| INTRODUCTION | | | | about the location of 'the Temple of the Jews that |
| The mention of har habayit (the Temple Mount) should | | | | Solomon built.'...Omar walked to the Haram, the Arab |
| sober the mind and cause the heart of the hearer to | | | | name for the Temple Mount...The Islamic conquerors |
| begin to race for it is in the holiest land, the holiest of | | | | commenced a large-scale clearing operation on the |
| cities, and is the most holy location in the universe. This | | | | Temple Mount, and at the end of a convoluted |
| paper is a historical survey of the Temple Mount | | | | process they canonized the place as the location from |
| between the Second Temple period up to the current | | | | which Mohammed ascended heavenward during his |
| Islamic occupation. The facets of this survey will vary | | | | renowned night journey. With the sweep of a hand, |
| from archeology to Temple rituals, rabbinic | | | | the Temple Mount platform, with its new mosques and |
| commentary to scholarly opinions on the Jewish, | | | | other sites, again became a focus of religious belief |
| Christian, and Muslim presence there. | | | | and practice, subordinate in Islam only to Mecca and |
| HEROD'S TEMPLE | | | | Medina (Eliav, p. 237-238). |
| Herod's building projects, which began in 19 B.C.E., and | | | | Caliph Omar, Mohammed's second successor, was |
| carried out by over a thousand priests, fit into four | | | | said to be gracious to the Christians but harsher to the |
| categories: the inner Temple which consisted of the | | | | Jews. Christians, although they were taxed, were |
| Holy of Holies (Heb. devir), the Holy (hekhal), and the | | | | allowed to keep their churches and could freely |
| hall (ulam--the palatial entrance); the outer Temple | | | | worship. Jews on the other hand were forbidden to |
| which consisted of courtyards, chambers, the miqdash, | | | | enter Jerusalem and many laws were made against |
| which included the priestly and Israelite courts, and the | | | | them. As for Jerusalem, her capture brought changes |
| women's court, ramparts and staircases; the Herodian | | | | but not immediately. She remained largely intact |
| compound (Temple Mount); and the city of Jerusalem, | | | | according to the Byzantine-Christian design. |
| which was extended to the south, west, and north of | | | | The Temple Mount was immediately considered |
| the Temple Mount. Herod's temple became the largest | | | | sacred due to the traditions in Islam (Islam means |
| man-made platform built in the ancient world | | | | "submission" contrary to popular belief that is means |
| comprising of 145 acres. Klein describes the scenery, | | | | "peace.") of Mohammed ascending to heaven on his |
| "...the new Temple was a striking and dazzling | | | | horse from the Temple Mount platform. On account of |
| structure, all white marble set off by gleaming gold. Its | | | | this, Muslims differed significantly from the anti-Semitic |
| façade rose some 150 feet high and it was | | | | Christian view regarding the restoration of the Temple |
| equally wide. Along a glistening front were spaced four | | | | Mount. The Byzantine Christians felt that Har HaBayit |
| great columns about 60 feet high, with capitals in | | | | should remain in ruin as "...visible proof of the |
| Greco-Roman style. In the center stood its lofty and | | | | destruction of Jewish nationalism and the elimination of |
| imposing gate" (Klein, p. 97). | | | | its ancient ties with the holy place." While Muslim |
| In spite of the splendor of Herod's temple, he did not | | | | conquerors wanted to refurbish the area in order to |
| receive the accolades of many of the people. While | | | | initiate Islamic worship in that location. |
| he allowed the Pharisees to dictate much of the | | | | Omar constructed a mosque on the site of the current |
| construction (so that the new Temple would comply | | | | Al-Aqsa mosque but this was later reconstructed by |
| with Torah regulations), Herod disregarded their | | | | Caliph Abdel Malek and his son El-Walid during the |
| requirements when they offended Herod's tastes. | | | | periods of 685-715 C.E. into the Al-Aqsa mosque and |
| Herod also interfered with the Temple rituals by "hiring | | | | the Dome of the Rock. Mazar outlines three reasons |
| and firing" high priests. He upset the Sadducees and | | | | why these structures were erected: "(1) It |
| taxed the people so highly that most were opposed to | | | | memorialized the scene of one of the most |
| his rule. Like his rule, Herod's temple did not last forever, | | | | controversial visions of the prophet Mohammed as |
| as he must have hoped. Messiah Yeshua's prophecy | | | | recorded in verse 1 of Sura 17 of the Koran, whereby |
| in Luke 19:43-44, is seen fulfilled to this day when He | | | | the messenger of [the god of Islam] was transported |
| said to Jerusalem, "For the days will come upon you | | | | from Mecca to the 'distant shrine' (the most remote) |
