Why Has The Ancient City Of Jerusalem Been Fought Over For Centuries? | Lost Treasures | Timeline

Jerusalem C, capital of modern Israel, a holy place for three great world religions for the Jews, this is the

city

of the Temple Mount, the holiest of holy places. Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven from here to receive instructions on how followers should follow him. pray Christians know Jerusalem as the place of Jesus' crucifixion and his resurrection 2,000 years ago, this was already an

ancient

city

, a holy place long

fought

over by warring tribes and nations. Today's Jerusalem still exists on the edge of a religious political and territorial situation. Precipice Millennial tensions threaten to erupt with fanatical Jews and Christians attempting to rid the Mount of its Muslim presence.

Jerusalem is also a city of immense mystery and intrigue. The last century saw a growing interest in the history of the Bible and great efforts were made to discover it. the whereabouts of the Lost Ark of the Covenant and conduct archaeological research on the Temple Mount Queen Victoria supported teams of archaeologists and surveyors to explore the Temple Mount, but to this day many of the secrets of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount Temple remains closely guarded, but the search for the truth behind the Lost Arch of the Covenant and the Temple Mount continues as a center of global faith.

Jerusalem is unrivaled. Its famous

ancient

city is filled with places of worship that attract visitors from all over the world. world Muslims Jews Christians of all denominations for these Jerusalem has

been

a place of utmost importance throughout history, an importance that continues today, but in ancient times before Christ and Muhammad, the history of Jerusalem runs parallel to the history of the Jews. The importance of Jerusalem to the Jews is as the site of the temple in Jerusalem where, according to all Jewish tradition, God is to be worshiped by the Jews through sacrifices and libations and for all Jews, at least in theory, the most It is important that the temple be rebuilt one day, even if we have to wait for the Messiah.

To achieve this, it all began with Abraham, the father of monotheism according to Jewish legend. At an early age, Abraham was assured of God's unique nature and his immense power under God's command. Abraham and his family left his hometown to seek and settle a new land. where they could worship God Abraham's journey took him to Mount Mariah, which would become the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Abraham's successor David

fought

many battles before successfully establishing Israel as a nation when David's forces conquered a fortress of Je Sight in the mountainous lands west of the Dead Sea he decided to establish the Israelite capital there this was the birth of Jerusalem as the center of the Jewish faith now strategically the area of ​​Israel as we know it today is a military strategist the worst nightmare imaginable uh it's a narrow plane with mountains on one side and the sea on the other, but Jerusalem offers some protection and David, without a doubt, considered Jerusalem as the ideal place to establish his kingdom.

It had water, it was mountainous, it could be protected, and it was between two very important trade routes. the Mediterranean which had trade routes, of course, to all the ports of the Mediterranean Sea and the trade routes from the North to the South from Saudi Arabia to greater Syria, the situation was politically quite explosive, even after David became king, he was following Saul, who was not. his father, so Saul's dynasty had

been

broken now Saul was a member of the tribe of Benjamin David was a member of the tribe of Judah and anyway there were 12 tribes and they all had their different territories in the land of Israel, establishing So the capital anywhere would bother someone or another.

There was a division between the children of Leah and the children of Rachel, so all of these things were difficult and any city would have bothered someone, but Jerusalem, of course, was newly conquered from Jebus. It didn't actually belong to any tribe yet, so it seemed like a good sort of middle-of-the-road compromise, and like many established capitals these days, they don't necessarily make any sense in themselves except that they don't bother anyone too much in the first place. At first Jerusalem had the status of a holy city, a status it has never

lost

. King David ordered that the most sacred object of his people's religion be consecrated there.

This was an object that continues to inspire a sense of mystery and fascination. It was a small chest. made of aaia wood a box built expressly to contain the most sacred laws of God's chosen people carved into stone tablets these laws were the decalogue The Ten Commandments revealed to Moses by God several

centuries

earlier with the Israelites safe in their new territory that David decided to make Jerusalem the home of this sacred object, the Ark of the Covenant, as well as the account given in the Bible about the Ark of the Covenant and we have no evidence from anywhere except within the biblical text and some of the Later Jewish writings that refer to long after he disappeared note a wooden box of specific dimensions that traveled with the Israelites and contained relics that were central to their identity, specifically the tablet on which the Ten Commandments were written.

