Original subtitles

Shalom guys the topic I will present

today comes back like a boomerang

whenever I mention the temple in my

episodes people keep commenting about

alternative locations of the temple

therefore I decided to create a

comprehensive summary video where I will

present the most important evidence for

the true location of the Temple now this

is not my first video on the topic and I

will include information that was

mentioned before I have to repeat

certain Arguments for this video to be

comprehensive so you have two options

you can either watch them again with

some new graphics that I made or skip to

the parts which interest you the most I

will include chapters in this video to

make it easy for you you can find them

in the description of this episode and

watch the most exciting parts

but before we get into this topic please

don't forget to subscribe to this

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subscribers and it will be wonderful if

we could reach it soon with that out of

the way let's dive into the Temple's

location we'll be speaking a lot about

the city of David therefore it is very

important to know where it is located so

the city of David was built on the

Eastern Hill between the Mount of Olives

and the Western Hill according to

archaeological finds this hill holds the

original settlement core of bronze and

Iron Age Jerusalem in other words this

is where Jewish history with Jerusalem

began and where David set up the capital

for Israel in this modern picture of

Jerusalem that you can see now you can

see the area of the city of David the

place called Milo which was a structure

that supported significant buildings in

the ancient past some believe that David

built his Palace on the top of this

structure

we can also see the ofel which served as

a type of extension of the city of David

and also this place holds ruins of many

historical buildings if you visit this

place you can see a mosaic of

architecture from different periods

North to the ofel you have the

traditional Temple mount with the Alexa

mosque and the Dome of the Rock The

Temple Mount is the traditional place

where Jewish people and most

archaeologists believe the temple was

located

and to the left of the Temple Mount you

see the iconic Western wolf with the

Wailing Wall Plaza this is the place

where Jews gathered to pray as they

believe the walls are remains of a

supportive structure for the temple

itself built by Herod the Great

additionally I would like to mention the

location of the geckon Spring located on

the Eastern side of the city of David

close to the Kidron Valley please

remember the location of the gihan

spring that is actually located beneath

the city of David very close to the

Kidron Valley and not in the city itself

so now let's go back in time and see a

3D reconstruction showing how the city

of David might have looked like in

ancient days the Eastern Hill was chosen

as a perfect place to settle because of

the gihan spring of course water on the

desert is a true miracle and a source of

Life the age people knew this well and

build walls and huge Towers stretching

down the hill to protect the very source

of the spring the city was fortified by

the jebusites that walked the city and

built a citadel of Zion of which we read

in the Bible today we know this is true

because huge stones have been found and

bear witness to the massive tower that

protected the spring even today the

Gigan spring is still gushing out the

water from beneath the Rocks this is one

of the proofs showing where the city of

David was located

around the spring foundations of

buildings have been found that continued

to function throughout David's Reign and

up to their distraction in 586 by the

Babylonian Empire please remember that

common houses existed in this spot

before the Babylonian destruction I will

come back to this important fact later

in the video

David conquered the city using the Asian

tunnels used by the jebusites to collect

the water for the city apparently there

was a secret entrance to one of the

tunnels beneath the hill that David's

Warrior job used to enter the city again

today archaeologists found the tunnels

that the Bible speaks about and you can

walk through those tunnels yourself if

you like of course next we read that

David conquered the City established it

as the capital of Israel and built a

palace for himself on the top of the

hill the palace probably replaced the

so-called suitable of Zion Proto at all

the capitals were found in the place

believed to be the location of David's

Palace the colors themselves attest to

the time of David in the Bible we read

that David brought the Ark of the

Covenant and housed it in a tent we do

not actually know where this tent was

located but it seemed logical it was

placed in the city of David perhaps

close to his Palace King David was not

satisfied with the fact that the ark was

placed in a tent he wished to build a

temple for it but God God stopped him

and pronounced that the house of God

will be built by David's Offspring

instead God tells David through the

prophet God to go up and build an altar

to the Lord on the threshing floor of

Aruna the jebusite we read about it in

the book of second Samuel 24.

