Temple Mount

Recent arcaeological research has revealed a vast amount of data enabling a better undersanding of building of the Herodian period. It is possible to assume that Josephus' description (War V, V.2) may refer to a certain method of paving called Opus Sectile which was used on the Temple Mount at the end the first century BCE. This method is well known from numerous Herodian sites in this region, a paving tecnique practiced with multi-colored boards which were integrated together to form varied compositions.

Some scholars say the First and Second Temples were located such that the Holy of Holies was situated at the place directly beneath the Dome of the Rock. Others say they were actually located to  the south or to the north of  that spot. Passages in the Talmud and from Muslim and Christian historians of the Umayyid conquest of Jerusalem support the third alternative.

In the course of sifting earth removed from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, dozens of clay sealings from the First Temple period were recovered. Among them was a sealing bearing the name of the priestly family of Immer. In-depth study of the writing on the sealing, as well as the fabric imprint on its reverse, indicated with a high probability that this sealing was used in the Temple treasury. The article reviews the function and use of sealings in the administration of ancient Near Eastern treasuries and the significance of sealings with a textile imprint on their reverse. The study revealed similar patterns in the finds near the "Royal Building" exposed in the Ophel excavations, and we therefore suggest identifying it with Judah's royal treasury.

Important: all photos are subjected to copyrights and cannot be used without owner permission!
“The Navel of the World” –
From the Beginning of Photography to Our Time
Shimon Lev
The Temple Mount, or in Arabic – al-Haram al-Sharif, dominates the Jerusalem skyline. With the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque at its center, this rectangular esplanade of some 150,000 square meters occupies one-sixth of the terrain in the Old City. For at least 3000 years, this site has been considered sacred for millions of people around the world, first by the Jews, later by the Muslims, and has historical importance for the Christians as well. It inspires research in the fields of history, archeology and culture, and incites controversial religious and political sentiment. In Hebrew, it is known as Mount Moriah and Har ha-Bayit (the Temple Mount). In Jewish tradition it is where Isaac was bound, and where Solomon built the First Temple. After its destruction, the Second Temple was built on this same spot by the Jews who returned from exile, and was later renewed by the Hasmoneans and King Herod. Following destruction in 70 CE, it became the focus of Jewish prayer and longing for reconstruction at the final redemption.
The Prophet Muhammad established Jerusalem as the first direction of Muslim prayer, before the Kaaba in Mecca, and the al-Aqsa Mosque is referred to as “the first Qibla” or “the first direction of prayer”. Muslim tradition also maintains that this mosque was the second place of Islamic worship ever built. The Quran mentions the “farthest mosque”, to which Muhammad traveled from Mecca to ascend to heaven on his celestial horse. Muslim tradition regards al-Aqsa as this “farthest mosque”. The site is considered the third holiest in Islam, after the Kaaba in Mecca and The Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. Since its construction, it has had the status of an important Muslim center, except for a short period under the Crusaders (1099-1187). In Arabic it is known as al-Haram al-Sharif (“the Noble Sanctuary”) or al-Aqsa, a general name for the plaza.
Both Jews and Muslims believe that the Foundation Stone at the center of the mount is the umbilicus mundi, the navel of the world, on which the earth rests and from which it expanded. In Christian tradition, the site has historic significance as the site of many events in the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the place where he founded his new religion.
Today the esplanade is home to some of the world’s most architecturally impressive structures – the golden Dome of the Rock over the Foundation Stone, the al-Aqsa Mosque at the southern end, and other domes, water fountains and madrassas (Islamic schools) from various periods. As part of the daily routine, visitors may observe masses congregating for festive prayer ceremonies, tourist groups from around the world listening intently as their guides explain the sights and children from the Muslim Quarter playing soccer across the stone plaza.
But beyond these everyday images, this area is imbued with many symbolic meanings. The Temple Mount is the most important sacred site in the modern Middle Eastern reality, both religious and political. It is an active volcano, and every so often, it erupts in fanatic clashes, sometimes with fatal results. On one side of this struggle stand the Jewish Temple groups that await the disappearance of the mosques from the Jerusalem landscape. On the other, a growing number of Muslim faithful and politicians who deny the existence of the historic Second Temple in defiance of scientific researchers who accept it as an established fact. The overall dynamic surrounding the Temple Mount integrates ancient myth and powerful religious beliefs, fierce nationalism and messianic fervor – all of which translate into an uncompromising, complex battle that combines nationalism and religion.
This exhibition attempts to examine the Temple Mount site as expressed through the camera lenses of photographers who were active from the inception of photography in the early 19th century until today. The first attempt to photograph the Temple Mount was made in 1839, and since then, it has become the most photographed site in Jerusalem. People are constantly photographing the site and its visitors – professional photographers, researchers, tourists, religious believers, ideological groups, even the Israeli security forces and Waqf guards. Further, the focus on the Temple Mount esplanade also enables us to examine the history of local photography in Jerusalem over a period of 180 years, and its understanding of this site as the “center of the world.” For the first time, through comprehensive research in the field of photography, this exhibition presents a broad view over numerous axes. The most central of these is the axis of chronological history. The perspective of monumental architecture extends from it, and gradually the religious and political axis joins it and leads to the contemporary media photographs that address the “time bomb” of the Middle East. Thus this exhibition reflects how this site has become what it is today – the central stage of the national-religious conflict in the region.