| when your enemies will throw up a barricade against | | | | mounted on a magic animal called el-Buraq, |
| you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, | | | | accompanied by the Angel Gabriel...(2) The Dome of |
| and they will level you to the ground and your children | | | | the Rock competed in beauty and attraction with the |
| within you, and they will not leave in you one stone | | | | magnificent Christian basilicas which filled the city, |
| upon another, because you did not recognize the time | | | | inspired awe and admiration not only of Christians, but |
| of your visitation." | | | | of Moslems as well...(3) As a result of Arab building |
| The Roman general Vespasian and his son, Titus, | | | | activities, Jerusalem became more than ever a |
| amassed legions and laid siege to Jerusalem by the | | | | magnet for pilgrims" (Mazar, pp. 262-263). |
| Pesach of 70 C.E. Sadly, as the Romans breached the | | | | Between the years 637 to 1009 C.E., Jews were |
| walls of the city, several Jewish factions were tearing | | | | allowed to enter the Temple Mount and pray at what |
| themselves apart. It was Titus' siege ramparts that | | | | had been the Temple gates in exchange for cleaning |
| enabled him to take the Temple Mount. Schiffman | | | | up the trash present on the site. 150 years before the |
| reports, "According to Josephus, Titus planned to | | | | Crusades took place, they were permitted ascend the |
| spare the Temple from destruction, but it was | | | | mount and pray. All of this changed in 1010 when caliph |
| nonetheless engulfed in a conflagration and could not | | | | Hakim of the Egyptian Fatmids ruled with a harsh hand. |
| be saved" (Schiffman, p. 161). | | | | He decreed the removal of all religious buildings (other |
| After the destruction of the Temple, the task at hand | | | | than Islam), slaughtered Christians and Jews who |
| for the Rabbis became to maintain Jewish laws and | | | | would not convert to Islam, by 1010 he commanded |
| practices. Many of the Temple rituals soon took | | | | Jews to wear six-pound wooden blocks and bells on |
| residence in the Jewish home or synagogue. However, | | | | their clothing (in order to be spotted easily) and by 1014 |
| there were some rituals that obviously could no longer | | | | all Jews and Christians had to leave all the |
| be carried out without the Temple. It would not be until | | | | providences over which he ruled. |
| Rabbi Judah the Prince finished editing the Mishnah at | | | | From 1016-1034 C.E., earthquakes continued to rattle |
| the beginning of the third century that many of these | | | | the Temple Mount and damage important buildings like |
| problems were resolved. What follows is a summary | | | | the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy |
| of the transition from Temple Judaism to a Judaism | | | | Sepulcher. In 1070, the Seljuks rose to power and this, |
| grounded in the home and synagogue. | | | | in conjunction with the inhumane treatment of Jews |
| Many of the festivals were easily transitioned. For | | | | and Christians in Israel, prompted Pope Gregory VII to |
| example, Pesach was transformed into a Seder meal | | | | instigate the "holy" Crusades; promising that all who |
| and Sukkoth was able to be observed outside the | | | | fought would obtain the full assurance of the |
| Jewish home (including the lulav and etrog ceremonies). | | | | forgiveness of their sins. |
| Other high holy days such as Yom Kippur had to | | | | THE TEMPLE MOUNT UNDER CRUSADER |
| acquire acceptance as a ceremony in the synagogue | | | | DOMINATION |
| and required constant reassuring from the Sages. The | | | | On the surface, the cause of the Crusades was |
| priestly tithes was the most difficult to resolve, | | | | freeing the Holy Land from her oppressors. However, |
| however. | | | | other insidious rationales lurked below the surface such |
| In addition to creating systems for the ongoing | | | | as economic and political motives making them |
| implementation of the moadim and tithes, the sacrifices | | | | hypocritical to their core. The Crusaders did not only |
| made a transition also from their ritual status to that of | | | | slaughter the Muslims; Jews were herded into |
| liturgical prayer. The apocrypha, pseudepigrapha, and | | | | synagogues and burned alive. Babies were thrown |
| the Dead Sea scrolls attest to the increase in fixed | | | | from walls or thrown onto stones all the while the |
| patterns of prayer namely, in the morning and | | | | "Christian crusaders" called out, "our men went to |
| afternoon (the time of the tamid offering), and | | | | worship at the Sepulcher of our Saviour Jesus and |
| eventually evening prayers were added. It was during | | | | thus fulfill our pledge to Him..." The crimes committed in |
| this time these prayers were collected into works | | | | Jerusalem during this period were not only against |