where was the threshing floor of Aruna

the jebicide

well from the passage in second Samuel

we know it was located above where David

was residing which means up from David's

Palace

refreshing floor like that sold by

arunach would have been a large open

elevated area to facilitate freshing it

would undoubtedly be outside of the city

and indeed not where the Gigan spring is

there is no place there as there were

structures built there by the jebusites

here are some historical pictures

showing you how a threshing floor looks

like when you look at those pictures you

can see a wide space that was needed the

top of Mount Moriah was big enough to

hold such a place

additionally a threshing floor would

never be located near the spring as the

particles of the grain would contaminate

the fresh drinking water further the

Bible Associates the threshing floor of

Aruna with Mount Moriah in the book of

second chronicles 3 1 we read then

Solomon began to build the Temple of the

Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah where

the Lord had appeared to his father

David it was on the freshing floor of

Aruna the jebicide the place provided by

David

and we already established that the

threshing floor was above from the city

of David so it was definitely not in the

city of David in other words the

threshing floor of Aruna equals Mount

Moriah Mount Moriah is where we read

Abraham brought his son Isaac for

sacrifice in Genesis 22 2 we read then

God said take your son your only son

whom you love Isaac and go to the region

of Moriah sacrifice him there as a burnt

offering on a mountain I will show you

so Abraham was to sacrifice his son on a

mountain in the region of Moriah and

then we read in Genesis 22 4 and 5. on

the third day Abraham looked up again

notice him looking up like David and saw

the place in the distance he said to his

servants

stay here with the donkey while I and

the boy go up over there we will worship

and then we will come back to you this

story teaches us several things first of

all this is a new place for Abraham God

says to Abraham that the sacrifice will

happen on a mountain that will be shown

to him

Abraham knew Salem future jabus and

Jerusalem because in Genesis 14 Abraham

meets Melchizedek who is the king of

Salem where is Salem well the Bible

identified Salem as a city that existed

before the creation of jabus and the

City of David Salim was definitely

connected to Jerusalem because we read

in Psalm 76 which connects God's

Tabernacle in Salem with Zion and Zion

itself is synonymous with Jerusalem in

Psalm 76 we read his Tabernacle is in

Salon his Dwelling Place also is in Zion

Psalm 76 2 so once again Abraham knew

Salem and the Bible tells us that the

place where he was to sacrifice his son

is going to be a new place for him

second we read that it was up on a

mountain Abraham had to look up to see

it in ancient times places of worship

were built on mountain tops we know of

such practices from the Bible and also

secular history Salem on the other hand

was not located on a mountain top it was

built on a ridge but not a mountain top

third Abraham would probably not

sacrifice his son in the City of Salem

instead we read that Abraham leaves his

servants with a donkey after a long

journey the servants probably stayed in

Salem and gave water to their donkey

this seems to be quite logical from The

Narrative presented in the Bible

why am I stressing the fact that both

the flashing floor of Aruna and Mount

Moriah was not in the city of David I am

stressing the is and providing you with

a geography because there is a popular

Theory suggesting that the temple in

Jerusalem was actually built in the city

of David above the gig Hot Spring

okay as we have established some

essential things concerning the

Topography of the city of David and

Jerusalem now we can look into this

popular theory in more detail

the whole discussion about a different

location of the Temple Mount than the

traditional Jewish understanding started

with Ernest L Martin

1999 book the temples that Jerusalem

forgot

now Martin is probably the person that

made this Theory quite popular but there

are other like Merlin Sams and Robert

Carnegie it is not my intention to say

bad things about those people and

perhaps they truly believe that the

temple was in the city of David they

have a right to do so However

unfortunately their belief penetrates

the internet and they influence the

thinking of many people

and so it must be said however that no

respected archaeologist in Israel would

ever say that the temple was in the city

of David in Israel there are basically

two schools of archeology one school of

archeology represented by people like

Elliot Mazar sees the Bible as a

reliable source of information that can

help archaeological discoveries the

other school and archaeologists such as

Israel Finkelstein are skeptical of the

biblical narrative and certainly do not

see it as a primary source of

information both schools of archeology

disagree on many conclusions about the

findings but as to the Temple Mount

location there is no discussion in

Israel people who ate their teeth on

archeology in Israel do not doubt that

the evidence is clear that the Temple

Mount is the location of the Jewish

temple on the other hand we have people

like Martin Sams and Carnegie who are

definitely not experts in archeology and

tried to present a revelation that

contradicts generations of detailed

analysis of the land and this is the

biggest problem that they usually take a

