History of the Temple of Jerusalem and the Wailing Wall

Foreheads gently touch the unornamented stone, as worshippers stand as secure as possible to the ruin. Then again, this collection of sandy-white stones is anything but a ruin; it is arguably the holiest memorial to those associated with the religion of Judaism. These rocks make up a wall that looms at the base of a valley in Jerusalem, a city positioned at the intersection of Israel and the West Bank. It is the Western Wall, sometimes called the Wailing Wall. Holding greater importance than the name, however, the wall is all that remains of the Second Temple of the Israelites, which was destroyed in 70 A.D. Every year, thousands of people take pilgrimages to the Wall to pray and hold religious rituals. It intensifies in its supreme role as a hallowed site to the Jewish community with every passing moment. More significantly, the Western Wall is a testament to the progressive history of Yahweh's Temple and, indirectly, the Jews (Gelernter).

King David, who ruled Israel and Judah from 1000 B.C. to his death in 961 B.C., was the first to suggest the building of a temple to honor God in Israel (Pixley 35). David thought it was unnecessary for him to live in since a lavishly furnished palace while the Ark of the Covenant was kept in a tabernacle, which was a tent (Josephus 124). Deciding it was best to first consult Nathan the prophet of Yahweh, David met an objection due to Nathan's acknowledgment of the threat in allowing the king to monitor the worship of God (Pixley 35). Nathan, though, told David he could do what he chose to do. At night, God appeared to Nathan and confirmed what the prophet had suspected; David should not build the Temple because he had been involved in numerous wars and was tainted with the blood of his enemies. The construction of the Temple would be placed on the shoulders of King David's son. David was ecstatic to hear he would finally be blessed with a son and abstained from the Temple project (Josephus 125). This, however, did not stop David from preparing his young son for the construction. After offering a sacrifice to God on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem and seeing that Yahweh was pleased with it, David chose the site as the location for the Temple. He imported cedar trees from Tyre and Sidon, prepared stone, cedar, bronze and iron, and appointed eighty thousand masons to cut the stone (Josephus 134).

Solomon assumed the role of king after the death of David in 961 B.C. The kingdom was so secure upon his rise to the throne that Solomon was able to fully concentrate on the internal dealings of the Israelites; a house for the Ark of the Covenant topped this list (Israelites 113). In addition, Solomon negotiated a treaty of friendship with Hiram, king of Tyre. Using these conditions to his advantage, Solomon began the official building of the Temple for Yahweh four years into his reign (Josephus 139). Work crews were organized; each unit spent a month at the work site before returning home for two months to cover their actual tasks. Thirty thousand workers were called upon to bring fine wood from Tyre and there were also sixty thousand burden bearers (Pixley 42). Hiram granted Solomon many of his skillful craftsmen in exchange for a yearly allotment of twenty thousand kors (a standard measurement at the time equivalent to 370 liters) of grain, oil, and wine (Josephus 139). Three thousand servants to Solomon were put in charge of managing the laborers. The general supervisor of all the forced labor was Adoram, who was also known as Adoniram (Pixley 42).

The Temple of Jerusalem was modeled after Canaanite temples the Israelites had come across during their liberation from slavery in Egypt, otherwise known as the Exodus. These shrines, constructed in the thirteenth century B.C., consisted of three parts: an outer room, an inner room, and a space where images of God and offerings to Him were kept. The Israelite Temple utilized this rudimentary design pattern (Israelites 84). King Hiram of Tyre and the Phoenicians are also credited with many of the architectural components of the Temple. At that time, the Phoenician people had demonstrated their tremendous building skills within the Temple of Melqart in Tyre. Still regarded as a structure that was unmatched in magnificence in the Mediterranean region, the Temple of Melqart lent the ideas of an outer hallway, a central open courtyard, an annex of rooms for the Temple staff, and two pillars outside the front entrance to this colossal project (Khalaf). Working alongside King Hiram's masons and the Phoenician bronzeworker, named Huram, the Israelites slaved for seven years before the Temple was finally complete (Josephus 140).

The body of Solomon's Temple was made of white marble, sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide standing two stories high (Josephus 140). It rested on a foundation of perfectly shaped stone that had been quarried in the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Jbail (Khalaf). Each wall of the Temple was erected with two rows of bulky stone, the gap in between plugged with rubble (Israelites 85). The roof was cedar and the walls were sporadically embellished with gold-covered cedar. The interior of the Temple was divided into two rooms. The Sanctum or Holy of Holies, the innermost of the two rooms, was decorated with two golden cherubim, which held the Ark of the Covenant between them. The outer chamber was furnished with a golden alter of incense, ten thousand candlesticks, and a golden table which held loaves of bread dedicated to God. Thousands of vessels containing gold and silver were situated around the rooms. A porch and thirty separate chambers surrounded the two rooms. One of these rooms was the court where sacrifices were offered on a bronze altar. A great washbasin rested on the backs of six golden calves. The "bronze sea", as the basin was called, allowed the priests to wash their hands before offering sacrifices. Two bronze pillars towered at the entrance of the temple; one was named Jachin, and the other Boaz. Around 200,000 trumpets and 40,000 stringed instruments were ordered to play at the Temple (Josephus 140).

