Massive Challenge to Standard Geography of Jerusalem-Temple
Part Two: Lining
up the “Wailing Wall”
“… I have shown with an abundance of
historical and biblical evidences that the original Temples of God were
positioned over and around the Gihon Spring in the southeastern part of Jerusalem. The evidence is so strong that
one wonders how such an obvious fact could be so hidden from the attention of
the world for so long?”
Dr. Ernest L. Martin
According
to my article:
Newly-discovered Seleucid Fort ('Acra') a challenge to
identity of 'Temple Mount'
and
related ones, based largely on the research of Dr. Ermest L. Martin,
archaeologists have quite mis-read, in some very important instances, the geographical
lay-out of the ancient city of Jerusalem.
Christians, Jews and Moslems alike have contributed to the ensuing
confusion.
As a consequence of this mis-reading, the recently
discovered “fort” built in Jerusalem by king Antiochus IV ‘Epiphanes’, rightly found
positioned “in the area to the north
of the [true] Temple” (I Maccabees 1:33), finds itself situated to the actual south of the currently accepted site
for the location of the Temple of Yahweh.
It all reminds me of that song by The Who (“Substitute’): “The
north side of my town faced east and
the east was facing south”.
Dr. Ernest L. Martin (RIP) has also exposed the wrong
location, in relation to the ancient Temple of Yahweh, of the famous “Wailing
Wall”: http://askelm.com/temple/t000701.htm
The Strange Story of
the False Wailing Wall
the False Wailing Wall
By Ernest L.
Martin, PH. D., July 2000
There
is absolute proof that the present site of the Jewish "Wailing
Wall" in Jerusalem is NOT any part of the Temple that existed in the
time of Herod and Jesus. In fact, that particular location that the Jewish
authorities have accepted represents the Western Wall of an early Roman
fortress (finally built and enlarged by Herod the Great). King Herod called
it Fort Antonia, after the famous Mark Anthony who lived at the end of the
first century before Christ.
Mackey’s comment: For my
radically new interpretation of King Herod ‘the Great’ and the Romans, see my
article:
A New Timetable for the Nativity of Jesus Christ
Dr Martin continues (I do not necessarily accept his dates nor all of
his AD history):
|
It was formerly called
the Baris in the proceeding hundred years and it finally became known as
the Praetorium in the New Testament period (the central military edifice
in Jerusalem where the commanding general of a Legion of troops had his
headquarters). This rectangular type of building clearly resembles most
permanent military camps that the Romans constructed throughout the Empire to
house their Legions.
Indeed, when the
Bordeaux Pilgrim visited Jerusalem in 333 C.E., he looked east from an area in
front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (then in its final stages of being
built) and said he saw this Praetorium directly eastward with its walls
(he mentioned "walls" in the plural – meaning the southern and
western walls) firmly entrenched in the bottom of the Tyropoeon Valley. This
central valley of Jerusalem (the Valley of the Cheesemakers) separated the
eastern mountain ridge of the city (the original Mount Zion of the Bible) from
the larger and more extensive western ridge.
What the Bordeaux
Pilgrim provided in his writing is a perfect description of what we call today
the Haram esh-Sharif. It is the remains of Fort Antonia. This Herodian
structure housed the Tenth Legion left by Titus after the Roman/Jewish War of
66 to 73 C.E. The Tenth Legion continued its presence within its walls for over
200 years — until the Legion left for Ailat on the Red Sea in 289 C.E. The
Haram esh-Sharif (Fort Antonia) is the only remaining part of the Jerusalem
that existed in the period of Herod and Jesus. And the present Jewish
authorities have mistakenly accepted its Western Wall as being the wall of
Herod’s Temple. They are wrong! It is actually the Western Wall of Fort
Antonia.
But how did the present
"Wailing Wall" get erroneously selected by the Jewish authorities as
a holy place for the Jews? As I have abundantly shown in my new book "The
Temples that Jerusalem Forgot" and in my supplemental articles on the ASK
Web Site, the Jewish authorities in and around Jerusalem from 70 C.E. until
1077 C.E. (for over a thousand years) only showed their religious interest for
the location of the Temple at the area positioned over and around the
Gihon Spring. This was at least 1000 feet south of what later became
known as the Dome of the Rock. This is the exact area that the Genizah
documents from Egypt show the Jewish authorities wished to live (to be near
their Temple) in the time of Omar, the Second Caliph (638 C.E.). The Jewish
records show (mentioned in my book and supplemental articles) that it is
without doubt the southeastern ridge of Jerusalem that contained the
Temples of Solomon, Zerubbabel and that of Herod.
Mackey’s comment: What ‘Temple of Herod’?
Dr. Martin concludes further on:
…..
At any rate, I have
shown with an abundance of historical and biblical evidences that the original
Temples of God were positioned over and around the Gihon Spring in the southeastern
part of Jerusalem. The evidence is so strong that one wonders how such an
obvious fact could be so hidden from the attention of the world for so long?
Perhaps we all ought to read the whole of Isaiah 29 once again. The answer why
the site of the Temples has been hidden is no doubt found in that chapter 29 of
Isaiah.
In conclusion, the
acceptance of the present "Wailing Wall" by the Jewish authorities as
a wall of Herod’s Temple was inspired by false visions and dreams and so-called
miraculous events that turned a former Christian holy site into the prime
Jewish spot for divine veneration. That spot was NOT discovered by using
historical and biblical facts. The present "Wailing Wall" is a modern
invention (devised about 350 years ago) and Jewish scholars know this to be a
certain fact. That "Wailing Wall" is actually the Western Wall of
Fort Antonia. The true Temple was located over the Gihon Spring on the southeast
ridge of Jerusalem. There can be no doubt of this fact. It is time for all
people to abandon these false religious sites.
No comments:
Post a Comment