What Was Jerusalem Like In The Time Of Jesus?

Ever Wonder What Jesus’ Jerusalem Looked Like?

THE CITY OF JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – Is it possible to imagine what Jerusalem looked like 2,000 years ago, when Jesus was on our planet?
Thousands of Christians who go to biblical sites in Israel each year may now take part in an exciting new tour at Jerusalem’s Israel Museum, which utilizes objects and instances to bring additional details from the time of Jesus to life.
The trip is free and open to the public.
One of the museum’s most unusual displays is a gigantic model of Jerusalem depicting the city at the time of the Second Jewish Temple.

There are several stops on the new ″Cradle of Christianity″ tour, including artifacts that help to tell the biblical story better.″This is the Jerusalem that Jesus was familiar with.This is the city of Jerusalem that Herod the Great constructed ″The Israel Museum’s David Mevorach, senior curator of Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine archaeology, explained the significance of the find.According to Mevorach, the approach will provide Christians with a more comprehensive understanding of certain topics referenced in scripture.

The Temple, which was the grandest monument in the city at the time, is prominently displayed on the gigantic model.As Mevorach said to CBN News, the model was made on a scale of 1 to 50 and depicts major areas that Jesus passes through, such as the waters of Bethesda, where Jesus performed one of his miracles of healing.There is just one Temple for one God in this city, and it is all in the surrounding area of this city.″ The second stop on the new trip is the Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls and is a world-renowned pilgrimage destination.

The scrolls include the earliest manuscripts of the books of the Hebrew Bible, which date back thousands of years.Then there are the antiquities from the Temple Mount itself, which are both uncommon and significant.Mevorach added that while the Temple Mount’s supporting walls still exist, the Wailing Wall is the Western Wall that serves as a symbol of the project’s support.″However, just a few artifacts from the structures themselves have survived,″ he said.The trip will include the viewing of two major items from the old Temple Mount from the time of Jesus.A Hebrew inscription on one of them, Mevorach explained, ″indicates that the priest should stand and blast his horn at the entry of Saturday – indicating that it is time to stop working – and again at the exit of Saturday, indicating that it is time to start working.″ ″The other sign is written in the Greek language.

There were signs in Greek and Latin prohibiting gentiles from entering the Temple itself on the Temple Mount, and it served as a perimeter around the Temple itself in Jerusalem ″he explained.
According to Mevorach, it is uncommon to come across items that have a clear connection to historical persons.
According to him, ″we were exceedingly fortunate in the situation of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion.″ ″Three of the items are immediately related to the tale and the details, and two of them are directly related to the most crucial persons in Jesus’ final days,″ says the author.

″Joseph, son of Caiaphas the high priest,″ reads the inscription on one of the ossuaries, which are burial bone boxes.According to him, ″we are almost 100 percent certain that this is the Caiaphas that we know from stories in the New Testament, the high priest who arrests Jesus and turns him over to the Romans for his trial.″ The second is a stone with the name Pontius Pilate carved onto it.A portion of it was discovered in the Mediterranean port city of Caesarea, which was also the capital of Judea at the time, in secondary use as a theater step.

And perhaps the most interesting artifact for Christians is evidence of the practice of crucifixion in ancient Rome, which was discovered in an ossuary.″There’s a massive iron nail driven through the heel bone right here, which you can see right here.This is the only known example of an actual crucifixion anywhere in the world ″he explained.

What do visitors have to say about the place?″Just seeing the artifacts made it come alive and to see what I’ve read about made it come alive in my life,″ said Terry Herndon from Birmingham, Alabama.″To see so many artifacts of world history and of our Christian faith in one place so quickly and to be able to comprehend it so quickly is just really amazing and it really confirms our faith, it confirms what the Bible teaches us and teaches us the place of our Christian faith in world history, context, it’s outstanding,″ another visitor said.

What was the Temple like in Jesus’s Time?

In the New Testament, the Temple in Jerusalem is given a significant amount of importance. It served as the focal point of the Jewish faith, and as a result, it served as the focal point of many of Jesus’ teachings. Not only were many of Jesus’ teachings delivered at the temple, but his lectures were also replete with allusions to, imagery from, and symbolism from the temple.

1) It was called the “Second Temple” and “Herod’s Temple

In fact, it was known as the ″second temple″ because the original temple, which had been constructed by Solomon, had been entirely destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC when they toppled the kingdom of Judah and brought the remaining Jews into captivity in Babylon (this story is told in the books of 2 Kings, Jeremiah, and Lamentations in the Old Testament).
After nearly 60 years in captivity, the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple by the Persian Emperor Cyrus (this story is told in the books2nd Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah in the Old Testament).
The Jews, under the leadership of a man named Zerubbabel, constructed the wall around Jerusalem and began laying the groundwork for the reconstruction of the temple.
As a result, the second temple was sometimes referred to as ″Zerubbabel’s Temple,″ because it was he who was responsible for initiating its construction.

During the Jewish Revolt in 515 BC, the Jews rededicated this second temple.Herod the Great was the Roman monarch of Judea from 37 BC to AD 4.He was the son of Herod the Great.He was referred to as ″the great″ not because he was a wonderful king, but rather because of the enormous and ″great″building projects that he commissioned in Judea during his reign that were considered monumental and ″great.″ He was responsible for the development of a water supply system for Jerusalem, as well as the construction of spectacular fortifications and palaces at Masada and Herodium.

The reconstruction and substantial enlargement of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, however, was his most ambitious effort to that point.By Herod’s time, the second temple had been in use for about 500 years and was in poor condition, having been pillaged by a variety of invaders throughout the decades.According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Herod wished to immortalize his name through his construction projects, which were funded by the imposition of high taxes on his subjects.