An issue of significant importance to three of the world’s religions today – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – is the physical location of the Jewish temples from antiquity built by Solomon, Zerubbabel, and Herod. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem, also known as Mount Moriah, is recognized as the traditional location of these three temples by the vast majority of Jews and Christians today. It also represents a source of immense conflict between Jews and Muslims since it is an important Muslim shrine, the Haram al-Sharif, or “the Noble Sanctuary.” In this paper I attempt to critically explore the location of the ancient Temple Mount. I examine the Haram al-Sharif along with a location in the City of David as possibilities for Mount Zion. I consider archaeological evidence, applicable biblical and non-biblical historical texts, as well as modern and historical maps and diagrams.

Much has been written concerning the reasons for the construction of the Dome of the Rock: Jerusalem’s importance in Islam; the internal rivalry in the expanding Islamic world and the need to promote Jerusalem’s political and religious status; the challenge of Christianity and the competition with the Holy Sepulchre; the wish to demonstrate supremacy over the holiest Jewish site.
Its external octagonal shape, layout and decoration have also been extensively analyzed, adding crucial data to the main points expressed in the long Kufic inscription inside the building.
The article focuses on the way in which references to key Jewish and Christian figures - namely Adam, Moses and Jesus - were added to the Dome of the Rock and acted as the Biblical legitimization for the appropriation of the Jewish omphalos of Jerusalem by the Muslims.

According to a frequently repeated story, during the early years of the Zionist movement a number of European Jews were sent to Palestine to investigate its suitability as a location for a Jewish state. They reported back, the story concludes, that "the bride is beautiful, but she is married to another man" — Palestine is an excellent land, but it belongs to others. While its details vary with the telling, the story's central point is often the same: already in the early years of the Zionist movement, Jews recognized that it would be unjust and immoral for them to try to claim Palestine; despite this awareness, the Zionists proceeded with their plans for Jewish statehood there; from the outset, therefore, the establishment of the state of Israel was an act of severe and willful injustice.

Among the 45 cisterns and other underground chambers that are known to exist within the area of the Temple Mount / Haram  al-Sharif, the only ones to have been securely dated hitherto on stylistic and other criteria are those of Medieval date.  Many of the others are difficult to assign due to the very limited archaeological information that is available. However, there is a pair rock-cut cisterns (Schick nos. 15 and 29; Warren nos. 22 and 34) which are of a distinctive kidney shape, conforming to a type known to date to the second century BCE. Drawings of these cisterns made by Conrad Schick over a century ago, preserved in the PEF archives in London testify to the resemblance in several particulars.

Zionism has always displayed a complicated relationship with the Temple Mount. While secular socialist Zionism wanted little to do with the site for pragmatic reasons, right-wing and guerilla Zionist groups considered it, before the founding of the state, as the embodiment of Jewish sovereignty over the Holy Land. And although Religious Zion-ism, until very recently, shied away from the site, over the past decade tremendous changes in this public's attitude have taken place, leading to intense interest and activity concerning it. This article surveys past and present attitudes toward the Temple Mount, studying its recent rise as a focal point for ethnonational yearnings, and analyzing these developments vis-à-vis the secularization process.

Nestled in a wooded setting on a hillside above the burbling Hermon Stream in Israel’s Banias Nature Reserve are the remains of a building, hewn out of bedrock, and supported by a series of opus reticulatum (Latin: “net-like”) retaining walls. The late Ehud Netzer, Israel’s acclaimed archaeologist of Herodian palaces, excavated there for two short seasons in 1977 and 1978 seeking to uncover the riddle of the identities of the building and its builder. Are these the remains of the Temple in honor of Caesar Augustus that Josephus records that King Herod built at Banias? Or, is this something else altogether? Little did Netzer know that a box of opus sectile (Latin: “cut work”) tiles that he had uncovered, which sat on a shelf at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for the next 35 years, held vital clues to the puzzle.

