Page 38 - Bible Geography and Near East Studies - Textbook w videos short
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The Temple Mount in Jerusalem
Even today, the walls of Herod’s expanded Temple Mount can be easily spotted in an aerial photo of Jerusalem
(top). Both the photo and the illustrations are from the west, facing east. The Mount of Olives is the hill directly
across from the Temple Mount. The Judean Wilderness and the Dead Sea are barely visible in the distance. In the
photo, the gold-domed Islamic building stands where (or very near) the Temple once stood. In the illustration,
note the close proximity of the likely place of crucifixion, just outside the city walls. The bottom illustration
suggests that the Temple was located south of the existing temple mount today and that today’s temple mount
was actually Fort Antonia, home of the 10 Roman legion (approximately 10,000 people). Josephus describes
th
Fort Antonia as a city within a city. It was approximately 36 acres, the size of the temple mount today.
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