Herod became an unpopular king as a result of this, and it is likely that his emphasis on restoring and extending the Jewish temple was an attempt to soothe and mollify the Jewish community.During the construction of the temple, Herod lavished lavish sums of money upon it.He commissioned the design from architects from Greece, Rome, and Egypt, while the actual building was carried out by Jewish priests as part of their priestly responsibilities.Prior to Herod’s construction effort, the temple was a modest structure consisting only of the sanctuary building and the outer court on the summit of Mount Moriah, which was very insignificant.In order to encompass the entire mountain, Herod extended the temple to the point where it was a gigantic rectangular platform the length of 10 football fields, with massive retaining walls around it on all sides.Instead of only the temple, there was a complete Temple complex known as the ″temple mount″ that had been built.

In addition to the original temple with its holy of hollies in the middle, this temple hill comprised outlying courtyards, multiple gates with sweeping stairs, vast walls, and even a Roman fortress known as the Antonia Fortress, among other things.
It was one of the most spectacular structures of its day, and it swiftly rose to become the focal point of Jewish identity and devotion in the city.
No one knows how long it took to construct, although it is possible that sections of it were still in the process of being built during the lifetime of Jesus.

2) It was Missing Some Important Parts

They made every effort to re-create the first temple, Solomon’s Temple, as closely as possible when they built the second one.
However, there were a few items that were destroyed or lost after the demolition of the first temple that could not be recreated.
These items included: This is what the Latter-Day Saint Bible Dictionary has to say about it: The Jews considered the temple of Zerubbabel to be inferior to the temple of Solomon in five ways: (1) the absence of the Ark of the Covenant (which was either lost or destroyed during the destruction of Jerusalem and never replaced); (2) the Shechinah, or manifestation of the glory of the Lord; (3) the Urim and the Thummim (Ezra 2:63); (4) the presence of the holy fire on the altar; and (5) the presence of the spirit of prophecy.
The Ark of the Covenant, together with the Mercy Seat, served as the focal point of the Jewish temple.

It was physically in the middle of the building, within the Holy of Hollies, and was considered to be God’s real dwelling place on earth at the time.It was during the time when the Ark was in the temple that the Shechinah, which is a Hebrew term that meaning ″dwelling place,″ was present in the temple.God was in attendance.The Ark, the Shechinah, the dwelling place of God, and the demonstrations of His might were no longer available because of the destruction of the Ark.

The temple in Jesus’ day was a visually gorgeous structure, but it was spiritually devoid of meaning.Strangely enough, the only object that remained in the Hollies of Hollies during Jesus’ lifetime was the ″foundation stone,″ a big rock upon which the ark of the covenant originally rested, which dates back to the time of Jesus.The High Priest regarded this stone as if it were the Ark of the Covenant, sprinkling it with the blood of atonement on Yom Kippur, in the absence of the ark.

Today, the foundation stone is still in the same location, but it is now housed within the Muslim mosque known as the Dome of the Rock, which sits on the site of the former Jewish temple.The rock is considered sacred by Muslims because it is the location where Muhammad began his ″Night Journey,″ during which he saw God.This rock is considered sacred by Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike.It is all that is left of the original temple of Solomon, which once housed the ark of the covenant and served as the location where God used to reside on the earth.

3) It was was run by a Priestly Aristocracy

In Jesus’ day, the temple was administered by a priestly class known as the Sadducees.
Being members of the tribe of Levi, they were tasked with the obligation of overseeing and offering sacrifices at the Temple of Jerusalem.
Because the temple was so important to Jewish religion and living, they occupied a prominent place in Jerusalem, which offered them both status and financial gain.
In addition to overseeing the temple, the Sadducees maintained close ties with the Roman government, collecting taxes from Jews on behalf of the Romans, equipping and leading the army, representing Jews both domestically and internationally, and participating in the Sanhedrin– a type of Jewish Supreme Court– among other activities.

As the ruling elite of Judean society, the Sadducees had great riches as a result of their priestly responsibilities over the temple complex.As recorded in Matt.21:12-17, when Jesus cleansed the temple by overturning the tables of the money changers, he was effectively targeting the Sadducees, who derived their riches from the temple.

4) Not Everyone Could Go Inside

The temple in Jerusalem was split into several distinct courts, or divisions, with each court becoming more limited in terms of who was allowed to enter and leave.
The ″Court of the Gentiles″ was the name given to the first section of the temple, which consisted of a massive outside court with big open gates.
It was referred to as the Court of the Gentiles because it was available to everyone, including non-Jews, and was hence known as such (Gentiles).
Only menstruation women, who were deemed ″unclean″ under Jewish law, were denied entry into the Court of the Gentiles, according to Josephus.

When it came to temple products, such as animals for sacrifice, the Court of the Gentiles was a public gathering place where a lot of the buying and selling took place.If we compare it to the grounds of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, which, while being surrounded by four walls with gates on each side, is accessible to the public, we may conceive of it as a place where anybody can go within.The ″Court of the Women″ was the next phase of the temple, and it was reached by passing through the ″Beautiful Gate″ of the temple.In order to guarantee that only ritually pure Jewish men and women were allowed to access this section of the temple, this gate was guarded.

It was discovered that two inscriptions, known as the Soreg inscriptions, were set outside this gate to warn Gentiles that they were not permitted to proceed any farther.″The middle of the construction was the highest, and the front wall was built with beams that rested on interlocking pillars,″ Josephus wrote.″The front wall was erected with beams that rested on interlocking pillars.″ This wall was constructed of highly glossed stones that were so perfectly polished that individuals who saw it for the first time were taken aback by how beautiful it was.

