King Solomon oversees the construction of the temple. (Doré Bible Illustration)
TEMPLE OF SALOMON
King David bought the threshing floor he owned from Araunah of Jebus for 50 silver shekels and planned to build Mount Mount Moriah to the Lord of the Temple. He already ordered building materials from the Phoenician king of Tire. However, the building project did not take place, for the Lord declared, “Thou shalt not build a temple for me, for thou hast fought a great deal, and shed a great deal of blood.” Before his death, David ordered his son to succeed him. Solomon and told this to build a temple. Solomon began construction around 959 BC.
Solomon built the temple next to his own palace on the high Mount Moorian , now known as the Temple Mount. Jews, Christians and Muslims believe that this place the rock is the same where Adam was created and where Abrahan planned to sacrifice his son Isaac.
Solomon received help from the king of Tire for his construction project: cedar and cypress wood, skilled craftsmen who engraved gold and silver ornaments. The temple had 10 golden lampstand, a golden table for the sacrificial bread. The most sacred are guarded by two gilded wings made of winged wood cherubia. The most important object of the Most Holy was the ark of the covenant, which contained the Ten Commandments. Only the high priest was allowed to enter this part of the temple once a year.
The building was meant to be God’s dwelling, not just a temple.
The temple was destroyed at least twice to its foundations. The Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the temple in 586 BC. King Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jews to return to their homeland from exile and rebuild the temple. This work began in 520 BC but it became much more modest.This temple is called The sanctuary of Zerubbabel.
There is nothing left of the temple today. Archaeologists cannot get to the site to dig for political-religious reasons. A Muslim Rock Mosque has been built on this site. All that remains are the Bible stories about this great building. The ruins of the Ain Daran temple have been found in Northern Syria at a similar time. The floor plan is very similar Descriptions of Solomon's temple. The floor plan must have been common in the temples of that time.
A scale model of the Temple of Herod in Jerusalem
King Herod
THE TEMPLE OF HEROD
King Herod did not first demolish the old temple, but built a new one around the old one and only then demolished this one. He was known as one One of the richest men in the Mediterranean. He had good relations with Rome. Both of these were needed to build the new temple.
A thousand priests had to be trained as builders, cedar was imported from Lebanon, and huge amounts of stone were mined from around Jerusalem and taken to the corridors under the old temple for shaping. Herod, like Solomon, did not want the noise of the stone-cutting to disturb the temple. All the work was done in these underground parts and only as finished boulders were moved to the building in its own place. The building stones were insanely large, weighing up to 600 tons.
Since Herod began the building at the level of the bedrock, at least at this point all the remains of Solomon's temple were destroyed.
The first of the temple was completed in two years after the most sacred, the rest not even in 80 years, for the plateau of the Temple Mount extended south. This plateau became 120 acres wide. (compare 2 times the length of the Rome forum)
There were many courtyards in the temple through which the holy area was always approached. All entered the religion regardless of the pagan courtyard. The women’s front yard was already a more limited area. On its wall was the inscription:
ALIEN! DO NOT STEP INSIDE THIS GRID AND THE SEPARATED AREA SURROUNDING THE TEMPLE
For the next to the front yard, which was for all Jews: to the court of Israel, led by 50 steps. Behind him was the priests' courtyard. Inside this was the sanctuary, inside which was the most holy. This was located on the very rock where Abraham intended to sacrifice his son and where David had built an altar to the Lord. Here was the altar of burnt offering, which was opposite the women’s courtyard and the Mount of Olives
WHAT IS ALL THAT REMAINING TODAY?
Roman military commander Titus huh Vitti in Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70. He did not build anything on it. The area was in ruins until 135 AD. Emperor Hadrian built the most holy temple for Jupiter. When Helena, the Christian mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, came to Jerusalem in 325, she immediately let Tear down the temple of Jupiter. The temple area became a landfill for Jerusalem, so it does not appear, for example, on the oldest map of Jerusalem, the Madaba mosaic.
Built in 682 by Damascus Caliph Abd El Malik Ben Marwan To the Temple Mount of the Rock Mosque as a competitor to Mecca as a Muslim pilgrimage site.
Today, the Herod Plain remains as the Islamic Haram al-Sarif, whose walls are backed by Herodian stones in three directions. One of these retaining walls is the Western Wall, or Wailing Wall, where Jews also get to pray and consider it the holiest place in their religion.
HERODEKSEN TEMPPELI
The first map of Jerusalem, the mosaic of Madaba.
Arc de Triomphe in Rome. The Arc de Triomphe depicts items looted from the Jerusalem temple that were brought to Rome.
Vuonna 682 Damaskon kalifi Abd El Malik Ben Marwan rakennutti Kalliomoskeijan Temppelivuorelle Mekan kilpailijaksi muslimien pyhiinvaelluskohteena.
Nykyään Herodeksen tasanne on jäljellä islamilaisena Haram al-Sarifina, jonka tukimuureina ovat kolmella suunnalla Herodeksen aikaiset kivet. Yksi näistä tukimuureista on Länsimuuri eli Itkumuuri,minne myös juutalaiset pääsevät rukoilemaan ja pitävät sitä uskontonsa pyhimpänä paikkana.
The Western Wall or Weeping Wall in March 2014. In the background the Rock Mosque