Editing Second Temple (section)

==Architecture of Herod's Temple==
The Second Temple in Jerusalem was remarkable for its sheer size, surpassing typical temples in the Roman Empire.{{Sfn|Goodman|2006|p=49}}[[File:Fig66temple.png|right|thumb|upright=1.4|Herod's Temple, from [[wikisource:A_Practical_Commentary_on_Holy_Scripture/VII._The_Presentation_in_the_Temple|''A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture'']]]]

The writings of Flavius Josephus and the information in tractate Middot of the [[Mishnah]] had for long been used for proposing possible designs for the Temple up to 70 CE.<ref name="Schiffman" /> The discovery of the [[Temple Scroll]] as part of the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] in the 20th century provided another possible source. Lawrence Schiffman states that after studying Josephus and the Temple Scroll, he found Josephus to be historically more reliable than the Temple Scroll.<ref>Lawrence Schiffman "Descriptions of the Jerusalem Temple in Josephus and the Temple Scroll" in Chapter 11 of "The Courtyards of the House of the Lord", Brill, 2008 {{ISBN|978-90-04-12255-0}}</ref>

=== Temple structure ===
The Temple itself once stood on the location now occupied by the [[Dome of the Rock]], while its gates led to areas adjacent to what would later become the site of the [[Al-Aqsa Mosque]].<ref name="Ritmeyer98">[[Leen Ritmeyer|Leen]] and Kathleen Ritmeyer (1998). ''Secrets of Jerusalem's Temple Mount''.</ref>

A golden vine adorned the gates of the Temple; it is described by both Josephus and the Mishnah. Its fame reached as far as Rome, where it was mentioned by the historian [[Tacitus]].<ref>[[Tacitus]], ''[[Histories (Tacitus)|Histories]]'', V, 5.5</ref>{{Sfn|Goodman|2006|p=49}}

===Temenos expansion, date and duration===
Reconstruction of the temple under [[Herod the Great|Herod]] began with a massive expansion of the Temple Mount [[temenos]]. For example, the Temple Mount complex initially measured {{convert|7|ha}} in size, but Herod expanded it to {{convert|14.4|ha}} and so doubled its area.<ref>Petrech & Edelcopp, "Four stages in the evolution of the Temple Mount", Revue Biblique (2013), pp. 343–344</ref> Herod's work on the Temple is generally dated from 20/19 BCE until 12/11 or 10 BCE. Writer Bieke Mahieu dates the work on the Temple enclosures from 25 BCE and that on the Temple building in 19 BCE, and situates the dedication of both in November 18 BCE.<ref>Mahieu, B., ''Between Rome and Jerusalem'', OLA 208, Leuven: Peeters, 2012, pp. 147–165</ref>

===Elements===
====Platform, substructures, retaining walls====
[[Moriah|Mt. Moriah]] had a plateau at the northern end, and steeply declined on the southern slope. It was Herod's plan that the entire mountain be turned into a giant square platform. The Temple Mount was originally intended{{by whom|date=October 2020}} to be {{convert|1600|ft}} wide by {{convert|900|ft}} broad by 9 stories high, with walls up to {{convert|16|ft}} thick, but had never been finished. To complete it, a trench was dug around the mountain, and huge stone blocks were laid. Some of these weighed well over 100 tons, [[Western Stone|the largest]] measuring {{convert|44.6|x|11|x|16.5|ft}} and weighing approximately 567–628 tons.<ref>Dan Bahat: Touching the Stones of our Heritage, Israeli ministry of Religious Affairs, 2002</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=October 2022}}

====Court of the Gentiles====
The Court of the Gentiles was primarily a [[bazaar]], with vendors selling souvenirs, sacrificial animals, food. Currency was also exchanged, with Roman currency exchanged for [[Tyrian shekel|Tyrian]] money, as also mentioned in the New Testament account of [[Jesus and the Money Changers]], when Jerusalem was packed with Jewish pilgrims who had come for Passover, perhaps numbering 300,000 to 400,000.<ref>[[E. P. Sanders|Sanders, E. P.]] ''The Historical Figure of Jesus''. Penguin, 1993. p. 249</ref><ref name="ActJ">[[Robert W. Funk|Funk, Robert W.]] and the [[Jesus Seminar]]. ''The Acts of Jesus: The Search for the Authentic Deeds of Jesus.'' HarperSanFrancisco. 1998.</ref>

