The Temple Steps

When you experience Jerusalem, you realize that speaks! Stone is one physical attribute that remains for centuries. Certain stones were actually "there" in the time period that you want to connect with. They were "there" for the people of long ago to see and use. Many of them are still "here" for us to touch, walk on, and connect with. You can someone feel closer to the One you worship if you remember his parents carried him up these stairs.

A story that I like to remember when I think of these temple steps is found in Luke 2:22-29

I quote here from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.

"Mary and Joseph were faithful Jews and observed their religious customs. An important custom was for the couple to take their first-born son to the Temple. The baby was taken to the Temple forty days after his birth and was dedicated to God. In addition, if the parents were wealthy, they were to bring a lamb and a young pigeon or a turtle dove to be offered as a sacrifice at the Temple. The custom provided that if the parents were poor, they were to offer two pigeons or two turtle doves for the sacrifice.

When Jesus was forty days old, Mary and Joseph took Him to the Temple in Jerusalem. They were not wealthy, so they took two turtle doves with them to offer as a sacrifice at the Temple. As they arrived at the Temple, Mary and Joseph were met by a very old man named Simeon. He was a holy man and was noted as a very intelligent scholar. Simeon spent much time studying about the prophets of Israel. It was during his studies that he learned of the coming of the Messiah. The Jewish people were waiting for the Messiah to come and deliver Israel from their conquerors. From that time on, Simeon spent his time praying for the Messiah to come. He spent many years in prayer. Finally, while Simeon was praying he heard the voice of God. God promised Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah.

When Simeon saw Jesus, he took the baby in his arms and blessed the Lord and said:

"Lord, now let Your servant go in peace according to Your promise, because my eyes have seen Your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory to your people Israel."

You will want to click on this link to see a beautiful two-minute video showing this most touching experience of Mary and Joseph bringing the Christ Child to the temple, and meeting with Simeon, who had waited patiently for this blessed day when he would see with his own eyes, the Christ Child!

Ophel Garden

The term, "Ophel Garden" refers to a large area just next to the southern wall of the temple compound. There have been so many exciting finds in this area during recent years, that I am excited to visit it! During my first visit in April of 1977, I don't even think I was made aware of the area. Some work was done in the area during the 1800's, but until 1968, most of what we can see there today was covered by soil.

During the time that our family lived in Jerusalem in 1994-5, I often walked by this area, but it was fenced off. You could look down into it on the way out to the Dung Gate, but I think I only went in one time when the BYU group was taken in for a tour.

Now, I understand that the Ophel Archaelogical Garden is open to tourists, and even has a visitor's center but is not a particularly busy place. A statement from the center reads, "This complex of archaeological excavations features the administrative complex erected on the Ophel Hill in the First Temple period, structures dating back to the days of King Solomon, Jewish ritual baths and sections of “Robinson’s Arch” from the Second Temple period."

A recent visitor gave the site a five star review: "Great introductory film on Herod's masterpiece of building and what the Second Temple was and how it was used. See the artifacts. Go outside and walk around the garden and see the massive stones, the remains of the impressive Robinson's Arch, and imagine yourself living 2000 years ago."

What would be most sacred to us would be the steps, the actual stone steps leading to the temple that Jesus would have walked on. To actually touch stone that was there at the time of the Savior is a really special feeling that you just cannot explain.

My next few posts will highlight some of the other highlights we will want to see in this area.

From the Pool of Siloam to the Temple

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In studying the Pool of Siloam, I did not much consider its relationship to the temple until I came across this amazing animation done by a group of architects from UCLA. The Pool of Siloam would have been at the bottom of the staircase depicted. It may have been one of the several Jewish Mikvah's or ritualistic cleansing baths used before entering the temple compound. Remember to click on the red link to see the actual animation. It takes a minute or two to load up, but I thought it was fascinating. I just put a few clips of the animation below in case your computer doesn't like animations.

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Is that Wilson's Arch we see depicted? Watch for Wilson's Arch in a later post.

Pool Of Siloam - Part Two

Apparently the Pool of Siloam was much larger than the Pool Shown in the last post! In 2004, just a few meters away from the site, a group of workers fixing some underground sewage pipes ran into some very ancient steps! Work on the pipes was halted, and an excavation team was brought in.

