Locating Solomon's Temple
The Temple Mount Platform
Chapter Six
I thought that
finding the water channels ending with a pool next to the Temple was probably
the final thing to confirm this southern location for me, but to my delight,
there was even more surprises to come.
When Herod the Great came into power over the Jews he desired to build
a new Temple. The Porch of Herod's Temple would be 100 cubits wide, much
wider then the old Temple. This required some adjustments to be made in
the width of the original platform created by Solomon, it must also be widened.
The platform included the Temple courts, the woman's court, and the portico on
the east, called Solomon's porch. This platform was called the Way, or
Street leading to the Holy of Holies.
There was a hel, or Chel (kel), a walkway, on both
the south and north sides of the old temple platform.
In the Mishna it
says that Herod set the foundation stone for the new Temple a little more to
the north and to the west of the original temple. In doing this it actually
caused the northern section of the Temple compound to become smaller.
The only way the
northern section could be made smaller is if the inner platform was increased
in width towards the north by Herod, and a new Chel built on the north side.
If my location
for the Temple is correct then there should be evidence in the ruins on
warren's map to confirm it.
Warren shows the
northeast corner of the Triple gate halls, which would have been the Northeast
corner of the old platform.
I marked out the
size of Solomon's platform in red dashed lines. This would have been the
original platform built by Solomon. On this platform he built his porch on the
east. He had claimed the land as far as he could and could go no further
because of the valleys on the east and west.
Notice that the
western hall ends with what looks like a nipple.
When I laid my
diagram over the top of the map I could see that the nipple fit perfectly into
the opening in Herod's northern inner gate.
. 
Herod’s
gate goes beyond the red dashed line of Solomon's platform. Which means
Herod's increased the size of the platform. This also shows that even though
the double halls were made after 70 AD there was still enough of the old ruins
of Herod's gate left as to indicate an opening that could be dug through.
However, Solomon's
gates would have been smaller and a closer together, along with the 10 cubit wide
chel beyond his north inner gate. In this map we can see that Solomon's inner
gates, and the north and south chel were within the perimeters of the old
platform.
Herod's Temple was
to be built more to the north, causing the platform and north inner gate to
also be rebuilt more to the north.
As you can
see, Herod's north inner gate was extended beyond Solomon's platform.
Plus
there must be a chel (walkway) on the north side of the platform, extending the
width of the platform, what appears to be about 20 cubits at a regular Hebrew
cubit.
Notice that
this decreases the northern section of the compound making it the smallest of
the outer courts.
The Mishna says the
southern section of the Temple compound had the most "open
space", then the women's court, followed by the northern
section, which had the least amount of open space.
Remember that Herod
the Great built the Temple and upper courts and gates, but the walls of his
extended compound were added later by his grandson and great grandson and were
not totally complete until 66 AD. This would mean that the old walls of
Solomon's temple remained standing, for the protection of the new temple. So
when it is said that, the northern section was decreased in size by Herod, they
were speaking about the compound within Solomon's old walls, not Herod's
extended compound.
Can I also show this through the ruins? I think so.
Notice the
eastern passage of double halls, the one that extends further north, ends as if
going through a gate opening and then circles out.
So where was the
gate that they dug into? It would have been the ruins of Solomon's old north
gate.
But this gets even
more interesting to me. It reveals how Herod handled the problem of the
Temple being built more to the north than the old one, and yet leaving the East
gate of Solomon remaining in the same place. How then could one see
through the east gate and also through the inner gate and into the Temple
itself? The angle would be wrong. Easily remedied, just make the inner
east gate a double gate with a double wide opening, which Herod did, creating
the Nicanor Gate.
Back when I
first began this in Nov 2000 I really had no idea what I was doing. I was
trying to fit the gates in using the layout similar to that of Ezekiel’s
temple. I hadn't learned yet about the inner east gate being a double wide
gate. Had never heard of the Mishna at that time. Plus information wasn't
really "out there" on the web as it is today. My layout was very
elementary, and was constantly changing as I gained new information. It
was at that time that the Lord gave me a dream about the east inner gate. The
dream was about an old, distinguished Hebrew woman and her young daughter. The
time had come for them to receive their inheritance. Someone handed the
daughter a beautiful box, kind of like an ornate jewelry box. What the old
women inherited was inside the box, and the younger woman inherited the
outside. They opened the box and the old women reached in with both hands
to try and pull out what was hers. But it was part of the structure of the box
itself. If she removed it the box would fall apart. They had to share the
box, with the old and the new as one. I woke up and knew that it meant
the east inner gate was a double gate, and began to draw it that way. A few
months later I ran across the information on the net about the double gate.
I wondered why
the Lord had brought this gate to my attention, in a dream, when he could have
just helped me find the information on the net or library. But now I
think I know why. That gate would end up being one of those "special
things" that would help to prove this theory to me in a very unique way.
.
In
this diagram you can see by the red dashed line that Solomon's gate now sits
directly across from the southern half of the double gate. With the double wide
opening in this gate one would still be able to see into the Temple and view
the curtain of the Holy of Holies with no problem.
Herod’s Temple Courts
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