This description of the Ark is very much like the objects that are used by many of the Bedan tribes in the Near East until modern times to carry their symbols of tribal identity and I think it is a reasonable interpretation to see it as originating from that type of tribal symbol as Just as the Israelites became a settled people and then became a state with a king, this became the national symbol. I'm firmly convinced that the ark was a receptacle for static electricity, hence its supposed powers, so I think Steven Spielberg might not be too wrong about the ark.

It had the potential to contain a very high voltage. Static, an unusual form of electricity, requires a great degree of dryness in the air. After all, the ark was being transported. It was built of gold and wood, so you have the perfect elements for a primitive. accumulator and very often it was carried without contact with the ground because we know from the Bible that it was carried on a cart and this was the point at which the Bible tells us that usza reached out his hand to stabilize the ark as it fell. he got out of the car and when he touched it he fell dead now I think that user who may have had a weak heart who knows he received a shock if he died or not, we don't know maybe this was embellished the Bible says that David died then he told the Levites who were in charge of the Ark at the time that they should have sole custody of it and that from now on they would be the only people who would be allowed to touch it now, perhaps.

The Levis had understood the properties of static electricity from their container and insulated themselves with studless leather sandals to have a job for life. The place where David chose to consecrate the ark was already a significant place for his people, it was the summit of Mount Mariah, the hill where Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac as proof of his faith in God. according to the Bible. David paid 50 shekels of silver for a threshing floor on the mountain and then built a tabernacle on this floor in preparation to house the saint. Ark now dominated by the Islamic Dome of the Rock The site chosen by David remained sacred to the Jewish people: this is the Temple Mount complex or in Arabic the Haram al-Sharif, the noble enclosure located to the east of the City Old Jerusalem, although the Temple Mount complex is no longer a place of Jewish worship.

All Jews know that this was the site of the Old Temple, a place that has not physically existed for almost 2,000 years, but remains the symbolic spiritual center of their faith. The construction of the temple was accomplished by David's son and successor, Solomon, the Bible explains why Israel's religious law dictated that David because of his warlike past was impure and therefore the task fell to Solomon. Solomon certainly had the resources to complete the task. The book of Chronicles also describes the materials acquired. for David for the great task of his son David tells him I have prepared for the house of the Lord 100,000 talents of gold and 100,000 talents of silver and bronze and iron without weight because it is in abundance Wood also and stone I have prepared and you will be able to add them too Stone cut limestone and cedar beams from Lebanon interior panel with cedar and gilding discover the past with exclusive historical documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians, all from historical hits, watch on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device Download the app now to explore everything from the wonders of ancient Pompeii and the mystery of the princes in the tower to the life of Anne bin and D-Day, register via the link in the description, the main body of the temple was a great rectangular Hall built with Hune and stone carved according to the Bible, its main structure was 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide and 30 cubits high.

About a cubit equal to 21 inches in front was a large portico dominated by two bronze pillars rising to more than 18 cubits high. Smaller chambers were located around the main structure within the main hall, the walls were completely covered with cedar wood, while the floor was made of wood from fur trees, the entire building was then lavishly decorated with gold, but more significantly that its decoration was its sacred content. Within the main hall, in a beautifully carved and gilded inner sanctuary or holy of holies, stood the Ark of the Covenant, the tables of the law given to Moses by God now had a permanent home, and the Temple of Solomon stood as a glorious Monument to the faith of the Israelites.

The temple was built on one of the hills in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a very mountainous city, I guess you would say, and therefore, being built on the top of one of the mountains, it would certainly be very visible and, of course, by then you know. We're talking about a thousand BC, there weren't many very large buildings, most buildings were quite small, so to have a building about 20 cubits high, you know, 10 m high is already quite large, it was also notable because It looks like it didn't have internal pillars, it was as big as a building could be built without internal support, so when you walked in you had this huge H with no pillars to get in your way, so it was probably one of the largest spaces ever built. .

It could be seen with an unobstructed view, as far as we can see, it was also highly decorated and very beautiful, if it were lined or decorated with gold, it would shine in the sun, uh, Jerusalem, a very clear and sunny city even in winter, so all that. I think it would be a very powerful focus for people's attention, of course you had statues or pictures or any designs or artwork if you like, it would be quite Stark in that sense, but anyway I think it would probably be very striking. In a city of that time, it took Solomon 7 years to complete the temple and his achievement boldly proclaimed the new status of Jerusalem at the time of his death in 922 BC.