Work was difficult because there was only a narrow section that the team had access to work in! Here you can see the section that they could excavate. As they began digging they uncovered three groups of five stairs each separated by narrow landings, perhaps to accommodate various water levels. The pool was about 225 feet long, and they unearthed steps on three sides.

For a while, all that you see had to be covered up while the crew moved a black pipe. By 2005, however, they were able to open it up again, and now see how grand the stairs are looking!

Unfortunately, as you can see, the pool goes way down underneath what is now the garden of a Greek Orthodox Church. Because of that, they were not able at that time to see how big it was. But, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times dated Aug. 9, 2005, The excavators have been able to date the pool fairly precisely because of two fortunate occurrences that implanted unique artifacts in the pool area.

When ancient workmen were plastering the steps before facing them with stones, they either accidentally or deliberately buried four coins in the plaster. All four are coins of Alexander Jannaeus, a Jewish king who ruled Jerusalem from 103 to 76 BC. That provides the earliest date at which the pool could have been constructed.

Similarly, in the soil in one corner of the pool, they found about a dozen coins dating from the period of the First Jewish Revolt against Rome, which lasted from AD 66 to 70. That indicates the pool had begun to be filled in by that time."

Because the pool sits at one of the lowest spots in Jerusalem, rains flowing down the valley deposited mud into it each winter. It was no longer being cleaned out, so the pool quickly filled with dirt and disappeared. Imagine, this magnificent pool being covered for centuries! This is an interesting photo to show how one corner appeared.

This is an artists rendition of what the complete pool may have looked like.

The water that comes from Hezekiah's Tunnel and creates the first pool that we showed, would have continued into the larger pool. The water now continues to flow through this underground tunnel, and some of the supporting stones still stand.

Here are the two archeologists who worked on this site beginning in 2004.

A water trough found at the Pool, with holes drilled to support water jugs.

Pool of Siloam - Part One - Just Don't Skip Part Two!

This is the Pool of Siloam, as I visited it in 1994. It was incredibly important to the people of ancient Jerusalem as the source where they could get fresh water INSIDE the city walls. The water came from the fresh water spring of the Gihon Spring. Remember from my last post that Hezekiah had caused that an underground tunnel bring the fresh water to within the city, so that the people could withstand the seige of the Assyrian Army. That was roughly 700 years before Christ.

This map of the ancient Jerusalem is incredibly important to understand if we want to understand that the Walled Jerusalem we see today is in a position North of the ancient city. Many important Biblical events took place in the Old Jerusalem, where the temple was the furthest North. The temple mount has not changed, but the city has grown around it.

I love the Pool of Siloam especially as I remember a blind man who was healed. We read from John Chapter 9. "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."
......"When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing."


I just always like to consider my own life, and what Jesus can heal for me, as I come to Him.

Hezekiah's Tunnel

Second Kings 20:20 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Most people say they have a very difficult time understanding the book of Isaiah. One of the keys is to realize that Isaiah was living in the days of Hezekiah when the people of Jerusalem were preparing for a siege, or attack of the Assyrians. Jerusalem was pretty defensible by having great valley's but the water source is on the slope of the Kidron Valley outside the walls. Hezekiah wanted a water source within the city. At that time Jerusalem was the smaller, City of David I have talked about in earlier posts.

King Hezekiah blocked up the source of the upper Gihon spring, and had it flow into a pool called the Pool of Siloam.

This is a photo of an inscription found at the Pool of Silam. I can't read it, can you? Anyways, those who can say it tells that two teams dug the tunnel, one starting at the beginning, and the other at the end. That was a pretty amazing feet to dig so far under their city, and reach each other.

This is a map showing the path of the tunnel underneath the City of David.

In the Second Book of Chronicles, Chapter 3 we read the story. Sennacherib, king of Assyria came to started taking camping out by fenced cities, and planned on overtaking them.

And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,
He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him. So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?

In other words, if the Assyrians were going to camp outside their wall, they would find no spring of water for themselves. All the good water would have been sent to the underground tunnel for the people holding out inside the city wall!

Then, Hezekiah told his people, "Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him."