bit of information and transform it into

something totally different and I must

say this they abuse the lack of

knowledge of many people about the

topography and the archaeological finds

that contradict their Theory then they

use this bit of information to

popularize their teaching therefore in

this video we will take a close look at

some of their claims and confront them

with the hard facts so to remind

everyone what are we talking about

Martin and his followers this is how I

will call this group argues that Haram

al-sharif which is Arabic for the Temple

Mount is not the location of the temple

they assert that the temples of

Jerusalem were located over the gihon

spring and not over the Dome of the Rock

their argument for this Theory can be

divided into two parts the first part

tries to use the Bible as a source that

claims that the temple was located in

the city of David how do they do it well

they claim that the Bible uses the name

Zion and Associates it with the city of

David here is a clip of Bob Carnegie's

speech where he says it himself

so the Bible says nevertheless David

took the stronghold of Zion that is the

city of David second Samuel 5 7. very

interesting verses we're going to go

through because scripture says

nevertheless David took the stronghold

of Zion that is the city of David

took it by what going up the water Shaft

or filling up the watershaft as Ellie

said or the water area and going okay

so Corner key is basically saying that

this verse from second Samuel 5 7 where

it says nevertheless David took the

stronghold of Zion that is the city of

David means that every time you see the

term Zion you should connect it to the

city of David

so in other words they say it can't mean

anything else but can it mean something

else than the city of David

of course it can

as we researched the Bible uses of the

word Zion we find that it may represent

different things the word Zion may

represent the whole city of Jerusalem we

see an example of that in Second Kings

1931 where we read for out of Jerusalem

will come forth a Remnant and out of

Mount Zion survivors

this verse is talking about the

preservation of the Jewish people when

the judgment will come just to give you

a context those are the words that King

Hezekiah heard when he prayed to God for

salvation from the approaching Assyrian

army we know the story and learn that

Jerusalem was not conquered by sanharep

but was saved through a miracle God sent

an angel that destroyed the Assyrian

army gathered around Jerusalem

so here the term Zion refers to the

whole city of Jerusalem which includes

the Eastern Hill Mount Moriah and the

Western Hill so it definitely does not

mean just the city of David that would

not be logical in this scenario Zion may

also refer to an unspecified General

location in Jerusalem in Psalm 14 7 we

read oh that the salvation of Israel

would come out of Zion when the Lord

restores his captive people Jacob will

rejoice Israel will be glad

it is hard to argue that this sound

refers to the city of David instead it

is referring to the work of the Messiah

who will save the Jewish people and

restore peace on Earth

Zion may also refer to Israel as a

nation in Psalm 69 verse 39 we read for

God Will Save Zion and build the cities

of Judah that they may dwell there and

possess it

so in this verse Zion represents the

nation of Israel and not just the city

of David

those are just three examples of how the

word Zion may be used so in other words

it is very inappropriate to associate

Zion just with the city of David the

biblical use of the word is much broader

and it seems unwise to base your

geographical theology on a single use of

the term that in reality refers to many

things the second argument from the

Bible that Martin and his followers

tried to use are the words of Jesus who

said that no one stone from the temple

would be left standing

again here is a clip of kornuki making

this argument

because it says in Matthew 24 then Jesus

went out and departed from the temple

and his disciples came up to show him

the buildings of the temple and Jesus

said to them do you not see all these

things assuredly I say to you not one

stone shall be left here upon another

that shall not be thrown down not one

stone

what do you see there you see more than

one stones

so Corner key points to the Western Wall

and says see you have Stones so this

can't be the place

this is a good example how they take

some bits of information and twist it

for their use people who present this

argument show their lack of

understanding of what we are looking at

or simply twist the truth for their

benefit

there is nothing left from the temple no

one stone of the temple is standing one

on another if you go up the Temple Mount

you can see trees planted on the Temple

Mount this corresponds well with the

words of Micah who writes Zion will be

plowed like a field Jerusalem will

become a heap of rubble the Temple Hill

amount overgrown with thickets I made a

video where I go up to the Temple Mount

you can see it yourself how it looks I'm

leaving a link in the description of

this episode so check it out and here

you can actually see a tractor plowing

the ground on the Temple Mount so the

words of the prophet Micah are being

actually fulfilled

the stones that are left are not part of

the temple but are stones that are left

over from a huge supportive structure

built by Herod if you actually go down

the Western tunnels you can see those

stones and understand how big they are