Jerusalem was the established capital of the unified Kingdom of Israel with the temple as the focus of religious life however the unity of Israel was short-lived disunity among the Israelite tribes led to the breakup of the unified Kingdom although the greatest danger to Jerusalem was the temple and The Jewish people came from the East between 722 and 721 BC. The Assyrians invaded and destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel, despite great resistance, 10 tribes were banished from their Kingdom never to return, these would be known as The Legendary Lost Tribes of Israel. Judah, on the other hand, retained its independence when Assyrian power began to fade in the 7th century BC, it seemed that Jerusalem's future was finally secure, but by the beginning of the 6th century BC.

C. a new danger began to emerge from the East. King Nebuchadnezzar, the legendary ruler of Babylon, threatened Jerusalem when Jerusalem first became the capital of Judah. The effect was not so dramatic judging by the archeology that remained. within the same walls from their first development in the Bronze Age to the period of the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel after that period; However, it expanded greatly to become by far the largest city in the country and larger than any city in the 19th century. country had been in the past, however, I think it is safe to say that even within the period before that expansion which took place after 700 BC.

C., even in that previous period between a. and 700 BC. C., there would have been important royal buildings within the city and probably quite important private homes of the wealthy nobility of the Kingdom of Israel, we can judge this based on the tombs from that earlier period that have been found around the city and these are Quite elaborate and clearly they were rich tombs of rich people, um, I can also judge it based on The Terraces that were built on the slopes of the city to create a terrainmore level within the defenses on which to build houses and other public buildings, so I think it would have affected the city quite dramatically. would have made it much more beautiful and richer than it had ever been on March 16, 597 BC.

C. Nebuchadnezzar's forces captured Jerusalem, many prominent Judean citizens were forced into exile, the temple was looted of most of its

treasures

, but Judah simply survived as an entity under a new king installed by the Babylonians, 21-year-old Zedekiah, the Survival of Jewish Jerusalem would be brief in the ninth year of Zedekiah's rule. He and his people rose up against Nebuchadnezzar. It was a disastrous decision. The Babylonians responded with a new attack. After an 18-month siege, the city fell in 586 BC. C. this time the Babylonians showed no restrictions Solomon's temple was completely destroyed with everything of value looted the sacred Ark of the Covenant mysteriously disappeared although there is no evidence that the Babylonians took possession of it its fate remains to this day The exile to Babylon would also be the fate of the vast majority of skilled workers, trained soldiers and aristocracy, this included the king.

Zedekiah, who was forced to witness the murder of his sons before having his eyes gouged out. Despite this disaster, the Jewish faith in their one God survived. The temple may have been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar's forces, but it still existed in his consciousness as the center of his faith along the rivers of Babylon. In exile, the people of Moses and David mourned their holy city. In the absence of a temple they met in groups these meeting places would evolve into today's synagogues the prayers were said facing Jerusalem a practice that continues to this day in simple terms the Jews maintain the ritual of their faith and the identity of their Nation the ability to The fact that the Jews remain committed to their Jewish thought relates very directly to the quite intelligent way in which they have actually handled Jerusalem and the temple, the temple was destroyed, it was destroyed by the Babylonians, when They took the Jews of Judea, the Jews of the south.

The Kingdom of Judah went into slavery to Babylon rather than just sort of despairing like the

lost

10 tribes of the North had obviously done some

centuries

earlier rather than saying well, that's the end, you know Jerusalem is destroyed, There is no more temple, what will we do? Hey, they got together and said, well, let's remember Jerusalem, let's echo it in our practices, let's keep praying to get back there, maybe we can do it, and of course, in fact, just a few decades later they were allowed to return and rebuild the Temple ? uh, but in those few notable decades in Babylon, uh, they began to build some pretty radical concepts, getting together and remembering the temple that looked toward Jerusalem, building certain things that would remind them of the temple, for example, an ark in which they would keep the sacred books is an echo of the Ark of the Covenant and the curtain of the holy of holies in front of it that reminded them of the curtain in Jerusalem the eternal light that reminded them of the Eternal Light that burned in the temple this type of thing established for the first time which would eventually become the synagogue and we forget that the synagogue is a completely radical invention, never before had ordinary people gathered together for religious purposes.

