Bryant G. Wood<\/b><\/p>\n
In approximately 970\u2013963 BC, Solomon built a temple to Yahweh. It was erected north of Jerusalem on land purchased by his father David on Mt. Moriah where Abraham offered Isaac (2 Sm 24:18\u201324; 2 Chr 3:1; Gn 22:1\u20132). Solomon\u2019s engineers first had to construct a platform or podium in order to provide a level area for the Temple. This \u201cFirst Temple,\u201d as it is called, lasted until the Babylonian destruction in ca. 587 BC (2 Kgs 25:8\u20139; 2 Chr 36:19). It was then rebuilt by Zerubbabel (the \u201cSecond Temple\u201d), ca. 520\u2013515 BC (Ezr 4:24; 6:15), and later extensively refurbished by Herod, ca. 20\u201318 BC. Herod\u2019s Temple was the Temple of the New Testament frequented by Jesus, the Disciples and the apostle Paul.<\/p>\n
Herod had the Temple Mount significantly enlarged to the north, west and south. This gigantic platform still exists in the Old City of Jerusalem today. It is here that the Muslim mosques of the Dome of the Rock, or Mosque of Omar, and El Aqsa are located. Thus, the Temple built by Solomon <\/p>\n
Location of Solomon\u2019s Temple Mount and Temple as proposed by archaeological architect Leen Ritmeyer<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 7:2 (Spring 1994) p. 64<\/p>\n
lies buried beneath the fill of Herod\u2019s Temple Mount and later debris and constructions. Because the area is under Arab control and is sacred to them excavations beneath the Temple Mount are not practical at the present time. Even though it is not feasible to excavate Solomon\u2019s Temple, it is possible to make a determination of the extent of Solomon\u2019s supporting platform, and from there to estimate the original location of the Temple.<\/p>\n
Recent researches by archaeological architect Leen Ritmeyer have resulted in a well-argued case for the location of Solomon\u2019s original Temple Mount. It is based on several lines of evidence:<\/p>\n
1. The bottom step of the northwest steps of the Muslim platform on which the Dome of the Rock is located is made up of pre-Herodian stones and is not parallel with the Muslim platform, but with the eastern wall of Solomon\u2019s, and later, Herod\u2019s podium. It is quite likely part of the western wall of the original Temple Mount later rebuilt by Zerubbabel<\/p>\n
2. A quarried rock ledge on the north side of the Muslim platform suggests that the northern line of the original mount ran from the northwest corner of the northwest steps to the eastern Temple Mount wall. The distance is exactly 500 royal cubits, or 861 ft (1 royal cubit = 20.67 in), the dimension given for all four sides of the original Temple Mount by the Middot<\/i>, a commentary on the Mishna<\/i>, a collection of Jewish oral law put into writing in ca. AD 200. Ezekiel also envisioned an enclosure 500 by 500 cubits for the rebuilt Temple (Ez 40).<\/p>\n
3. Going 861 ft south from this point along the eastern wall brings one to a slight bend in the wall, which Ritmeyer believes marks the southeast corner of the original mount.<\/p>\n
4. The plan is completed by measuring 861 ft south from the northwest corner of the northwest steps and 861 ft west from the bend in the eastern wall.<\/p>\n
5. The locations of various cisterns and tunnels beneath the Temple Mount provides supporting evidence for the proposed reconstruction.<\/p>\n
Based on this restoration, Ritmeyer sees two expansions of the platform, rather than one as was previously thought. Following Zerubbabel\u2019s rebuilding, the evidence indicates that the mount was expanded southward in the Hasmonean period, most likely by Simon Maccabee in ca. 141 BC as suggested by 1 Maccabees 13:52. This expansion would have been on the south side only. About 134 ft south of the bend in the eastern wall is the so-called \u201cstraight joint\u201d evidently the southern limit of the Hasmonean expansion. South of this joint, or seam, is Herodian masonry. Herod\u2019s engineers expanded the platform south, north and west, to the present-day limits of the Temple Mount.<\/p>\n
Having solved the riddle of the location of Solomon\u2019s platform, Ritmeyer suggests that the most plausible location for Solomon\u2019s Temple would be the highest naturally-occurring point within this area, the es-Sakhra rock formation over which the Dome of the Rock is built. Undoubtedly, Zerubbabel\u2019s Temple, the refurbished Temple of Herod, and all other sacred structures erected on the Temple Mount platform were built on this same site.<\/p>\n
(For further details, see Leen Ritmeyer, Locating the Original Temple Mount, Biblical Archaeology Review<\/i> 18\/2 [March\/April 1992], pp. 24-45, 64\u201365.)<\/p>\n
Bible and Spade 7:3 (Summer 1994)<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bryant G. Wood In approximately 970\u2013963 BC, Solomon built a temple to Yahweh. It was erected north of Jerusalem on land purchased by his father David on Mt. Moriah where Abraham offered Isaac (2 Sm 24:18\u201324; 2 Chr 3:1; Gn 22:1\u20132). Solomon\u2019s engineers first had to construct a platform or podium in order to provide … Continue reading “IN
\nSEARCH OF SOLOMON\u2019S TEMPLE MOUNT”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15172\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}