Solomon's Temple

A highly original architectural history of Solomon’s Temple and Islam’s Dome of the Rock that doubles as a social and cultural history of the region The most extensive study of the interrelated history of two monuments, Solomon’s Temple and The Dome of the Rock, drawing on an exhaustive review of all the visual and textual evidence Relayed as a gripping narrative, allowing readers to re-enter and experience the emotions and the visceral reality of the major events in its history Integrates illustration with the text to offer a highly detailed and accurate portrait of the major structures and figures involved in the history of the temple Opens up a fascinating line of questioning into the conventional interpretation of events, particularly Christ’s actions in the Temple Reproduces rarely seen detailed drawings of the subterranean passages beneath Temple Mount as part of the British survey in the 19th century

List of Figures ix List of Plates xii Prologue 1 1 Solomon’s Temple 6 The Ark of the Covenant 8 King David 19 The Temple of Solomon 21 Nebuchadnezzar II 28 2 Herod 37 The Maccabeans 41 Pompey 43 Herod 45 Herod Demolishes the Second Temple 48 The Third Temple 51 The Royal Portico 57 3 ‘‘Not . . . one stone upon another’’ 65 Moneychangers 68 Paul 72 The Temple Destroyed 74 4 The Holy Sepulcher 88 Hadrian and Aelia Capitolina 88 Constantine 93 The Plague 103 The Fall of Rome 105 Hagia Sophia 107 Madaba 110 The Persian War 111 5 Dome of the Rock 117 Muhammad and the Fall of Jerusalem 122 Umar in Jerusalem 123 The Dome of the Rock 129 The Rock 137 6 Templum Domini 146 The Jews Return 149 The First Crusade 154 Crusader Jerusalem 158 Templum Domini 160 The Templars in the Palace of Solomon 163 Saladin 167 7 Recreating the Temple 175 In the Imagination of Priests 178 The Temple in the Popular Imagination 199 Return to Mount Moriah 205 8 Jerusalem 217 Views 217 Maps 225 British Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem 234 The Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) 240 Jerusalem and World War I 247 9 Al-Haram Al-Sharif 254 The Path to Conflict 254 Jerusalem Under Transjordan 257 An Naksah, The Six Day War 259 Liberation of Temple Mount 260 Archeology and the Western Wall 263 The Burning of Al-Aqsa Mosque 264 Jewish Prayer on Temple Mount 266 The Rabbi’s Tunnel 269 Continual Provocation 271 Rabbi’s Tunnel Revisited 275 Camp David Summit 276 The Second Intifada 277 Epilogue 282 Acknowledgments, Sources, and Methods 290 Index 295