Pur is what happened in the past was that the priests did their thing in the temples and People came and watched or they Wasn't it their business? So here suddenly religion became democratized. The common people did their part now, that meant Judaism suddenly became portable, although yes, there was a great longing to return to Jerusalem and they were able to do it, it was great. longing to have the temple and worship in the Temple they could be Jews wherever they chose Jews should not be rewarded for maintaining their faith in 539 B.C. Cyrus the Great conquered Persia and Babylon emancipating the free Jews to return to Jerusalem and led by tens of thousands of zerobabel they made the journey back to their ruined capital they returned to their holy city facing the difficult task of rebuilding their temple inspired by the prophets Hagi and Zechariah.

The returned exiles began their work when the second temple was reestablished, that is why the Rures of Babylon received permission from the Persians who conquered Babylon they wanted to establish rebuild the Temple in fact that was the reason they were allowed to return to do that um They did not have many resources although the Persian Empire paid for the restoration of the temple but they still did not have many resources, they did not have many skilled craftsmen and they found some antipathy among the people who had been left behind, who had begun to feel that they knew what they were doing. doing and I didn't want these characters to come back after decades saying well we'll reestablish our own system uh this was really the origin of the conflict that would later become famous between the Samaritans who were the people who had been left behind and the Jews who returned from Babylon the Samaritans wanted to participate in the rebuilding of the temple.

The Jews of Babylon said well no, not really, this is a Jewish business. The Samaritans were deeply offended by this and therefore began to attack attempts by the Jews to rebuild the temple and, in fact, frequently those attempts were postponed, however, they eventually built something, the result being completed in 516 BC C., but it was a poor restoration of Solomon's original, the second temple itself had absolutely none of the splendor of the first temple, in fact, it is. It was said in the Bible that those who had known the first temple when they saw the second temple cried at the comparison between the two, it was not as attractive as the original Temple, eh, but as the years and generations passed it became more beautiful. and further embellished and improved until Roman times, certainly in the times of the Greeks we believe it was quite an elegant building, whether it was equivalent to the Solomonic building, we do not know, but of course we also know that in Greek times The architecture and aspirations had changed significantly, so even if it were identical to Solomon's building they would probably have considered it quite primitive by then, but it was on the same plan, it had the same broad structure: the portico, the main hall and the holy of holies in the center, but of course by then the holy of holies did not contain the Ark of the Covenant which had been removed, it is the stuff of legend, now no one knows where it is, even Spielberg can make a movie about The Quest for Heaven.

Lost Arch, huh, that kind of dream, that kind of legend, no one knows where it went, so the holy of holies was now a completely empty room, which in some ways is quite fitting for the Jewish understanding of what you would find if you tried to find. God, but it had broadly the same design. Jerusalem now enjoyed centuries of relative prosperity and stability; However, in the 4th century B.C. Macedonia became the dominant power in the region. Alexander the Great defeated the Persians in 331 BC. in Syria and Jerusalem became the capital of the The ancient Greek province of Judea throughout his life Alexander was famous for his tolerance towards conquered peoples.

The people of Jerusalem were no exception under Greek domination. Jerusalem became an important commercial center. Many of its Jewish inhabitants, however, sought business opportunities elsewhere, such as in Alexandria in Egypt. These Jews were now physically separated from their capital and forced to learn the languages ​​and customs of their new homelands. All Jews had to pay an annual tax for the maintenance of the Temple in Jerusalem. Jerusalem and its legacy remain the center of all its rituals after Alexander's death in 323 BC. C. Judea became the responsibility of the Egyptian Toica dynasty throughout the 3rd century BC. Jerusalem remained largely free of major upheavals, but in 198 BC.

C. Egypt was defeated by the Syrian forces of King Antiochus III and lost control of Judea. It was an event with devastating consequences for Jerusalem and the Jews. Greek civilization began to erode the authority of the Jerusalem priesthood when King Anias IV installed an altar to Zeus in the temple in 168 BC, an armed rebellion occurred which was led by the Mattathias dynasty. macabus, also known as maab, the macbes claimed full Jewish sovereignty of the temple, reestablishing it as the nation's holiest site, an event still joyfully celebrated as Hanukah, the Festival of Lights, the celebration of Hanukah or its beginning is described in the books of maab. and it is a fantastic ceremony in which all the Jews of Judea were to light candles for eight days, in what was always intended to be an imitation of the eight days of the Festival of Tabernacles of Sukkot and in later rhynic sources. which first refer to these events only in the talwood, so in the 4th and 5th centuries we see much after these events, the celebration they are said to commemorate is the discovery of oil in the temple which then lasted 8 days until being purer and immaculate.

