The Temple Mount is not the Temple Site.

We will show first that the temple mount cannot be where Solomon's and Herod's Temple were built.  Tomorrow we will give evidence for the City of David as the site for the Temple.

If the Temple Mount is not where the Temple was, what was on that site?  Rome housed the 10th legion in Jerusalem at the Tower of Antonia.  The traditional Tower of Antonia is a small 490 ft by 260ft area or 3 acres of land on the north-west corner of the Temple Mount.  A legion is about 6000 soldiers and 4000 supply personnel and followers.  If they all lived in the fortress of Antonia that would be about 1 square foot per person.

Josephus, the first-century historian wrote, "Now as to the tower of Antonia, it might seem to be composed of several cities.  For if we go up to the tower of Antonia, we gain the city, since we shall then be upon the top of the hill."

Do you think the Romans would take a small 3 acres plot of land for their 10,000 man legion and not commandeer a larger area that is on high ground over the city?  The Romans took what they wanted.

The Commander of Masada, Eleazer Ben Jair said after the fall of Jerusalem to Titus, "It (Jerusalem) is now demolished to the very foundations and hath nothing left but the monument of it preserved, I mean the camp of those (Romans) that hath destroyed it, which still dwells upon its ruins."

So if the only thing that is left of Jerusalem is the Roman camp, and everything else is demolished to the very foundations,  what does that say about the Temple?  It fulfills what Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24: 1-2 "Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things?  Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

I always thought that this prophecy referred to the building housing the Holy of Holies and the Holy place, but if you read what the verses say the disciples were showing Jesus the buildings of the temple.  Plural. How can this be?  The Temple where the people worshipped included the Court of the Priest, Court of Israel (for the men), Court of women and the Court of Gentiles.  The whole area was holy including where the Gentiles were permitted to worship.  This whole area would have had to of been demolished and not one stone left on another.  If the Western Wall is part of the walls of the Temple site, it also would have had to of been destroyed.  If it is part of the Temple, Jesus lied.  If it is part of the area that the Roman legion held, then Jesus was correct.  The Western Wall was part of the Fortress of Antonia where the Roman soldiers were housed.

Why is the Temple Mount the traditional site of the Temple?  In 1099 AD the Crusaders came into Jerusalem and took it from the Muslims.  Included in that conquest, they took the Dome of the Rock and they placed a cross on top of it and renamed it the "Temple of God."

70 years later a Spanish Jew named Benjamin of Tudela visited Jerusalem and wrote that the Temple Mount was the location of Solomon's Temple.  That statement caught fire in the hearts of the people and from then on that tradition has held.

In 135 AD the Romans completely destroyed Jerusalem and plowed over the city to completely wipe it out.   Rome declared that no Jew was to enter that area under penalty of death.  Over time they forgot where the temple was.  The land was all fields.

Tomorrow, in Part 3 of this series,  we will talk about the evidence for where the Temple of Solomon and Herod's Temple was.  To read Part 3 CLICK HERE

To read Part 1 of this series CLICK HERE

Photo Credit: So this is the Temple Mount by Yuno F Gasai