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ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE |
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THE TEMPLE |
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1st Temple |
After King David captured the hill fortress of Jerusalem, the Ark of the Covenant was installed in a sanctuary on Mount Moriah, or the Temple Mount. David's son Solomon constructed the First Temple, completed in 957BC. The building was not large. It had three rooms: a porch, the main room of worship, and the Holy of Holies where the Ark was kept. A storehouse surrounded three sides of the Temple. This Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586BC. The Temple treasures, including the Ark, were lost. |
| 2nd Temple | The Second Temple was completed in 515BC. It was a rebuilding of the previous Temple, but on a more modest scale. |
| Herod's Temple | Herod the Great rebuilt
the Temple on a grand scale. It took 46 years to build, and was
completed in 26AD. It was used not only for worship, but as a repository
for the Scriptures and a meeting place for the Sanhedrin, the highest
Jewish law court. This Temple was destroyed in 70AD after the Jewish
Revolt, and its treasures taken to Rome. All that remains of it today is
the Western or Wailing Wall.
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THE TABERNACLE |
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 The site of the Temple was probably originally a threshing floor (see above), used to process grain after the harvest
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 The Ark of the Covenant was originally held in a movable Tabernacle, well suited to the needs of people who moved from place to place
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 Ground plan of the Tabernacle
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SOLOMON'S TEMPLE - THE FIRST TEMPLE
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 Exterior, showing Court of the Priests, Altar of Burnt Offerings, and the 'Brazen Sea'
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 Interior of the Temple with a view into the Holy of Holies - the curtain would normally be closed
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  The walls of the interior of a temple sanctuary were lined with expensive wooden panels, often with a gold overlay The Cherubim in this illustration are far too large to have been carried in procession
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 This is how one modern artist imagined that the Ark of the Covenant may have looked In fact, the Ark may have been similar to the Shrine of Anubis, a portable gold-covered shrine discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun (see above right)
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 Detailed ground plan of the Temple of Solomon
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THE RENOVATED SECOND TEMPLE, BUILT BY HEROD THE GREAT |
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 Reconstruction of the Temple built by Herod the Great
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 The Temple built by Herod the Great was surrounded by the Court of the Gentiles (from a reconstruction built by Alec Gerrard)
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 An aerial image of the Women's Court (left, with patterned floor) and surrounding Court of the Gentiles in the Jerusalem Temple (from a reconstruction built by Alec Gerrard)
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 Reconstruction of the Court of the Priests
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 Reconstruction of the view across Jerusalem towards the Temple built by Herod the Great. At left, the Antonia Fortress; in the middle of the picture is the palace of the royal family
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 The southern face of the Temple, showing the grand stairway leading to the stoa or entrance portico. Model by Professor Avi-Jonah
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 A coin showing the facade of the Temple - struck by Bar Kochba, leader of the revolt in 132AD
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 Ground plan of the Temple built by Herod the Great
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 Fragment of a stone sign originally positioned at the entrance of the Temple. It warns Gentiles that they may not enter, on pain of death.
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DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE |
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 The Arch of Titus in Rome shows an image of the Menorah from the Temple in Jerusalem It was captured and taken as booty by the Roman troops after the Jewish Revolt 66-70AD
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THE WESTERN OR WAILING WALL IN JERUSALEM |
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 The only remaining section of the Temple buildings erected by Herod the Great is the Western or Wailing Wall (see also below)
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 The Temple Mount seen from above |
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