A Brief Synopsis about the different theories for the location of the Temple.

There are four current theories. What are they?

The four theories are: The northern theory. That the Temple building, (specifically that the Kodesh haKodashim – Holy of Holies) was located on the Moslem Platform north of the Dome of the Rock where the Dome of the Spirits is located. This theory is put forth by Asher Kaufman. This theory will not work as the northern wall of the Azarah (Inner Courtyard) had two buildings that went further to the north 100 cubits. The size of the cubit that was used within the Azarah was the six tefachim (handbreadths) cubit. During the entire First Temple period and up until shortly before Herod expands the Temple in the late Second Temple period there was a dry moat (fosse) located on the northwestern corner. This moat was located only 52 feet from the northwestern corner of the Moslem Platform. This would place the northern wall of this Temple in the moat. Therefore, the Temple was not located where the Dome of the Spirits is located. The Northern Theory does not work. I will post the Southern Theory in a little while. This theory is put forth by Asher Kaufman. This theory will not work as the northern wall of the Azarah (Inner Courtyard) had two buildings that went further to the north 100 cubits. The size of the cubit that was used within the Azarah was the six tefachim (handbreadths) cubit. During the entire First Temple period and up until shortly before Herod expands the Temple in the late Second Temple period there was a dry moat (fosse) located on the northwestern corner. This moat was located only 52 feet from the northwestern corner of the Moslem Platform. This would place the northern wall of this Temple in the moat. Therefore, the Temple was not located where the Dome of the Spirits is located. The Northern Theory does not work. Note: You will need to Zoom these pictures in order to read the references and notes within the drawings.

This is Asher Kaufman’s layout of the Temple. To understand why this will not work you need to first locate the trapezoid shaped Moslem Platform. Look to the northwest corner of the Moslem Platform (the picture is with the north at the top, west to the left, south, at the bottom and east to the right. Now look at the location of the map showing the Fosse. Kaufman’s northwestern wall is in the Moat.

The Second Theory on where the Temple was located is known as the Southern Theory. This is in reference to the Dome of the Rock and on what we call the Temple Mount. The Southern Theory is promoted by Tuvia Sagiv. This places the location of the Temple south of the Dome of the Rock and north of the Al Aksa Mosque. There is a Moslem fountain known as the Al Kos fountain and where Sagiv places either the Temple Building or the Altar. The problem with this theory is that the southern extension of this area, where the southern wall of the Azarah was located with its two 100 cubit buildings extending further to the south would have been in an area that was not part of the Temple Mount until the time of Herod. This theory will not work.

 In the drawing to the left you can see the red box surrounding the Inner Courtyards and the Mikvaot with toilets to the south of those courtyards. This red box indicates the original Temple Mount which was the entire Temple Mount until the Hasmonean era. Notice the two T shaped Mikvaot. These were identified by Professor Ronnie Reich of Haifa University. To the east of the Mikvaot is the grid of conduits below the ancient toilets. The Al Kos Fountain is centered between the two Mikvaot to the south. It would be approximately on the red line indicating the southern wall of the 500 Cubits by 500 cubits of the original Temple Mount. Sagiv’s Temple building is in the same location as this fountain. Therefore half of the Temple building as well as the entire southern complex of the Azarah would not have been there until at the earliest the Hasmonean period. This theory does not work at all.The third theory of where the Temple is located is actually off the Temple Mount at Ir David (the City of David) next to the Gihon Springs. The theory also states that what we call the Temple Mount was really the Antonia Fortress. This theory is based on the sound of water heard from the Temple Mount, the Gihon Spring being the source for water of ancient Jerusalem and various quotes from Josephus as well as the northern wall of the so called Temple Mount is not the actual wall. The location is a little over a third of a mile from the Southern Steps of the Temple Mount. The Fortress Antonia is described by Josephus a s having been large with all types of facilities within. Josephus stated that it was like a city within. I agree that the small representation of the Antonia Fortress on the extreme northwestern exterior corner does not meet this criteria. However, we are also told by Josephus that the Antonia was built over the Fortress Baris, probably present since the First Temple period (called at that time Birah). In the excavations of the Western Wall Tunnel, Dan Bahat (one of Israel’s best archaeologist) discovered the foundation trenches of the Baris at the northwestern corner of the Temple Mount. Ehud Netzer, the leading authority on structures of King Herod, disagreed with other scholars, in stating that the Antonia was not only on the exterior northwestern corner but that it actually penetrated into the Temple Mount all the way to the dry moat (fosse) located just north of the Moslem Platform. The northeastern area would have served as the parade ground were the Roman troops drilled up till the time of the revolt. Josephus makes note that Titus paid his troops on this parade ground with his legions and auxiliaries in full battle dress as they marched in parade fashion in plain site of the Jewish defenders on the northern wall of the Temple. This is impossible if the Temple is at the Gihon Springs. In addition, there are 3 cisterns that indicate that the Antonia penetrated into the Temple Mount. With the Antonia penetrating into the Temple Mount the descriptions of Josephus can easily be realized.