Oil could be found to allow the temple lights to be lit again after 450 years. Judah was an independent state. Once again, by public demand, the Mabes became the ruling dynasty in the 1st century BC. However, a new and decisive force began to emerge in 63. Roman forces under Pompeii the Great took advantage of the unrest to invade Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, in 37 BC. Judah had become the Roman province of Judea and in that year a new king backed by the Romans began ruling the land for Jews and Christians. He is considered to this day as a ruthless murderous tyrant.

He is Herod the Great, yet Herod's architectural achievements far exceed his notoriety. He built the great Summer Palace of Mada and its famous Herodian melum, but his greatest and most lasting achievement for posterity was the reconstruction of the Temple of Solomon by expanding the platform he built Great Walls to enclose the new second temple when we talk about the second temple of In one way, this really should be Temple 2A because Herod renovated it so completely that one suspects that what was there back then was significantly different than The temple that was originally built by those people who returned from Babylon some 5,600 years earlier was a marvelous enormous marble construction with grandiose ambitions and all the best quality of architectural development that Greek and Roman thought had developed.

It kept the same general scheme with the temple building in the center with the portico with the main hall with the holy of holies in the center, he could not have dared to mess with that and it is clear from the accounts of the rabbis' contemporary rabbis that Herod tried, perhaps quite unusually, to ensure that he did not offend any aspect of Jewish ritual throughout the building. He was desperate to make sure that no one could criticize him for doing something wrong while rebuilding the temple, so, for example, his entire reconstruction was completed before demolishing the old parts, so he built a kind of shell outside the inner temple and then He dismantled it to show the great temple he created, so it was quite a remarkable effort he made to maintain the Jewish religion.

The authorities are happy, and in fact the rabbis say that you have never seen a beautiful building until you have seen Herod's Temple. At the time of Herod's death in 4 BC, the temple was completed but its previous systems were still incomplete. Jewish tradition is rather half-hearted. As for Herod, he is not as unenthusiastic as the Christian tradition, which is extremely unenthusiastic, but there is no Tradition that there was anything wrong with his Temple, so the only good thing about him was that he had made the Temple look a lot more impressive than it was. what Herod had done previously in his final stage of life became aware of an ancient messianic prophecy and in a town south of Jerusalem a child Jesus Christ had been born.

Jesus from an early age frequented an area of ​​the Temple Mount still under construction for Christians The events at the end of Jesus' life invest the city of Jerusalem with its eternal significance. Each year tens of thousands of believers come here to visit the places of their savior's last days on Earth according to the gospels. Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on the Sunday before Passover. through the Golden Gate of the eastern city wall to the Temple Mount, in doing so Jesus was fulfilling Jewish messianic prophecy over the course of the next few days. Jesus expelled the merchants and money changers from the temple courtyard and engaged in discussions with the Pharisees, the scribes, the Sadducees, and the chief priests.

The Jewish leadership at that time was divided into two widely separated groups, although there were other groups as well, there were the fanatics, the type offreedom fighters in the hills were the Asen, who had completely isolated themselves. and they said they would go on with their own affairs and had nothing to do with it, but the two main groups vying for power in Jerusalem were the Pharisees, who we could largely call sort of working teachers, mainly what Today we call the rabbis and Sadducees who tended to be much more oriented around the temple trying to make it work with the Roman leadership trying to keep the structures of Jerusalem running, it would seem as if both the Romans and the Sadducees recognized that if the messianic movements were outright this would threaten the significant status quo according to Christian tradition Jesus was perceived as a troublemaker by the Jewish authorities the Sanhedrin his fate was apparently sealed Jesus had to be eliminated the political implications of Jesus' crucifixion changed depending on whose point it was the point of view you're looking at from the Roman point of view, Jesus was probably some sort of minor annoyance that had to be eliminated before it became a major problem and in that sense, for the Romans this was not a matter of great importance.