In this section, you will find the description of the initial structure.Steps leading up to the second structure were located within it and adjacent; the second structure itself was encircled by a stone wall that served as a barrier, with an inscription on it warning strangers not to approach under penalty of death.″ (from the book Antiquities of the Jews) We can also see evidence of this wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles in the words of the apostle Paul, who wrote to the Ephesians, ″Wherefore remember, that ye, being in time past Gentiles in the flesh…Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise…,″ By the blood of Christ, those who have been separated from Christ have been brought closer to one another.Because he is our peace, who has joined us together and torn down the center wall of division that separated us.″ (Ephesians 2:11-14; see.Philippians 2:11-14) Several chambers could be found within the Court of the Women, including storage chambers for the temple’s wood, oil, and wine supplies, the chamber of the leper, where lepers went to be purified, the treasury of the temple (where the widow would have given her last mite), and the chamber of the Nazarites, where Nazarite vows were taken.The Court of the Women also had vast balconies around it, where Rabbis would frequently teach their students.The Court of the Women would have been the location of Jesus’ teachings whenever he was at the temple, ensuring that both men and women could hear him speak whenever Jesus taught there.

The inner court of the temple was the next section to be completed, and it was here that the priests offered their sacrifices.
This court was accessible by the Niancor Gate, which featured massive sweeping stairs leading up to the entrance.
Males and women were both permitted to ascend these stairs and offer their offerings, but only Jewish men were permitted to proceed any farther than this point in the ceremony.

There was a massive slope at the base of the altar where they performed sacrifices, which allowed the blood to drain into collecting jars.They were also in charge of the flames used for the burnt offerings.The main temple edifice, also known as the Holy Place, was the final section of the temple to be completed.

This was a massive rectangular structure inside which only priests were allowed to enter.This sacred space included the table for shewbread as well as the menorah and other sacred artifacts of the temple, as well as an altar for burning incense.They entered the Holy Place every day to burn incense, light the menorah, and replace the bread that had been set out on the table of shewbread on Saturdays and Sundays respectively.

They did not, however, enter the most sacred area of the temple, known as the Holyof Holies, where the emblems of God–the arc of the covenant and the mercy seat–were displayed on each side of the entrance (or in Jesus day were suppose to be).When the High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies, it was separated from the rest of the sanctuary by a veil, and he only did so once a year on the day of atonement.When Jesus died, it was this curtain that was ″torn in twain from the top to the bottom″ (Mark 15:38), a magnificent symbol indicating that the route to God had been opened as a result of the tremendous and final sacrifice of the son of God.

5) It was Destroyed by the Romans but Jews Believe it will be Rebuilt

When the Romans conquered Jerusalem 40 years after Jesus’ death, they demolished the temple.
In 66 BC, during the 12th year of Nero’s reign, the Jews mounted a great uprising against the Romans, seizing possession of Jerusalem and forcing the Roman commanders of Judea, Agrippa and his sister Bernice, to flee.
Agrippa and Bernice were eventually captured and executed.
Jerusalem was in Jewish control for several years, winning wars against the Romans, until Roman troops arrived in 70 BC and besieged the city, bringing the city under Roman authority.

The siege began just before Passover, when the city was suffocating with visitors from all across Judea, and it continued for several weeks.A violent fight between Jews and Romans brought the siege to a close after four months of bloodshed between the two sides.In his account of the siege, Josephus estimates that 1.1 million Jews were slaughtered and 97,000 Jews were captured by the Romans following their defeat.During the Battle of Jerusalem, massive flames engulfed areas of the city, notably the Temple Mount, causing significant damage.

The gold and silver in the temple were melted as a result of these flames.Following the end of the siege, Roman troops began tearing the temple apart stone by stone in an attempt to get access to the melting gold and silver within.A piece of the western wall, which is commonly referred to as the ″Wailing Wall,″ is all that remains of the once-grand temple today.

For modern Jews, this location is particularly important since it is the only thing that remains of the temple, which is so fundamental to their faith.Jews believe that the temple–the third temple–will be constructed in Jerusalem at some point in the future.However, without access to the foundation stone (which is now housed under the Dome of the Rock), the temple will be unable to be reconstructed, and this is one of the primary sources of conflict between Muslims and Jews in the Holy Land today.

It was Central to Jesus Christ’s Ministry

When it comes to comprehending the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, knowing the temple in Jerusalem is essential.
He was twelve years old when his parents discovered him (possibly in the Court of the Women) teaching and learning with the Rabbis.
From that day through his death, when the temple curtain was torn in two, the temple served as the focal point around which his ministry was centered.
It was his home, and everything about it–from its building to its rites and symbols–was intended to serve as a testament to Him and his divine purpose.

When we study about the temple and its symbolism, we are learning more about Jesus Christ, who He is and what he has done to save us and restore us to our rightful place in the world.

What was jerusalem like in the time of jesus

What was Jerusalem to Jesus?

As stated in the New Testament, Jerusalem was the place to which Jesus was carried as a child, where he was presented before the Temple (Luke 2:22) and where he participated in religious festivals (Luke 2:41). According to the canonical gospels, Jesus spoke and performed miracles in Jerusalem, particularly in the Temple Courts of the Temple.

What happened in Jerusalem in the Bible?

As far as Christians are concerned, Jesus, their messiah, died in Jerusalem and then rose from the dead in the same city. It is believed that the messiah is descended from King David, who established the kingdom in Jerusalem and whose descendants would include the messiah, according to the Hebrew Bible.