those massive Stones were used by Herod

to enlarge the temple itself he did it

to expand the temple complex that

faciliated thousands of worshipers every

day the biggest Stones weighed hundreds

of tons the Roman soldiers destroyed

what they could but to get rid of those

massive Stones you would need explosives

or perhaps Hulk by the way the stones

that we see resemble herodian Styles the

Romans would not bother to build such

massive stones in a place that they

didn't even care about Jerusalem for

them was always a province that didn't

matter that much on the contrary Herod

is known to build Crazy projects where

he used Engineers to create

unbelievable structures a palace on a

steep hill in the middle of the desert

and a massive Harbor City in caesarea

where he also used massive stones and

placed them precisely on each other in

the middle of the sea are two of the

more known examples of his engineering

so you can't use Jesus words and say

they prove your theory because the

Western Wall is standing Jesus was

referring to the temple and there is no

one stone standing of the Temple

okay so we discussed the two main

arguments from the biblical text that

Martin and his followers use now it's

time for the archeology history and

Common Sense part and this is where the

fun begins

the first one we will tackle is the

Gigan spring location for Martin and his

followers the temple had to be located

over the Gigan spring to provide water

for the temple

there is even a drawing showing you how

it could look like look at this picture

so in order for the temple to fit the

city of David a platform is created that

would support it you can see that Martin

places the temple on his drawing just

next to the offelle we know where the

ofel is located because we discussed it

in the beginning of the video so if you

look at the map the temple location on

today's map would be about here

now I also created a 3D model to see

where Martin's Temple would stand so the

first thing you can already see is how

the temple just does not fit the

geographical topography

platform on Martin's drawing is gigantic

and goes into the Kidron and Terrapin

Valley imagine how much Stone would be

needed just to build that and fill the

gaps now compare it with the traditional

location of the temple here the temple

simply fits Mount Moriah is big enough

to hold it but that's not the only

problem with Martin's model

look where the gig on Spring is it is

not under the temple but much lower in

the Kidron Valley I also mentioned this

in the beginning of the video and if you

want to feel the waters of the gig hot

spring you need to go beneath the city

of David so already we see that the

argument that the temple had to be above

the giggle spring does not make sense in

Martin's model Martin says that it would

make more sense to build the temple

close to the gihon spring because water

is essential to the temple functioning

and so he says that transporting water

to the Temple Mount would be very

difficult but looking at the model and

understanding geography it would be much

easier to transport water to the

traditional Temple Mount than the

monster that Martin created water would

have to be somehow pumped up on this

massive platform presented by Martin

and I agree geha spring was very

important for Jerusalem water supply but

it was not the only water source of

Jerusalem on the Temple Mount Charles

Warren documented at least 43 sisters

for collecting water some of the water

cisterns such as sister number seven and

eight were enormous underground water

reservoirs capable of holding some 2

million gallons of water most of these

cisterns were initially underground

quarries from which building stones for

the building of the Temple Mount was

taken after the quarrying activity were

stopped these Caverns were plastered and

became water reservoirs one of the

cisterns numbered eight is very big and

it dates to the first Temple Times

so please tell me if there was nothing

on the Temple mount in the time of

Solomon as Martin and those that follow

him claim why would the ancient people

bother to create such a huge cistern on

the Temple Mount this cistern is very

similar to the ancient cisterns found in

beersheva and Beth Shemesh but much

larger an archaologist Ellie shukran who

also excavated this cistern and tested

the plaster agrees that this cistern was

used in the first Temple Times the

Jewish commentaries on the Torah such as

the mishnah also refers to great

cisterns that were located on the Temple

Mount those are those cisterns mentioned

in the mishnah so why is there so many

water cisterns on the Temple mount

the answer is simple because huge

amounts of water was needed to flush

away the blood from the sacrifices that

were performed on The Temple Mount

people who believe that the temple was

located in the city of David can't

explain why there are such huge cisterns

under the Temple Mount from the first

temple period if there was nothing on

the Temple Mount then why are their

cisterns located in this location and

most importantly cisterns that date to

the times of Solomon okay but cisterns

are storage places you still need water

to be transported on the Temple Mount

one way to gather water in ancient times

was through rain in the Masada Fortress

built by Herod you can see the remains

of channels that collected the rainwater

and directed it to Giant cisterns this

is why during the Jewish revolt against

the Roman Empire which began in 66 A.D

the rebels which stood so long a Roman

