The Temple: Northern Temple Mount

Modern Destruction By Richard Benkin, Ph.D. (May 2003) - In 1886, British explorer Captain Charles Wilson undertook the most comprehensive survey of Jerusalem in modern times, noting, “No one has ever questioned that the [Jewish] Temple formerly stood within the Haram-es-Sherif [Moslem name for the Temple Mount].”¹ It would be difficult to think of a more absurd notion. To deny that reality denies the essence of both Jewish and Christian scripture. They both contain voluminous reference to the temples, from their construction to the events in the life of Jesus. In fact, Moslem and Arab history also confirms Warren’s declaration. Before 638 CE—a rather late date in the history of that region—there was no Islamic presence in Jerusalem. Its conqueror, the Umayyad Caliph, Umar, asked its Byzantine Patriarch, Sophronius, to show him the site of the Jewish Temples almost immediately upon entering the city. Sophronius did so and said, “Here is that appalling abomination.” Umar was indeed appalled—but not by the Temple itself. He was incensed at the accumulated garbage and debris, which he believed desecrated that Jewish holy site. He ordered the site cleansed immediately in a manner befitting its holy purpose. Soon thereafter, he commissioned The Dome of the Rock on the Mount, and his son had Al-Aqsa mosque built there as well. These edifices were not constructed to mark a Moslem holy site but to advertise Moslem hegemony over Jerusalem with its Jewish and Christian holy sites. more...

This view places the temple surrounding the Dome of the Spirits/Tablets on the Temple Mount.

Based on a number of topological and archaeological considerations, research by Dr. Asher Kaufman over the past two decades has resulted in serious consideration being given to a site 330 feet to the north of the Dome of the Rock. The Mt. Moriah bedrock outcrops within the Dome of Rock, as is well known. Although the bedrock elevation drops sharply to the south in the direction of the City of David, the level of the bedrock is just beneath the paving stones for over 100 meters to the North of the Dome of the Rock shrine. One particular level outcropping of this bedrock lies under a small Islamic shrine known as "The Dome of the Tablets" or "The Dome of the Spirits," to the Arabs. Both names suggest an association with the Jewish Temples. It is under this small, unimpressive canopy supported by pillars that Dr. Kaufman locates the Temple site. - Templemount.org

Arguments For

The Third Temple Entrance In Alignment With The East Gate - This author presents the information which places the Holy of Holies at the Dome of the Spirits/Dome of the Tablets and is lined up with the Golden Gate directly to the East.

The Dome of the Spirits
This small dome, also called the Dome of the Tablets, has attracted interest because of Asher Kaufman’s theory that it marks the place of the Holy of Holies in the Second Temple. The dome is located on the east-west line from the peak of the Mt. of Olives through the Golden Gate to the two domes of the Holy Sepulcher on the west. Upon the peak of Olivet, according to the Mishnah, the High Priest used to stand when he sacrificed the Red Heifer. During this ceremony, he would have had to look into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood in its direction; the Temple should have lined up, then, with the peak. Kaufman adduced archaeological data to support the theory that the Temple was here, but it has not gained wide acceptance, partly because of the topography. We know from Warren’s investigations (1868) that a little to the north was a moat, extending St. Anne’s Valley. Herod filled it in, but it was probably there in Solomon’s time. Assuming the Second Temple was built where the First had been, the north side of Solomon’s Temple, if here, would have been on the slope, slightly below the peak and asymmetrically close to this moat. Without more archaeology, however, no one can be certain where the Temple was.

Dome of the Spirit - Jerusalem - This little dome, about 10 feet in diameter, has been called the “Dome of the Spirit” and the “Dome of the Tablets” for many centuries. Some archeologists believe it was the actual site of the Holy of Holies, for three reasons:
- (1) it is in perfect alignment with the ancient East Gate
- (2) it is the only place on the Temple Mount where the floor is solid bedrock, just like the threshing floor that King David purchased as the site for the altar, II Sam. 24:24
- (3) the dome stands 330 feet north of the Dome of the Rock, allowing enough room to rebuild the Jewish temple on this site if one would “leave out the court which is outside the Temple” as God instructed John, Rev. 11:2.

With the temple placed such that the Holy of Holies is located on the Dome of the Spirits, this is what it would look like. Put together with Revelation 11:1-2 we have a location that fits with Bible prophecy such that if the outer court is not built for this third temple, it fits right next to the Dome of the Rock and the Holy of Holies lines up perfectly with the Golden Gate, or East gate.

The Temple at the Dome of the Spirits/Tablets

The Temple Mount

Arguments For

Arguments Against