What age did Jesus go to Jerusalem?

The story is reported in Luke 2:41–52, according to the Gospel of Luke. As a child of twelve years old, Jesus travels to Jerusalem with his mother and father, as well as a large number of their relatives and friends, on a trip ″according to the custom″ – that is, for Passover.

What was Jerusalem called in ancient times?

The city of Jerusalem was known as Urusalim on ancient Egyptian tablets during the Canaanite era (14th century BCE), which most likely meant ″City of Shalem″ after a Canaanite deity at the time.

Why is Jerusalem holy to all three religions?

Christians from all over the world are already making their way to Jerusalem to pay their respects.
For Muslims, Jerusalem is the scene of pivotal events in the lives of Jesus and other notable personalities, including the Prophet Muhammad.
It is also believed to be the location where the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, according to traditional readings of the Koran and other religious writings.

What is the oldest religion?

Despite the fact that Hinduism has been described as the world’s oldest religion, many of its adherents refer to their faith as Santana Dharma (Sanskrit: ″the Eternal Way″), which relates to the concept that its beginnings are beyond human history, as revealed in Hindu writings.

What is so special about Jerusalem?

Jerusalem is a city in modern-day Israel that is regarded to be one of the holiest locations on the planet by many people. Sacred to the three main monotheistic religions – Judaism, Islam, and Christianity – Jerusalem is the site of enormous religious significance for both Israel and Palestine, which both claim Jerusalem as their capital city.

How many times has Jerusalem been destroyed?

The city of Jerusalem has been assaulted 52 times, seized and recovered 44 times, besieged 23 times, and destroyed twice during the course of its lengthy history. Jerusalem is one of the world’s oldest cities, having been established in the 4th millennium BCE in the oldest section of the city.

What are the 3 major religions in Jerusalem?

In this video clip from PBS LearningMedia, learn about the history of Jerusalem and why it is regarded one of the most sacred locations in the world by three main global religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

What was Jesus doing between the age of 12 and 30?

And when He reached the age of twelve, they traveled to Jerusalem in accordance with the tradition of the feast. When they returned to Jerusalem after finishing their days’ work, the Boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem.

Where did Jesus go in the missing years?

Accord to this literature, which Notovitch had translated into French, Jesus had spent his ″missing years″ – the years between his infancy and the beginning of his ministry – studying Buddhism in India, according to the Gospel of Matthew. He’d returned to the Middle East, where he’d lived a life that was recognizable to us from the New Testament, when he was around 30 years old.

Why was Jesus taken to the temple at the age of 12?

Several passages in the gospels state that Mary and Joseph brought their newborn son to the Temple in Jerusalem forty days (inclusive) after his birth in order to complete Mary’s ritual purification after childbirth and to perform the redemption of the firstborn son, in accordance with the Torah (Leviticus 12, Exodus 13: 12 –15, and other passages).

Who owned the land first Israel or Palestine?

Pagan tribes initially established in what would later be known as the country of Canaan around 3,000 to 2,500 B.C., on the hills that separate the rich Mediterranean coastline of present-day Israel from the barren deserts of Arabia. According to the Bible, the Jebusites were the last Canaanites to rule over the city.

Where did Jews live before Israel?

Jewish people are descended from the ancient people of Israel, who dwelt in the country of Canaan, between the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, according to the teachings of the Hebrew Bible.

Who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD?

Roman military siege of Jerusalem during the First Jewish Revolt in 70 CE is known as the Siege of Jerusalem. In many ways, the fall of the city signaled the effective completion of a four-year battle against the Jewish guerrilla movement in Judaea. The Romans demolished much of the city, including the Second Temple, during their occupation.

Jerusalem at the Time of Jesus

Jerusalem at the time of Jesus Christ 1.
The Temple of Athena 2.
The Royal Stoa and the Southern Wall The Mount of Olives (Mount of Olives) is number eleven.
The Kidron Valley is number thirteen.

Moreover, the city of David (Mt.Ophel) The Pool of Siloam is number seventeen.The Tyropoean Valley (number 18) Lower City is number twenty (Poor section) Upper City is number 23 on the list (Wealthy section) David’s Tomb (number 24) The Theater (number 27) The Market Place (number 28) Herod’s Palace is number 29 on the list.The Antonia Fortress is number 36 on the list (NT – Castle) The Temple Mount as seen from the east (from the Mount of Olives) (Model, Holy Land Hotel, Jerusalem.) From above, you can see where the present City of David (Ophel) is located.

From the south to the north, this is what you see.The location of the ancient city of David is shown by the white broken line (which is outside the city wall today).The Muslim shrine known as the Dome of the Rock is housed within the gold-domed structure.

It is enclosed by the old retaining wall of the Herodian Temple mount….The viewpoint in this photograph is from a distance.It is possible to glimpse the Kidron valley on the left side.The Harem-esh-Sharif as seen from above (Dome of the Rock and the Al-aksa mosque).The wall is a retaining wall that was left behind from the construction of the Herodian Temple mount.The temple mount is being searched from the southwest to the northeast.

The multiple entrances of the temple may be seen in this perspective.
The southern entrance was the one that the majority of commoners utilized the most.
An extensive network of courts around the Temple complex.

The court of the priests was located just outside the Temple complex (smoke can be seen rising from the altar of sacrifice in the court of the priests).The court of the ladies was a vast square court that was located to the east and in front of the Temple of Solomon.The court of the gentiles was a vast court that surrounded the Temple and its immediate courts and was referred to as such.