Siege of course rain water would not be

enough for the temple you could not rely

just on rain water especially

considering that Israel is a region that

often experienced years of drought for a

proper and in interrupted sacrificial

system on the Temple Mount you would

need a constant flow of water

we know that inherent rain there were

actually aqueducts that transported

fresh water from atom spring at times

spring fed the lower Aqueduct coming

from a spring of a town near Bethlehem

and the Salomon pools located at the

head of the urtas Valley from where

water was transported to the temple

Court by the subterian aqueduct some 10

miles in length

this Aqueduct has gone into ruin long

ago so that no water from the spring now

reaches Jerusalem but it did function in

the past

and according to the Jewish sources the

atom spring was the water source for the

temple reaching the temple by means of

the lower Aqueduct this Aqueduct brought

fresh water to cleanse the temple Court

of the sacrificial blood each evening

the aqueducts would have been built for

this purpose by King Solomon when he

built the temple some claim the slower

Aqueduct was built by the hashmanians in

the 2nd Century BC but the hashmoneyans

would have merely repaired or improved

and already existing Aqueduct we can

conduct that Solomon would not have

relied on cisterns to supply the large

amount of water needed on a daily basis

to supply the temple especially in an

arid country that experienced

consecutive years of drought

instead Solomon built a complex water

Aqueduct cistern from Hebron from

Bethlehem to Jerusalem in about 950 BC

evidently this water system was

incorporated as a major design of the

temple itself Solomon knew that the

Gigan spring in the city of David did

not have enough head meaning water

pressure or lift to supply the temple

above the springs near Hebron are much

higher in elevation than the Temple

Mount you can even check that by

Googling the elevation of Hebron and

Jerusalem then you can clearly read that

Hebron is higher this is very important

for transporting water you need to have

a higher place from which you will

transport water to the lower place this

is how gravity works if it's the other

way around meaning transporting water

from a lower place to a higher place so

like it would be from geek on Spring

then you need energy

but let me illustrate how the aqueducts

worked in transporting water they

functioned as a sealed siphon system and

they would work like a water hose let's

say you want to drain your above ground

swimming pool in your backyard you stick

one end of the hose in the pool and the

other one on the ground the net

difference of head is determined by the

height difference between the level of

the water in the pool and where the

water leaves the holes as you lift the

hose from the ground to the top of the

water in the pool the water flow rate

diminishes then stops when there is no

difference in elevation

Municipal Water towers use exactly the

same principle and are only used when

there is a power failure and the

electric pumps cannot create the water

pressure it really doesn't matter how

high or low the water hose is in the

middle as long as the place the water

comes out is lower than where the water

enters in this way they could get the

water all the way from just north of

Bethlehem about 10 miles to Jerusalem to

supply the temple with all the water

that needed to wash away the blood from

the sacrifices

so the lowest part of the aqueduct

reached the Temple Mount through the

Jewish quarter and the Wilson's bridge

by analyzing elevation Heights of the

beginning of the aqueduct and the end we

can see that there was significant

potential water pressure with 21 meters

of gross head at the highest point of

the Temple mount

the level at Solomon's pulls near

Bethlehem is

765 meters above sea level the level at

the top of the rock Under the Dome is

744 meter we know Solomon used a sealed

conduct system so we know there was an

ample water pressure to supply lots of

water to the Temple Mount based on laws

of physics including a friction loss

calculation it's really that simple

imagine a water tower installed on the

temple platform that is 25 meters in the

air

this would give excellent water pressure

at about 30 PCI pounds per square inch

our modern city water pressure is about

60 to 70 PSI so the most natural water

supply for the temple would be in fact

the Hebron Springs

by the way the itam spring was the

spring under the temple that aristas was

referring to letter of aristas was

written in 150 BC and mentions a spring

under the temple about 400 years later

the Roman historian tacticus gave

another reference to the temple at

Jerusalem which had within its processes

and natural spring of water that issued

from its interior

those two references are estas and

tacticus are not describing the geckon

spring but the e-time spring so water

was transported from the Hill Country of

Hebron and Bethlehem where the three

poles called Salomon pools were created

to accumulate water for the temple the

estimated capacity of all three pools is

about 40 million gallons It is believed

that Solomon himself originally took one

or all three pools at a time and the

first aqueduct to feed his new Temple in

Jerusalem and there are some biblical

references that suggest it is true in

Ecclesiastes 2 6 we can read I made

ponds of water for myself from which to

irrigate a forest of growing trees

additionally Josephus writes the king

