Category: Jerusalem

Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in the Hellenistic period

The four centuries between the Old Testament (Tanakh) and the Gospels are sometimes called the “Silent Years”. This time period is also known as the intertestamental or deuterocanonical period. Yet there are historical sources and archaeological evidence that can take away the veil of silence. The Works of Josephus, the Books of Maccabees and Ecclesiasticus, also called the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, and others, contain important information about this enigmatic time. Beginning with the conquests of Alexander the Great, the new culture of Hellenism changed the way people were thinking and acting. These changes can be detected in archaeology, ancient architecture, politics, culture and religion. During this time, three empires, Persia, Greece and Rome successively ruled the then-known world. In this brief outline, we hope to cast some light on this fascinating period in the history of the Jewish people, and especially on Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

After the death of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE, his empire was split among four generals, known as the diadochi. Alexander and his successors imposed the Hellenistic culture on their new subjects. The Hellenistic period in Judea lasted from 332-152 BCE, and that was followed by the Hasmonean kingdom which terminated when Herod the Great became king in 37 BCE. During this period, Judea was first under Ptolemaic rule from 301-200 BCE. The Ptolemies were benevolent toward the Jews. Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who ruled from 285-246 BCE, commissioned a translation of the Hebrew Bible in c. 250 BCE. Seventy-two scholars from Jerusalem translated the Torah, the five books of Moses, into Greek.

During the 3rd century BCE, many battles took place between the Ptolemies in the south and the Seleucids in the north. In 200 BCE, a final battle between the two forces took place in Panion (modern Banias) which was lost by the Ptolemies. The Seleucids then controlled the Holy Land. 

In 200 BCE, a crucial battle was fought at Panion (Banias) between the Ptolemaic forces led by general Scopas, and two Seleucid forces. The force led by Antiochus the Younger was stationed on the lower slopes of Mount Hermon, and the other by Antiochus III. Antiochus II won the battle and captured southern Syria and annexed Judea.

The Temple that was built by Jeshua and Zerubbabel three centuries earlier undoubtedly needed structural maintenance and repairs. 

This drawing shows the newly rebuilt Temple that apparently was not as grand as the previous one, for Haggai (2.3) said: “Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? And how do ye see it now, is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?” The internal layout of the Temple undoubtedly remained the same and would therefore have been able to function normally, although the quality of the architecture must have appeared inferior in the minds of the ancient people who remembered the first Temple.

In 200 BCE, restoration work was indeed carried out on the Temple Mount. In the deuterocanonical book of the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, also called Ecclesiasticus, the work is described as follows: 

“It was the High Priest Simon son of Onias who repaired the Temple during his lifetime and in his day fortified the sanctuary. He laid the foundations of the double height, the high buttresses of the Temple precincts. In his day the water cistern was excavated, a reservoir as huge as the sea.” (50.1-3).

It is clear from this text that the bulk of these works were concerned with the repair and strengthening of existing structures, as no archaeological remains can be demonstrated as belonging to this enterprise. The cistern that was excavated was probably initially quarried to supply stones for the repair work, and was afterwards used as a water cistern.

Although no archaeological remains of these buttresses have been found, nevertheless they have been indicated on the drawing as a suggestion. The location of the cistern is also indicated.

Whereas the Ptolemies were benevolent rulers, the Seleucids were the very opposite. The most infamous of the Seleucid rulers, Antiochus Epiphanes went to Jerusalem in 169 BCE, where he plundered the Temple, sacrificed a pig on the Temple altar, and and took all the Temple furniture and treasures away to Antioch. He was determined to Hellenize all the Jews in Judea, forbidding worship on the Temple Mount and the practice of rituals, such as sacrifice and circumcision and compelled them, on penalty of death, to sacrifice to pagan gods. This sparked off the revolt led initially by Mattathias, and then by his five sons, Eleazar, Simon, Judah, John and Jonathan, known as the Maccabees, and which lasted from 167 to 160 BCE. 

In 168 B.C. Antiochus IV Epiphanes built the Akra, a fortress for his Macedonian garrison, from which the Jewish population could be controlled. Hellenized Jews also joined this garrison. Josephus records that it commanded or overlooked the Temple. Josephus writes in Antiquities 12.252 that Antiochus …

built the Akra in the Lower City; for it was high enough to overlook the Temple, and it was for this reason that he fortified it with high walls and towers, and stationed a Macedonian garrison therein. Nonetheless there re­mained in the Akra those of the (Jewish) people who were impious and of bad character, and at their hands the citizens were destined to suffer many terrible things.

The Seleucid Akra, was built to the south of the Temple Mount and east of the Huldah Gates. These gates were the main ones that were used by people that went up from the Lower City, the City of David, to the Temple. The garrison that was stationed inside the fortress, could easily control access to the Temple Mount. 