In order to distinguish the court of the gentiles from the Temple and its surrounding courts, a railing was built.Non-Jews were not permitted to cross through the balustrade.Money changers and animals were sold in the court of the gentiles, which was also where money was changed.

As a result, this was the location of the Savior’s cleaning of the temple (Matt.21:12-13; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:41-48; John 2:13-17).The author, Peter Connolly, wrote a book called Living in the Time of Jesus of Nazareth.The Herodian Temple mount’s southern retaining wall is shown here.

The court of the gentiles was reached through a flight of stairs.
The Royal Stoa is the name given to the basilica with a crimson roof.
(From the Holy Land Hotel in Jerusalem, as a model.) The actual stones that made up the Temple’s pinnacle.
The south-west corner of the Temple Mount as it would have appeared during the time of Christ is shown in this painting.
In Peter Connolly’s book, Living in the Time of Jesus of Nazareth, he says: An inscribed stone that fell from the highest corner of the temple mount during the Roman destruction of Jerusalem is depicted here (70 AD).
″To the place (literally, house) of the trumpeting for…,″ the Hebrew text says.

(There is a gap in the last portion.) A priest was supposed to blow the horn here every weekday morning and evening, according to what we can tell.Shel Shanks’ Jerusalem: An Archaeological Biography (Hershel Shanks, Jerusalem: An Archaeological Biography, page 157) Stairs going up to the gates, through which temple attendees walked on their way to ascend the stairs to the temple’s summit (court of the gentiles).The Psalmist inquired: ″Who will be the one to mount the hill of the LORD?or who will be the one to occupy his sacred abode?″ And he responded, ″He who has clean hands and an unblemished heart″ (Psalms 24:3-4).(From the Holy Land Hotel in Jerusalem, as a model.) Archaeological excavations are being place on the southern wall of the temple mount.The stairwell from the southern wall leads to the court of the gentiles, which is reached by two gates.

The court of the gentiles is encircled by pillared courtyards on all sides.The Royal Stoa is the name given to the edifice with a red roof.This was the place where the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling court) convened.(From the Holy Land Hotel in Jerusalem, as a model.) The Royal Stoa was a basilica with an apse at its eastern end, which was dedicated to the gods.

The Sanhedrin convened in the eastern portion of the building.Each of the pillars towered over 30 feet above the ground.Shel Shanks’ Jerusalem: An Archaeological Biography (Hershel Shanks, Jerusalem: An Archaeological Biography, page 157) The Sanhedrin is holding a meeting at the Royal Stoa.The author of Daily Life at the Time of Jesus (Miriam Feinberg Vamosh, Daily Life at the Time of Jesus, p.28) says: The court of the ladies is enclosed by a temple and its surrounding walls (treasury).Located around the stairwell going up to the female court, a railing may be found.

Non-Jews were not permitted to cross the bridge beyond the balustrades.
(From the Holy Land Hotel in Jerusalem, as a model.) The temple (number 29) and the women’s court are both enclosed inside the walls (no.
21).
Jewish Practice and Belief (E.
P.

Jerusalem in Jesus’ Time Map

To see a larger version of the image, click on it.
A long history has been written about Jerusalem; it is first referenced in the Bible as Salem in Genesis 14:18, when it was under the control of Melchizedek, ″king of Salem,″ who visited with Abraham and blessed him when it was under his rule.
In the 10th century B.C., King David captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites, a Canaanite tribe that had occupied the city and surrounding territory at the time, and the city was known as Jebus during the time of David’s conquest.
David established the city as the capital of the Kingdom of Israel, and it became known as the City of David as a result of this decision.

King Solomon, his son, completed the construction of the First Temple, often known as Solomon’s Temple, and expanded the city’s boundaries.Even though Jerusalem began as a small hill fortress, it grew in importance and prosperity over the centuries, until it was destroyed by the Babylonian army of King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE.The Babylonian army leveled Jerusalem, including its walls as well as the Temple, and captured its inhabitants, sending them into exile in Babylon.More information about the Babylonian Captivity of Judah may be found by clicking here.

Following the first of three deportations, the Jews were able to return from exile 70 years after the first when Babylon was conquered by the Persian army of King Cyrus the Great, who granted them permission to return to their homeland and re-construct the Temple and Altar under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua, which is known today as the Second Temple in Jerusalem.In around 445 B.C., Nehemiah, who had served as cupbearer to King Artaxerxes I of Persia, was chosen governor of Judah and given permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city.More information regarding Nehemiah’s rebuilding of Jerusalem may be found by clicking here.

The city that Nehemiah rebuilt was more modest and less magnificent in appearance than the one that had been there before.

What did Jerusalem look like when Jesus was in the flesh and walked on this Earth?

While Herod the Great (37-4 B.C.) ruled over Israel (now called Judea) as a Roman client king, the city of Jerusalem was completely transformed as a result of the king’s numerous building projects, which included the expansion of the Second Temple, which is referred to as Herod’s Temple, the construction of palaces and citadels, a theater, a hippodrome, and bridges, as well as the development of the city’s water supplies.
The city underwent significant transformation during Herod’s 33-year rule, allowing him to earn considerable acceptance and support from the populace, despite the fact that he was not born a Jew, but rather an Edomite, a descendant of Esau, and his family had converted to the Jewish faith during that time.
Apart from the Antonia fortress, which was built to house soldiers named after his patron Mark Anthony, he hoped to gain support from the Roman authorities by remodeling the city in the style and manner of the Romans.
The construction of a theater and of a hippodrome, which was built to resemble a Roman circus, are examples of his efforts to win the support of the Roman authorities.

