Solomons Temple: Myth, Conflict, and Faith

In this carefully researched and beautifully illustrated work, Alan Balfour places the Temple Mount within its cultural context, making a vital contribution to our understanding of the Middle East today.
Jonathan Schneer, Author of The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the Arab–Israeli Conflict.

With the skill of a master detective, scholar and architect, Alan Balfour peels away the layers of time to reveal the astonishing history of one of the world s most significant places.
Robert Campbell, The Boston Globe.

This work charts the interrelated histories of Solomon s Temple and Islam s Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem over the course of three thousand years.

Alan Balfour, a leading architectural historian, combines scrupulous research, primary documentation, and ample illustration, with an authoritative and elegant narration to chronicle the history of a place that serves as a cultural nexus of Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. He vividly re–creates the will of the players Solomon, Herod, Christ, Paul, Muhammad and the epic events that have been played out on this sacred ground, which continues to compel the imagination of all the religions of the book.

The book details the constructions and reconstructions from its founding into the present and the continuing struggle after the Israel Arab wars; anticipating the future controversies about the possession and use of the site. Alongside the pilgrims, plunderers, and power brokers, Solomon s Temple depicts the many travelers and artists who have passed through, narrated, and imagined the Temple across the millennia.

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

vi Contents

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

Contents vii

Epilogue 282

Acknowledgments, Sources, and Methods 290

Index 295

Alan Balfour is Professor and Dean of the College of Architecture at Georgia Tech. Formerly he has served as dean of Schools of Architecture in Texas and New York and was chairman of the Architectural Association in London. His writings include Creating a Scottish Parliament and books on three world cities Shanghai, New York, and Berlin. He has received numerous awards, including the Topaz Medal, the highest recognition given in North America to an educator in architecture.