Herod’s Temple Study Archive

The more thoughtful, however, who refuse to believe that the Creator contrives afflictions to scourge His erring children, will decline to attribute to the anger of God either the horrors that Titus wrought or the horrors that Titus suffered.

MAPS AND THEOLOGICAL CHARTS
Jerusalem, Judea & Oikumene

Herod’s Temple

Maps & Charts

3D Tour

Josephus on the Burning of the Temple, the Flavian Triumph and the Fall of Rome (PDF) | Josephus as a Source for the Burning of the Temple (PDF) | Paul and God’s Temple – A Historical Interpretation of Cultic Imagery in the Corinthian Correspondence (PDF)

Charles Kassel – The Fall of the Temple: A Study in the History of Dogma (1905) “Those whose views have been molded by theology may still cling to the belief that the Maker of all. to revenge the kindly and forgiving Galilean for the fate suffered at the hands of a corrupt priesthood whose prestige and privileges He threatened, brought low with sword and flame the great common people of Judea who “heard him gladly.” The partisans of ancient Israel, on the other hand, who deem the acts of Titus mere wanton ruin and murder, may still see in the catastrophes of his reign unmistakable evidences of divine displeasure. The more thoughtful, however, who refuse to believe that the Creator contrives afflictions to scourge His erring children, will decline to attribute to the anger of God either the horrors that Titus wrought or the horrors that Titus suffered. “

“Destruction of Jerusalem” by John Martin

Michel Wex Haaretz Interview – Scholar and popularizer of Yiddish, whose latest offering draws from two millennia of Jewish tradition to serve as a primer for being a mentsh “You look at something like the story in the Talmud about the destruction of Jerusalem, about Kamtso and Bar Kamtso. Ultimately it turned on a piece of khnoykishkayt [hypocritical sanctimoniousness]” // Wex focuses on the Talmudic explanation for the destruction of the Second Temple, which is attributed to a feud between two Jews of firstcentury C.E. Jerusalem. The servant of a man throwing a party mistakenly invites Bar Kamtso, an enemy of his boss, instead of his friend Kamtso. The host, rather than making the best of an awkward situation, pointedly refuses to admit Bar Kamtso when he shows up at the gathering. An embarrassed Bar Kamtso offers to cover the cost of the entire party if he is only allowed to stay, but the host kicks him out, humiliating him before his peers, none of whom bothers to come to his defense. Bar Kamtso decides to take his revenge by sabotaging an offering of a calf that the Roman emperor has sent to the Temple. In a fatal display of small-minded pettiness, the Temple’s priests refuse to accept the blemished offering, thereby insulting the emperor, who then orders the city attacked and the Temple destroyed. In Michael Wex’s − and the Talmud’s − eyes, everyone involved in the tale behaved badly, schmuckishly in fact, and with devastating consequences. Each character allows his anger to get the better of him − and self-control, the author argues, is one of the most basic lessons of Judaism.
Martin Goodman: Diaspora reactions to the Destruction of the Temple (1999) “It is noticeable that in AD 66 – as Agrippa II is said by Josephus (perhaps with hindsight) to have warned would be the case – the considerable aid that these Jews could have provided to the rebels was not forth-coming.. The cause of such inactivity was not, I suspect, indifference so much as overconfidence.”
The Egyptian Temples of Judaism “It is not well known that there were two Jewish temples in ancient Egypt. They do not form part of our traditional history, which concentrates on the going down into Egypt and the coming out of it, as based on the Torah accounts, for which there is little or no contemporary corroboration. But the two temples, though well attested by contemporary sources, have received little attention from our tradition. One of these temples has been known about for nearly 2,000 years from Josephus Flavius and the Talmud, and its site was claimed to have been found just 100 years ago, but it has now been lost again. The other was never known of till just a hundred years ago and its site has only recently been discovered. “

The following the list of the high priests in Jerusalem from before the birth of Christ till the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70:
Ananelus 37-36 BC
Aristobulus III 36 BC
Ananelus (restored) 36-30 BC
Joshua ben Fabus 30-23 BC
Simon ben Boethus 23-4 BC
Joazar ben Boethus 4 BC
Eleazar ben Boethus 4-3 BC
Joshua ben Sie 3 BC-AD 6

The Dominiation of the House of Ananus (6-43)
Ananus ben Seth 6-15
Ishmael ben Fabus 15-16
Eleazar ben Ananus 16-17
Simon ben Camithus 17-18
Joseph Caiaphas 18-36
Jonathan ben Ananus 36-37
Theophilus ben Ananus 37-41
Simon Cantatheras ben Boethus 41-43
Matthias ben Ananus 43
Aljoneus 43-44
Jonathan ben Ananus 44 (restored)
Josephus ben Camydus 44-46
Ananias ben Nebedeus 46-52
Jonathan 52-56
Ishmael ben Fabus 56-62 (restored?)
Joseph Cabi ben Simon 62-63
Ananus ben Ananus 63
Joshua ben Damneus 63
Joshua ben Gamaliel 63-64
Mattathias ben Theophilus 65-66
Phannias ben Samuel 67-70
There were four families that dominated the high priesthood at this time: Annas, Boethus, Fabus, and Camithus. None of them were Zadokite (i.e. they were all illegitimate).