The article presents three notes which pertain to the project of enlarging the Temple Mount which was initiated by king Herod. This project was carried out for several decades by a several thousands of workers and machinery, while the cultic activity in the premises of the old Temple Mount continued uninterruptedly, attracting at times several thousands of pilgrims:
- It is suggested that construction work was carried out in large segments, starting in the east and continuing to north and south, and finally to the west.
- It is suggested that the Temple Mount was enlarged westwards (which added a rather small area, and required the cutting of a main drain to bypass the SW corner), in order to create a direct access between the northern and the southern extension of the mount. This enabled direct movement of the public between these large extensions without crossing the boundary of the ancient Temple Mount.
- It is suggested that the seemingly discrepancy between the title of the Mishnah "Ten Holinesses" (Kelim 1, 6-9) and the fact that it lists eleven areas is the outcome of the enlarging project of the Temple Mount. This resulted in dividing one of the areas mentioned into two adjacent areas, while leaving the title unchanged.

“The Debate on Jewish Prayers on the Temple Mount: Traditional Halakha, Religious Nationalism, High Court of Justice and the City Police”, by Naftali Rothenberg
Draft paper (a lecture) for the Summer academy on Law and Religion, Oxford University, June 2014
The questions of the implementation of freedom of religion and freedom of worship by Moslem, Christians and Jews are sensitive and complex. In this paper I'll try to describe only one piece of the Jewish puzzle and to raise a few questions to be dealt with in future opportunities. These are the main points:   
• Traditional Halakha: The rabbis in the middle Ages differed regarding the question of whether the destruction of the Temple canceled the holiness of the Temple Mount. In 1853, the Ottoman Empire allowed the entrance of non-Muslims. In response, most rabbis adopted the position forbidding Jews to ascend the mountain. The rabbis’ prohibition did not change even under the influence of the enthusiasm following the unification of Jerusalem in the 1967 war.
• High Court of Justice: The Court recognized in its repetitive rulings the right of every Jew to go up on the Mountain and to pray there. The way was open to implementation of the principal of freedom of worship for groups and public events.
• City Police: brought to the attention of the court that implementation of the principal of religious worship is a potential for violation and danger to human life.
• Religious Nationalism: a significant number of rabbis and religious nationalist communities removed the prohibition on ascending the mountain and A growing number of Jews are going up to the Temple Mount. Did the High Court of Justice, a distinctly secular institution, have an influence on the halakhic change?
As I write the full article on the basis of this lecture, I would love to receive your help. Please send me comments, suggestions and sources. Thanks!

Medieval and early modern accounts by western pilgrims report an encounter with the Eternal Jew in Jerusalem. In examining these hitherto unexplored accounts, this paper adds a new angle to the well-documented literary and artistic presence of the eternally wandering Jew in European history. The paper presents evidence for the eastern Mediterranean origins of the legend of the Wandering Jew and suggests that the Jerusalemite context of the legend adds unique attributes that produce a rich and ambiguous cultural construct. To the Christian map of Jerusalem, a space laden with scriptural memories and symbolic paradoxes of presence and absence, the Jew’s figure adds yet another layer to the enduring symbolism of the physical existence of Christ in Jerusalem and a tangible promise for his Second Coming at the End of Days.

Does verifying the actual site (for the Jerusalem Temples) really matter? Questioning the ‘traditional’ location of the Holy Temple at or near the Dome of the Rock is no trivial matter for those heavily invested in the topic. But, we should always welcome challenges to any status quo—the Temple location being no exception to that rule. That said, any alternate claim will require overwhelming evidence to the contrary and to date, nothing compelling has materialized. This introductory column (from the September 2015 Premier Edition of the Prophecy Watcher) provides a general overview to the controversial subject at the time.

The Trumpeting Stone, discovered by Benjamin Mazar in 1973, provides one very compelling piece of extant evidence for placement of the Temple (Herod's) atop the "traditional" Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif) as opposed to (as has been recently proposed) down to the south in the City of David.

There is an erroneous belief in play within some Jewish and Messianic circles (respectfully) which holds that the very next Temple to be rebuilt on Jerusalem's Mount Moriah will be a fulfillment of the Temple Vision delineated in Ezekiel 40-48. Are they right? While I indeed believe a 'Third Temple' is coming soon, linking it to Ezekiel's Temple Vision is an error—a forced conflation—driven by deep religious yearnings, and mere human strivings. I also believe this coming Third Temple's construction is an inevitable act of destiny, long foretold in biblical prophecy.