Learn more about the Roman Empire during the time of Jesus Christ by visiting this page.THE TEMPLE IS AN INSTITUTION The Temple of God was built on the TEMPLE MOUNT, which rose above the CITY OF DAVID and served as a base for the development of the city.His Temple was a vast restoration of the previous Second Temple, which entailed converting the entire Temple Mount into a wide flat platform and creating a great limestone retaining wall to allow the Temple’s base to be extended farther.The temple is not referred to as the ″Third Temple″ because the ceremonies and animal sacrifices remained uninterrupted during the whole reconstruction operation.

It was in the eastern end of the Royal Stoa, also known as the Royal Porch, that the Sanhedrin (Jewish religious ruling court) convened.In the surrounding area of Herod’s Temple were a succession of courts, including a women’s court, a men’s court, and a gentile’s court (also called the outer court).But it was a novel concept, utterly different from the ancient First (Solomon’s) and Second (Zerubbabel’s) Temples, which only had two courts: the inner court and the outer court; this says volumes about the spiritual state in which Jesus discovered the Israelites of His day stuck.

The inner court was reserved for the priests who were involved in the sacrifices, and the outside court was reserved for all of the Israelites.Jewish men and women worshipped God side by side in the original First and Second Temples, and pagan Gentiles were not permitted to enter the Temple unless they were proselytes who had followed God’s Law and had thus joined themselves to God and His people, in which case they were no longer considered Gentiles, but Israelites, and as such they were allowed full access to God’s Temple along with everyone else.Located on the south side of the building were the major staircases going up to the gates, which served as a passageway for Israelites traveling up the steps to the Temple Mount and to the court of the gentiles.Anyone who walks up these stairs and enters the Temple of God is in violation of Biblical Law, according to scholars.Psalms 24:3-4 (NIV) – ″Who has the authority to go to the Lord’s Hill?Or, rather, who has the right to stand in His Holy Place?

Having clean hands and a pure heart, having not sacrificed his soul to an idol, nor having not swore deceitfully, is the one who qualifies.″ What may they reasonably anticipate in exchange, according to Biblical Law?
Psalms 24:5-6 (NIV) – ″He will be blessed by the Lord, and he will be justified by the God of his salvation, according to the Scriptures.
Those who seek Him, those who seek Your (God’s) face are represented by Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him.

Selah!″ The gentile’s court was a place where money changers might be found, as well as a place where animals were sold.This was also the location where Jesus performed the cleaning of the Temple.Visit this page to learn about the locations where the events of Jesus’ ministry in Israel, as related in the Gospels, took place.

12-13 (Matthew 21:12-13) – ″As soon as Jesus entered the Temple of God, he drove away everyone who was engaged in buying and selling there.He also overturned the tables of money changers and the seats of those who were engaged in selling doves.In response, He stated that it was written that His house would be named a House of Prayer, but they had turned it into a den of thieves instead.″ The Antonia stronghold, which was part of the Temple complex and located immediately northwest of the Temple area, served as Herod’s palace fortress and was built in the first century BCE.

According to some, this might have been the location where Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate for trial.Several stairways and a subterranean staircase connected the Antonia fortress to the court of the gentiles (and therefore to the Temple) during the reign of Hadrian.THE DOWNTOWN PART OF THE CITY The LOWER CITY, located on the south-east hill, to the south of the temple, was the heart of the old city of Jerusalem, with its limestone buildings, where the poor resided, and its small, unpaved lanes, which served as the city’s nerve center.The sports hippodrome, a vast amphitheater erected by King Herod in the style of a Roman circus and used for horse and chariot racing, was located to the east, somewhere in the plain.

The spectators were seated on stair-like seats surrounding a central space that was divided in the middle by a massive partition, around which the chariots raced in circles.
THE CITY OF THE UPPER CLASSES UPPER CITY, which rose high above the Lower City to the west, was home to affluent aristocratic and priestly families who resided in white marble homes and palaces built on the site of former royal residences.
It was there that Herod the Great constructed a theatre, which was a large, open-air, stone auditorium with semicircular rows of seats ascending from a central stage, designed in the classic Roman style, for the wealthy Jewish community, who gathered there to watch Greek and Roman dramas and performances.
Aside from that, the palace of Caiaphas, the high priest, was also located in this area, and it is likely that Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin took place in one of the huge rooms of this palace.
Peter’s denial of Jesus took place right outside this castle.
Located in the uppermost northwest corner of the Upper City, directly against its surrounding walls, Herod constructed a massive fortress on top of a platform that consisted of two main buildings, each with banquet halls, baths (for hundreds of guests), and accommodation for hundreds of guests, all of which were enclosed by gardens with ponds and fountains.

Three towers stood on the north side of the palace, while the praetorium, which may have served as the site of Jesus’ trial before Pontius Pilate and may have served as the house of the Roman governor when he visited the city, stood on the south side.THE CITY OF DAVID is a city in the state of Washington.The CITY OF DAVID, which formed the original urban center of ancient Jerusalem and was located in the city’s south-eastern section, was the city’s first and most important settlement.Originally a Jebusite hamlet, it was taken by warriors under the command of King David, who, as previously stated, declared it the capital of his kingdom.According to the Bible, the Israelites continued to rely on the Jebusite walls that surrounded the city, rebuilding them as needed, and expanding the city northward under King Solomon, to encompass the site of the future Temple Mount.MISHNEH ( ) (A.K.A.