Don't you love that! He said, they have only their own strength, but we have the Lord God to help us, and to fight our battles. It is a good thing to have angels on your side!

Well, that pretty much discouraged the Assyrian King, Sennacherib, so he only sent his servants to attack Jerusalem. And they did. They camped around Jerusalem and taunted the people inside for believing the prophet, Isaiah who had advised Hezekiah to trust in the Lord. During the seige, they sent threatening letters to frighten and trouble them. They were trying to get them to surrender.



Verse 20: And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven. And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib returned with shame of face to his own land and apparently his own sons slew him with the sword.

22 Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.

Today the tunnel is open to wade through from the beginning to the end. Water still flows! Do you think we should do it in June? I do!

Back to the City of David

Just a few days ago, December 3rd, 2013, in fact, this article appeared on NBC News!
You've got to click on the link (Letters in Red) to get the whole story.

I am so excited! For years, people trying to go into Dung Gate parked their cars in a Parking Lot of all things that covered part of the City of David!

Quote...."Archaeologists think construction on this ancient building started in the early second century B.C. and continued into the Hasmonean period." The Hasmonean perod. You want to pay attention to anything from the Hasmonean dynasty because they they ruled until 37 B.C., just a few years before Christ was born. Who ruled when Christ was born? Herod the Great.

I'll tell you more about them both later. But what is interesting is that because Herod did so much building in Jerusalem, (to immortalize himself) we can link what we find during his time to that which was there during Christ's time.

Back to this find....

Quote..."IAA (Israeli Antiquities Authority) officials said the Hasmonean building has come to light only in recent months, adding that the structure boasts quite impressive dimensions. It rises 13 feet (4 meters) and covers 688 square feet (64 square meters) with limestone walls more than 3 feet (1 m) thick.

Inside, the excavators found pottery and coins, the latter of which helped them determine the age of the building. IAA researchers think construction on the building began in the early second century B.C. and continued into the Hasmonean period, when the most significant changes were made inside the structure.

Dung Gate

Dung Gate (Garbage Gate) is probably the least impressive of all the gates. Compare the name with such magnificent images of Zion Gate, or Golden Gate.
Well, Dung Gate was near the temple compound and was originally used to carry animal refuse from sacrifices to be burned outside the city gate.

From what I understand the name implies that it was literally the gate that was used to carry garbage out from the city. It is located on the South east side of the temple compound area.

The current gate is pretty modern, and most of the traffic to the Jewish Quarter and Western Wall comes in through it. So now it is actually pretty clean, and wide enough for cars to pass through if needed, but usually is just used for pedestrian traffic. Only one other gate, Jaffa Gate on the west, can accommodate cars at all. The current gate we see was built during our lifetime, after the 1967 Jewish takeover of the old city. Look how small the previous entrance was.

The Dung Gate is mentioned in the third chapter of the Book of Nehemiah where the names and order of those who help to build the walls and gates of Jerusalem are listed. The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung gate. But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Beth-haccerem; he built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.



What is sad to me, is that because of the garbage dump create outside of dung gate, the older City of David was literally covered in garbage for centuries!

Western Wall

The Western Wall it is extremely sacred to the Jews. Imagine, after being scattered for so many hundreds of years from their sacred temple in Jerusalem, the wall is as close as they can come to having any control of the sacred site. Muslims have control of the temple mound while Jews have control of the Western Wall.

Tension is ever present, and behavior at both sites is very guarded. When I first visited the Western Wall in 1975, I expected to take a picture of people praying near the wall. When another person snapped a picture, soldiers rushed over and confiscated the person's camera. I was thankful I had not made that mistake.

I assume the ramp to the right is a modern version of the ramp we walked several decades ago to gain access to the temple mount.

For more information on the Western Wall, I quote from Wikipedia. "The Western Wall,or Wailing Wall is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount. It is a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the Jewish Temple's courtyard, and is arguably the most sacred site recognized by the Jewish faith outside of the Temple Mount itself. Just over half the wall, including its 17 courses located below street level, dates from the end of the Second Temple period, commonly believed to have been constructed around 19 BCE by Herod the Great, but recent excavations indicate that the works were not finished during Herod's lifetime. The remaining layers were added from the 7th century onwards. The Western Wall refers not only to the exposed section facing a large plaza in the Jewish Quarter, but also to the sections concealed behind structures running along the whole length of the Temple Mount, such as the Little Western Wall – a 25 ft (8 m) section in the Muslim Quarter.