| called Siddurim and Mahzorim. While these efforts to | | | | people. HaShem's holy hill was once again desecrated |
| stabilize Judaism were important no doubt, no Jew | | | | as a group of soldier-monks called, "Poor Knights of |
| was prepared to defend the coming changes to their | | | | Christ and of the Temple of Solomon" (or Knights |
| Land and specifically Har HaBayit with the arrival of | | | | Templar for short) took control of the Temple Mount. |
| Emperor Hadrian. | | | | The Dome of the Rock was converted into a Catholic |
| AELIA CAPITOLINA | | | | church and Al-Aqsa mosque was made into a palace |
| While the Jews were busy trying to transition to the | | | | for the Frankish ruler, Godfrey and later for Baldwin I, |
| new form of their religion, Hadrian became Emperor in | | | | the first Latin king of Jerusalem. A chapel and |
| 117 C.E. Hadrian's goal was to "paganize" Jerusalem | | | | Crusader armory were erected on the Temple Mount |
| and rename it "Aelia Capitolina" after himself (Publius | | | | and horses were kept in the area below the mount |
| Aelius Hadrianus) and the Capitoline Triad--the trinity of | | | | known as "Solomon's Stables." |
| Roman gods. When the revolt of Bar Kochba, the | | | | When Salah-ed-Din-Yusuf (Saladin) rose to power in |
| false messiah, failed, Hadrian's Aelia Captiolina could | | | | 1171 C.E., he set his sights on Jerusalem. On October 2, |
| flourish for a time. Hadrian erected a temple to another | | | | 1187, he conquered Jerusalem leaving significant, historic |
| Roman god on Har Habayit and installed theaters, a | | | | buildings and Christian churches in tact. With Saladin in |
| circus, game halls, baths, and two market places | | | | power, the Dome of the Rock returned to Muslim |
| complete with statues of Greek, Roman, and | | | | hands and was beautified with colorful tiles and |
| Phoenician gods scattered around the city. | | | | inscriptions in the Kufic script. Al-Aqsa was also |
| Jews and Christians alike were not permitted to enter | | | | restored as a Muslim mosque. Saladin's entrance |
| the city upon punishment of death. Only Roman | | | | signaled the end of the times of the Crusaders. |
| soldiers occupied Hadrian's pagan citadel. Anyone | | | | MAMELUKE AND TURKISH RULE |
| found keeping the Sabbath, reading or teaching Torah, | | | | The next major leader from this period was Baibars, a |
| practicing circumcision, or following any Jewish law | | | | Turkish slave who became sultan from 1260-1277. |
| was severely punished. While Christians and Jews | | | | Throughout Jerusalem, the Mamelukes built Muslim |
| were equally punished, neither group was made to | | | | schools, mosques, restored Al-Aqsa's dome, and |
| worship idols or false gods. | | | | erased much of the evidence of the Crusader's |
| Jerusalem (Aelia) became largely unimportant and | | | | presence on the Temple Mount. They indeed went to |
| Judea's name was changed to Syria Palestine with | | | | great pains to Islamize the city, especially Har HaBayit. |
| Caesarea as its capital. Klein comments, "So forgotten | | | | Mazar provides details of structures immediately |
| was the name of Jerusalem...that when a century later | | | | surrounding the Temple Mount, "On the periphery of |
| a governor of Palestine was informed that a group of | | | | the Haram es-Sherif enclosure (the historical Temple |
| Coptic Christians had come from Jerusalem, the | | | | Mount), the Mameluke sultans competed with one |
| governor had to inquire where the town was located" | | | | another to erect, between the thirteenth and the |
| (Klein, 120). | | | | fifteenth centuries, a dozen polychromic buildings of |
| HAR HABAYIT UNDER BYZANTINE CHRISTIANITY | | | | great beauty on the northern and western sides of the |
| Two factors caused the decline of Hellenistic Judaism | | | | Temple Mount esplanade. These buildings housed |
| by the mid-second century C.E.: human and material | | | | madrasas, which were placed behind the charming |
| losses caused by the Jewish uprising and the rise of | | | | polychromic cloisters or riwaq giving access to the |
| Christianity. The practices of Judaism became legal | | | | main building. Added to the ring of madrasas were |
| once again and by 212 C.E. Jews were considered | | | | numerous adjoining mausoleums put up by sultans and |
| Roman citizens but still exiled from the city of | | | | noblemen" (Mazar, p. 281). |
| Jerusalem; their Temple Mount standing in ruins. In 324 | | | | Suleiman I undertook serious renovations of the |
| C.E., Constantine ruled the Roman Empire causing the | | | | Temple Mount complex and Jerusalem's walls. He |
| Jews to be ruled by a Christian emperor who in turn, | | | | replaced the tiles on the surface of the Dome of the |
| led to the Christianization of both Jews and the | | | | Rock using Armenian craftsman who had a "secret" |
| Temple Mount. Constantine was not acting alone, | | | | dye which gives off a blue color while adding in white, |