Views of the Temple as it Appeared in the First Century

Simon the Temple Builder

One of the ossuaries found in a tomb in the Old City of Jerusalem bore the inscription in Aramaic of “Simon the Temple [hklh] Builder” on two sides. Presumably, this man was involved in the construction of Herod’s Temple, a fact for which he wanted to be to be remembered.

From The Mount of Olives

Southeast Corner
of the Temple Complex

The city was built upon two parallel ridges which were divided by a steep valley. The lower hill to the east was the site of the original city dating back to the days of the Jebusites. The Temple sat at the northern edge of this ridge.

The main entrance to the Temple Mount was through the Hulda Gates, located at the bottom left of the photo. These gates led to a long staircase emerging into the Court of the Gentiles.

Surrounding the Court of the Gentiles were a series of “porches” or cloisters through which ran double rows of Corinthian pillars, each cut from marble and measuring 37 feet in height and covered by a flat roof. The entire court was paved with marble. The southern of these porches was known as “Solomon’s Porch” (Acts 3:11).

The Court of the Gentiles derived its name from the fact that Gentiles were permitted into this area provided they conducted themselves in a reverent manner.

The tower in the foreground was the “Place of Trumpeting” and was also known as the Pinnacle of the Temple. It was from this vantage point that the trumpet would be sounded to signal the beginning of the sacrifices.

Southwest Corner
of the Temple Complex

Site of the Martyrdom of James

“To the Place of Trumpeting”

This inscribed stone was found at the southwest corner of the Temple, which suggests that this was the place where the trumpeting occurred.

	This inscription on what is probably part of the parapet of the outer wall is translated as “To [or for] the place of trumpeting to….” It was discovered during B. Mazar’s excavations at the base of the Herodian wall at the southwest corner of the Temple Mount. It probably served to indicate where a priest would stand to blow the trumpet to begin and end the Sabbath. Josephus explains the procedure: “And the last [tower] was erected above the roof of the Priest’s Chambers, where it was the custom for one of the priests to stand and to give notice, by the sound of a trumpet, in the afternoon of the approach, and on the following evening of the close, of every seventh day, announcing to the people the respective hours for ceasing work and for resuming their labors” (War 4.582-83).

Northwest Corner
of the Temple Complex

The Inner Courts
of the Temple Complex

The Court of the Women was not exclusive to women. It was called this because this was as far within the Temple as women were permitted to enter. The court was surrounded by colonnades. Along the walls there were thirteen jars which served as receptacles for various offerings.

Worshipers would come in and drop their offering into one of the jars. It was in such a manner that Jesus and His disciples would have watched the poor widow bringing her offering into the Temple (Mark 12:43).

On the west side of the Court of Women were 15 steps that led up to the Nicanor Gate, also made of Corinthian Brass. This gate led into the inner courtyard of the Temple.

The inner courts were made up of the Court of the Men, the Court of the Levites, and the Court of the Priests. Within the Court of the Priests there were the Altar and the Laver.

The altar was made of rough, unhewn stones. It stood 15 feet high and was surrounded by a raised platform so that the priests could reach its surface. In contrast to the Altar of Incense within the Temple, this altar was used for sacrificing animals.

The Laver was an immense brass bowl of water supported by the statues of 12 lions. It was drained every evening and refilled each morning. It was also known as the “sea.” This is significant when we read in Revelation 4:5 of the Throne of God, the elders and a sea of glass like crystal.

Twelve more steps led up to the Temple itself. Two great columns flanked the doors leading into the Temple. Only the priests were permitted through these doors and only at the appropriate times.

“The Destruction of the House”
(Churban Habayit)

General Titus Entering the Holy of Holies

Seit der Zerstörung des jüdischen Tempels in Jerusalem durch die Römer im Jahre 70 n. Chr. leben die Juden in der Diaspora, also verteilt in aller Welt. Die Hoffnung auf einen eigenen Staat geben sie jedoch nie auf.