Note that the gospel gives a very vivid account of the deliberations of the Jewish high priest Caiaphas and his advisors about what to do with Jesus and for them it was a matter of not allowing him to disturb the status quo. Visa, the Romans, therefore . Caias said that it was appropriate for a man to die for the people, of course, in the long run, the crucifixion of Jesus came to have immense political significance on a much larger scale in the sense that his followers founded a new religion and eventually this religion became the official religion of the Roman Empire at that time it dramatically changed the status of Jerusalem and turned it into the world religious center which it has remained ever since For many Christians the most important aspect of a visit to Jerusalem is to follow the supposed route taken by Jesus as he carried the cross through Jerusalem long after Jesus' death and long after the Jerusalem of his life had been destroyed and rebuilt.

The Christians decided that Jesus had carried the cross along the via dooso, the Sorrowful Way. The so-called 14 Stations of the Cross marked along this route represent incidents that supposedly happened during that trip at the road corner. Roo and the street known as haay, for example, is station four, supposedly the place where Jesus saw his mother Mary. 100 met later is station six, this marks the place where a woman named Veronica supposedly wiped the face of Jesus, although Veronica's story was only found about seven centuries after Christ's death, but if the route taken by Jesus with the cross is doubtful, there is less doubt about the place where he possibly met his death, the Church of the Holy Sea, site of the last five Stations of the Cross, is one of the most revered places in all of Christianity despite the name of the church, it is considered unlikely that the Seiler or tomb of Jesus was located here by tradition.

This is where his crucifixion took place during the fifth decade of the 1st century. The temple precincts were eventually completed, but it was completed. of the Temple Mount did not bring peace in ad. 44 Just over 10 years after the crucifixion Rome had begun to appoint governors of Judea who favored a much firmer approach in its dealings with the Jews. In AD 66 a bloody insurrection broke out throughout Judea led by fanatics who seized Jerusalem from the Romans the response of the Roman emperor Nero was to send several legions under the command of Vespasian the consequences for the holy city were severe Vespasian's son, Titus, finally captured the city but in doing so precipitated the destruction of Herod's temple the effect of the The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem was dramatic because the temple had been the main driver of the city's economy through pilgrims who arrived through tourists who arrived through the regular income that the temple received from the Jews. from all over the world, both from the Roman Empire and from Mesopotamia and all that came to an end because there was no longer any Temple and in fact the Jews and the Roman Empire had to send their offerings to Rome to rebuild the Temple of Jupiter that had been burned by mistake in 69 so that the city's economy completely collapsed the establishment of foreign gods and goddesses on the mountain led to the following final rebellion under the leadership of the son of light Simon bar kbar the Jews rose up a again in the year 132 AD.

C. barbar took Jerusalem from the Romans and reestablished monotheism Jewish worship on the mountain Roman armies retaliated vehemently by crushing the revolt and alleging half a million Jewish lies the ruling emperor Hadrian changed the name of the city to Alia capitalina and executed an expulsion end of Jerusalem Jews exiled and dispersed around the world for 18 centuries the Jewish diaspora ended only in May 1948 with the proclamation of the state of Israel, but the story of Jerusalem's hidden past resurfaced in the mid-19th century with the Renaissance Western Christian interest in Bible history In 1866 the Palestine Exploration Fund was established with Queen Victoria as its patron, the aim of the fund was to increase understanding of the ancient biblical sites of Israel.

Captain Charles Wilson of the Royal Engineers began the exploration with a concise study. Leftist Charles Warren replaced Wilson. Warren's work was fraught with difficulties and dangers. Muslims distrusted foreign archaeological equipment. In particular his interest in the secret passages under the Mount, the Ottoman Turkish authorities who ruled Jerusalem from Constantinople denied Warren and his team further access to the Temple Mount. Jerusalem was unwelcoming in other ways, and centuries of garbage surrounded the Temple Mount. and its network of systems and passages were clogged with the sewage of Jerusalem. Warren had to fight a war of wills with Turkish authorities and local landowners to gain access to the Mount, as well as a battle against disease.

Lieutenant Charles Warren was a wonderful diplomat and was able to persuade the Islamic authorities to allow him to enter all the ssts and caverns beneath the temple platform and explore them. His study, combined with that of Lieutenant Charles Wilson some years earlier, provided all the basic data we have on the archeology of the Temple Mount. and it is on the basis of his work that everything that was built Warren made some surprising discoveries. He was determined not only to pinpoint the locations of numerous secret tunnels and passages beneath the Temple Mount, but to uncover the mount's Solomonic past that this would bring. he brought him closer to the possible location of the holy of holies that contained the Ark of the Covenant some years earlier.