This description agrees with that given by the author of the Books of Maccabees, who, when referring to the event mentioned above, puts the Akra in the Lower City, which he calls the City of David:

They fortified the City of David with a great and strong wall, with strong towers, and it became unto them an Akra. There they installed an army of sinful men, ren­egades, who fortified themselves inside it, storing arms and provisions, and depositing there the loot they had collected from Jerusalem; they were to prove a great trouble. It became an ambush for the sanctuary, an evil adversary for Israel at all times. (1 Maccabees 1.33–36)

Archaeological remains of the fortifications have been found:

Schematic plan of the excavated Hellenistic city showing the locations where large stretches of city walls with adjoining ramparts have been discovered in archaeological excavations (darker color). These massive earth ramparts were built outside the city walls, both on the west and east of the city. 
In 169 BCE, Antiochus Epiphanes ordered Jerusalem to be fortified and a fortress to be built south of the Temple Mount. The city walls were strengthened and massive ramparts were added on the outside, making it very difficult for enemies to climb up. A year later, a new fortress – the Seleucid Akra – was built south of the Temple Mount.

When in 168 BCE, an imperial emissary came to Modiin demanding that the people sacrificed on a pagan altar, Mattathias the priest refused to obey. When one of his countrymen came forward to sacrifice, Mattathias killed him and the emissary. This was the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt (1 Maccabees 2:23-25). Mattathias, his sons and many villagers left Modiin immediately and set up camp in the Gophna Hills, from where they fought many battles against the Seleucid army. 

In 164 BCE, Judas, the eldest son of Mattathias, defeated the Seleucid forces at the battle of Beth-zur, and when he and his men went up to Jerusalem to purify and dedicate the sanctuary, they found the Temple in a shocking state of neglect and its buildings in ruins. After they had purified the Temple and a new altar was built, there was great rejoicing. It was then decided to make a law that the keeping of this Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) would be kept every year for eight days (1 Maccabees 4:36-61; 2 Maccabees 10:1-8). This Dedication of the Temple is still celebrated today by the Jewish people during the feast of Hanukkah, and, as three New Testament references (John 10:23, Acts 3:11, 5:12) show, was also observed by Jesus and his disciples.

The Feast of Dedication, known as Hanukkah, lasted eight days. According to Talmudic sources, the oil that was left in the Temple was sufficient for one day only, but miraculously kept the seven oil lamps of the menorah (Lampstand) filled for eight days. The Hanukkiah, in contrast to the menorah, has eight branches. The ninth oil lamp on the central stem, called the shamash, was used to light the other oil lamps. The Feast of Dedication is also mentioned in the Gospel of John 10:22 when Jesus went to Jerusalem and visited the Temple Mount.

In 142 BCE, Simon the Maccabee demolished the hated Akra, the fortress that the Seleucids had built to the south of the Temple Mount. He then leveled the mountain on which it was built, incorporating the whole area into the Temple Mount complex. The bloodline of the Maccabees evolved into the Hasmonean dynasty that established an independent Jewish state lasting till 37 BCE, when Herod the Great became king of Judea.

According to Josephus (Ant. 13:215), after the demolishment of the Akra, Simon the Maccabee lowered the mountain on which it was built, incorporating the whole area into the Temple Mount complex, extending it to the south. This was the first time that the Temple Mount was no longer square.

So, when Jesus walked here and taught the people, it would have reminded them of a unique point unparalleled in their history, when they celebrated God’s intervention in the restoration of their place of worship. And when the name of Solomon’s Porch was used for the eastern stoa, it represented a powerful connection with the dedication of both Solomon’s and the Hasmonean Temple, allowing the silent years to speak.

An overall view of a model of the Herodian Temple Mount looking from the northwest. In the foreground is the Antonia Fortress, while the Temple with its surrounding buildings stood close to the centre of the Temple Mount. The lower portico above the Eastern Wall (upper centre), known as Solomon’s Porch, was built in the Hasmonean period, and by King Solomon. However, at that time, any pre-Herodian structure was attributed to Solomon .

Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah

A new presentation by Ritmeyer Archaeological Design

After the Temple Mount, the most popular images in our Image Library are those that depict Jerusalem in the Time of Nehemiah. Most probably, this is because so little is known about the layout of the city at that time. The archaeological data to support the record of Nehemiah, is thin on the ground or should we say, appears to be thin on the ground. In fact – if we look carefully- scattered archaeological remains of the entire circumvallation can be detected.

A reconstruction drawing of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah

Chapter 3 of the Book of Nehemiah gives a detailed account of the massive repair work undertaken under Nehemiah’s guidance and the groups of people that volunteered to give this city a new span of life after the terrible disaster of the Babylonian destruction.

The Sheep Gate is the first feature mentioned and also the last in Nehemiah’s list of restored wall sections and gates. This gate had not been referred to previously in the Old Testament record, whereas other features mentioned by Nehemiah, such as the Towers of Meah and Hananeel were. Archaeological evidence for the Sheep Gate can be deduced from an underground tunnel in the northern wall of the city, called in Middot, one of the books of the Mishna, the earliest code of rabbinic law, the Tadi Gate. The model below shows how this part of the city would have looked in the time of Nehemiah:

In verse 13 of the chapter, the Valley Gate is mentioned. This is an element of Nehemiah’s wall of which we also have ancient remains, with J.W. Crowfoot discovering in 1924, a stretch of wall into which was built a gate which gave access to the City of David from the west. 