meaning Solomon himself rolled upon on a

chariot in the midst of those men who

were still in armor and had their boss

fitted to them he had on a white garment

and used to take his progress out of the

city in the morning there was a certain

place about 50 furlongs distant from

Jerusalem which is called itam very

pleasant it is in fine Gardens and

abounding in rivulets of water so those

are the two references that recognize

the importance of atom in Solomon's

times this is very interesting

and while some archeology surrounding

the pulls of Solomon and the aqueducts

date to the hashmanian or early Roman

periods that's 100 to 10 BC it is very

likely that those were Remodeling and

upgrading projects of an older system

that date back to the time of Solomon

it is just common sense why would the

hashmanians herald the Great and the

Romans build aqueducts if as Martin

followers suggest the water problem was

solved by the Gigan spring the answer is

simple the higon spring was not a

solution and you needed the force of

gravity to supply the temple in water

additionally it must be said that us was

correctly recognized almost from the

moment of its Discovery Wilson's Arch

supported a bridge that led from the

Temple Mount west across the Central

Valley to the Western Hill of the city

but the purpose of the bridge as

indicated by the aqueduct still running

above it was to convey water it was not

primarily for human traffic it was built

by Herod the Great late in the first

century to replace an earlier Bridge

built as we are told by Josephus by the

maccabean rulers and destroyed during

Pompeii's conquest of Jerusalem in 63 BC

and what is astonishing is that this

channel of water can still be observed

today in Jerusalem and goes directly to

the Temple Mount there are several

places where the end of Solomon's

ancient Aqueduct pipes can be seen in

the Temple Mount area here are two

places you still see the end of

Solomon's conduct very near the Temple

Mount those two photographs were taken

by Steve Rood on the stairs that led

from the upper streets down to the

Wailing Wall if you visit Jerusalem and

the Wailing Wall you probably passed

right by those but didn't know it so the

water conduct that supplied the temple

in Jerusalem began in the area of Hebron

mountains passed through Solomon pools

near Bethlehem and flowed to Jerusalem

again logic of dolls that proposed an

alternative view of the Temple Mount

location is questionable the models they

provide show that the water would have

to be pumped up it does not matter if

the temple was in the city of David or

the Temple mount in any case water would

have to be pumped up actually as I

mentioned it would be easier to

transport water to the Temple Mount than

the model that Martin proposes and now

the Gigan spring was not that strong to

shoot water up that high as presented on

the 3D model again they worry about the

water for the temple sacrifices but they

don't worry about the space needed to

perform those sacrifices thousands of

sacrifices would be performed during

biblical Feasts Herod enlarged the

temple platform to enable even more

sacrifices to be performed but even if

you take the original dimensions of

Solomon's Temple it simply does not fit

in the city of David the mishnah which

is the Jewish commentary tells us that

the square platform on which the temple

stood was measuring 500 square qubits

now if you look at the city of David

there is just no space for that kind of

platform the platform would stick out

from the top of the mountain you must

realize that the ridge on which the city

of David was built is very narrow there

is just no space on it to build a temple

in the city of David we don't find

anything on the ground that would

suggest a temple stood there but what we

find in the proposed location by Martin

and his followers tells us that the

temple could never be located in the

city of David

when you go to visit the city of David

make sure to check out Milo area in this

location by the way this is the location

where Martin and his followers put the

temple So In This Very spot you will see

remains of buildings that existed there

till their destruction in 586 BC by the

Babylonian Army so on the spot where

Martin and his followers locate the

temple you have common houses so what

are they proposing that the temple stood

on the roof of those common houses

archaeologists found toilets from the

6th Century BC in this place can you

imagine and still think that the temple

was located here

additionally in that spot on the edges

of the city of David they found a wall

of trash that was dumped there during

the first century and later

so are they suggesting that the temple

stood on trash am I understanding this

right

okay so according to Martin and his

followers the temple stood in the city

of David which we have presented that it

can't be so what stood on the

traditional Temple Mount according to

them well what Martin and his followers

always say is that Josephus writes that

Fort Antonia always stationed a legion

of Roman soldiers and therefore on the

traditional Temple Mount you actually

had a Roman Fort so let's look at this

claim a Roman legion was the largest

military unit of the Roman army and

composed usually of 4200 infantry and

300 Calvary and so the proponents of the

fort Antonia on the Temple Mount say

that it is a clear sign showing that the

Temple Mount had to be a Roman Fort

because only a space that large could

hold a Roman fort with a legion of Roman

soldiers but this is a different sign

