Today I will take you on a new trip will be again a trip in time. We will be in just one place but at different times. This trip will be pretty long, so take my hand and let’s dive into the darkness of time. Considering that we are in holidays time ( Easter time ) now, I will take to a place regarded as holy. We shall go to Jerusalem to visit Temple Mount, located in the old part of the city and has been considered sacred for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for thousands of years. This place will be over the years disputed by all 3 prominent religions. The place where we are going is actually a hill. But not a usual hill, it is a hill with an extensive history. Here some say that the Solomon Temple stood ( Yes, Solomon temple from where the Templars took their name, and some will express their famous fortune too). Presently, three monuments are standing: Dome of Rock, Dome of the chain, and the Mosque Al-Aqsa. Now, as I was saying earlier, let’s dive into the history of this place.

First stop will in Biblical times, we shall visit King David, we will see him buying this place with 15 silver coins from Araunah the Jebusite. David will meet a prophet who will suggest that he should make here a temple. David will build here an altar to the God of Israel. This place will be considered a holy place by Jews. Here will take place the biblical binding of Isaak. Standing here and letting time go, we will watch from shadow how King Solomon, David’s son, will build the first temple. A temple that will later be an enigma for some( see the Templars history). This place has a lot of meaning for Jews, as I said. We will watch how this temple will stand for many years until Babylonians destroy it. But this won’t be the first temple to be raised and destroyed here. Now we will be in Cyrus’ time, around 538 BCE. He will order a new temple. The new temple will be finished in 516. This will be calm around here for centuries, but a new Empire will rise. The Romans. they will also build here. One will be Herod the Great, who in 19 BCE will extend the hill and rebuild and increase the temple’s size. There were more than 10000 workers involved. A Basilica named Royal Stoa will be constructed on the mountain, a Fortress Antonia Fortress, a rainwater reservoir Birket Israel. 

Christians will also consider the hill holy, a new religion rising up. This place will be supposed to be the place where Jesus will be crucified. Now we will be in Hadrian time. He will construct Aelia Capitolina, a Roman colony. The former temple will be built another temple this temple will be dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus. Hadrian wanted to make a new city for Jews, but he constructed a statue of himself in front of the Jupiter temple. Inside was also a giant statue of Jupiter. Jews considered these idolatrous Romans to sacrifice a pig to purify the land, which was also against Jews traditions. Besides all that, Hadrian did also prohibited circumcision. All of this will make the third revolt be launched. But as we will see, the Jewish rebellion will be crushed, and Jews were forbidden to enter the city and Temple Mount. 

But all that was constructed in Hadrian time will not last as long as in 70 CE during the first Roman-Jewish war, as we will see the fortress destroyed by Titus.

 As I told you, this Mount will always have a temple to be raised and then put down.

Now we will go in Constantine time, he just adopted Christianity, so after the Council of Nicaea, he will destroy the temple from Mount Temple.

Jews, in his time, could come and visit Mount Temple, first when they wanted, and then they could take just once a year.

 In 363, Julian, the nephew of Constantine, is now Emperor; he will grant Jews permission to build a new temple. Julian is considering the Jews God one that could join the Roman Pantheon. He is against Christianity. Jews started to clean and try to build a new temple, but God didn’t like it as you can see a big earthquake-triggered. There is fire springing out of the earth, so we better run and try to not be burnt or hit by a falling stone.

 Running from the earthquake we got in Byzantine time, At this time we will see a beautiful church standing with a lovely mosaic. At this time, things are better quieter. 

But things are about to change as we go to other times, around 600 AD. We will assist how Mount Temple goes to others. The Byzantine Empire will decay, and the Arabs will conquer the region. They found the Temple Mount full of rubbish. Arabs will build a nice mosque here. This will be considered holy. The Muslims believe this place sacred as they think that here is the place where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to “Divine presence “on a black of a winged horse. Because of this belief, Temple Mount is believed to be holy. Now grab my hand, and let’s come back to our normal time. We will soon continue our trip in time. Mount Temple has a lot of history. I hope you enjoyed our trip. 

The picture is not mine. It is from the Internet.

 

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