Its location in the western wall of the city is shown in the model:

After the completion of the work that took 52 days, two companies praising God walked over the eastern and western walls and met at the Sheep Gate. The Sheep Gate was the northern gate into the Temple Mount. It was so called as through this gate the animals for sacrifice were brought into the Temple Mount. It must have been a wonderful sight to see these two groups merging into one, united both in body and spirit to praise the Lord for his mercy and his goodness: 

We have combined all our information about the layout of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah to create a new RAD CD – Volume 9 with 41 slides, called Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah. This presentation is profusely illustrated with photographs of a specially designed model, reconstruction drawings and photographs of archaeological remains. We use these illustrations in a verse by verse commentary on the third chapter of the Book of Nehemiah to follow the description of the restoration of Jerusalem’s walls.

The Road to Emmaus

A new Emmaus trail in Israel is ready for pilgrims, but is it on the right track?

On the 21st of march, 2021, Linda Gradstein wrote in the Jerusalem Post  

“Pilgrims can walk the new 18-km. (11-mile) Emmaus Trail that now goes from the Saxum Visitor Center in Abu Ghosh, which hat exhibits on Christianity, and ends at the monastery of Emmaus Nicopolis.”

The important event that took place on the Road to Emmaus is reported fully only in Luke 24.13-35. These verses record Jesus appearing to two of his disciples while they were going to a place called Emmaus. One was called Cleopas and the other is unnamed.

The fact that on their return to Jerusalem, the two disciples told the eleven (or ‘the rest’ as they are called in Mark 16.13) that “he was known of them in breaking of bread”, shows what a significant occasion it was. It was the first time after the Last Supper that Jesus broke bread again.

From their conversation we learn that those two disciples did not understand why Jesus had to die. We read that “they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned …” (Luke 24.14,15). They were quite perplexed and when Jesus joined them, he asked them what they were talking about. Cleopas told him what had happened to Jesus in Jerusalem. These two disciples knew the sequence of the events very well, but they did not believe them and had walked away from Jerusalem. After Jesus opened the Scriptures to them, “their heart burned within them”.

Is it important to understand why the first breaking of bread in which Jesus participated after he was raised from the dead, had to take place near a village called Emmaus? And where was Emmaus[1]? Why is that important to know? One thing that I have learnt from following the journeys of Jesus is that he always went to places for a reason, usually to fulfil an Old Testament prophecy.

This map shows some of the candidates for Emmaus

We are told that Emmaus was about 60 stadia[2] (Luke 24.13) from Jerusalem, that is over 4 times as far as Bethany, which was 15 stadia (2.775 km, 1.72 miles) from Jerusalem (John 11.18). As I have lived for two years in Bethany, I know this measurement to be true, as it took me just over half an hour to walk from the back of the Mount of Olives to the Temple Mount Excavations. Emmaus should be located therefore some 11 kms or 7 miles from Jerusalem. But in which direction did Jesus go? North, south, east or west? We are not told.

The name Emmaus does not occur anywhere in the Old Testament. However, in one of the New Testament manuscripts, the Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis[3], as pointed out by Read-Heimerdinger and Rius-Camps, Emmaus is called Oulammaous[4]. Another ancient source also refers to these names[5]. This is because of an association that was made by some of the early translators with the name of the place where Jacob had a dream after he left his family to go to Padanaram. 

This sign near the modern settlement of Bethel indicates Jacob’s Rock where he had the vision of the ladder. The Hebrew text above it says The Place of Jacob’s Dream.

This first place where Jacob stopped overnight he called Bethel, which means the House of God: 

“And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first”. (Gen. 28:19)

The word order in Hebrew is different:

“And he called the name of that place Bethel: but Luz was the name of the place at first”. 

In the Hebrew text, “but Luz” is “Oulamlouz”, and this became Oulammaous in this manuscript, from which comes Ammaus by changing the “L” to an “M. (Emmaus is the Latin translation).

If Emmaus and Bethel are essentially the same place, then there are amazing parallels between Jacob’s stay in Bethel and Jesus going to Emmaus with the two disciples. 

Some questions still remain to be answered. When the two disciples returned to Jerusalem, they said, “The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.” (Luke 24:34)

How did they know that? And who was Cleopas? If the name of Bethel had been obscured, then maybe the name of Cleopas also stood for somebody else. I believe he was Peter, for Cleopas (if you take out the letter ‘L’, as with Oulamaous) sounds very much like Cephas, unto whom we know that Jesus appeared before the other disciples. In the gospels we read that after his resurrection Jesus appeared unto Mary Magdalene first, but it is also written in 1Cor. 15:4,5 that “Jesus was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve”.

In this Lucan account, Peter’s identity is hidden, reflecting perhaps the fact that his eyes were restrained. Jesus had earlier changed Peter’s name to Cephas when he made that good confession that Jesus was the Son of living God. This confession became the foundation stone on which the church is built. Jesus had called him also Simon son of Jonah[6], which means “hearer, son of a dove” – a dove is type of the Holy Spirit. Listening to Jesus’ explanation of why he had to suffer and die, and believing after Jesus had broken bread, made him a true hearer. 

So, if Cleopas is indeed Cephas, then Jesus indeed first appeared to Peter before the other disciples, and if that is so, then how great is the forgiveness and mercy of Jesus toward the disciple who had betrayed him! 

There may be other reasons why the name of Bethel does not appear in the New Testament and that the Canaanite name of Luz (Gen. 28:19) for Bethel was used instead. First of all, Bethel in Hebrew means the House of God, which at that time was understood to be the Temple in Jerusalem. 