Secondly is the actual location situation of the Gihon Springs. There simply is not enough room. The Biblical descriptions as well as those provided in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Josephus could never be fulfilled in this location. Ir David, The City of David is only 13 acres. Our cubit would end up as less than a 10 inches apiece, at the largest. In addition, Professor Ronnie Reich and Baruch Yuval, have excavation the Gihon Springs area to the bedrock and have not found in evidences of the Temple’s presence. None. Thirdly, the water supply. According to the Talmud Yerushalmi and other sources, the water for the Temple did not come from the Gihon Spring but rather from the Eitham Spring. Ronit Amiel, a leading authority in Jerusalem on the Gihon Spring and in charge of the project several years ago as the Gihon Spring was cleared has worked with me on the research of the temple Water System and at no point believed that this was the source for the water of the Temple. Fourth, the Northern Wall of the Temple Mount is reported not to be the wall that was present in the late Second Temple Era. This is not true, both Leen Ritmeyer and Eilat Mazar have established that this was the original wall from the time of King Herod. Eilat Mazar has chronicled all the stones in the exterior Temple Mount that relate to Temple periods. Her work has been published by the Israel Exploration Society. In effect, the theory that the Temple was at the Gihon Spring has no  actual basis nor was the Temple Mount in its entirety the Antonia Fortress.

These three theories are each a result of taking a portion of information without examining the entire body of information. First we have to see the information that the Tanach supplies us. Next we have to look at the Rabbinical texts which are quite accurate but take some skill in using, Next we look at the accounts by Josephus. Another important text to work with is the Temple Scroll translated by Yigal Yadin. Equally important is the archaeological reports as well as the tremendous work done by the Palestine Exploration Fund explorers.

The fourth theory about the location of the Temple is that the Temple stood where the Dome of the Rock is located. At this point we can now confirm that this is the correct location. First, based on a photograph from 1870 taken by a Palestine Exploration Fund photographer, C.F. Tyrwhitt-Drake, who passed away shortly after taking the photo. His latest pictures were returned to his family rather than to the fund. This picture was donated by the family to the PEF only twenty years ago and finally published. Shimon Gibson and David Jacobson published an article on this stairway suggesting that the stairway was referenced by Josephus as the stairway leading up to the Cheil on the south. The Cheil is a ten cubit wide pavement that encircled the Inner Courtyards and is described as a leveling platform. From the Cheil one would enter immediately into the buildings and gates adjoining the Azarah (the Inner Courtyard). Above the stairs Charles Wilson had discovered an ancient pavement.

There was a problem with this theory, as it would triple the size of the inner courtyard. If this was indeed the Cheil then this would mean one of two solutions. Either the size of the cubit used in the Temple was much larger than previously thought or the buildings adjoining the Azarah were up to 100 cubits in length (south to north). Previously it had been discovered from the Tanach that the Beit Yair haLevanon (House of the Forest of Lebanon) was also known as the Shaar haElyon (the Upper Gate) which was the gate on the southwest corner of the Azarah. This building had the dimensions of 100 cubits by 50 cubits. This is the same size as the buildings in the Ezekiel Temple were there are four buildings, connecting to the Azarah, one on each corner. We had been able to determine from texts found in the Tanach, Mishnah, and Talmud that the four buildings that were on the corners of the Azarah opened both onto the Cheil and the Azarah.

