For years scholars have argued about the precise location of the first and second Jewish Temples on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, almost all archaeologists agree they were situated at or near the Muslim Dome of the Rock.

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Recently, however, a popular book claims the Temples never stood on the Temple Mount at all.In Temple: Amazing New Discoveries that Change Everything About the Location of Solomon’s Temple, Robert Cornuke makes the startling claim that they were built in the City of David, over the Gihon Spring. Cornuke’s sensational conclusion is that accepting this location resolves the political and religious impasse between Jews and Muslims over the controversial site and allows for biblical prophecies related to rebuilding the Temple to be fulfilled today.The Temple location is important, and Cornuke’s popular book, written to a general audience, is confusing many Christians.A former police detective, Cornuke based his book on a more academic one by the late Ernest Martin, who originated the theory almost 20 years ago. At that time, many people criticized it, as did I in my book The Temple and Bible Prophecy: A Definitive Look at Its Past, Present, and Future (1999). 1 Now Martin’s theory is coming to the fore again, even though it cannot be sustained for three main reasons:God established the location for the first Temple, and that location has never been forgotten or confused throughout Jewish history.

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2 Medieval Jewish scholar Moses Maimonides, in his massive commentary, Mishneh Torah, contended that once the Temple site was fixed in the days of Samuel and King David, it could not be changed (Beth Ha’behira 1:3–4). The Bible supports this view in its description of the official rebuilding of the structure after the Babylonian exile:And he Persian King Cyrus said to him Sheshbazzar, “Take these articles; go, carry them to the temple site that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its former site.” Then the same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem (Ezra 5:15–16).Therefore, the second Temple was built on the restored ruins of King Solomon’s first Temple (9:9).

Herod the Great’s renovation to the second Temple was completed on this same foundation (Josephus Antiquities 15.388–89, 391).Even before Herod, there was a monumental extension of the eastern enclosure wall. It has enabled scholars to identify the original Temple Mount platform, which was designed to level off the natural topography of Mount Moriah and support the first Temple.

Based on these remains and others visible in and around the Temple platform, it has been possible to deduce the original 500 x 500 cubit (861 x 861 feet) square Temple Mount upon which the first and second Temples were built. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus confirmed this equilateral square shape and asserted the Temple was built on top of a hill ( Antiquities 15.

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This is a significant point because, whatever location one argues for the Temple, it must be able to accommodate a platform this size.In Mark 13:2 (cf. 19:44), we read that Jesus predicted the Temple “buildings” would be leveled to the ground. His prophecy did not include the Temple’s foundation stones, retaining walls, or platform, which technically are not buildings and therefore not the structures to which Jesus referred. The Jewish people deeply reverenced this site. Not only did they pray toward it three times a day, but they also saw it as the symbol of hope for Israel’s redemption and restoration in the Messianic age (cf. In fact, the restoration text of Isaiah 66:14 is carved into the Temple Mount’s southwestern retaining wall.According to archaeologist Meir Ben-Dov, who served as codirector of the excavations in this area, the inscription most likely reflects the excited hope of a third-century Jew who returned to Jerusalem when Roman Emperor Julian offered the Jewish people an opportunity to rebuild their Temple.

3 It is clear by where he recorded this act of devotion and expectation that he did not believe the Temple was in the City of David. This unbroken testimony continues through the Jewish pilgrim accounts and letters between Jewish people in the Diaspora and those who remained in the occupied land of Israel.After the Romans destroyed the Temple in AD 70, it is said that pilgrims visited a barren protrusion of stone (called the Pierced Stone) for centuries thereafter, identified as the location of the former Holy of Holies. For this reason, after the Muslims conquered the land in AD 638, the Islamic Caliph Abd al-Malik erected the Dome of the Rock over the spot (AD 691). Evidence comes from the Armenian historian Sebeos (AD 660):I will relate a little more about the intentions of the rebellious Jews, who having earlier received help from the leaders of the children of Hagar, conceived a plan to rebuild the Temple of Solomon. Having discovered the place, which is called the Holy of Holies, they then built on its foundations, a place of prayer for themselves.

However, the Ishmaelites, jealous of them, drove them from this place and called it their house of prayer. 4History, then, attests to today’s Temple Mount as the location of the former Temples.The original 861’ x 861’ square Temple Mount does not fit physically in David’s City, as Cornuke’s theory proposes.

Full text of 'Sebeos.HistoryTranslated from Classical Armenianby Robert BedrosianTo the memory of my uncle Andranik TorigianSources of the Armenian Tradition (New York, 1985)This work is in the public domain. It may be copied and distributed freely.Translator's PrefaceA Note on PaginationAt rbedrosian.com:Chronological TablesMapsPrologue.Chapter 1.Vahan's rebellion from Peroz, the seizure of authority and triumph in battle. Peroz' death, theenthronement of Kawad, and the honoring of Vahan with the marzpanatc. Kawad's death and theenthronement of Xosrov called Anush Eruan (Anushirvan). The rebellion of Vardan and serviceto the Byzantines.