The second reason may be that the people of this place were ashamed of their connection with the temple that Jeroboam had built for the worship of Baal, who was often portrayed as a bull (1 Kings 12:26-33)[7]. When some Baal-worshipping youths[8] returned from Bethel to Jericho, they met Elisha and mocked him. Elisha then cursed them in the name of Yahweh, as this meeting had become a confrontation between the worship of Yahweh and that of Baal. Elisha was vindicated when, by divine intervention, two she bears mauled these idol worshippers. The people of Bethel may have wanted to disassociate themselves from their shameful past.

In the fifth year of Rehoboam, the Kingdom of Solomon split. The ten northern tribes set up the Kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam. To prevent the people from going to Jerusalem during the feast days, Jeroboam made two golden calves and put them in temples, one in Bethel and one in Dan (1Kings 12:28,29). The temple in Bethel has not yet been found, but the one in Dan survived and has been excavated.
In this reconstruction drawing, we see the complete temple for the golden calf in the centre of the courtyard, with a stairway leading up to it. In front of the temple was an altar, while other rooms were arranged around the sanctuary.
The site of Ras et-Tahunah at al-Bireh is an elevated hill, which has been tentatively identified as the high place of Bethel.

It also makes sense that Emmaus would have been located on the Way of the Patriarchs, on which Abraham, Jacob and Joseph had travelled. This ridge road connects places, such as Beersheba, Hebron, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Bethel, Shiloh and Shechem, where some of the most important events in Scripture took place. 

[1] Several candidates for identification with Emmaus have been suggested, e.g. Mozah (Qaloniyeh), Abu Gosh (Castellum), el-Qubeibeh and Imwas (Emmaus-Nicopolis). None of these places, however, have a relevant historical connection to the site under consideration. 

[2] One Roman stadium is about 185 m.

[3] This manuscript is held at the University of Cambridge: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-NN-00002-00041/1 

[4] Read-Heimerdinger, J. and Rius-Camps, J., “Emmaus or Oulammaous? Luke’s Use of the Jewish Scriptures in the Text of Luke 24 in Codex Bezae”, Revista Catalana de Teologia (RCatT) 27 (2002), pp. 23-43.

[5] Eusebius of Caesarea, in Onomasticon 40.20 writes, “Baithel (Bethel) is now a village twelve miles from Ailia (Jerusalem) to the right of the road going to Neapolis (Shechem). It was formerly called Oulamma and also Luza. It was given to the lot of the tribe of Benjamin, near Bethaun (Bethaven) and Gai (Ai). Josue (Joshua) also fought there killing the king.”

[6] Matthew 16:17.

[7] The site of Ras et-Tahunah at al-Bireh is an elevated hill, which has been tentatively identified as the high place of Bethel.

[8] These youths were not little children. The Hebrew na’arim ketanim indicates young people, not little children.  Abraham’s 318 young men that defeated the armies of Chedorlaomer and his allies, were also called na’arim (Gen. 14:24). When Solomon became king at the age of 40, he asked God for wisdom as he said that he was but a “little child” (na’ar katan), the same Hebrew words that were used to described the youths in 2 Kings 2:23,24.

The destruction of the site of Joshua’s altar on Mount Ebal

A couple of days ago, the Palestinians destroyed part of the surrounding wall of an important archaeological site on Mount Ebal. Although its identification is controversial, many believe that these are the remains of the altar that Joshua built on Mount Ebal (Joshua 8:30) . Whatever the identification, the destruction of archaeological sites in Israel is deplorable. For further comments, see: here, here and here (with aerial video).

Photo from Zachi Dvira’s blog. Part of the enclosure wall in the centre of the photo is being destroyed.

I know the site well, for in 1983, I was asked by Prof. Benjamin Mazar to visit a new archaeological site on Mount Ebal that was being excavated by Adam Zertal and make reconstructions drawings of this altar. 

Here I am following Adam Zertal who is explaining the site to me.
Adam (c) talking to Amihai Mazar (r) and Kathleen (l).
A reconstruction of the altar site
The enclosure wall round the altar site. Part of the surrounding wall on the right (not visible in this drawing) was destroyed.

As Zachi comments: “What happened recently in Mount Ebal is the tip of the iceberg about everything that has been happening in Judea and Samaria in recent years.” Hopefully this will be a wake-up call for the relevant authorities to put a stop to this senseless destruction.

Music in the Temple

The Location of the Music Chamber in the Court of the Women

As noted in our previous post, music played an important role in the Temple services. Although the real service of praise in the Temple was done mainly by voice, this was often accompanied by the playing on musical instruments. Silver trumpets were blown by priests to accompany the sacrifices.

The Levites stood on the fifteen semi-circular steps to sing the Psalm of the day, and on other occasions, all of the fifteen Songs of the Steps, namely Psalms 120-134. 

To the east of Herod’s Temple was the large Court of the Women, also known as the Treasury in the Gospels. This court was as far as women were allowed to proceed into the Temple. The Levitical Choir stands on the semi-circular steps.

The number of instrumentalists was not limited, and not confined to Levites only. Middot Arakhin 2.4 indicates that some of these were from the families of Emmaus, another name for Bethel. The musical instruments were kept in a special underground chamber that opened to the Court of Women. We can imagine that when the Levites sang on the steps, the players on harps, trumpets and lyres, stood next to them in front of the Music Chamber.

