Background Information Old Testament New Testament New Testament (cont.) Gentile Period
1-Biblical Jerusalem 16-Salem, Jebus 33-Ashlar Stones 51-Bethesda Pool 60-Ecce Homo
2-History of Jerusalem 17-Milo, Jebusite Wall 34-Temple Mount 52-Holy Sepulcher 61-Roman Inscription
3a-Map of Today's City 18-Gihon Springs 35-NE of End of Wall 53-Garden Tomb 62-Cardo Maximus
3b-The Four Quarters 19-City of David 36-SE End of Wall 54-Fort Antonia 63-Roman Road
3c-Photos 20-David's Palace 37-Western Wall 55-Phasael Tower 64-New Church
3d-Silwan 21-Temple Mount 38-West Wall Tunnel 56-Struthion Pool 65-Al Aqsa Mosque
4-The Walls Today 22-Solomon's Walls 39-Mikvah, Ritual Baths 57-Gethsemane 66-Dome of the Rock
5-The Gates Today 23-Solomon's Quarries 40-The Large Mikvah 58-Tombs in Hinnom 67-Temple Mount
6-Archaeology Periods 24-Broad Wall 41-Wilson's Arch 59-Jerusalem Tombs 68-Saint Anne's Church
7-Archaeology History 25-Hezekiah's Tunnel 42-Warren's Gate   69-Sultan's Pool
8-Old Ancient Core 26-Middle Gate 43-Barclay's Gate   70-Citadel
9-Kidron Valley 27-Nehemiah's Wall 44-Robinson's Arch   Miscellaneous
10-Central Valley Hasmonean 45-Western Wall Street   Archaeological Finds
11-Hinnom Valley 28-Walls and Towers 46-Western Wall Shops   Jason's Tomb
12-Mount of Olives 29-Aqueduct 47-South Temple Wall   Lazarus' Tomb
13-Mount Moriah 30-Acra 48-Archaeology Park   Tomb of David
14-Western Hill Mt Zion 31-Temple Mount 49-Siloam Road   Via Dolorosa
15-Ophel 32-Tombs in Kidron 50-Siloam Pool    
.............Generation Word Home Page ......................Jerusalem Site Map..................................Jerusalem 101 Home Page
47- The Southern Temple Mount Wall
A 22-foot wide street also ran along the southern wall of the Temple. About 37 feet of this street can still be seen at the southwest corner, where it begins to
ascend rapidly through a series of stairs until it reaches the Double Gate. Although we know the route, the street is not visible after the initial 37-foot section until
it reaches the Double Gate. At the Double Gate it is again visible down to the Triple Gate. Stairs run up to this street from the south, coming up
the Ophel from the south. The remains of these stairs are also still visible. In fact, they are still useful to visitors. As the street continues along the southern wall
toward the east a series of vaults, similar to the vaults under the street along the Western Wall, were built to support it. These vaults, or arches, supported the street along the southern wall and were also used as shops.


Galyn stands on the street that ran along the southern Temple Mount wall. Large, original Herodian ashlar stones still sit where they did 2,000 years
ago in the course of stones that Galyn is looking at. The stones above these large six foot stones are not Herodian. The Romans knocked the Temple
Mount down to this course of large ashlars on the south and quit. The cut margins and the raised bosses of a course of Herodian ashlar can be seen setting below by Galyn's feet at street level. The Mount of Olives can be seen in the background.

CLICK HERE FOR A MUCH LARGE IMAGE OF THE VIEW OF THE SOUTHERN TEMPLE MOUNT WALL FROM AS SEEN FROM SOUTH OF THE CITY OF DAVID.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
   
This photo is the southern double gate that led to a stairway that still exists on the other side of the wall that led worshippers to the Temple Mount. This wall contains a stone fragment from the base of a Roman statue from the Temple Mount dedicated to Hadrian's successor.
The very top stone in the very upper right corner of this photo is a piece of stone from the base of a statue of Antoninus Pius that stood on the temple mound (outlined in blue). The stone contains an inscription. Hadrian would have had the statue set on the temple mount along with the Temple of Jupiter that he built after his defeat of the Jews in 135 AD.
Hadrian’s inscription reads:
TITO AEL HADRIANO
ANTONINO AUG PIO
P P PONTIF AUGUR
D D

Translation of Latin:
To Titus Ael[ius] Hadrianus
Antoninus Aug[ustus] Pius
the f[ather] of the f[atherland], pontif[ex], augur.
D[ecreed] by the D[ecurions]		  
The block with the inscription from the statue has been reused and is placed in the southern wall of the Temple Mount upside down.
Close up of the upside down block with the inscription
The Roman Temple of Jupiter was torn down by Constantine. The stones were used later by the Muslims to build the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This inscription was found and placed upside down to replace a broken stone above this gate.

Hershel Shanks (archaeologist and editor of Biblical Archaeology Review) says:
"Hadrian erected an equestrian statue of himself on the Temple Mount. The anonymous fourth-century pilgrim known only as the Bordeaux Pilgrim reports that he saw two statues of Hadrian on the Temple Mount when he visited the site. The Bordeaux Pilgrim probably mistakenly identified the second statue; Hadrian's successor, Antonius Pius (138-161 AD), probably added an equestrian statue of himself, which the Bordeaux Pilgrim saw. . . It is quite possible the the Bordeaux Pilgrim saw this inscription when it was part of a statue on the Temple Mount. But he misread it. Antonius had been adopted by Hadrian and named as his successor in 138 A.D. Thus, Antoninus's name included the name of Hadrian. The Bordeaux Pilgrim apparently looked only at the first two lines and concluded that it was a second statue of Hadrian. Both had a thick beard and looked much alike when they were older. Some modern scholars have made the same mistake and read the same inscription now in secondary use as referring to Hadrian instead of Antoninus. They apparently focused on the name Hadrianus, ignoring the following name, Antoninus.
  
   
   
   

JERUSALEM: HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY AND
APOLOGETIC PROOF OF SCRIPTURE

Request Galyn Wiemers' 250 page book by
simply sending your shipping address to:

gw@generationword.com

(click on the book cover to download .pdf of book)


For Bible teaching audio, video and study tools
visit Generation Word's home page at
www.generationword.com

Visit Generation Word Bible Teaching Ministry

Return to "JERUSALEM 101" home page