The western wall is all that remains of the Temple in Jerusalem, built in 516 BC on the site of a tenth-century original, and substantially remodelled in 20 BC by Herod the Great. This picture was taken during Hanukkah, a December-time feast which celebrates the cleansing and re-dedication of the Temple in 164 BC, and a nine-branched menorah (in contrast to the seven-branched menorah of the Temple itself, now lost to history) has been placed in the square.
Part 1 of 2
THE first Temple in Jerusalem was founded in 957 BC upon a hill in the heart of his capital by King Solomon, son of the legendary King David. It was painstakingly patterned after a heavenly sanctuary glimpsed by Moses himself, on the cloud-capped summit of Mount Sinai some three hundred years before.*
Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586; but the Persians, conquerors of the Babylonian Empire, gave Zerubbabel permission to rebuild it, and a second Temple was consecrated on the same spot in 516.
Alexander the Great left it untouched on a brief visit to Jerusalem as he swept the Persians aside in the late 330s, but in 167 Antiochus, King of Syria, declared Judaism illegal, and ordered that the Temple be dedicated to Zeus.
An unexpectedly successful revolt led by Judas the Maccabee allowed the Jews to cleanse and re-consecrate the Temple in 164,** and for the next hundred years Jerusalem enjoyed a period of self-government.
See Exodus 24:9-25:9. Traditional dates are followed in this account. When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, the Pharaoh had them build a city named ‘Raamses’ (Exodus 1:11), so it has traditionally been assumed that the Pharaoh was Rameses II (Nineteenth Dynasty, reigned 1279-1213 BC), who built Pi-Ramesses at Qantir in Egypt shortly after his accession.
** The date the 25th of Chislev, 164 BC, which that year fell on December 14th. See 1 Maccabees 4:36-59 and 2 Maccabees 10:5-8.
Précis
The first Temple in Jerusalem was built by King Solomon in 957 BC, on a plan given to the Israelites by Moses. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century, but rebuilt seventy years later. After it was desecrated by the Syrians in 167, Judas the Maccabee led a revolt, and the Temple was restored once more. (57 / 60 words)
Part Two
A view of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as it is today, with the gilded ‘Dome of the Rock’ mosque standing proudly on the site of King Solomon’s tenth-century BC Temple. Access to the site is limited by Muslim authorities, who allow no non-Muslim prayers to be spoken there, and by the Israelis, partly to keep the peace and partly because the Temple is still holy ground for Jews.
THE privilege of self-government in Jerusalem ended after Pompey brought the Romans in 63 BC. The Roman Senate elevated the governor of Galilee, Herod, to King of Judaea, and Herod ordered the most ambitious remodelling of Jerusalem and her Temple so far, indulging his admiration for all things Greco-Roman while trying to reassure doubters of his Jewish pride.
After his death in 4 BC, Herod’s squabbling heirs continued to blend Roman ways with Jewish and the discontent simmered on. Some, such as the Pharisees, rejected Rome’s creeping Hellenisation, and criticised Herod’s Temple as a tainted compromise.* Others renounced the Temple and its clergy altogether.
In AD 66 the Jews rebelled again, but this time Emperor Vespasian broke their resistance, and during the fighting Herod’s magnificent Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by fire.** It was never rebuilt, and in 692 Muslim invaders buried the ruins of Judaism’s holiest site under a mosque — to mark, they claimed, the place where their all-conquering general, Mohammed, had lately ascended into heaven.
For example, Herod initially put an eagle, a recognised Roman symbol, on top of the Temple gates; two enraged young scholars, Judas son of Saripheus and Matthias son of Margalothus, climbed up and tore it down. See ‘Antiquities of the Jews’ XVII.6.2, by Josephus.
** The First Jewish Revolt dragged on from 66 to 74. The Temple itself fell in 70, after soldiers defied the orders of their commander, Titus, and allowed a fire in the city to spread to the Temple.
Précis
After the Romans took control of Judaea in 63 BC, their client King, Herod, undertook a comprehensive rebuild that did not by any means meet with everyone’s approval. His Temple was ruined during the Jewish Revolt of AD 66, and never rebuilt; and following the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in the 7th century, a mosque was raised on the site. (58 / 60 words)
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