This Chamber of Music is mentioned in Middot 2:6, “And there were chambers under the Court of Israel, which opened into the Court of the Women, where the Levites played upon harps and lyres and the cymbals and all instruments of music”. I previously speculated that some remains of this music chamber may have survived the Roman destruction of 70 CE.

So, let us examine the archaeological information.

The three openings had already been noticed in the 19th century by Conrad Schick[1] and Warren[2]. Warren noted that there was a hollow space behind the wall, and called it the Cell of Bostam. The name ‘Bostam’ appears to be a corruption of ‘bustan’, a group of trees and vegetation that grew here and which can be seen in some Crusader illustrations. Warren wrote that “in 1881 an attempt was made to obtain permission to open this doorway and explore the unknown cells and vaults. This was not only refused, but a large heap of earth was soon after piled in front of the closed doorway.”

Adapted from Gibson and Jacobson, fig. 74.

For interest’s sake, the structure called Cell of Kashan to the south of the Raised Platform, has a cistern. Schick[3] noted that over this cistern (2 on the plan), the Kashan Mosque, which has long been demolished, once stood. 

Below is a plan showing the location of the Court of the Women on the present day Temple Mount, followed by updated archaeological evidence we presented in our previous blog.

On this plan of the present Temple Mount, we have drawn the location of the Court of the Women and the underground Music Chamber, or Music Room.

Next, I made an accurate elevation of the ancient stones in the eastern wall of the Raised Platform, showing the ancient stones at the northeast corner, and further to the south, the visible masonry on the sides of the previously mentioned arches.

The surviving stones of the western wall of the Court of the Women have been indicated in this elevation of the eastern wall of the Raised Platform.

To check if this discovery agreed with the description in Middot, I compared the location of this triple entrance with a reconstruction drawing I had made of the Court of the Women for a model I had designed many years ago.

After superimposing the newly discovered masonry on this drawing, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the central opening was exactly where I had drawn it earlier.

Putting this information together, I was able to draw a reconstruction of the Court of the Women and the Music Chamber, or Music Room. To the left (south) of the Court of the Women was the Chamber of the House of Oil, and on the right (north) was the Chamber of the Lepers.

This drawing shows how music was performed in the Temple of Jerusalem. The Levites stood on the fifteen semi-circular steps that were in front of the Nicanor Gate, to sing Psalms. They were accompanied by the players on harps, trumpets and lyres, who stood next to them in front of the Music Room.

Behind the Levitical choir is the Nicanor Gate, and the Temple towered in the background. The musicians that stood in front of the Music Chamber have now been added to a previous drawing of the Temple Courts.

To the east of the temple stood the Court of the Women (centre front). This large court was known in the Gospels as the Treasury. The Nicanor Gate stood in front of Herod’s Temple. It gave access to the Temple Courts from the Court of the Women. To the left of the Levites are some musicians, dressed in blue, standing in front of the Music Chamber.

It must have been very impressive to hear the choir, accompanied by the musicians playing on their instruments, praising God. They sang different Psalms each day, and on the Shabbat they sang Psalm 92, “It is good to give thanks unto the Lord”.

Now, of course, we can praise God wherever we like, at home or in a congregation, but it is good to remember that acceptable worship was first instituted by King David who wrote the Psalms, which were sung in the subsequent Temples of Jerusalem.

[1] Gibson, S. and Jacobson, D.M., Below the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (1996).

[2] Warren, Ch. and Conder, C.R., Survey of Western Palestine, Jerusalem Volume (Vol. 2), (1884, 219).

[3] Schick, C., Beit el Makdas oder der alte Tempelplatz zu Jerusalem; wir er jetzt ist. (1887, 86)

New discovery on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: Gate in the eastern wall of the Dome of the Rock plaza

Could this be the remnant of the gate to the southern underground Music Room?

Here is my translation of an article written on the 4th of October 2020 by Arnon Segal for the Makor Rishon Hebrew newspaper with additional comments and illustrations.

“In the eastern wall of the Raised Platform on which the Nikanor Gate stood during the days of the Temple, two arches were recently discovered that had been blocked at some point. Where did they lead to and who built them? And does this have anything to do with the holiday of Sukkot?”

Location of the discovery. Photo: Eli David

“The eastern wall of the Raised Platform that supports the plaza around the Dome of the Rock, is closely connected with Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles, or Booths). According to the Jewish tradition that places the Holy of Holies in the center of the Dome of the Rock, the Nicanor Gate stood on this wall during the days of the Temple. The staircase that descends from it today numbers 25 steps, but originally there were only 15 steps. On the feast of Beit Hashoeva (the Water Drawing ceremony) on the feast of Sukkot, when they went down to draw water from the Pool of Siloam, the Levites stood on these steps and sang the 15 songs of the degrees in the Book of Psalms.”

“This wall is oriented in an almost precise north-south line (a half-degree deviation that may be explained by a certain change in the magnetic north for thousands of years), just as the Temple itself was oriented according to precise astronomical directions. This eastern wall preserves a memory of the most significant difference in height on the ancient Temple Mount, namely that which separated the higher Court of Israel from the lower Court of the Women.”

