of the returnees. Note that cubit unit is about 44cm.
"So Herod took away the old foundation, and
laid others, and erected the temple upon them, being in length a
hundred cubits, and in height twenty additional cubits, of which [twenty],
upon the sinking of their foundations fell down; and this part it was that we
resolved to raise again in the days of Nero. Now the temple was built of
stones that were white and strong, and each of their length was twenty-five
cubits, their height was eight, and their breadth about twelve; Now in the
western quarters of the enclosure of the temple there were four gates; the
first led to the king's palace, and went to a passage over the intermediate
valley; two more led to the suburbs of the city; and the last led to the other
city, where the road descended down into the valley by a great number of
steps, and from there up again by the ascent for the city lay near to the
temple in the manner of a theater, and was encompassed with a deep valley
along the entire south quarter; but the fourth front of the temple, which was
southward, had indeed itself gates in its middle, as also it had the royal
cloisters, with three walks, which reached in length from the east valley to
that on the west, for it was impossible it should reach any farther: and this
cloister deserves to be mentioned better than any other under the sun; for
while the valley was very deep, and its bottom could not be seen, if you
looked from above into the depth, this further vastly high elevation of the
cloister stood upon that height, insomuch that if anyone looked down from the
top of the battlements, or down both those altitudes, he would be giddy, while
his sight could not reach to such an immense depth.
This cloister had pillars that stood in four rows one near to the other all along, for the fourth row was interwoven into the wall, which [also was built of stone]; and the thickness of each pillar was such, that three men might, with their arms extended, fathom it round, and join their hands again, while its length was twenty-seven feet, with a double spiral at it basis; and the number of all the pillars [in that court] was a hundred and sixty-two. Their chapiters were made with sculptures after Corinthian order, and caused and amazement [to the spectators], by reasons of the grandeur of the whole. These four rows of pillars included three intervals for walking in the middle of this cloister; two of which walks were made parallel to each other, and were contrived after the same manner; the breadth of each of them was thirty feet, the length was a furlong, and height fifty feet; but the breadth of the middle part of the cloister was one and a half of the other, and the height was double, for it was much higher than those on each side; but the roofs were adorned with deep sculptures in wood, representing many sorts of figures. The middle was much higher than the rest, and the wall of the front was adorned with beams, resting upon pillars, that were interwoven into it, and that front was all of polished stone, insomuch that its fineness, to such as had not seen it, was incredible, and to such as had seen it, was greatly amazing".
Etymology (behind the name):
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Links:
- Ritmeyer Archaeological Design with many temple mount subjects
- Leen Ritmeyer - "The Quest, Revealing the Temple Mount in Jerusalem", Carta, Jerusalem, [2006]
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