It has been a site for Jewish prayer and pilgrimage for centuries; the earliest source mentioning Jewish attachment to the site dates back to the 4th century. From the mid-19th century onwards, attempts to purchase rights to the wall and its immediate area were made by various Jews, but none was successful. With the rise of the Zionist movement in the early 20th century, the wall became a source of friction between the Jewish community and the Muslim religious leadership, who were worried that the wall was being used to further Jewish nationalistic claims to the Temple Mount and Jerusalem. Outbreaks of violence at the foot of the wall became commonplace and an international commission was convened in 1930 to determine the rights and claims of Muslims and Jews in connection with the wall. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War the wall came under Jordanian control and Jews were barred from the site for 19 years until Israel captured the Old City in 1967 and three days later bulldozed the adjacent 770 year old Moroccan Quarter."


As you know, I am very curious about seeing the same site during different periods of time, so this engraving from 1850 intrigues me. I wonder why it doesn't show the Moroccan Quarter which was bulldozed in 1967.

I love this beautiful painting by Gustav Bauernfeind from the same time period. It seems to show that there was indeed, only a small amount of space between neighboring buildings and the wall.

The Ottoman Period (1517–1917) of Jerusalem has some pretty fascinating stories.


From Wikipedia: In 1517, the Turkish Ottoman Empire under Selim I conquered Jerusalem from the Mamluks who had held it since 1250. The Ottomans had a benevolent attitude towards the Jews, having welcomed thousands of Jewish refugees who had recently been expelled from Spain by Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile in 1492. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent was so taken with Jerusalem and its plight that he ordered a magnificent fortress-wall built around the entire city, today's Old City wall.

There are various accounts of Suleiman's efforts to locate the Temple's ruins. Rabbi Eliezer Nachman Puah, (ca. 1540), relates:

”I have been told that in the day of Sultan Suleiman the site of the Temple was not known and the Sultan had every corner of Jerusalem searched for it. One day the man in charge of the work, despairing after much searching and inquiring in vain, saw a woman coming with a basket of rubbish and filth upon her head. He asked her: “What are you carrying on your head?” – And she replied:

“Rubbish.”
“And to where are you carrying it?”
“To such and such a place.”
“Where do you live?”
“In Bethlehem.”
“Is there no dunghill between Bethlehem and this place?”
“It is a tradition among us that whoever takes a little rubbish to that place performs a meritorious act.”
The curiosity of the officer was aroused and he commanded a great number of men to remove the rubbish from that place...and the holy site was revealed. When the Sultan learned of this, he rejoiced greatly and ordered the place to be swept and sprinkled and the Western Wall washed with rosewater...”

In the second half of the 16th century, Suleiman the Magnificent gave the Jews rights to worship at the Western Wall and had his court architect Mimar Sinan build an oratory for them there.

In 1625 arranged prayers at the Wall are mentioned for the first time by a scholar whose name has not been preserved. Rabbi Gedaliah of Semitizi, who went to Jerusalem in 1699, writes that scrolls of the Law were brought to the Wall on occasions of public distress and calamity.

Over the centuries, land close to the Wall became built up. Public access to the Wall was through the Moroccan Quarter, a labyrinth of narrow alleyways. In May 1840 a firman issued by Ibrahim Pasha forbade the Jews to pave the passageway in front of the Wall. It also cautioned them against “raising their voices and displaying their books there.” They were, however, allowed “to pay visits to it as of old."

Rabbi Joseph Schwarz writing in the mid-19th-century records:

”This wall is visited by all our brothers on every feast and festival; and the large space at its foot is often so densely filled up, that all cannot perform their devotions here at the same time. It is also visited, though by less numbers, on every Friday afternoon, and by some nearly every day. No one is molested in these visits by the Mahomedans, as we have a very old firman from the Sultan of Constantinople that the approach shall not be denied to us, though the Porte obtains for this privilege a special tax, which is, however, quite insignificant."

