Temple Mount Archives - Page 36 of 57

Haaretz: Following the Dream of a Third Temple in Jerusalem

Haaretz’s article on the Third Temple and Jewish visits to the Temple Mount is probably the most thorough and helpful report I’ve read on the subject.

They are proposing what they consider to be the key to solving all of our problems: building a Third Temple. In the meantime, they are trying to get permission to pray on the Temple Mount, where Jewish religious ritual has been prohibited since East Jerusalem was taken by Israeli forces in the 1967 war.
Shortly after the war, the government decided not to allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount ‏(which is known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary, and is the site of two major Muslim holy places, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock‏). Jews could pray below the Mount, at the Western Wall, Israeli authorities decreed.
In terms of religious ritual, the Temple Mount remains a Muslim preserve. According to a survey conducted by the joint directorate of the Temple movements, only 17 percent of Israeli Jews, religious and secular alike, want to see a Third Temple built. However, the numbers shoot up in regard to the possibility of praying on the Temple Mount, with 43 percent of the secular public and 92 percent of the religious public in favor, which averages out to 52 percent of the entire Jewish public.
The police, though, are convinced that allowing Jewish religious ritual to be performed on the Temple Mount will stir unrest among Muslims on a scale that is hard to gauge. Accordingly, the police make every effort to enforce the long-standing government decision, even though this involves repeated skirmishes with the Temple movements. Some of their activists, Yehuda Glick among them, are barred from even approaching the entrance to the Temple Mount.

The full, lengthy article describes a meeting with leaders interested in rebuilding the temple, a visit to the Temple Mount on a bride’s wedding day, the modern Bezalel, preparations for rebuilding the sacrificial altar, and a plot to blow up Al-Aqsa Mosque.

HT: Bill Soper

Replica of the temple overlooking the Temple Mount
(Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

Tagged Jerusalem, Temple Mount

The Location of the Royal Palace in Jerusalem

Where was the royal palace in Jerusalem during the time of the monarchy? Most scholars have assumed that it was located to the south of Solomon’s temple, between the ancient city and the summit of Mount Moriah. In a 2009 article, David Ussishkin suggests that the palace was built to the north of the temple for the following reasons:

1. It is more logical that the king would desire to isolate his royal compound from the population so that everyone traveling from the city to the temple would not pass by it.

2. In a number of ancient cities, the palace was built at the edge of the acropolis. This was true at the Hittite capital of Hattusha, the Late Bronze cities of Ugarit and Megiddo, as well as a nymber of Assyrian cities including Calah, Nineveh, and Dur-Sharrukin.

Ussishkin notes some difficulties with his hypothesis:

1. Some biblical texts indicate that the palace was south of the temple (Neh 3:25-29; 12:37).

2. The royal acropolis was located in the center of some cities, including Samaria and Zincirli-Sam’al.

I would also question the premise that Solomon would desire to be isolated from the people. God’s intention for Israel’s king was that he would represent the nation to God and vice versa (Deut 17:14-20; 1 Kgs 3:7-10; Ps 72:1-4). The first story of Solomon’s kingship is his adjudication of the case of the dead infant (1 Kgs 3:16-29). The isolation that may have been desired by other kings of the world may not have been appropriate for the king in Jerusalem.

Absent archaeological investigation of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, it is impossible to confirm the location of the home of Judah’s kings.

Ussishkin’s proposal is a small portion of his article “The Temple Mount in Jerusalem during the First Temple Period: An Archaeologist’s View,” found on pages 473-83 of Exploring the Longue Durée: Essays in Honor of Lawrence E. Stager, ed. J. David Schloen. This thick book is loaded with many articles of interest to students of biblical archaeology.

The Temple Mount from the north. Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, volume 3.

Tagged Analysis, Jerusalem, Temple Mount

Massive Reservoir Discovered near Temple Mount

Excavations west of the Temple Mount have revealed a massive water reservoir from the Old Testament period. Over the last few years, archaeologists have been excavating the path of a 1st-century street and drainage channel leading from the City of David to the Temple Mount, and the reservoir was discovered during this work. The reservoir is similar to contemporary systems excavated at Beth Shemesh and Beersheba. From the Jerusalem Post:

The recently discovered reservoir, with an approximate capacity of 250 cubic meters, is one of the largest water reservoirs ever discovered from the First Temple period. Due to its size, archaeologists believe the reservoir was designed for and used by the general public.
According to Eli Shukron, the excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “the exposure of the current reservoir, as well as smaller cisterns that were revealed along the Tyropoeon Valley, unequivocally indicates that Jerusalem’s water consumption in the First Temple period was not solely based on the output of the Gihon Spring water works, but also on more available water resources such as the one we have just discovered.”

