Eilat Mazar has released a two-volume work through her own publishing company that is now available from Eisenbrauns. The Walls of the Temple Mount has 320 pages of text in the first volume and 6 fold-out maps in the second. From the publisher’s description:
This volume comprises the most comprehensive and detailed documentation of the walls of the Temple Mount to date, and is meant to serve as an accessible, updated database for anyone taking an interest in the Temple Mount.
The walls of the Temple Mount compound—one of the most magnificent construction enterprises in all of antiquity—reflect the immense scale of King Herod’s vision of some two thousand years ago, a brilliant technological feat of vast dimensions and breathtaking beauty which continues to captivate our imagination even today. This innovative creation occupies a place of honor among the most splendid edifices of the ancient world, and in the cultural legacy of all humankind.
To judge from the $270 price tag, this work is intended primarily for institutional libraries. Given problems with Mazar’s credibility on some recent issues, I will be interested to see a review of this book by Leen Ritmeyer. (Ritmeyer is author of the best book on the Temple Mount, The Quest: Revealing the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a more affordable volume.)
6 thoughts on “New Book: The Walls of the Temple Mount”
Even at $55+ Ritmeyer's book is still a bit pricey. Is there another one of his books that is more reasonable? I have the 1998 edition of "Secrets of Jerusalem's Temple Mount."
The Quest is the culmination of decades of research. Other preliminary books by Ritmeyer are less comprehensive and lack the quantity of illustrations. With this book, you get what you pay for.
If you want a cheaper, less detailed introduction to the temple for a more popular audience, take a look at the Rose Guide to the Temple.
Thanks,
That is helpful.
Todd,
Would be quite happy to review the book if I had a copy.
Best regards
Just bought the set in Jerusalem today (fair price). Thanks for the updates and insights. (We are spending 3 weeks with Carl Rasmussen in Israel. We talked yesterday about Qumran Cave 1 and your helpful blog on its location). Thanks!
Sorry you can't compare The Rose Guide to the Temple with Mazars Walls of the Temple Mount. This is like comparing apples with dates. E. Mazars book is THE BEST WORK ever done on the Walls of the Temple Mount. Every part was photographed and also drawn in every detail. There is nothing to compare! The book is also totally different from Ritmeyers QUEST. His wonderful book deals with nearly every aspect of the Temple Mount. E. Mazars work is a scientific study of all four walls!! You will for example learn, that the largest stone is no longer the famous one in the Western Tunnel but the stone which supported the Robinson Arch. The artist Balage, who worked in Mazars team, recognized by the drawings from the hundreds of digital images taken, that the stone (which looks like 2 stones) at Robinson Arch is in reality only one with a crack today. Check the lines in the stones of today and you will see this with your own eyes, if you know, what to look.
So Mazars new work is worth the 270 $ cause the secret project did cost so much money over the years. This ONE MUST everyone have working in this field. Ritmeyers book THE QUEST you must also have, because it is the best book on all areas of the Temple Mount. Price (Rose) GUIDE TO THE TEMPLE is a nice cheap popular introduction in this field. You can't compare. Everyone spend so much money on things but these books are the money worth! I have the luck that in all three books pictures of my archive had been published, so I have them all in my library. When my friends saw Mazars WALLS they bought it immediately … so much they were impressed. You will be too!
Alexander Schick
http://www.bibelausstellung.de