Above the [[Huldah Gates]], on top the Temple walls, was the [[Royal Stoa (Jerusalem)|Royal Stoa]], a large [[basilica]] praised by Josephus as "more worthy of mention than any other [structure] under the sun"; its main part was a lengthy Hall of Columns which includes 162 columns, structured in four rows.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mazar |first=Benjamin |date=1979 |title=The Royal Stoa in the Southern Part of the Temple Mount |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3622363 |journal=Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research |volume=46/47 |pages=381–387 |doi=10.2307/3622363 |issn=0065-6798 |jstor=3622363}}</ref>

The Royal Stoa is widely accepted to be part of Herod's work; however, recent archaeological finds in the Western Wall tunnels suggest that it was built in the first century during the reign of Agripas, as opposed to the 1st century BCE.<ref>{{cite web |title=Israel Antiquities Authority |url=http://www.antiquities.org.il/Article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=1882&hist=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305094222/http://www.antiquities.org.il/Article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=1882&hist=1 |archive-date=2021-03-05 |access-date=2017-01-09}}</ref>

====Pinnacle====
The accounts of the [[temptation of Christ]] in the gospels of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] and [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] both suggest that the Second Temple had one or more '[[pinnacle]]s':

{{blockquote|Then he {{bracket|[[Satan]]}} brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here."<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|4:9|NKJV}}</ref>}}

The Greek word used is {{lang|grc|πτερύγιον}} ({{transliteration|he|pterugion}}), which literally means a tower, rampart, or pinnacle.<ref>{{cite book |title=Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Volume III |publisher=[[Wm. B. Eerdmans]] |year=1976 |editor-last=Kittel |editor-first=Gerhard |editor-link=Gerhard Kittel |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |page=236 |translator-last=Bromiley |translator-first=Geoffrey W. |orig-year=1965 |translator-link=Geoffrey W. Bromiley}}</ref> According to ''[[Strong's Concordance]]'', it can mean little wing, or by extension anything like a wing such as a battlement or parapet.<ref>Strong's Concordance 4419</ref> The archaeologist Benjamin Mazar thought it referred to the southeast corner of the Temple overlooking the [[Kidron Valley]].<ref>Mazar, Benjamin (1975). ''The Mountain of the Lord'', Doubleday. p. 149.</ref>

====Inner courts====
[[File:הסטיו_המלכותי,_The_Royal_Stoa.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|The Royal Stoa in the Holyland Model of Jerusalem]]According to Josephus, there were ten entrances into the inner courts, four on the south, four on the north, one on the east and one leading east to west from the Court of Women to the court of the Israelites, named the [[Cave of Nicanor|Nicanor]] Gate.<ref>Josephus, War 5.5.2; 198; m. Mid. 1.4</ref> According to Josephus, Herod the Great erected a golden eagle over the great gate of the Temple.<ref>Josephus, War 1.648–655; Ant 17.149–63. On this, see ''inter alia'': Albert Baumgarten, 'Herod's Eagle', in Aren M. Maeir, Jodi Magness and Lawrence H. Schiffman (eds), '' 'Go Out and Study the Land' (Judges 18:2): Archaeological, Historical and Textual Studies in Honor of Hanan Eshel'' (JSJ Suppl. 148; Leiden: Brill, 2012), pp. 7–21; Jonathan Bourgel, "[https://www.academia.edu/45647596/Herod_s_golden_eagle_on_the_Temple_gate_a_reconsideration Herod's golden eagle on the Temple gate: a reconsideration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830021833/https://www.academia.edu/45647596/Herod_s_golden_eagle_on_the_Temple_gate_a_reconsideration|date=2023-08-30}}," ''Journal of Jewish Studies'' 72 (2021), pp. 23–44.</ref>

==== Roofs ====
{{Interlanguage link|Joachim Bouflet|lt=Joachim Bouflet|fr}} states that "the teams of archaeologists [[Nahman Avigad]] in 1969–1980 in the [[Herod's Palace (Jerusalem)|Herodian city of Jerusalem]], and Yigael Shiloh in 1978–1982, in the [[City of David (archaeological site)|city of David]]" have proven that the roofs of the Second Temple had no [[dome]]. In this, they support Josephus' description of the Second Temple.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bouflet |first=Joachim |title=Impostures mystiques |publisher=[[Éditions du Cerf]] |year=2023 |isbn=978-2-204-15520-5 |language=fr |trans-title=Mystical Frauds |chapter=Fraudes Mystiques Récentes – Maria Valtorta (1897–1961) – Anachronismes et incongruités}}</ref>