Wilson had accurately mapped system 5, an underground system that ran down the side of the mountain, far from the estimated center of the Solomon Temple Complex. Warren deduced that System 5 drained the sacrificial remains away from the first temple, which meant that the bronze altar of Solomon's inner court would have been at the northeastern end of system 5. Warren concluded that Solomon's Temple was located a 40 m south of Sacura with all these details and a precise description. A picture of the Solomonic and Herodian temple complexes began to emerge. I like that all the other archaeologists can't dig in the bush, so in addition to trying to trace underground systems and channels, I thought I'd try infrared photography and I took a photo in 1997 from about 1,000 feet and it showed a channel that ran from Sacra to the wellhead in system 5.

Now this only appears on infrared film. This is very interesting because in my opinion it proves Warren's theory that the drainage center for the temple was here in his five system shown on Wilson's map and if this were the case then the holy of holies would have been approximately here, so if there was a secret hiding place leading out of the holy of holies one would have to dig somewhere in this area to find it. Although Wilson and Warren failed to find the ark, their findings contributed greatly to its contemporary understanding. of the infrastructure and history of the mountain.

The findings of 19th-century British royal engineers strengthen Warren's conclusion that the site was sacred. Holy of Holies was situated to the south of the Holy of Holies, this means that there was once a fixed location for viewing the holy of holies and therefore possibly the ark. The last record in the history we have of the Ark is a reference in the book of Kings and Chronicles. in 620 BC King Josiah asked the Levites who were custodians of the soul of the Ark to remove it from its hiding place and place it back inside the most holy place within the temple that Solomon had built.

Now this is very important because I think it shows that a hiding place for the Ark of the Covenant was built long before the Babylonian destruction of 586 BC. C. in which most of the first temple was destroyed. If this is the case, it means that the ark, although it disappeared from recorded history, had not disappeared from Jerusalem and it is very important not only for historians but also for the Jewish nation to believe that the ark remains under the temple Jerusalem Mountain has no no real significance anywhere else in the world this was the place chosen by David at God's command and therefore today most Jews would like to believe that the ark remains somewhere under the mountain after numerous failed attempts to finding the lost Arc of the Covenant by both archaeologists and treasure hunters.

Interest in the Mount's secrets remains higher today than ever. In August 1998, archaeologist Richard Andrews had the rare opportunity to enter the Haram and witness the sights that Charles Warren and his team had experienced more than a century earlier. . Andrews and the television crew ventured beneath the Temple Mount armed with the idea that the Ark of the Covenant could still be hidden just a few feet away. You go from a place of great noise outside of great heat and you enter this well that is lined with wood to prevent the walls from collapsing and then you enter another world where there is total silence, total darkness, we had the solar guns as a camera of our cameras so we could see pretty well and as we went we couldn't go any further with the flashlights and I just took a flashlight and was able to crawl through one of the tunnels for a distance of about 150M the TR.

The problem is that it has never been excavated, so I had to crawl back out, but it led me to realize that my theory that the ark could be hidden under the mountain is plausible. This is just one tunnel out of many hundreds. It still exists beneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, so I could well imagine that the ark still lies not many meters from where we are, where the Levites left it many thousands of years ago before the Babylonian destruction. Jerusalem is a kind of enigma and the question of the whereabouts of the ark is added to its mystery. 2,000 years of history have seen great changes Within the walls of Jerusalem, both in terms of religion and archaeology, the archeology of Jerusalem has undergone fantastic changes.

The Great Temple of Solomon gave way to the Temple of Zerubbabel. which in turn gave way to the Temple of Herod today the temple that we can see hides many lost secrets including possibly the ark but the only thing that is definitive is that the temple itself is a lost treasure of the ancient world there is a great desire by Archaeologists to Jerusalem Israeli archaeologists must excavate everything they can Unfortunately they have run into the religious concerns of the Muslims who still control the Temple Mount and this is the situation that exists today, it seems extremely unlikely that the Temple Mount will ever be excavated. and for the historian this is not a tragedy because we have so many literary sources at least for the late second temple period that tell us what the temple was like while it was still standing in Roman times that although it would be nice to have visual images. proof by excavation It is by no means essential that we still know more about the Temple of Jerusalem than about any other Temple in the ancient world.