Leen Ritmeyer<\/b><\/p>\n
The preceding article espouses a new theory for the siting of the First and Second Temple by Dr. E. Martin. The following response by Dr. Ritmeyer is a condensation of a much more detailed review that can be seen at Dr. Ritmeyer\u2019s web site, http:\/\/dialspac.dial.pipex com\/ritmeyer.\u2014Ed<\/i>.<\/p>\n
In some of the latest issues of Biblical Archaeology Review<\/i> (BAR) an advertisement appeared under the heading Who Moved the Temple.<\/i> The body of the ad announced a hook The Temples that Jerusalem Forgot<\/i> by Ernest Martin. Part of the advertisement consists of a drawing purporting to show the Temple sited outside of what is considered by most of the scholarly community to be the Temple Mount. Many people have asked me to comment on this portrayal and the following is my critique of Dr. Martin\u2019s theory.<\/p>\n
The Temple Mount during the reign of Herod according to L. Ritmeyer.<\/b><\/p>\n
The Theory<\/b><\/p>\n
The main thrust behind Martin\u2019s idea is that the location of the Temple is over the Gihon Spring. He equates Zion with the site of the Temple and begins by stating that Zion was limited to the southern end of the southeastern ridge of Jerusalem. The Temple was built there, he claims, because of the Gihon Spring. \u201cThe Bible even indicated that the Temple was abutting to the northern side of the City of David.\u201d writes Martin. Further, he alleges that David placed the Ark of the Covenant over the Gihon Spring, quoting Ps 87: \u201call my springs are in thee\u201d and Ps 116.<\/p>\n
I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the Lord\u2019s house [within the Temple], in the midst [center] of thee, O Jerusalem (KJV).<\/p>\n
Martin tries to derive further support for his theory from the Book of Revelation where we are told that those who were thirsty could drink from \u201cthe fountain (spring) of water that issued from the New Jerusalem that would come down from heaven to earth\u201d (Rv 21:6, KJV) He then moves on to the prophecy of Jesus Who, according to his interpretation, told His disciples that \u201cnot one stone of the Temple and its support buildings would be left on top the other.\u201d He theorizes that all the walls of the Temple and the Temple Mount were torn down to their foundations just as Jesus prophesied. Only the Antonia, which he equates with the Herodian Temple Mount, escaped the destruction of AD 70.<\/p>\n
Martin then interprets Josephus who said that the Temple Mount was \u201ca precise square of one stadium length on each side of about 600 ft.\u201d The southeastern corner of the outer Temple wall was, according to Martin, \u201clocated directly over the very bottom of the Kidron Valley (the bedrock center) and extended upwards 300 cubits or 450 ft.\u201d The Western Wall where Jews pray today also gets a rough treatment.<\/p>\n
The weakness of this proposal lies in the fact that it consists mainly of Martin\u2019s personal interpretation of some Bible passages and historical references. It does not refer to the results of many archaeological excavations in Jerusalem since 1967.<\/p>\n
BSpade<\/i> 14:4 (Fall 2001) p. 118<\/p>\n
The first City of David located over the Gihon Spring as drawn by L. Ritmeyer based on archaeology. Note the stepped wall retaining system betow the palace complex. Most archaeologists consider this retaining wall to be the \u201cMitlo\u201d (KJV) or \u201csupporting terraces\u201d (NIV) in 2 Sa 5:9. The Gihon Spring was located just under and to the left of this retaining wall.<\/b><\/p>\n
Where is Zion?<\/b><\/p>\n
The first Biblical mention of the name of Zion is when David captured the stronghold of Zion from the Jebusites and called it the City of David (2 Sm 5:7). When Solomon finished building the Temple he brought the Ark of the Covenant \u201cout of the city of David, which is Zion\u201d (1 Kgs 8:1. KJV). This makes it quite clear dial the Temple was located outside the original Zion, where the Gihon Spring was located, and Martin is wrong to equate the Temple location with that particular Zion.<\/p>\n
The archaeological evidence also negates such a possibility. Reich and Shukon, who recently excavated the Gihon Spring and its near surroundings, found massive remains of a Jebusite fortified reservoir and a lower, both of which were in use at least to the end of the First Temple period. These remains cannot possibly have belonged to a Temple Solomon built. David built an altar on the place where the Angel stood overlooking the City of David and was the location of Solomon\u2019s Temple. This means that the Angel who was going to destroy Jerusalem stood outside the City of David (Zion) on higher ground (2 Sm 24:16). David built an altar at this place where was located the threshingfloor of Araunah. Threshing floors are never found inside cities or in valleys but always near mountaintops where the wind will blow away the chaff. The Temple, therefore, had to be built outside of what was then known as Zion and higher up the mountain.<\/p>\n
The name Zion is not so much a precise location but, rather, the name of the city of Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s religious and political capital. The city had its beginnings on the southeast hill and later spread to the western hill. Psalm 48:2, <\/p>\n
Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King (KJV)<\/p>\n
is therefore misunderstood by Martin. The passage does not mean that the Temple abutted the City of David. David understood that the Mount Zion where the Temple was going to be built was to be located in the place where he had build an earlier altar, to the north of the City of David. The word for \u201csituation\u201d in Ps 48 actually means elevation<\/i> as the Hebrew verb nof<\/i> means \u201cto lift up.\u201d indicating that the Temple site was located in an elevated position in relation to the City of David. Later, the name of Zion became a symbol of God\u2019s chosen people (see, for example, Is 62). The word Zion<\/i> in Hebrew means a \u201csign\u201d and therefore cannot be a static location.<\/p>\n
BSpade<\/i> 14:4 (Fall 2001) p. 119<\/p>\n
The Temple\u2019s Location and \u201cSprings\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Martin\u2019s position that Psalm 87:7, \u201call my springs are in thee\u201d (KJV), means that Solomon\u2019s Temple was built over a spring is incorrect. The Hebrew for \u201csprings\u201d can also mean \u201ceyes.\u201d This verse should more correctly be interpreted to mean that God\u2019s eyes are always on Zion, City of God (87:3), not just the Temple.<\/p>\n
Continuing in the spring context, Martin compares the above verse to a spring that will be found in the future Temple. However, he forgets to mention that waters will flow out through the Mount of Olives, after it is split, towards the Dead Sea (Zec 14:4, 8). In order for water to flow through the Mount of Olives means that the Temple must be located on higher ground opposite the Mount of Olives, not in the lower City of David.<\/p>\n
Martin\u2019s quote from Psalm 116, \u201cin the midst [center] of thee. O Jerusalem\u201d (KJV), docs not mean that the Temple was located in the center of Jerusalem, but merely inside it. The Hebrew for \u201cin the midst,\u201d be-tavech,<\/i> is usually translated as \u201camong\u201d when referring to people or \u201cin the midst,\u201d meaning within, when referring to places like a garden, a city or the sea. In the English Bible it has never once been translated as \u201ccenter\u201d.<\/p>\n
A model of the south wall of the huge supporting foundational platform that held the Temple. In this reconstruction by A. Gerard based on extant walls and archaeological evidence, the massive walls constructed by Herod can be clearly identified. This platform was raised to contain the fill material on which the Temple was built, according to Ritmeyer. In the center are buildings which contained the ritual baths, or \u201cmikvot,\u201d<\/i> in which worshippers cleansed themselves prior to going up the steps and entering the Temple precincts. The upper left corner of the wall is where the \u201cTrumpeting Stone\u201d was positioned and the model also depicts the double gate.<\/b><\/p>\n
The Structure and Destruction of the Temple<\/b><\/p>\n
Jesus said that not one stone shall be left upon another, I believe that was fulfilled in AD 70. However, Jesus did not speak of \u201cthe Temple and its supporting walls.\u201d as Martin believes, but only of the Temple itself (Lk 21:5) and those \u201cbuildings of the Temple\u201d which the disciples pointed out to him (Mt 24:1). The disciples spoke of the buildings which stood on the Temple Mount, but not the foundation platform, the walls of which are standing today.<\/p>\n
The same careless treatment is applied to the writings of Josephus. Josephus does refer to a Temple Mount which once was a square having sides of one stadium each. Martin\u2019s quotes are from Antiquities of the Jews<\/i> 8.96 and 15.398, 400 and refer to the precinct built by Solomon. However, in Wars<\/i> 5.184, 185 Josephus writes, \u201cIn course of ages, however, through the constant additions of the people to the embankment, the hill-top by this process of leveling up was widened.\u201d Josephus writes that the original square design was enlarged on three sides until it became double the original size (JW<\/i> 1.401). This point is ignored by Martin. The Mishnah (Middot<\/i> 2.1) also slates that the Temple Mount was square with sides of 500 cubits, a seemingly more accurate measurement than the stadium of Josephus who appears to have been giving only a rough estimate.<\/p>\n
The Antonia Fortress<\/b><\/p>\n
Toaccommodate his theory, Martin claims that the Herodian Temple Mount walls do not belong to the Temple Mount but to the Antonia Fortress. This idea is untenable however because Josephus said that Titus had \u2018\u201cordered the troops that were with him to raze the foundations of Antonia,\u201d an undertaking that took seven days to complete (JW<\/i> 6.93, 149). Indeed, apart from the rockscarp, nothing much has survived of the Antonia. The size of the Temple Mount is approximately 35 times that of the Antonia. If the Temple Mount remains represent those of the Antonia, then it would have been utterly impossible to destroy it in seven days.<\/p>\n
The rocky platform on which the Antonia was built can still be seen at the north-west corner of the Temple Mount. I do not know of any serious archaeologist or historian who would place the Antonia elsewhere. Despite the destruction of the walls of the fortress by Titus, the rocky Antonia plateau continued to play a strategic role in the subsequent battle for the Temple Mount. Josephus writes that the commander of the Fifth Legion directed some of the later attacks from this commanding height (JW<\/i> 6. 133) and Titus oversaw the final destruction of the Temple from the same elevated spot (JW 6.246,<\/i> 249). Josephus mentions the demolition of the Antonia for the last time in (JW<\/i> 6.311):<\/p>\n
BSpade<\/i> 14:4 (Fall 2001) p. 120<\/p>\n