“In recent weeks, Dr. Eli David has noticed two blocked arches on this wall, which as far as is known, are not mentioned in the research literature of the Temple Mount from the 19th century. There seemed to be a passage here that had been blocked at some time in the past. Archaeologist Dr. Leen Ritmeyer, who has been researching the Temple Mount since the 1970s, also did not know these arches, but has now speculated that they were built during the Crusader period or even earlier.”

The arrows show the two arches pointed out by Dr. Eli David

“According to Ritmeyer, the plaza round the Dome of the Rock was probably founded in the seventh or eighth century AD for the purpose of supporting the Dome of the Rock. And yet, it probably also incorporates much older components. At the northern end of this wall there are three courses of ancient construction that also extend along the northern wall of the Raised Platform. In his hypothesis it is possible that this corner served as an end to the soreg which marked the area beyond which foreigners and the unclean were forbidden to enter.”

Reconstruction drawing of the soreg with the Temple Warning inscription. Middot 2.3 describes how, inside the Temple Mount was “a latticed railing (soreg) ten handbreadths high.” Josephus refers to this feature, describing it as “a stone balustrade with an inscription prohibiting the entrance of a foreigner under threat of the penalty of death (Ant. 15.417, also War 5.193-194; 6.125). In Ephesians 2.14, it was probably to this very barrier that Paul was referring when he writes that Jesus had “broken down the middle wall of partition”. © Ritmeyer Archaeological Design
Three ancient stone courses at the east side of the NE corner of the Raised Platform. Photo: Leen Ritmeyer
Ancient stone courses and offset at the north side of the NE corner of the raised Platform. Photo: Leen Ritmeyer

“At the southern end of the eastern wall, there are indications of the existence of additional underground spaces that have been sealed off. In the mid-19th century, the British expedition officer Charles Warren asked permission to explore this space, but the very next day a pile of earth was placed in front of the opening that prevented it, a pile that was later replaced by a stone blocking wall. According to Ritmeyer’s calculations, this was the place of the Chamber of Hewn Stone where the Sanhedrin used to hold court sessions.” 

This blocking at the SE corner of the Raised Platform hides the entrance to an underground chamber, that Charles Warren was prevented from entering. Photo: Leen Ritmeyer

“And this wall has a few more things to tell us. At one point in the wall, north of the stairway, two large stones remain at the base of the wall, which Ritmeyer speculates may have been from the time of Herod and may have served as part of the retaining wall of the Court of the Women.”

Two very ancient large stones on which the smaller stones of the east wall of the Raised Platform were built. Photo: Leen Ritmeyer

“Going back to the blocked arch openings located by Dr. Eli David, Ritmeyer points out that on the sides of these two arches two large stones can be seen that seem to belong to a triple opening.  According to Ritmeyer, it is difficult to date the exact style of construction, but in his opinion, these are stones are similar to the ancient stone courses mentioned before, which are located at the northeast corner of the eastern wall. In his estimation, the opening may be from the Crusader period or even earlier. “These architectural remains show that there is still much to explore and discover,” Ritmeyer admits, “not only around the outer walls of the Herodian Temple Mount, but also on the Temple Mount plaza itself.”

The white lines indicate where a triple entrance was located, possibly leading into the Music Room. © Leen Ritmeyer

“Even if Dr. Ritmeyer assumes that the arches are from the Crusader period, they may have served as an opening to a much earlier underground space. When was it created and by whom?”

Locating the underground Music Rooms on Herod’s Temple Mount. This is a plan of the Temple and its surrounding courts and buildings.
The Sanctuary itself consisted of three courts, each higher than the former, and beyond them, the Temple with the Holy and Most Holy Places. One could enter via the Eastern Gate, first into the Court of the Women or Treasury. A southern and a northern gate also led into the Court of the Women.
From the Court of the Women, men could advance up the 15 semi-circular steps and through the Nicanor Gate into the Court of Israel and then into the Court of the Priests. The underground Music Rooms were located at either side of the Nicanor Gate. Three gate buildings were located on both the north and south side of the Temple. The Chamber of the Hearth was in the northwest corner of the temple Court and the Chamber of Hewn Stone in the southeast. © Leen Ritmeyer

“It is not clear, but perhaps one should recall the words of Tractate Middot (2:6) regarding this very place, which indicates that this is the place where the musical instruments of the Temple were stored:

“And there were chambers under the Court of Israel, which opened to the Court of the Women, where the Levites played upon harps and lyres and the cymbals and all instruments of music”. At the Simchat Beit Hashoeva (the rejoicing of the Water Ceremony) that took place on the holiday nights, they played loudly.”

A view from the Court of the Women looking to the Nicanor gate and the Temple. The location of the Music Rooms is indicated by arrows. © Leen Ritmeyer

I find it very exciting to speculate that some remains of the entrance to this Music Room may have survived the Roman destruction of 70 AD. It is of special importance that this discovery was made during the days of Sukkot.

Music played an important role during the Feasts of Israel, especially during the present days of Sukkot. Trumpets were used to announce Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the civil New Year, which fell on the 19th of August 2020. On the 10th of Tishrei, which was the 29th of September, was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. During a Jubilee year, the trumpet of the Jubilee was sounded on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family (Leviticus 25:9,10). 

