The Temple Mount: The History and Legacy of Jerusalem’s Holiest Hill
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The Temple Mount: The History and Legacy of Jerusalem’s Holiest Hill
Sale price
$18.99
Regular price $22.99
There was not any one entity more central to the Yahwistic Judean religion during the monarchy than the temple of Solomon. It symbolized the presence of YHWH in the nation, as well as his enduring protection of the nation and the Davidic royal throne. Judean worshippers directed their prayers toward the Solomonic temple, and eventually, the Judean prophets and theologians declared that this was the only legitimate location where priests could perform sacrifices and other religious rites for YHWH. Its significance can be seen most clearly in the dramatic cognitive dissonance experienced by the Judeans in Babylonian captivity after the destruction of the temple, which had been so central to their religious conception that they had great difficulty reconciling its destruction with their continued belief in YHWH at all.
The Siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. is arguably the most important event in Jewish history. First, it was the central battle in the First Jewish-Roman war. Second, the failure of the siege on the Jewish side resulted in the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, a disaster that would eventually prove both permanent and catastrophic, since it was never rebuilt. Third, it permanently altered the diaspora of Judaism in the Ancient World. Fourth, because it was indecisive in breaking the power of the Jewish revolt permanently, it was also inconclusive and led to further, inevitable revolts that broke Judean identity completely.
Following centuries of persecution, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire under Constantine the Great, and the eastern half of the empire (which later became the Byzantine Empire) took charge of Jerusalem and the Levant, controlling the area and its flow of pilgrims. However, the Byzantines were displaced in the early 7th century when an Arab Muslim army took Jerusalem in 634, and with that the Holy Land was lost to the Christians, who mourned its loss for centuries as they remained unable to take it back. This sense of loss was exacerbated by disputes over pilgrimage rights to Jerusalem for both Christians and Jews. Since attitudes from one Muslim ruler to the next were fluid in regard to tolerance of minority religious groups, this added to a sense of uncertainty regarding Christian and Muslim access to the holy shrines, access which was paramount to ongoing Christian and Jewish identity. While it remains unclear how tolerant Muslim attitudes in the Levant during this time were over the long-term, the lack of control of such holy sites contributed to a sense of permanent anxiety among the Christians especially. Continuing patterns of expansion and contraction on the borders of the Byzantine Empire also added to the political instability of the region.
Christian Crusaders would famously conquer Jerusalem at the end of the 11th century, but by then, there was an Islamic structure situated over what had previously been the Second Temple (destroyed over 900 years earlier by the Romans as they exiled the Jews), and it remains there to this day.
Among the world’s most recognizable man-made structures, the Dome of the Rock – known in Arabic as the Qubbat as-Sakara – is also one of its most mysterious. Although much of the Dome’s construction, reconstruction, and later additions are well-known from historical texts and archeological work, what it represents, why it was built where it was, and even its use remain the subject of scholarly controversy. Known for its immense size and beauty, and also for being located in the middle of Jerusalem, one of the world’s holiest cities, the Dome of the Rock has been the focus of political leaders who wished to legitimize their rule, religious warriors who believed that it empowered their weapons, and pilgrims who thought it was a site of salvation and enlightenment.
The Siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. is arguably the most important event in Jewish history. First, it was the central battle in the First Jewish-Roman war. Second, the failure of the siege on the Jewish side resulted in the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, a disaster that would eventually prove both permanent and catastrophic, since it was never rebuilt. Third, it permanently altered the diaspora of Judaism in the Ancient World. Fourth, because it was indecisive in breaking the power of the Jewish revolt permanently, it was also inconclusive and led to further, inevitable revolts that broke Judean identity completely.
Following centuries of persecution, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire under Constantine the Great, and the eastern half of the empire (which later became the Byzantine Empire) took charge of Jerusalem and the Levant, controlling the area and its flow of pilgrims. However, the Byzantines were displaced in the early 7th century when an Arab Muslim army took Jerusalem in 634, and with that the Holy Land was lost to the Christians, who mourned its loss for centuries as they remained unable to take it back. This sense of loss was exacerbated by disputes over pilgrimage rights to Jerusalem for both Christians and Jews. Since attitudes from one Muslim ruler to the next were fluid in regard to tolerance of minority religious groups, this added to a sense of uncertainty regarding Christian and Muslim access to the holy shrines, access which was paramount to ongoing Christian and Jewish identity. While it remains unclear how tolerant Muslim attitudes in the Levant during this time were over the long-term, the lack of control of such holy sites contributed to a sense of permanent anxiety among the Christians especially. Continuing patterns of expansion and contraction on the borders of the Byzantine Empire also added to the political instability of the region.
Christian Crusaders would famously conquer Jerusalem at the end of the 11th century, but by then, there was an Islamic structure situated over what had previously been the Second Temple (destroyed over 900 years earlier by the Romans as they exiled the Jews), and it remains there to this day.
Among the world’s most recognizable man-made structures, the Dome of the Rock – known in Arabic as the Qubbat as-Sakara – is also one of its most mysterious. Although much of the Dome’s construction, reconstruction, and later additions are well-known from historical texts and archeological work, what it represents, why it was built where it was, and even its use remain the subject of scholarly controversy. Known for its immense size and beauty, and also for being located in the middle of Jerusalem, one of the world’s holiest cities, the Dome of the Rock has been the focus of political leaders who wished to legitimize their rule, religious warriors who believed that it empowered their weapons, and pilgrims who thought it was a site of salvation and enlightenment.