that shows that those that propagate

this view did not do their homework if

we look at the writings of Joseph office

in Greek in which he wrote there is no

word for Legion in the description of

Fort Antonia

this is the famous verse where they take

the word legion from the translation of

it goes like this a Roman battalion or

order was always based there an art man

stood around the particles during the

festivals to keep watch on the people

and prevent any revolt the word tagma

can be translated as Battalion or order

you can actually paste this word to an

online translator and see the result

yourself

there is a word for Legion in Greek and

it's legionna therefore if you find the

translation of the word tagma as Legion

it is a mistake or an interpretation but

the word proper translation is simply

order or Battalion Josephus also uses

this word tagma to describe the

Sadducees and the essenes and it

certainly should not be translated as

Legion but rather an order of people so

this whole argument built on one word

does not make any sense but let's

suppose it means Legion after all Martin

and his followers provide dimensions of

other Roman Forts and observe that since

the Temple Mount would fit such a fort

then it must be the location of a Roman

fort but this is too little evidence to

produce such wild conclusions

yes there was Fort Antonia on the Temple

Mount and we know exactly where it was

Josephus writes that the fort Antonia

was higher than the temple and if you

look at this map you can see an

elevation over the Temple Mount this is

where Fort Antonia stood

an older picture of the Temple Mount

shows the location of Fort Antonia in

this picture you can see that the Muslim

School built on this elevation is higher

than the Temple mount

and I want to emphasize this really

strong think what it would mean if a

Roman Fort was located on the Temple

Mount think of the implications of that

if a Roman legion was actually located

in a proper Roman fort on an elevated

area as the Temple mount the Jews would

never be able to take control of the

Temple Mount remember we are talking of

the best trained military unit in Asian

World a legion was a war machine feared

by all the armies of the world and if we

go back to Joseph's writings he says the

Jewish Rebels took control of Fort

Antonia in two days it took five months

for several Roman Legions to take back

the control of the Temple mount the Jews

would have to have Superman or Hulk

under side to conquer a proper Roman

fort with a legion inside in just two

days logically there was of course no

Legion in Fort Antonia but as Josephus

writes a smaller unit of Roman soldiers

how big was this unit well this is a

good question people like lean ritmeyer

suggest a Roman cohort was located at

Fort Antonia which was generally

composed of about 480 soldiers

this would be in harmony with the New

Testament account of Paul's arrest in

Acts 21 and 22 the Apostle is recorded

as having been brought up from the

Temple Mount by stairs into a castle

which would have been nothing other than

Fort Antonia itself then we read that

Paul is allowed to address the Jewish

people that were standing belong on the

Temple mount in chapter 23 we read that

in order to save Paul's life the Tribune

ordered two centuries to get ready 200

Soldiers with 70 Horsemen and 200

spearmen to go as far as caesarea at the

third hour of the night this would have

amounted to two-thirds of the cohort

that was stationed in the grounds of

Antonia but you may say that the

proposed dimensions of Antonia Fortress

are even to small to host Roman cohort

of about 500 soldiers Josephus wrote

that the Antonia Fortress was built on a

rock that was 50 cubits that's 86 feet

or

26.25 meters high The Fortress had

Towers at its four corners and although

the rock Plateau on which the Fortress

stood is a sizable piece of real estate

measuring approximately

148 feet 45 meters from north to south

and 394 feet that's 120 meters from east

to west it's still not big enough now if

you go to the Temple Mount you can

actually see this rock sticking out of

the Temple Mount and this is a big space

but it is indeed difficult to imagine

that a cohort of about 500 soldiers and

their horses would have campaigned

inside this Fortress however I would

agree with lean ritmeyer who believes

that it would be a mistake to limit the

boundaries of Antonia to the rocky

Plateau only the strutian pool that was

found in Jerusalem close to the Fort

Antonia location would have provided

water for the Roman soldiers guard is on

here and would have been protected at a

distance of about 60 meters to the north

is a high Rock scarp that enclosed a

large area where later the Eastern Roman

Forum was built it is therefore

reasonable to suggest that a common

soldiers come out here in a

semi-permanent Barracks while the

officers and commanders stayed in a more

luxurious and permanent accommodation on

the top of Antonio Rock scarp also

remember that Jerusalem lost its

significance after herod's death the

procurators of Judea were generally

subordinate to the procreator of Syria

and their seat of government was in

caesarea the main part an economic

center of the Holy Land which tools

became the real capital of Judea

the Roman procreator would go up to

Jerusalem from caesarea during the free

pilgrimage festivals while his

attendance at the festival ceremonies

was a form of respect toward the

citizens it was also a military

significance he would be always