Over time the increased numbers of people gathering at the site resulted in tensions between the Jewish visitors who wanted easier access and more space, and the residents, who complained of the noise. This gave rise to Jewish attempts at gaining ownership of the land adjacent to the Wall.

In the late 1830s a wealthy Jew named Shemarya Luria attempted to purchase houses near the Wall, but was unsuccessful, as was Jewish sage Abdullah of Bombay who tried to purchase the Western Wall in the 1850s. In 1869 Rabbi Hillel Moshe Gelbstein settled in Jerusalem. He arranged that benches and tables be brought to the Wall on a daily basis for the study groups he organised and the minyan which he led there for years. He also formulated a plan whereby some of the courtyards facing the Wall would be acquired, with the intention of establishing three synagogues – one each for the Sephardim, the Hasidim and the Perushim.[38] He also endeavoured to re-establish an ancient practice of “guards of honour”, which according to the mishnah in Middot, were positioned around the Temple Mount. He rented a house near the Wall and paid men to stand guard there and at various other gateways around the mount. However this set-up lasted only for a short time due to lack of funds or because of Arab resentment. In 1874, Mordechai Rosanes paid for the repaving of the alleyway adjacent to the wall.

In 1887 Baron Rothschild conceived a plan to purchase and demolish the Moroccan Quarter as "a merit and honor to the Jewish People." The proposed purchase was considered and approved by the Ottoman Governor of Jerusalem, Rauf Pasha, and by the Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Tahir Husseini. Even after permission was obtained from the highest secular and Muslim religious authority to proceed, the transaction was shelved after the authorities insisted that after demolishing the quarter no construction of any type could take place there, only trees could be planted to beautify the area. Additionally the Jews would not have full control over the area. This meant that they would have no power to stop people from using the plaza for various activities, including the driving of mules, which would cause a disturbance to worshippers. Other reports place the scheme's failure on Jewish infighting as to whether the plan would foster a detrimental Arab reaction.



In 1895 Hebrew linguist and publisher Rabbi Chaim Hirschensohn became entangled in a failed effort to purchase the Western Wall and lost all his assets. Even the attempts of the Palestine Land Development Company to purchase the environs of the Western Wall for the Jews just before the outbreak of World War I never came to fruition. In the first two months following the Ottoman Empire’s entry into the First World War, the Turkish governor of Jerusalem, Zakey Bey, offered to sell the Moroccan Quarter, which consisted of about 25 houses, to the Jews in order to enlarge the area available to them for prayer. He requested a sum of £20,000 which would be used to both rehouse the Muslim families and to create a public garden in front of the Wall. However, the Jews of the city lacked the necessary funds. A few months later, under Muslim Arab pressure on the Turkish authorities in Jerusalem, Jews became forbidden by official decree to place benches and light candles at the Wall. This sour turn in relations was taken up by the Chacham Bashi who managed to get the ban overturned. In 1915 it was reported that Djemal Pasha closed off the wall to visitation as a sanitary measure.

When visiting the Western Wall, we view what thousands upon thousands have longed to be near, some of the last remnants of the last Jewish Temple.

Tombs of the Kidron Valley

The valley between the temple mound and the Mount of Olives is full of the most amazing tombs. Jews did not bury their dead within the city, and many of the tombs are very elaborate. Over 800 tombs have been found around Jerusalem from the time of Herod alone, but many of them are much older.

Jesus would have walked by and been familiar with many of those that still stand today. Here are three that Jesus would have seen from the eastern temple wall.

The one to the left with the two columns had an inscription on the inside that mentioned the "Sons of Hezir." The middle tomb is known as Zechariah's Tomb. The tomb on the right is unfinished.

Here is a closeup of the Hezir Tomb.

It may be of these tombs that Jesus spoke when he said, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,
which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean."
Matthew 23:27

Absolom's Pillar

Also known as the Tomb of Absolom, this moment is attributed to David's son, Absolom. From the book of Samuel, we read: Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's dale: for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the Monument after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom's Monument.

Here is a view from inside the pillar.

You will see Absolom's Pillar down in the Kidron Valley, between the old city, and the Mount of Olives.