SECOND QUARTER) In the topmost northwest corner of the city of Jerusalem, to the north of the Upper City, there existed a suburb area known as the MISHNEH (also known as the Second Quarter).The Bible reports Huldah the prophetess residing there.It lay at an angle formed by the western wall of the Temple and the old northern wall of Jerusalem, and was subsequently included inside the wall erected by Nehemiah, when he was the appointed governor of Judah under the Persian monarch.THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM The WALLS were a high stone wall that encompassed the whole city, roughly 4 kilometers long.

In the time of Jesus, it defended an area of roughly a square mile, where about 25,000 people resided.At intervals around the wall were large gates, each containing a customs post, where publicans collected taxes on every commodities entering or departing Jerusalem.

What happened to Jerusalem when Jesus went back to the Father?

Rome’s Judea was a successful and tranquil province throughout the first century AD, and as such, it was included in the ″Pax Romana,″ which literally translates as ″Roman Peace″ and refers to the period from 27 B.C.
to 180 A.D.
during which the Roman Empire was at its most peaceful and affluent.
When Emperor Octavian became the ruler of the Roman Empire, the ″Pax Romana″ began to take hold.

Everyone of Rome’s provinces had unparalleled peace and prosperity over this 200-year era, and its residents were safe since the government’s aim was to maintain law and order while also ensuring stability, safety, and protection for all.Jesus predicted the destruction of the city, noting the fact that His people would turn their backs on Him as the reason for such a tragedy, and he mourned over the destruction of the city as a result.Luke 19:41-44 – This passage is from the Bible ″As He went nearer, He saw the city and mourned over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, particularly in this your day, the things that bring you peace!’ He cried out.However, they are now concealed from your view.

‘For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close you in on all sides, and they will level you and your children within you to the ground; and they will not leave a stone unturned in you because you did not know when your visitation would occur.’″ Following the prophecy of Jesus, the people, led by the chief priests and elders, did turn their backs on Him and repeatedly begged Pontius Pilate to crucify Him, which he duly did.Matthew 27:22- 25 – Matthew 27:22-25 – ″’What, then, must I do with Jesus, whom you name Christ?’ Pilate inquired of the group.’Let Him be crucified!’ they cried out to him as a group.

The governor then inquired, ‘Why, what wrong has He committed?’ But they yelled out even louder, crying, ‘Let Him be crucified!’ they screamed out even more.In the face of the fact that he could not triumph at all, but rather that chaos was building, Pilate got water and lathered his hands in the presence of the crowd, declaring, ‘I am free of the blood of this righteous Individual’.’You take care of it.’ ″His blood be on us and on our children,″ the entire crowd exclaimed in response.″ However, no one in Jesus’ day would have believed that an army would have surrounded the city and brought about the kind of destruction that Jesus predicted, because all of the provinces, including Judea, had entered into an agreement with Rome in which they agreed to pay taxes to the Imperial City in exchange for guaranteed peace and protection from foreign aggression under the ″Pax Romana,″ and the agreement had been upheld by both parties up until that point.To see a larger version of the image, click on it.Things began to change in the year 66 A.D.when the Jews of Judea rose up in revolt against Rome.

As predicted by Jesus, Rome responded by sent an army to quell the insurrection and restore order to the region.
These events culminated in 70 A.D.
with the siege and assault on Jerusalem by Roman forces under General Titus (son of Emperor Vespasian), which took place around 40 years after the crucifixion of Christ.

As part of the invasion, the city was systematically looted and leveled, and Herod’s Temple was burned and destroyed as a result of the fire.It is depicted on the Arch of Titus, a monument in Rome that commemorates the victories of the Roman general, then emperor, and therefore also this event, and which is located on the Via Sacra, just south-east of the Roman Forum, that the Temple’s sacred relics were seized and transported to Rome, where they were displayed in celebration of victory.In addition, in commemoration of that victory, the Romans struck a coin bearing the inscription ″Iudaea capta,″ which translates as ″Judea seized.″ In the end, thousands died at the hands of the Romans, and thousands more were enslaved, some being sent to work in Egyptian mines and others being transported to Rome and sold as slaves, while others were scattered throughout the Empire to be butchered for the amusement of the spectators in arenas throughout the Empire.

As Jesus had said, not a single stone was left upon another during the Roman leveling of Jerusalem, and nothing of the Temple remained except for the so-called Western Wall or Wailing Wall, where Jewish people gather today to pray, but which was actually not even a part of the Temple and is therefore still standing because it was constructed to enlarge the base of the Temple and support the enormous platform above it on Temple Mount.It is thought that the remnants of the hippodrome were never uncovered because of the extent of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem; nevertheless, other researchers think that they were really located in the plain to the south.The rebellion in other parts of Israel continued for another three years before being finally suppressed in 73 A.D.

with the fall of the last isolated groups of Jewish resistance, including the stronghold at Masada, where the last few Jews chose to commit suicide rather than be killed by the Roman Legions that had surrounded the city.As part of his reign (117-138 A.D.), Emperor Hadrian initiated construction on the site of old Jerusalem of a new city center with a new Hellenistic-Roman design, which he dubbed Aelia Capitolina (Holy City of the Capitol).Known in Arabic as Iliyyah, Aelia Capitolina (also known as Aelia Capitolina) was a Roman colony that lacked ″Ius Italicum,″ or ″Italic Law,″ which meant that the city was governed by local law, that all those born in the city did not receive Roman citizenship, that people were not exempt from land taxes or poll taxes, and that they were not entitled to protection under Roman law.The newly reconstructed city was split into seven districts, and it occupied the land of old Jerusalem, with the exception of the southern section of the city, which remained outside the walls.