One of the most important instrument in the Temple service was the trumpet. The trumpets were made of silver, as stipulated in Numbers 10.2. According to the Mishnah, “They blew never less than twenty-one blasts in the Temple (in a day) and never more than forty-eight.” The first three blasts were made when the gates of the Temple were opened, nine during the morning sacrifice and nine at the evening sacrifice. The Sabbath was also announced with three blasts of the trumpet and again three more blasts were made when the Sabbath had actually begun. © Ritmeyer Archaeological Design

Every morning of Sukkot at daybreak, a group of Levites and priests went down to the Siloam Pool, which is located south of the Temple Mount, and drew three log (a Talmudic liquid measurement) of fresh water to be poured on the altar after the daily morning sacrifice. Their arrival at the Temple with the water was accompanied by trumpet blasts. (For Shabbat, the water was collected before the onset of Shabbat and stored in a golden vessel in the Temple.) It says in the Talmud: He who has not seen the Water-Drawing Celebration has never seen joy in his life. 

Jesus used this act to draw the attention of the spectators to this ceremony when he said in John 7.37–39: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” 

The Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD

Yesterday was Tisha be’av, the Hebrew date on which the Jewish people remember the destruction of both the First and Second Temples.

In honour of this occasion, Megalim, The City of David Institute for Jerusalem Studies, showed a dramatized recreation (2019) of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, called:

A Temple in Flames The Final Battle for Jerusalem and the Destruction of the Second Temple. Here is the link to the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5vuoX09ryw

HT: Jack Sasson

“Here, in this carved-out place, stood the Ark of the Covenant”

So reads the headline in an Israeli newspaper reporting on an interview about the Temple Mount.

On the 11th of this month, I guided a group of Israeli visitors around the Temple Mount. All of them were highly interested in the Temple Mount for various reasons, some nationalistic and others religious. At the end of the tour, we had lunch together and a journalist interviewed me. His full-page report, with the above title, was published in the Hebrew Makor Rishon newspaper.

You can download the translation of this article with this link:

translation-1Download

Their main interest was the location of the Temple and the Ark of the Covenant. And as we couldn’t enter the Dome of the Rock, I showed them an old photograph showing the indentation that King Solomon made for the Ark of the Covenant (1 Kings 8.21)

The location where the Ark of the Covenant stood.

They were also very interested in the underground spaces beneath the mount and published in the newspaper a photograph of a tunnel that was found below the Triple Gate passageway. It was such a peaceful time in the 1970’s, that we had free access to these mysterious places. It was a real privilege to have seen, measured and photographed these spaces, something that would not be possible at present.

In the tunnel below the Triple Gate undeground passageway in 1974. The water that overflowed from an underground cistern was channelled out through this tunnel.

During that time, other tunnels were found running deep below the Double Gate. All these tunnels were closed off after thorough investigation.

This tunnel led from in front of the monumental stairway to the Double Gate to deep below the underground passageway of this gate.

In between the Triple Gate and the southeast corner of the Temple Mount, below the Single Gate that dates from the Crusader period, is another secret tunnel that runs below Solomon’s Stables, that has been converted to a mosque, the El-Marwani Mosque. This tunnel reached to the centre of the Royal Stoa above and may have been used by the workmen who built this edifice.

The entrance to another secret tunnel that ran below Solomon’s Stables. This opening is now blocked up.
Inside the tunnel below Solomon’s Stables

Afterwards we talked about the significance of the Temple Mount for Israeli and non-Jewish people alike. For one of the group, the Temple Mount was of nationalistic importance. He had come from Persia, but the reason was to get to know Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, without which, according to him, Israel had no significance.

Another religious Jew said that he couldn’t keep the Mosaic Law without the Temple Mount. I had to agree and said:


“If I were a Jew, I would like to sacrifice the Passover sacrifice on the Temple Mount. Jerusalem has no meaning without the Temple Mount.
When I arrived in Israel in 1969, we lived in Gat Rimmon and rented a house from Russian immigrants who had lived in Israel for decades but never visited Jerusalem. I found that hard to understand. Why did you return here if not for Jerusalem and the Temple Mount?”

They wanted to know what, apart from its archaeological importance, the Temple Mount meant for me as a Christian. I answered that Mount Moriah was the place where Abraham was called to sacrifice his only-begotten son Isaac, which, as explained in the Letter to the Hebrews 11:19, was an example of the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Reading Between the Walls

Interview with Eve Harow on her Rejuvenation program

Last week, Kathleen and I were in Jerusalem for the Shiloh Excavations which are directed by Dr. Scott Stripling. On one of the afternoons, Eve Harow of the Rejuvenation programme for The Land of Israel Network interviewed me.

She wrote:

Leen Ritmeyer’s extraordinary journey from Holland to the Temple Mount- and beyond -has defined his life and contributed immensely to ours. He speaks with Eve about the field of Biblical Architecture; how the study of ancient structures in the Land of Israel and Near East enhances our comprehension of history, archeology, the Bible and mankind’s connection to God. He has made an indelible mark in particular on our understanding of Temple Mount transformations thru the millennia and continues to interpret and redefine discoveries both recent and past. This Dutchman is still flying. Listen and learn.