The City of David

The City of David has two meanings. We read in Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a asign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. The angles referred to Bethlehem, the city where David, who became the great king of Israel was born.

As king, David built a palace in Jerusalem, located near the Gihon Spring. a This is what is now known as the City of David. Jerusalem, in David's day was located south of the old city as it is now walled. It was it's own little mount with valley's on each side. The location of the temple which was built by his son, Solomon, was just up the next hill, the highest place in Jerusalem, also surrounded by it's own valleys.

Many of the what used to be valleys have been, over time, filled either with refuse, or structures. As one civilization was destroyed by enemies, the structures were pushed off over the sides of the hills, eventually somewhat leveling the ground. It is difficult now to even imagine Jerusalem as it was in the day of David, but this photo is from the model city of Jerusalem showing what it would have looked like after Solomon built the temple. You will see just the bottom of the temple mount with the City of David below. You can also see that it is not a very large area. The valley you see to the east is the Kidron Valley. It rises up to the right to become the Mount of Olives.

From Wikipedia: "In the ancient pre-Israelite period, the area was separated from the site of the later Temple Mount by the Ophel, an uninhabited area which became the seat of government under Israelite rule. During the reign of Hezekiah, the walls of the city were expanded westward, enclosing a previously unwalled suburb in the area now known as the Old City of Jerusalem, west of the Temple Mount.

There have been extensive archeological activities since I first saw the City of David. This is part of the large stone structure that has been identified as remains of the Palace David may have built.

I am very excited to see this area as it is now open for visitors to view exciting finds from this time which has long been covered. For a look at what we hope to visit, see http://www.bibleplaces.com/areag.htm

It is sad to know that the City of David was even a dumping ground of the later city's garbage.

Solomon's Stabes

On this trip we will not get to see Solomon"s Stables, but they are a most fascinating, underground series of twelve rows of 88 arches which support a huge room. It is located in the underground section of the temple mound, making up the southeast corner. It's walls make the southern wall of the Temple Mound.

When we visited it in 1994, it was dark and not being used. Some think it was built by King Herod to keep his horses ready and close by. Others think the Roman Emperor Hadrian from the second century, built it as a water reservoir. I like the first theory, because I like anything that has to do with anything about horses.

Solomon's Stables have now been renovated and is used as a prayer hall for Muslims.

Moroccan Gate

I guess by now you can tell that I am fascinated by gates. In a walled city, like Jerusalem, walls were used to keep out intruders. They were the protection from invaders. Gates were used to determine who entered the city and what time they entered the city.

The temple compound itself is also walled. It also has gates. The walls protect it from invasion. There are various groups who feel the area is of such importance to them that they would take it over by violence if given the chance.

When we visit the temple mound, we will enter by the Moroccan Gate. It is the only gate that non-Muslims can enter.

Note the tile to the left of the gate. Built into the wall, it gives the gate its title. We will expect this to be a security checkpoint. In Israel, one is expected, even when entering grocery stores, to open their bags and to show that we bring no explosives or weapons.

Al-Aqsa Mosque

The Al-Aqsa Mosque, located on the same compound as the Dome of the Rock is an extremely important site for the many of the same reasons. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third most holy site for Muslims. Muslims believe that Muhammad was transported from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to Al-Aqsa during the Night Journey.

The mosque began as a small prayer house which was tumbled by an earthquake in 746. It was rebuilt but then in 1033 another earthquake destroyed most of it. The structure we see today was then constructed. It has been added onto during renovations.

Like the Dome of the Rock, possession went to the Crusaders in 1099 when it was used as a palace and a church. The muslim, Saladin, who I understand rebuilt the current walls of Jerusalem recaptured it in 1187. Although most of the Old City of Jerusalem is under Israeli control, but the mosque, and the whole temple compound remains under the Palestinian-led Islamic waqf.

This photo shows the mosque from outside the temple mount. We are looking at the southern wall of the compound. The silver dome is part of the mosque.


Non muslims may visit the site, but may not lead prayers or worship services. Even as recently as this week, there have been clashes, as Extremist Israeli Jews stormed the compound. Click the red letters to a link on that article dated August 18, 2013. Great tension remains as the balance of control and visitation are challenged.