The Israel Antiquities Authority has issued a press release with more details.

According to Dr. Tvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist of the Nature and Parks Authority and an expert on ancient water systems, “The large water reservoir that was exposed, with two other cisterns nearby, is similar in its general shape and in the kind of plaster to the light yellow plaster that characterized the First Temple period and resembles the ancient water system that was previously exposed at Bet Shemesh. In addition, we can see the hand prints of the plasters left behind when they were adding the finishing touches to the plaster walls, just like in the water reservoirs of Tel Be’er Sheva, Tel Arad and Tel Bet Shemesh, which also date to the First Temple period.” Dr. Tsuk says, “Presumably the large water reservoir, which is situated near the Temple Mount, was used for the everyday activities of the Temple Mount itself and also by the pilgrims who went up to the Temple and required water for bathing and drinking.”
The exposure of the impressive water reservoir that lies below Robinson’s Arch joins a series of finds that were uncovered during recent excavations in this region of the city, indicating the existence of a densely built-up quarter that extended across the area west of the Temple Mount and predating the expansion of the Temple Mount. It seems that with the expansion of the Temple Mount compound to the west and the construction of the public buildings and the streets around the Temple Mount at the end of the Second Temple period, the buildings from the First Temple period and early Second Temple period were dismantled in this region and all that remains of them is a series of rock-cut installations, among them the hewn water reservoir.

A presentation about the discovery will be made this evening at the City of David Archaeological Conference. The Israel Antiquities Authority has released three high-resolution photos. The story is also reported by Arutz-7.

Iron Age reservoir in Jerusalem

Iron Age reservoir in Jerusalem. Photos by Vladimir Naykhin, IAA.

Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem, Temple Mount

Wednesday Roundup

The Israel Trail has been included in National Geographic’s list of the world’s best hikes. Tourists are returning to Shiloh, and the majority are evangelical Christians. Jerusalem firefighters have battled 5,000 fires this summer, the majority of them arson. Eight new animal species have been discovered in a cave 300 feet below Ramle. If approved, a new hotel rating system in Israel should cause prices to drop. The latest in the Top 5 series at the Jerusalem Post: Jerusalem hostels. Twelve new skyscrapers will change Jerusalem’s skyline. Wayne Stiles provides a history of the Garden Tomb. A bill has been drafted which would provide separate prayer times for Jews and Muslims on the Temple Mount. Accordance has a sale on the Anchor Bible Dictionary, marked down to $200 until August 21. Interior of the Garden Tomb (photo source)

Tagged Jerusalem, Resources, Samaria, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Bryant Wood has posted a summary of this season’s excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir.

Joe Yudin recommends a short, wet hike near the Sea of Galilee.

Wayne Stiles explains why Shechem is the “most important crossroads in central Israel.”

He has also created the best illustrated page on the first-century boat in Galilee.

Ferrell Jenkins has discovered a way to keep tabs on the water level in the Sea of Galilee.

The discovery of gold coins in Apollonia and Kiryat Gat has led to an increase in illegal digging at sites in southern Israel. (A longer article and photos are available in an IAA press release in Hebrew.)

Israel’s Attorney-General says that all construction on the Temple Mount must adhere to existing laws.

An individual has filed a complaint with Israeli police against the playing of soccer on the Temple Mount.

Matthew Kalman’s story on the trial of the James Ossuary and Jehoash Tablet from The Jerusalem Report is now available for purchase in Kindle format (with free borrowing for Prime members).

The ASOR weekly roundup is here.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Tagged Excavations, Forgery, Galilee, Jerusalem, Samaria, Temple Mount

Wednesday Roundup

The scaffolding and construction material inside the Dome of the Rock have elicited an emergency petition by the Temple Mount Faithful to Israel’s Supreme Court.

In The Washington Post, Hershel Shanks describes how the Biblical Archaeology Society became caught in a dispute between the two halves of Cyprus.

Wikipedia wins: Photography is now allowed in the archaeology wing of the Israel Museum.

The first summer survey at Abel Beth Maacah was a success.

The finds keep popping out of the ground at the Philistine city of Gath. Aren Maeir is providing daily updates and photos.

The plaster at Ramat Rahel is being studied for traces of pollen in order to understand the character of the ancient royal gardens at the site south of Jerusalem.

“Scientists have used a new x-ray technique to produce spectacular 3D images of Roman coins that were corroded inside pots or blocks of soil.” The article includes a brief video.

The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit formerly at New York’s Discovery Times Square and currently at the
Franklin Institute in Philadelphia is moving to the Cincinnati Museum Center in November.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Tagged Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Museums, Technology, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup