Locating Solomon's Temple
By Norma Robertson
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Table of Contents

Chapter One……………….……..……3
Introduction-Nehemiah Wall-Fort Antonia
Chapter Two..…………….………..….8
Layout-Aqueduct and Water System
Chapter Three…….……………...…..14
Triple Gate-Double Gate-Summary
Chapter Four………………….……....21
Southeast Corner of the Mount
Chapter Five………………….……....26
Ophel Excavations
Chapter Six…………………….…..…32
The Temple Platform
Chapter Seven……………………...…38
Southwest Corner of the Mount
Chapter Eight…………………….…..42
Western Wall-Wailing Wall
 

Locating Solomon's Temple

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

The location of the Temple platform, where both Solomon's and Herod's Temples once stood, has remained a mystery for almost two thousand years.

The first four theories have one problem in common, lack of physical proof. They feel that if they were able to excavate on the Mount then they would find enough ruins of gates and walls etc. to prove the actual location. That, however, is not allowed by the Muslims.

I have found that there is alot of physical proof, if you look in the right place. I will be showing that physical proof in the form of pictures of the Ophel area and old survey maps drawn by the last explorers ever allowed to enter the underground chambers, cisterns, and water channels.

If you have an interest in ancient archeology then you will truly enjoy this journey as we dig through the ruins of the Temple Mount together.

When studying about the location of the Temple of God one of the most important things to do is to begin with the location of Solomon's Temple built around 1000 BC.  Herod tore down and rebuilt the Temple on the exact same location around 19 BC.  His son and grandson then increased the temple fortress, or complex, that surrounded the Temple House, to be double the size, according to Herod's plans. These walls doubling the size of the Temple complex were not completed until AD 66 and the city and Temple were then destroyed in AD 70.

Josephus, a Jewish historian, that lived during the time of the destruction of the Temple and city of Jerusalem in 70 AD is a great source concerning the Temple. He wrote that Herod's Temple complex was a furlong in length and width. A furlong by a furlong is 600 x 600 feet.  This doubled the size of Solomon's Temple complex.   Both Temple complexes shared the same east wall. Herod felt that the east gate was too beautiful to tear down and rebuild and refused to let his builders touch it. They merely extended the east wall to the north and to the south.
 
 

 Nehemiah’s wall gives us some important information that helps identify where the Temple was NOT located.

According to scripture Nehemiah did not rebuild any of the Temple walls. He only rebuilt the City walls. Which means that the east wall of the Mount, that we see today, was part of the city wall that Nehemiah rebuilt, and NOT the east wall of Solomon's Temple. The east gate on that city wall was not the east gate of the Temple complex.

Nehemiah wrote that the Tower of the Hundred (Meah) was on the ancient north wall as the drawing below indicates. The Tower of Meah was between the Sheep Gate and the Tower of Hananeel. It was the fortification against an attack on the Temple and City of David from the North. The Meah tower on the north wall was built upon or replaced with the Tower Baris, by the Hasmoneans/Maccabees after they defeated Antiochus IV in 164 BC. Later, Herod built upon and further fortified the Tower of Baris and renamed it Fort Antonia. Fort Antonia was on the highest hill and overlooked the Temple, and the Temple overlooked the City of David.

The ruins of the oldest east gate still remain under the east gate of today.  Nehemiah called this older gate in Hezekiah's wall the Commander's, or Inspector's, Gate. There is no way this is the East Gate of Solomon's Temple, nor Herod's.  The true east gate, (Solomon's east gate) was in the center of the east wall and entered directly into the Women's Court.  Solomon's  East Gate, and east wall were not rebuilt by Herod. According to Herodian's orders, the east gate, which was built on the edge of a steep hill going down to the Kidron valley, was too beautiful to change.

Even though I agree with Leen Ritmeyer about Hezekiah's wall beginning with these two stones, I disagree that it was a wall of the Temple. Remember Nehemiah rebuilt the city wall only.  He did not rebuild any of the outer walls of the Temple. Leen Ritmeyer claims this old Hezekiah city wall was the east wall of the Temple compound and places the location of the Temple where the Dome of the Rock now stands.
 
 

Notice in the above diagram that the Commanders gate is in the uppermost position (north)  in the wall.
Also notice where the Hasmoneans (165 BC) claimed more of the steep east hill by extending the old wall further south and raising up the ground surface.
 
 

Fort Antonia, including the compound, was a square with towers on its four corners. Within this enclosure, at the northwest corner, was the citadel of the fortress. Herod attached the Fort Antonia complex to the Temple complex with two colonnades. According to Josephus the two complexes together were six furlong around. That makes the Temple complex 600 x 600 feet and also the Fort Antonia complex as 600 x 600 feet. (Josephus Flavius BOOK 5, CH. 5)

The northern section of the temple mount that we see today was once a 200 feet long moat on the west, and a ravine on the east. There was a natural land bridge between Fort Antonia and the hill north of it.  A moat was dug to separate the two hills making it impossible for catapults to be set up near the north wall of the Fort. However attacking armies would just fill in the moat with debris and create a flat surface and break down the north wall. In fact Herod did just that when attacking Jerusalem from the north in 61 BC. Later Herod built the outer city wall (3rd city wall) to protect the suburbs.

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