CHAPTER I

THE LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE

The Temple was the most important building in ancient Jerusalem. It was the center, not only of the religious, but also of the political and social life of Judea. It is more often mentioned in the Old Testament than any other place, and other places are habitually described by their relation to it. Accordingly, it furnishes the best starting-point for an investigation of the topography of ancient Jerusalem.

There is no doubt that Herod's Temple stood on the site of Sol. omon's Temple. Solomon's Temple remained undisturbed until its destruction by Nebuchadrezzar. This destruction was not complete. The walls were partly cast down, so that the place could not be used as a fortress; but the stones were not carried away, and it was still easy to see where the ancient edifice had stood. The three deportations of the Judeans made by Nebuchadrezzar did not strip the land of its inhabitants. According to Jer. 40:11 ff., there was a considerable remnant left under the hand of Gedaliah, the govEven after the assassination of Gedaliah and the flight of many to Egypt (cf. Jer. 43:5-7), there was still a considerable number of the peasantry left. These people knew where the Temple had stood, and they kept up sacrifice on the site of the old Altar. Jer. 41:5 tells us how "there came eighty men, having their beards shaven and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with mealofferings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to the house of Yahweh."

ernor.

The exile lasted only fifty years (586-536 B. C.), and many of those who returned had worshiped in the old Temple and knew exactly where it stood. When the second Temple was built in 520 B. C., there were still some who had seen the Temple of Solomon in its glory. According to Ezra 3:12, "the old men that had seen

the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice." Hag. 2:3 inquires: "Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes as nothing?" It is inconceivable, therefore, that the site of Solomon's Temple should have been lost during the brief period of the exile. Zerubbabel's Temple must have been reared on exactly the same spot where its predecessor stood.

THE HARAM ESH-SHERIF FROM THE SOUTHWEST

It is certain also that Herod's Temple stood on the same ground as Zerubbabel's Temple. From Josephus, Ant., XV, 11:2 and War, v, 5:1, it appears that Herod's work was merely an enlargement of that of his predecessors, and that the Jews would not suffer a stone of Zerubbabel's Temple to be taken down until another stone was ready to put into its place. Accordingly, it may be regarded as certain that there was no change in the location of the Temple from the time when it was first built to the time when it was destroyed by Titus. If, then, we can determine the location of Herod's Temple,

we shall also know where Solomon's Temple stood, and shall have found the key to the problem of the pre-exilic topography of Jerusalem.

Fortunately for archaeology, the location of Herod's Temple can be determined with certainty. An unbroken tradition of Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans, existing from the earliest times, locates the Temple on the site of the Ḥaram-esh-Sherîf, the "Noble Sanctuary," or "Mosque of Omar," as we are accustomed to call it, on the eastern hill of modern Jerusalem. The correctness of this tradition is confirmed by archaeological research, for the description of Herod's Temple given by ancient writers corresponds with numerous remains still to be seen in and about the Haram area.

Our two main sources of information are the accounts of Josephus in Ant., xv, 11; War, v, 5, and of the Mishna tractate Middoth, chap. ii. Josephus was a priest, who had himself ministered in the sanctuary, so that his knowledge of the Temple rested upon personal observation. The tractate Middoth was composed, though not written, within a century after the destruction of the Temple and embodies the tradition of the priests and Levites. Both of these works, accordingly, are authorities of the first class in regard to the original appearance of the Temple.

1. The Platform.-In regard to the Platform on which the Temple stood Josephus gives an account in Ant., xv, 11:1-5; xx, 9:7; War, i, 21:1; V, 5:1. From these descriptions the following features are clear: The Temple lay on a narrow, rocky ridge between two deep valleys that ran north and south. On the east the valley was so deep that it made one dizzy to look down into it. The city lay over against the Temple on the west, and curved around in the manner of a theater. The Temple hill was highest at the point where the Sanctuary stood, and sloped rapidly to the south and to the east. The top of the hill was insufficient for a large edifice, and room could be obtained only by building massive substructures. The retaining walls of the Platform rose on three sides-the west,

1 The Greek text of Josephus is given in the critical edition of Niese, 1887-95; English translations by Whiston, and by Shilletto. The tractate Middoth is translated in Barclay's The Talmud, in the Appendix to Fergusson's Temples of the Jews, and in the Jerusalem Volume of the Palestine Exploration Fund.

2 On the life of Josephus, see Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. V, p. 461.

south, and east. On the south the wall ran all the way from valley to valley. The walls were joined to native rock at the bottom and rose to such a height that they were level with the top of the hill. This necessitated an elevation of 300 cubits, or 450 feet. They were so lofty that people who fell from them were instantly killed. The stones were white and of enormous size, some of them being 20 cubits in length and 6 cubits in height. The space inside of the wall was filled so as to construct a large, level platform, and on the outside the foundations were covered in order to raise the ground to the level of the streets of the city.

With all the features of this description the modern Ḥaram area exactly corresponds. It lies on the narrow eastern hill of Jerusalem, between the deep valley of the Wâdy Sitti Maryam on the east and El-Wâd on the west. The western hill, on which the modern city lies, curves about it in a semicircle. Borings in the Haram area disclose that the rocky surface slopes rapidly to the south and to the east, so that the summit of the hill is naturally inadequate for a large edifice. The area is inclosed only on the west, south, and east, and on the north there is level ground connecting with the northeast quarter of the city. The south wall reaches all the way from El-Wâd to Wâdy Sitti Maryam. The excavations of the Palestine Exploration Fund have shown that the foundations of these walls go down to native rock. At the southeast corner of the Haram a shaft had to be sunk to a depth of 80 feet before the bottom of the wall was found, and at the northeast corner there was a depth of 125 feet. In spite of the vast accumulations of rubbish that now hide the lower portion of the wall, it still towers to an imposing height above the valley; and if the rubbish were removed, it would show the 300 cubits that Josephus mentions. Huge stones may still be seen at the Wailing-Place of the Jews in the western wall, and throughout the entire length of the southern and eastern walls; and they are made of white limestone such as Josephus describes. In the southeast corner of the Haram area there are immense vaults, known as "Solomon's Stables," that raise the top of the Platform to the needed height, and around the southern end of the Platform the ground has been filled in, precisely as Josephus states. It appears, accordingly, that in every particular the retaining wall of the Haram