Jews were barred from entering the city under penalty of death.
Despite the presence of numerous and monumental structures (temple of Jupiter Capitolino, maybe on the site of the old Temple, temple of Aphrodite, theater, baths, and so on), the political and cultural significance of the city was extremely low, and far lower than that of Caesarea.

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This would have been his course of action.
According to the Gospels, Jesus would have spent each evening of the Passover festival in the vicinity of Bethany and Bethphage—on the far slope of the Mount of Olives, where his companions Mary and Martha resided and where he revived their brother Lazarus from the dead, to name a few locations.
During the festival, pilgrims were expected to spend the night on the outside of the city, which was both a tradition and a need.
It seems likely that each morning Jesus would have gone out once more, this time across the summit of Mount Tabor and then down its western slope to the vast holy city below.

In the village of Bethany, passages from the Koran may be heard wafting through a dozen open windows today.Islam considers Jesus to be a great prophet, and Bethany’s mostly Muslim population is proud of the city’s 2,000-year-old religious legacy.Just a few yards down a steep path from the tomb thought to be Lazarus’ is al Ozir Mosque, which is named after him in Arabic; a few yards up the road is a Greek Orthodox chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary and her sister Martha.Local women tell that Jesus would have gone up this hill on his route to Jerusalem and then turned right at the top toward Bethphage on his way back down.

Following that, he would have taken a journey up the summit of the hill, which would have taken him to a location presently occupied by a hotel known as the Seven Arches.The view from this vantage point is breathtaking.In the immediate vicinity lies an old necropolis, a vast graveyard that dates back thousands of years before Jesus and that might compel anybody, not just a religious renegade with a price on his head, to pause and reflect on his own mortality.

The terrain drops away abruptly, interspersed with patches of pine and, yes, silvery green olive trees, which are a welcome sight.If Jesus had come here on foot or on his donkey, he would have made his way down into the Kidron Valley.On the opposite side, just as it does now, a massive brown wall—the imposing platform for a house of worship—would have loomed over him, as it does now.He would have entered Jerusalem by what was known as the Beautiful Gate, which was located on the western side of the city.A herd of sheep grazes among scarlet anemones across the street from the Seven Arches, while five or six colorful chickens forage for maize across the street from the Seven Arches.When Hiba Gaith, a Palestinian girl of 11 years old who lives in the neighborhood, sings, it is to a song she and her classmates learnt at school.

She is dressed casually in pants, with her long ponytail secured with a brown butterfly clip.
As she sings, ″The sound of stones/ The blood of usurpers/ The hearts are bleeding with rage/ They hold stones in their little hands/ And confront the aggressors,″ her voice is filled with rage.
In the words of the poet, ″The martyr Mohammed/ Seen by millions/ Seeking sanctuary in the bosom of his father/ Dying by accursed bullets/ His blood is splashing in the sky.″ The song, written by Egyptian pop musician Walid Tawfiq, is dedicated to Mohammed al-Durra, a 12-year-old who died in his father’s arms in crossfire last October during the early stages of the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflagration, which was broadcast across the globe.

″The melody has been imprinted in my heart,″ Hiba explains.Across the street, seven-year-old Mahmoud Zomored rides his tricycle, which is painted red and black.He takes a moment to look out at the metropolis below.

What does he see when he gets there?″″I envision a battle,″ I said.″Why?″ Angry Arabs throw stones at Jewish people, while Jewish people kill Arabs.

Was he throwing stones at all?″ It’s not that I don’t want to die.″ Today, it is hard to hear the term Jerusalem without immediately conjuring up images of the violence that has once again engulfed the Holy Land.In addition to throwing stones, the Palestinians are entitled to compose their own odes to lost children, just as the Israelis are.Like 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass, the daughter of Jewish settlers in the predominantly Palestinian city of Hebron, who died last month when a shooter fired a bullet through her brain, seemingly on purpose, according to her family.

Ariel Yered, one year old, was gravely injured last week when a Palestinian mortar strike on the Atzmona community in the Gaza Strip resulted in a critical injury.
The deaths of around 400 Palestinians and 65 Israelis have occurred since last October, when peace discussions came to a halt over the matter of Jerusalem’s status.
The current anguish is not out of character with the area’s sacred and gory past.
Over the ages, each of the great faiths of the Western world has sought the city; each has alternately governed it, and each has built an own sacred history around it.
As the stories met, the outcome was a spectacle of extremes: physical splendor alternated with complete devastation; moments of devout exultation alternated with the most heinous bloodshed; and a kaleidoscope of emotions.
Alternatively, carnage and ecstasy can occur at the same moment.

The words of an 11th century Crusader who had just returned from a murder of Muslims on the Temple Mount: ″Men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins.″ And he went on to say, ″Indeed, that was God’s righteous and glorious judgment.″ The years from A.D.1 to A.D.33 happened to be a period of great prosperity for the holy city of Jerusalem.According to Eric Meyers, professor of Judaic studies at Duke University, it was ″a vast, tremendous metropolitan region,″ and it was the site of the beautifully renovated Jewish Temple, which was a marvel of the world at the time.A thriving and multicultural society flourished in this place.Also unwittingly, it served as the cradle for something else: a way of believing, a way of seeing that would shift the course of events in the West and across history.

Although it is not worth returning to Jerusalem during this period in order to celebrate, it is worthwhile to do so out of curiosity—to get to know the metropolis that shaped Jesus’ final ministry and thus woven itself into the great story of salvation, as well as to note, with caution, the ways in which its vexations foreshadow those of Jerusalem today.