A view of the Antonia Fortress from the A. Gerard model. In this view, modeler Gerard shows how the Antonia fortress dominated the Temple platform. Archaeologists including Ritmeyer believe they have found foundation stones to the fort which was built at the vulnerable northwest corner of the Temple mount.<\/b><\/p>\n
The Jews, after the demolition of the Antonia, reduced the Temple to a square although they had it recorded in their oracles that the city and the sanctuary would be taken when the Temple should become four-square.<\/p>\n
This shows that by demolishing the Antonia, the Romans controlled the Herodian extensions around the original square Temple Mount and these became the next line of defense for the Jewish fighters.<\/p>\n
Summary<\/b><\/p>\n
During my years of excavating in Jerusalem, I discovered the archaeological remains of the early platform mentioned above. To say that the Temple Mount remained a small square platform shows an unfamiliarity with the historical sources as well as the archaeology. According to Martin\u2019s interpretation of some sources. Jews did not begin to pray at the Western (Wailing) Wall until the end of the 16th Century AD. The writings of the Pilgrim of Bordeaux, which dates from AD 333, clearly indicate prayers were said there at the time:<\/p>\n
Artist\u2019s reconstruction of the interior of the Antonia Fortress. In this Ritmeyer drawing looking into the Antonia from the south, the two western towers as well as the elevated roofs of the fortress are shown. Stationing soldiers on these high points allowed the Romans to see into the Temple and observe activities on the Temple Mount.<\/b><\/p>\n
BSpade<\/i> 14:4 (Fall 2001) p. 121<\/p>\n
The Jews come there [the ruins of the Temple] once a year, weeping and wailing near a stone which survived the destruction of the Temple.<\/p>\n
There remained more than just a stone because a Byzantine inscription quoting Isaiah 66:14, dating from AD 363, has been found near Robinson\u2019s Arch. This shows beyond any doubt that the Western Wall of the Temple Mount was exposed in the Byzantine period and was an important place for the Jewish population of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
Martin claims to have worked for many years with Profesor Benjamin Mazar. Although I was the dig architect from 1973, and continued to work with Mazar for a long time afterwards, I do not remember meeting Martin or Mazar ever mentioning him. To say that the present walls of the Temple Mount belong to the Antonia is to do an injustice, to say the least, to Mazar and all who worked with him for 10 years. The excavation results have abundantly shown that these walls with their surviving gates belong to the Herodian Temple Mount and that the extant remains are also those described in the historical records. If the Temple Mount was merely a Roman camp as Martin asserts, why were Hebrew inscriptions such as the Is 66:14 one mentioned above, or the Trumpeting Stone, or the Korban (sacrifice) vessel found in Herodian strata together with many Jewish coins? Why are the beautiful domes of the Double Gale passageway decorated with botanic and geometric designs in accordance with the Mosaic prohibition instead of portraying humans and animals which were prevalent in the Roman architectural world? If Martin is assumed to be correct, I could go on asking many more such questions to which there are no answers.<\/p>\n
Drawings of the Place of Trumpeting (top) and the domes in the Double Gate passageway (below) based on the archaeological excavations and personal research of L. Ritmeyer.<\/b><\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n
In conclusion, I have made many reconstruction drawings of archaeological sites in Jerusalem. These were based, first of all, on the archaeological evidence, both in situ<\/i> and found on the site, and on architectural parallels and historical accounts. Whenever possible I consulted with the archaeologists who had excavated the particular site and I was always very careful not to give a free hand to the imagination. The drawing and supporting theory published by Martin have no credence whatsoever as they are not based on archaeological evidence. Martin\u2019s drawing cannot be called an archaeological reconstruction but is, instead, merely the result of a flawed interpretation of historical sources and wishful thinking.<\/p>\n
Bibliography<\/b><\/p>\n
Danby, H.<\/b><\/p>\n
1933 The Mishnah: Trans from Hebrew with Introduction and Brief Explanatory<\/i> Notes.<\/b> Oxford: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n
Josephus<\/b><\/p>\n
1980 The Works of Josephus,<\/i> trans. W. Whitson. Lynn MA: Hendrickson.<\/p>\n
Reich, R. and Shukron, E.<\/b><\/p>\n
1999 Light at the End of the Tunnel. Biblical Archaeology Review<\/i> 25.1:22\u201333, 72.<\/p>\n
BSpade<\/i> 14:4 (Fall 2001) p. 123<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leen Ritmeyer The preceding article espouses a new theory for the siting of the First and Second Temple by Dr. E. Martin. The following response by Dr. Ritmeyer is a condensation of a much more detailed review that can be seen at Dr. Ritmeyer\u2019s web site, http:\/\/dialspac.dial.pipex com\/ritmeyer.\u2014Ed. In some of the latest issues of … Continue reading “A
\nRESPONSE TO DR. ERNEST MARTIN”<\/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-15335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15335","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=15335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15335\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}