Tanto para judíos como para musulmanes el Monte del Templo forma parte integral de sus convicciones religiosas. Pero lo que le otorga a este sitio una significación especial es la intensa imbricación de estos sentimientos con las disputas nacionales entre árabes e israelíes.

This study in comparative global history sheds light on a largely ignored forum for the politics of transition from monarchical empire to nation-state in the Middle East and Central Europe-religious festivals at sacred shrines. It compares the role of key pilgrimage festivals at politically important sacred shrines: (1) the Islamic Nabi Musa (Prophet Moses) pilgrimage to the Haram esh-Sharif and Nabi Musa Tomb near the Dead Sea in Mandatory Palestine and (2) various Catholic pilgrimages to Jasna Góra in Częstochowa in interwar Poland. The author demonstrates how these events served as sacred forums for secular politics, where various political factions contested their partisan ideas of the nation, which included the elite nationalism of Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Hajj Amin al-Husseini and the Catholic-Endecja nationalism of Polish clerical leaders. Moreover, I examine the role of these pilgrimage festivals in some of the major conflicts afflicting their respective areas, such as Arab-Jewish violence and hostility in Palestine and wars for borders as well as anti-minority sentiment, especially anti-Semitism, in Poland.

Israeli archaeologists, Zachi Dvira and veteran, Gabriel Barkay, maintain the Temple Mount Sifting Project on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. This high-level overview provides a generous explanation of their work, its importance, and highlights some of their finds.

The whole Middle East region passed through an upheaval and transformation for two weeks in the middle of July 2017. The event, now called: " The uprising of al-Asbat Gate, " not only took place in the heart of Jerusalem, one of the most important cities in the world, but also in the heart of al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the most heated and sensitive spots on earth. Those two weeks could be indeed considered as a milestone in the ongoing clash in the Holy Land.

A century after the term "Zionism" emerged, a paradigm shift in the understanding of the term began to gain ground in the mainstream of Israeli society, as it had previously been represented only by extreme fringe groups. This is an anti-secular transformation process with efforts to reintroduce ancient Hebrew and Talmudic traditions. Increasingly influential political actors of Jewish-religious (ultra-) nationalism claim exclusive biblical legitimacy for their ideology. This study will put this claim to the test of biblical hermeneutics using three case studies.
Table of Content:
Introductory note: On the topicality of the issue.
1. The claim to be "the true Israel" – the "righteous" and "just" of God.
Excursus: On the etymology and oldest pronunciation of the name 'Yisrael'.
2. The claim to be "Zion" and "the gathering of Israel".
3. The claim to be "the land" (Erez).
(2021-07-02)

Initially published on 28th December 2005 in Buzzle
Republished in many portals, blogs and fora, like:
https://soc.culture.israel.narkive.com/nGY7mtqf/muslims-welcome-third-jewish-temple-in-jerusalem-megalommatis

Excerpt:
The First Temple was built in a vast area between the two Islamic holy shrines on the Temple Mount, namely the Dome of the Rock and the El Aqsa Mosque. The best specialists in this regard agree on this. Since the Second Temple was built on the ruins of the First, the Third Temple is expected to stand on the very same place. Christian and Jewish groups publish apocalyptic literature according to which it is even biblically advised to have it built without razing the Court of the Gentiles, which is considered to be a reference to the two Islamic shrines. Islam would not be diminished or desecrated in anything, if Jews were allowed to have their Temple built without damaging the Dome of the Rock and the El Aqsa Mosque.

Instead of publishing Hatred literature inspired by sheer satanic guidance, Muslim religious authorities are urged by millions of modern, tolerant and progressive Muslims to accept the erection of the Third Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount.

This would be the first act of reconciliation of the two fraternal religions, opening therefore the way for a Palestinian state in Gaza and Jericho. If the political rights of the Palestinians must be respected by the Israelis, the religious rights of the Jews are to be respected by the Muslims.

Instead of leaving the search for peace to the hands of equally corrupt, ignorant, and disreputable politicians, a few enlightened sheikhs and rabbis should meet, exchange ideas, negotiate, and ultimately walk together in the only existing Path to Peace: the Religious Rapprochement.

The “Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif: Conflict, Culture, Law” conference at the Harvard Law School on November 28-29, 2017, co-sponsored by The Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law at Harvard Law School and the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University.