| however. His mother Helena embarked on a vast | | | | green, and yellow. Suleiman rebuilt the city walls |
| pilgrimage to the Holy Land and while there, arbitrarily | | | | (1539-1542) which still stand to this day. |
| designated certain sites "holy" and worthy of being | | | | FROM BRITISH RULE TO PRESENT |
| rebuilt and "glorified." Constantine and subsequent rulers | | | | From 1700 C.E. to 1917, Jerusalem remained under |
| of Byzantine Christianity did make changes to the | | | | Turkish rule, albeit its rule was not without challenge. |
| Temple Mount but the extent of these alterations is | | | | Then, on December 9, 1917, General E. Allenby took |
| not clear. Recent archeology has uncovered two | | | | control of Israel and freed the Temple Mount from a |
| buildings, built in Roman times and restored by the | | | | thirteen hundred year Muslim rule. Many changes were |
| Byzantines, at the southwestern corner of the Temple | | | | happening to Israel and the Jewish people during this |
| Mount. In addition to the restored Roman buildings, a | | | | time--far too many to recount here. However, the |
| Byzantine monastery, a convent, and living quarters | | | | period of the British Mandate was good for the |
| were discovered below the area of the Temple Mount | | | | Temple Mount and archeologists working to |
| known as the "Pinnacle of the Temple." Mazar says of | | | | understand the long history of the area. Full access |
| the area around the Temple Mount, "They | | | | was granted by the Waqf to inspectors of Har |
| [excavations] prove that the area was thickly | | | | HaBayit and at this time it was possible to document, |
| populated from the late Byzantine period to the | | | | survey, photograph, and analyze data for the purpose |
| Moslem era. Some of their plastered walls, well-built | | | | of preserving what was left of such an important |
| doorways and windows, their arches and pillars | | | | structure. This "open relationship" between the Waqf |
| supporting the roofs, the stone paving blocks of the | | | | and archeologists would not be long lasting. As soon |
| courts and mosaic pavements of the rooms, were | | | | as the Arab Legion attacked the newly formed state |
| well preserved....The buildings were mostly destroyed | | | | of Israel in May of 1948, the Temple Mount fell under |
| during the sudden Persian attack in A.D. 614 at which | | | | Jordanian rule. Nothing significant changed as far as |
| time a section of the southern wall of the Temple | | | | the structure of the Temple Mount itself is concerned, |
| Mount enclosure was breached..." (Mazar, p. 24). | | | | but something was changing in the hearts of the |
| An interesting attempt was made, during the rule of | | | | people who belonged to this holy site. Strength was |
| Emperor Julian the Apostate, to rebuild the Temple. By | | | | brewing that would soon bring about a war which |
| this time, the Christians had removed the stones left in | | | | would reverse the wrongs of the previous two |
| the courtyards of the Temple complex in order to build | | | | millennia. |
| their own churches but there were still heaping piles of | | | | On Wednesday, June 7, 1967, following a bloody and |
| ruins which had been left there nearly three hundred | | | | heroic battle, |
| years. These were cleared and construction began in | | | | Jerusalem and Har HaBayit were once again under |
| 363 C.E. with mixed interest from the Jews. Julian | | | | Israeli control. Then the Israelis did the unthinkable. |
| blamed the fires on the Christians, who were unduly | | | | When the Six-Day War ended, Israel returned the |
| resentful of the efforts to rebuild the Temple. | | | | Dome of the Rock (and the Temple Mount) into Arab |
| Nevertheless, this ancient example of a thwarted | | | | hands with Jordan as the overseer. This act causes |
| rebuilding attempt (all work ceased with Justin's death | | | | serious concern over when and if Israel will be able to |
| in 363) outside of HaShem's will, will be repeated on a | | | | organize a movement to rebuild a Third Temple. |
| smaller scale nearly 1,300 years later when the Jews | | | | CONCLUSION |
| once again gain access to the Temple Mount. | | | | It seems that no matter what the cost, diverse |
| THE TEMPLE MOUNT FALLS TO ISLAM | | | | civilizations for thousands of years have been, at most, |
| It was a Monday afternoon, some time in the winter of | | | | intent on destroying HaShem's chosen people; and at |
| 638 C.E. Caliph Omar ibn al-Kitab, who by then held | | | | least, to keep them away from the holiest place on |
| most of the Middle East under his sway, entered the | | | | earth given to them by God. This survey has reviewed |
| gates of Jerusalem riding on a haggard beast of | | | | those attempts beginning with the Persians and ending |
| burden, his body draped in a simple robe of camel | | | | with the current Arab occupation of the Temple Mount. |
| hair...Immediately upon his arrival...the caliph inquired | | | | |