accompanied by a military force which

served as a warning against Rebellion

since such large festivals Gatherings

have the people a feeling of strength

while in Jerusalem the procreator would

recite in herod's Palace which became

the property of Rome or less likely in

Fort Antonia now the headquarters of the

military garnison in the city

but even when a large force of Roman

soldiers was brought to Jerusalem during

the festivals for example they would not

have been camped in one place like Fort

Antonia but would be spread out in

Jerusalem and there is also something

very important that I would like to

mention and something that is often

omitted by the proponents of Martin Fury

and that is that Fort Antonia was not

built by Romans they used what was

already there the fort overlooking the

Temple Mount was built by the

hashmonians in the 2nd Century BC and

only then was it Rios and modernized by

Herod for the Romans archeology actually

confirms this and herodian masonry has

been found under the modern structures

another question that should be asked

here is this why would the Jews build a

fortress after a typical Roman Fort it

just does not make any sense

also is Martin and his followers saying

that generations of Jewish people are

stupid and they are praying next to the

walls that actually the Romans built I

mean this is very cynical and

I don't know it's it's hard to imagine

uh the intentions

so those are just answers to arguments

that Martin and his followers make but

there are also other findings around the

Temple mount that prove that the temple

was located in this spot

I will just mention a few that I think

are the most important the first

important find is the trumpeting Place

inscription which is an inscribed stone

from the First Century A.D discovered in

1968 by Benjamin Mazar in his early

excavations of the Saturn wall of the

Temple mount

this was a directional sign for the

priest who blew a trumpet announcing the

beginning and end of Shabbat in the

second temple period this Stone would be

located on the southwest corner of the

temple complex here you can see a 3D

showing where it would be located on the

western side of the temple they also

found the four Gates that would lead to

the temple I made an episode dedicated

to all the gates that led to herod's

Temple I will leave a link to this video

in the description of this episode so

make sure to check it out

if you go to the Davidson archaeological

Park located next to the Western Wall

you will also see huge stones that were

thrown down by the Romans when they

destroyed the temple those stones are

the testimony of a massive destruction

done by the Romans next to the stones

they also found remains of shops where

Merchants would sell items for the

pilgrims coming to the temple

additionally over 50 riddle Buffs called

a Mikvah have been found around the

Temple Mount most of these are found

beneath the mount Southern Wall an area

jam-packed with Millennia all antiques

at any one time there would be thousands

of pilgrims in need of ritual cleansing

before entering the temple because we

need to understand that the temple

needed a massive infrastructure around

for it to function properly only a space

around the Temple Mount could

accommodate that in the city of David

there is simply no space not enough

space to do that now tell me why are

there so many ritual Buffs around the

Temple Mount and not in the city of

David

because the temple was on the Temple

Mount and not in the city of David I

mentioned pilgrims right well recently

there is a new attraction open for the

tourists

the attraction is the Pilgrim's road

which starts at the bottom of the city

of David next to the pool of Siloam

which will be excavated further later on

now guess where this road leads to it

leads to the Temple Mount because

pilgrims coming to Jerusalem wanted to

go to the Temple mount it does not lead

to the proposed location by Martin and

his followers because there was no

temple in the city of David

finally I want to mention something

extraordinary about the Golden Gate the

exterior phase of the gate as it remains

from the 16th century is a sealed double

entrance that leads into two vaulted

holes even though the face of the gate

has a 16th century appearance there is

strong evidence that this gate stands on

remains of ancient Gate built by the

Jews that led to the first temple built

by Solomon himself

archaeologists have found physical

remains of first temple masonry visible

around this gate and inside today's

Golden Gate original posts were found

that supported the entrance to the

temple in the second temple times the

Eastern Gate to Jerusalem was called the

shushan gate in 1969 the archaeologist

Dr James Fleming discovered an archway

that is located buried directly under

the current gate of Mercy by the way the

Gate of Mercy is another name for the

Golden Gate many believe that this Arch

was leading through stairs to the

shushan gate so why do we have

thalamonic stones in this spot if

according to Martin and his followers

the temple was never located here

the answer is again simple because the

temple was located here and not in the

city of David

to end this video I want to recommend an

additional video that I have also

published which talks about further

proof that Solomon Temple stood on the

Temple Mount make sure to check out this

video I will leave a link in the

description of this episode

thank you for your attention this was a

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