Upon the completion of the Temple, Solomon gathered the Hebrew people in Jerusalem to celebrate as the priests moved the Ark of the Covenant into the Sanctum (Josephus 139). Shortly afterwards, God appeared to Solomon during slumber and gave him a choice. God would live in the Temple forever if the people were just, but if the people deserted Him and began worshipping false gods the Temple would fall, and the Hebrews would be removed from their land (Josephus 141).

In 931 B.C., after the death of Solomon, the king's son Rehoboam took the position of the leader of the Hebrews. Rehoboam was young and unable to deal with the every-day running of the kingdom. One of his major problems was his heavy taxation, something the inhabitants of Northern Israel were not quiet about (Israelites 115-116). Under the leadership of Jeroboam, ten of the twelve tribes broke away from Rehoboam, keeping their collective name of Israel (Pixley 48). The two remaining tribes stayed loyal to Rehoboam, adopting a name for the kingdom from one of the tribes--Judah, which later evolved into the people of Judah being called Jews. Jerusalem was within the borders of Judah, and therefore the Temple became sole property of the Southern section of the former country of Israel (Israelites 116).

The Jews turned away from God and began worshipping foreign gods. Josiah, the king at the time, urged the people to appease the Lord, but all was too late as the prophetess Huldah warned Josiah; God had already passed sentence and Judah would be punished (Josephus 177). In the 590s and 580s B.C., Babylonia, led by Nebuchadnezzar, was aggressive, guzzling up the land of other empires. Assyria, which had broadened its cultural influence into Judah, was now on the defensive, thwarted by an alliance of Babylonian and Median forces (Isserlin 89). With this withering of the power of the Assyrians, the tribes of Judah saw their chance to reestablish their old form of government. The "people of the land" installed Jehoahaz as king but he was captured by the Egyptian empire and enslaved. Pharaoh Necho II put his brother Eliakim, or Jehoiakim, on the Judean throne as an Egyptian vassal.

The Babylonians were in a struggle with Egypt as well, and Nebuchadnezzar turned his sights towards the Egyptian-controlled states of Syria, Palestine, and Judah (Isserlin 90). Jehoiakim fought back against the Egyptians in Judah in 600 B.C. with hopes of Egyptian reinforcements to aid in the battle. Nebuchadnezzar, though, was helped by Ammonite and Moabite warriors, and marched on Jerusalem in 597 B.C. The siege on the city lasted a few months but Jehoiakim's stand finally came to an end mainly due to famine. Jerusalem was conquered and the Jews were taken to Babylon as slaves (Isserlin 91). Nebuchadnezzar's army general, Nebuzaradan, looted all the Temple's riches and then set fire to it (Josephus 179). As a result, the Temple crumpled 470 years after it had risen. The gold, silver, and other treasures of Yahweh's Temple were taken to Babylon, and the vessels of the outer chamber were devoted to Nebuchadnezzar's personally-favored gods (Josephus 180).

In the seventieth year of the Jewish captivity in Babylonia, 539 B.B., Cyrus became king of Persia, an empire that had conquered the Babylonians (Pixley 111). God pitied His chosen people due to their sorry situation during this time, and encouraged Cyrus to let the most distinguished Jews of Babylon return to the Promised Land, and restore Jerusalem and the Temple. Even more, Cyrus contributed funding and laborers to the project. Although some of the Jews chose to stay in Babylon, 42,462 tribal leaders, priests and Levites returned to their land with the holy vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had stolen in tow (Josephus 186). Jerusalem was a piece of the province of Samaria at this time in history, and the governor of the province had the task of supervising the development (Pixley 112). During the Persian reign of Cambyses, the Samarians convinced the king that the Jews were a defiant race and would attempt to overthrow the Persians. Cambyses agreed and stopped the process of re-erecting the Temple of Yahweh, at the same time dispersing the Jews from their land once again. A few months after the death of Cambyses, Darius became king of Persia, and, at the suggestion of his bodyguard Zerubbabel, allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem. This time, 89,204 men, women and children were selected to return, and work developed quickly on the Temple. Despite the Samaritan cries to the Persians that the Temple resembled a fortress, it was complete within seven years (Josephus 186-188).

Herod became the king of Judea in 37 B.C. Herod the Great, as he became known, was a procurator to the Roman government, meaning Herod was accountable to them (Josephus 247). Locals of the Middle East during that time found their old buildings ugly and an embarrassment to their culture; modern edifices were considered a sign of progress (Khalaf). With this belief, Herod decided the Temple needed a remodeling and an enlargement eighteen years into his reign. The funding came from his own pocket. He placed new foundations and made the Temple taller. Surrounding the unprecedented structure stood 162 columns. Four courts stood within the Temple walls at the closing stages of the project. A citadel was added where the high priest's robes were stored (Josephus 247). In addition, the fortress Antonia was constructed to overlook the Temple (Pixley 151). The priests completed this addition to the Temple in a year and a half, and it is said that no rain fell during the construction as to not interrupt the blessed achievement (Josephus 247).