If you have the patience, you can listen to this hour-long interview here:

The Land of Israel Network: http://thelandofisrael.com/reading-between-the-walls/

SoundCloud:https://soundcloud.com/thelandofisrael/rejuvenation-june-16-2019

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ15M_SvI74&feature=youtu.be

As of today, the 16th of June, you can also follow the interview in the Israeli newspaper: Arutz Sheva, or Israel National News.

The Golden Gate of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

The interior of the Golden Gate in the 1970’s

The Golden Gate is very much in the news today, as it has become a point of conflict between Jews and Muslims, or Palestinians and Israelis.

But what do we know about this gate?

The Golden Gate, around which swirl various traditions, is the most intriguing of all the gates of the Temple Mount. In Jewish tradition, it is through this gate (Sha’ar haRachamim—Gate of Mercy), blocked since the ninth century, that Messiah will enter at the end of days, led in by the prophet Elijah. This is based on the prophecy of Ezekiel 44.1–3. Christians believe that Christ made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem (recorded in all four of the gospels) through this gate on the Sunday before his crucifixion (Palm Sunday). By riding on a donkey, he fulfilled the messianic prophecy recorded in Zechariah 9.9. Muslims refer to it as the Gate of Eternity (Bab-al-Dahariyeh) and believe it will be an important part of the last judgment of mankind. The Muslim cemetery along the Eastern Wall is thought to have been placed there in the belief that the forerunner of Messiah, Elijah, being of a priestly family, could not pass through the Golden Gate, thus preventing the coming of the Messiah.  

Some claim that the Golden Gate was built by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius after the expulsion of the Sassanians from Jerusalem. However, the absence in the architectural decorations of any Christian symbols, such as a cross makes that difficult to believe. There are actually four distinct historical phases represented in the architecture of this gate: Turkish, Umayyad, Herodian and First Temple period. In the 1970’s I was privileged to spend one week inside this gate, measuring and recording its plan and drawing accurate elevations of all the interior surfaces.

Standing in the middle of the Golden Gate interior. Two monolithic massive gateposts are visible in the far corners.

The Golden Gate’s outer façade is composed of two blocked-up gateways adorned with intricately carved relief arches. The decoration of the arches to the front and back of the gate are identical to the applied arches of the Double Gate which date from the Early Islamic period. The gate appears therefore to have been rebuilt in the Umayyad period, on the foundations of an earlier gate.

The exterior of the Golden Gate in the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Photo: Leen Ritmeyer

View of the Golden Gate from inside the Temple Mount. Photo: Nathaniel Ritmeyer

The remains of two massive monolithic gateposts are preserved inside this gate.

Section through the Golden Gate looking north, showing the massive monolithic gatepost. © Leen Ritmeyer

The gateposts are set in the same line as the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount and line up with the massive masonry that can be seen on either side of the Golden Gate.

Elevation of the Golden Gate showing the location of the two monolithic gateposts in relation to the masonry of the First Temple period (Iron Age) in the Eastern Wall of the Temple `Mount. © Leen Ritmeyer

The gateposts and the two masonry sections appear therefore to be part of the same construction. The top of the southern gatepost is level with the top of the ancient masonry that can be seen south of the Golden Gate. The northern gatepost is one stone course higher and is located only one stone course below the surface of the Temple Mount. This means that the top of the original lintel would have been identical with the present-day level of the Temple Mount. The two gateposts belong to a gate that dates from the First Temple period and is most likely the Shushan Gate, mentioned in Mishnah Middot 1.3 as the only gate in the Eastern Wall.

This composite drawing shows the four historical phases of the Golden Gate. © Leen Ritmeyer

The gate most probably was given this name by builders who had returned from exile in Babylon and for whom the Palace of Shushan lived on in their memories. However, if so there would have been a tradition of an eastern gate in this location from the time of the construction of the original Eastern Wall. It seems reasonable to suggest that the central section of the Eastern Wall dates from the First Temple period, in particular to the time of King Hezekiah. This square mount was extended south in the Hasmonean period, while both the southern and northern additions were made by King Herod the Great.

In 1969, the remains of an underground arch were discovered inside a grave in front of the Golden Gate. It was suggested that this may have been a pre-Herodian gateway. However, as the arch stones appear to be Herodian, it is more reasonable to suggest that this arch was part of a Herodian staircase leading up to the original gate. It is fascinating to contemplate that the stairway may still be intact under this gate, although hidden from sight by the Muslim Cemetery. 

This model shows the Shushan Gate in the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount and the stairway leading down to the Miphkad Gate. © Leen Ritmeyer

We do know that the remains of an ancient city wall lie under the present-day path that runs through the Muslim cemetery, which was discovered by Warren in the 1860s. The above-mentioned arched stairway led down through a gate in this city wall, the so-called Miphkad (Muster, or Inspection) Gate mentioned in Nehemiah 3.31, apparently still in use in the Second Temple period. During the latter period, it was through these gates that the Red Heifer was led out from the Temple Mount to the Mount of Olives (Mishnah, Parah). On the Day of Atonement, the scapegoat was led by the same route into the wilderness (Mishnah, Yoma).

It is therefore obvious that the Golden Gate is a very important historical building for the Jewish people, as reported by Arnon Segal of the Hebrew newspaper Makor Rishon Here is a translation of the article that refers to my research:

HT: Dr. Eli David