This indicated that while these buildings which were also gates opened to the Cheil, the other gates (two on the south and two on the north sandwiched between the corner buildings/gates did not but rather had a plaza between them with and the Cheil (See illustration above where the plaza –rehov between the corner buildings is shown). These plazas are described by Josephus with stairs ascending to the gates. At this point in the research we only had a theory that this stairway was the stairway leading to the Cheil described by Josephus. In both Middot and Tamid from the Mishnah there is a description of how a disqualified priest (due to a nocturnal seminal emission) exited the Azarah. We are told that in the Beit haMokeid (House of the Hearth on the northwestern corner of the Azarah) the dormitory of the Priest on duty for a week, there was a messibah (winding stairway) in the northwest corner that went to a tunnel which led to a mikveh and toilet below ground for the priest.

The text just above the edge of the Moslem platform almost due north of the Dome of the Rock indicates the location of the underground mikvah and toilet.

The location of this structure has been located just to the north of the Moslem Platform. The priest went to the Mikvah and then through an underground tunnel that went to another tunnel with benches where they remained until the gates of the Temple were opened. Charles Wilson (PEF Explorer) discovered a tunnel fitting this description in 1865. It is just north of the Dome of the Rock. The tunnel is now blocked up and has been converted (probably by the Moslems) into a cistern. If the blocking wall of the cistern was removed it would travel north (about 20 yards) to the northern edge of the Moslem Platform. Here it would intersect with another tunnel discovered by Charles Warren (PEF Explorer) in December, 1868. These tunnel systems perfectly agree with the Mishnah text and provide us with a critical piece of information as they state that the last tunnel is directly below the Cheil on the north.

 #31 in the above drawing shows the tunnel found by Charles Wilson in 1865. This tunnel had benches for the priest to sit on as they waited for the Gates of the Temple to be unlocked. #37 is the tunnel discovered by Charles Warren in 1868. Just to the east of this tunnel is the suspected location of the Tadi Gate. #37 went directly below the northern Cheil.  A drawing by Charles Warren of the tunnel that went beneath the Cheil.

This drawing shows the Cheil above the tunnel and one of the corner buildings coming right to its edge.

When we measured the distance between the Cheil on the north (above the tunnel) and the Cheil on the south (the pavement above the stairs) we found that the Dome of the Rock was dead center.

Further evidence was gained from following the path of one entering the Temple. The worshipper entered from the south through the Sharrai Chuldah, (Chuldah Gates thought to be the Beautiful Gate). This gate system of two gates enters into the Chuldah Gate tunnels taking you north. I have been into the tunnels and you understand why they were known as the Beautiful Gates with artistically designed domes and beautiful monolith columns that take your breath away. on exiting the tunnel there are two mikvaot (innersion chambers) one for the men and another for the women. Just to the east of these Mikvaot which are all aligned perfectly in a straight line from east to west is a grid of conduits to take water into and out of this very large building that is no longer present. This was obviously the toilets referenced in the Mishnah in the outer courtyards just outside of the Azarah. Between this complex of buildings and the stairs was the Soreg (a wall tow cubits high with signs one cubit high) forbidding anyone who was not Jewish to enter the Inner Courtyards. Ten cubits further the stairs begin, then the Cheil and so on. All of this fits exactly as it is described. There of course is further evidence that proves this is the location of the Temple.

In the illustration below you can see all the various features with the southern entrance, the Mikvaot and toilets, the Soreg, the stairs, the Cheil, the Corner Buildings and the Plaza between them. Then the Azarah with the Temple and the Altar. In this drawing the tunnel system is completed on the north.

The Glory of the Temple, May it come soon.