The Jews revolted against the Roman Empire in the year 66 A.D. The Romans, who were always ready for war, began to decimate Judea. Jerusalem did its best to hold off the mighty empire but the Romans were able to breach the walls surrounding the city. When Antonia fell after only three days, the Temple became a last hope, a Zealot safe house for those whom had not been captured or killed. The Temple was defended better than the rest of Jerusalem but famine was a problem; the termination of the daily sacrifices was an ominous sign of its future fate (Levine 507).

Titus, the military commander of the Romans at the time and the son of the Roman emperor Vespasian, ordered the gates of the Temple set on fire, allowing the legions to enter the outer courts. Debate raged between Titus and his advisors over what should be done with the Temple. They finally agreed to spare the ornament of the Jewish faith as long as it wasn't used as a fortress. During a last-ditch effort by the Jews, a Roman soldier not thinking of his orders heaved a burning brand through a window into one of the chambers surrounding the sanctuary. The flames grew as other soldiers rushed to throw torches in and trap the frightened Jews. Titus was furious when he arrived at the Temple to find it ablaze. He tried to stop the actions but there was too much confusion. The Romans entered the sanctuary to find it free of the plague that had struck the outer parts of the Temple. Titus made one last attempt to smother the fire and preserve the sanctuary. The troops were blinded by their hate for the Jews, however, and set fire to the inner Temple (Josephus 358-361). In August of the year 70, the Temple fell for the last time (Levine 507).

Yahweh's Temple served both as a numinous sanctuary for the people of Israel, and later Judea, and as a royal palace chapel (Isserlin 81). It attended to many of the functions of a budding nation as well as visually representing the divine authorization, and reign of the king responsible for its creation and his heirs (Meyers 262). At first, the Temple not only enhanced the role of Jerusalem as the religious hub of Israel, but also brought the crown closer to the religious establishment of the Israelites (Isserlin 81). Built in Jerusalem on royal property, the Temple was operated as a royal institution. The priests were state officials with an important role to play in the social structure. These priests guaranteed that Solomon enjoyed social authority through their mysticism and feasts (Pixley 42).

Another visualization that was illustrated through the Temple, or, more specifically, the Ark, was the reality of Yahweh's presence on Earth. As Carol Meyers comments, "Just as God ruled from a throne in a heavenly abode, so divine presence and power emanated from an earthly structure--a temple" (262). The Temple was important in making other countries realize that the Ark of the Covenant meant that God supported the Israeli or Judean king and his government (Meyers 263). This meant that Yahweh blessed whoever was sitting on the throne. Since this was the same God who freed the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, the people regarded that particular individual as the "chosen king" (Pixley 42). Through this reasoning, the idea that the king ruled by the grace of God was reinforced. Kingship in Israel was strongly established (Isserlin 81).

The image of Yahweh's approval of the Hebrew government was a relief and aid to the Jews in Jerusalem who could not successfully perform their diplomatic, imperialistic and national functions without it. The army of Israel was able to attain military supremacy over neighboring areas, and this was legitimized by the Temple of Jerusalem when representatives visited to negotiate peace settlements (Meyers 263). The Temple was able to contribute, although minutely, to the economy as well. Animals, spices, oil, salt and flour were transported in to benefit the sacrificial system (Isserlin 180).

Additionally, the Temple was a rallying point for the Jewish community; it was a sign of nationalism and independence. After destroying the Temple in 70 A.D., the Romans decided not to restore the Temple because of this very fact. Without Yahweh's Temple, among other things, the Jews found themselves encircled by death and easily controlled (Levine 511).

There have been a few attempts at resurrecting the Temple of Jerusalem throughout history but all have fallen short. The Temple has become a symbol of the archetype of the Jewish history. Rituals and practices have developed from Temple experiences, which continue to be recounted in liturgies, schools and documents. But these experiences occur either in the spoken or written word, never in the living flesh (Levine 511). The foundation of the western wall was all that was salvaged from the vicious burning at the hands of the Roman Empire two-thousand years ago. Presently, Jews from all around the world visit the Wailing Wall to lament the massacre of 70 A.D., to reflect on a piece of their history that they were not able to witness, and to consider themselves a component of the cherished legacy that was the Temple (Khalaf).

Works Cited

Gelernter, David. "Judaism beyond words: Part 2." Commentary. New York, September 2002. 39-45. Proquest. 23 October 2002 http://www.proquest.com>.

Isserlin, B.S.J. The Israelites. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1998.

Josephus. Josephus: The Essential Writings. Ed. and Trans. Paul L. Maier. Grand Rapids, Minnesota: Kregel Publications, 1988.

The Israelites. Time-Life Books: New York, 1975.

Khalaf, Salim George. "King Solomon's Temple." A Bequest Unearthed, Phoenicia. http://phoenicia.org/temple.html> December 9, 2002

Levine, Amy-Jill. "Visions of Kingdoms." The Oxford History of the Biblical World. Ed. Michael D. Coogan. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. 507-511.

Meyers, Carol. "Kinship and Kingship." The Oxford History of the Biblical World. Ed. Michael D. Coogan. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. 262-263.

Pixley, Jorge. Biblical Israel. Managua, Nicaragua: Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1992.