There are six huge vaulted halls over 30 feet high under the remains of this church. Charles Warren entered and drew these vaults in 1867. An inscription has been found that reads:

And this is the work which was carried out by the generosity of our most gracious Emperor Flavius
Justinian, under the care and devotion of the most holy Constatinos, priest and in the year 534/35.

The Arch of Titus was built in Rome in 82 AD to commemorate the Roman victory over the Jews. It is clear from the images on the Arch that the Golden Candle Stand, the Table of Showbread, and trumpets from the Temple were carried into Rome. Josephus himself testifies to this fact in his book, Wars of the Jews, book 7, chapter 5:

After these triumphs were over, and after the affairs of the Romans were settled on the surest foundations, Vespasian resolved to build a Temple to Peace, which was finished in so short a time, and in so glorious a manner, as was beyond all human expectation and opinion: for he having now by Providence a vast quantity of wealth,
besides what he had formerly gained in his other exploits, he had this temple adorned with pictures and statues; for in this temple were collected and deposited all such rarities as men aforetime used to wander all over the habitable world to see, when they had a desire to see one of them after another; he also laid up therein those golden vessels and instruments that were taken out of the Jewish temple, as ensigns of his glory. But still he gave order that they should lay up their Law, and the
purple veils of the holy place, in the royal palace itself, and keep them there.

The Temple treasures were kept in Rome until Rome fell to the Vandals. The Vandals were in turn defeated by the Byzantine Empire, which recovered the Temple
treasures and took them to Constantinople. During the triumphal procession through Constantinople with the captives and goods taken from the Vandals, the
Jewish Temple treasures where seen among the booty. Procopius records these events of his own day in History of the Wars, book IV, chapter 9:6-9:

. . . among these were the treasures of the Jews, which Titus, the son of Vespasian, together with certain others, had brought to Rome after the
capture of Jerusalem. And one of the Jews, seeing these things, approached one of those known to the emperor and said: "These treasures I think it
inexpedient to carry into the palace in Byzantium. Indeed, it is not possible for them to be elsewhere than in the place where Solomon, the king of the
Jews, formerly placed them. For it is because of these that Gizeric captured the palace of the Romans, and that now the Roman army has captured that the Vandals." When this had been brought to the ears of the Emperor (Justinian), he became afraid and quickly sent everything to the sanctuaries of the Christians in Jerusalem.

Forty-nine years after the death of Justinian and seventy years after the dedication of the Nea Church the Persians captured Jerusalem with help from their
Jewish allies. The Nea Church was plundered in 614 by the Jews and Persians. History records that all churches in Israel at this time, with the exception of
the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, were burnt by the Persian invaders and their Jewish allies. The fact that these churches were plundered is confirmed by
the fact that the Persians captured what the Christians thought was the “True Cross” from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It would appear then that the
Temple treasures taken to Rome by Titus in 70 AD and returned to Jerusalem by Justinian in 534 were possibly taken back by the Jews in 614 from the Nea Church.

After the fall of Jerusalem to the Persians in 614 we lose track of the Temple treasures. What happened to them? Were the Jews silent about their re-discovered Temple treasure? Were the Temple treasures carried away by the Persians? Maybe melted down? Or, were they never located nor removed from their hidden compartments in the lower regions of the Nea Church? Are they still there today? By 617, only three years after victory, the Persians betrayed their Jewish allies by expelling them from Jerusalem and returning Jerusalem to the Christian control of the Byzantine Empire. (Note that the Persian invasion of 614 was not associated with Islam, since it was not until 622 that Mohammed began to spread his
new religion. By 626 Mohammed began slaughtering the Jews of Medina, and the Muslim “faith” began to spread. Muslim war and conquest would arrive in Jerusalem in 638, a mere 21 years after the Persians restored it to the Christians.)

Although plundered and burnt, we know that the remains of the Nea Church continued to stand for several centuries, since it was described by pilgrim writers as still in use in 634 and 808. In fact, in 870 a monk stayed in what was called Charlemagne’s rebuilt Nea Church.

The inscription above the Arch of Titus reads:

SENATUS
POPULUSQUE-ROMANUS
DIVO-TITO-DIVI-VESPASIANI-F
VESPASIANO-AUGUSTO

This translates as:

The Senate
And People of Rome (dedicate this to)
The Divine Titus, Son of Divine Vespasian,
Vespasianus Augustus

Titus’ full name is Titus Vespasianus Augustus. This monument was credited to the Senate and People of Rome and was constructed shortly after Titus’ death at
the hand of his brother Emperor Domitian. (Photo by Bill Wallander)

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