The Temple Mount during the Byzantine period (324-638 AD)

The Byzantine period is the next period we look at in this Temple Mount series. Up until recently, it was thought that the Temple Mount lay desolate during this time and was used as the city’s garbage dump. However, this may not be altogether accurate.

In 324 AD, the Emperor Constantine the First made Christianity the official religion of the Empire and together with his mother, Queen Helena, consecrated sites in the Holy Land associated with the life of Jesus. In Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built on the site assumed to have been the burial place of Christ. It was the first and only time during Jerusalem’s long history that the focus of the city was shifted away from the Temple Mount to this newly built church, effectively denying any Jewish connection with the city.

The Temple Mount during the Byzantine period. Remains of houses have been found at the southern end of the platform, near the exit of the Double Gate tunnel. At the southeast corner, a chapel which contained  the so-called Cradle of Jesus can be seen.

However, the reported finding of part of a Byzantine mosaic floor under the al-Aqsa Mosque in excavations carried out here in the 1930s (the only time that such activity was allowed on the Mount), points to the possible existence of houses at the southern part of the Mount during the Byzantine period.

Part of a mosaic floor found beneath the al-Aqsa.
(photo credit: Courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority.)

Regrettably, the limited finds make it impossible to draw any firm conclusions as to the extent of the built-up area.

There are, however, other signs that the southern part of the Temple Mount was used at that time. A large monastery, the so-called Monastery of the Virgin, was excavated near the Triple Gate. In its courtyard, a three-seater toilet was found that was flushed with the water of one of the Temple Mount cisterns, namely Cistern 10.

Deep in the bowels of the Temple Mount, the author examines the inspection tunnel of Cistern 10, at the right of the photo. The descending tunnel is at the centre.

The water from this cistern was led to the monastery through a tunnel that had been carved specially for this purpose.

The rock-hewn underground tunnel that leads down from Cistern 10 to the Monastery of the Virgin.
The courtyard of the Monastery of the Virgin near the Triple Gate. The doorway on the left leads into a small chamber which had room for three people to sit on a marble bench that had slits above a drainage channel.

Finally, on the inside of the southeast corner of the Temple Mount that has been preserved to a great height, is the chapel of the so-called Cradle of Jesus (Arabic: Sidna Issa). There is a small  shrine inside this room. The photo below shows the small Muslim dome that was built over a Byzantine altar that has four marble pillars and a reliquary underneath. This may have been the shrine where the nuns of the Monastery of the Virgin came to commemorate the birth of Jesus.

The so-called Cradle of Jesus on the inside of the southeast corner of the Temple Mount.

The reconstruction drawing above is the 9th in this series that was made specially for our new Temple Mount guide book that is awaiting publication. For the previous drawings see: Mount MoriahJebusitesSolomonHezekiahNehemiah, the Hellenistic and Hasmonean periods , the Herodian period and the Roman period.

5 thoughts on “The Temple Mount during the Byzantine period (324-638 AD)”

  1. “effectively denying any Jewish connection with the city.”

    But didn’t Constantine actually make the city a little more Jewish again. He allowed Jews to pray once a year at the Western Wall and restored Christian sites, which are certainly more Jewish than their pagan replacements. Also, the Temple Mount in desolation seems more in line with Judaism than a Temple Mount with a temple to Juppiter.

  2. On your Temple Mount drawing, both Cistern 10 and the so-called Solomon’s stables are missing ? When do you think the “stables” were built ?

  3. I wont be buying any of your books.
    Solomon’s stables were built by Solomon.
    Dennis Minuti

  4. The Crusaders were the first ones to call this vast underground space “Solomon’s Stables”. This space, which, after the Roman destruction of 70AD, was built up again in the 7th century AD, is now used as a mosque. Just as Solomon Islands were not discovered by Solomon, and neither as he didn’t build the City of Solomon, KY, so not everything that is called “Solomon” can be attributed to him. BTW, we never asked you to buy our books, but if you want to know the actual facts about the Temple Mount, you are missing out.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *