Herod’s Renovation of the Temple

Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities includes a detailed account of Herod’s renovation of the Temple in the late first century BCE. See also “Renovation of the Temple” and the jerusalem temple.

Having removed the old foundations, Herod laid down others, on which he erected the Temple. It was one hundred cubits in length and twenty additional cubits in height, which decreased over time with the sinking of the foundations; this part we decided to raise again in the time of Nero. The Temple was built of strong white stones, each of which was around twenty-five cubits in length, eight in height, and about twelve in width. The entire structure was much lower on each side, as was the structure of the royal cloister, but the middle portion was much higher, such that they were seen all around from a distance of many stadia by the country’s inhabitants, especially those who lived opposite it or happened to be approaching it. The doors at the entrance, whose lintels were of the same height as the Temple, he adorned with embroidered curtains with purple flowers and interwoven pillars. Above these, below the crown work, a golden vine was spread out with bunches of grapes hanging down from it, a marvel of stature and workmanship to those who witnessed the degree of material extravagance with which it was built.

He also surrounded the entire Temple with very large porticoes designed in proportion to the Temple itself, outdoing his predecessors in expenditure, with the result that no one else was thought to have adorned the Temple as well as he. There was a large wall supporting both porticoes, and this wall itself was the most magnificent work ever heard of by men. The hill was a rocky ascent that inclined gently toward the eastern section of the city, as far as the uppermost peak. This was the hill that King Solomon, by divine wisdom, first encompassed with great works around its summit. He also walled it off from below, beginning at the base, around which runs a deep ravine, and at the south side he laid rocks together, bound to one another by lead, and he increasingly included some of the interior portion until it grew to a greater depth, with the result that the height and magnitude of the building, which became square, were massive, and the vastness of the stones was clearly visible along the surface from the front. Yet the interior portions were firmly fastened with iron and maintained the stability of the joints permanently. When this work was brought to completion in this manner and joined together as part of the hill itself to the very top, he wrought it all into one outward surface and filled up the hollow places that were around the wall, making it smooth and level on the external upper surface. This hill was walled all around with a circumference of four stades, each side taking up one stadion. Within this wall and along the summit ran another wall, also of stone, which had, on the east quarter, a double portico the same length as the wall, in the midst of which was the Temple itself. This portico faced the gates of the Temple, and many kings had adorned it in former times. Around the entire Temple were fixed the spoils he had seized from the barbarians. Herod dedicated all these to the Temple, adding those he had taken from the Arabs.

On the northern side [of the Temple], at an angle, there was a citadel, well secured and of extraordinary strength. The kings and high priests of the Hasmonean family prior to Herod had built it and called it Baris, and there the priestly robe, which the high priest wore only when he was required to offer sacrifice, was stored. King Herod kept this robe secure in that place, and after his death it was under the power of the Romans, until the time of Tiberius Caesar. During [Tiberius’] reign, Vitellius, the provincial governor of Syria, stayed in Jerusalem and wished to repay the kindness of the masses for receiving him so splendidly. They petitioned to keep the priestly robe under their own authority, and he wrote about it to Tiberius Caesar, who granted the request, so that authority over the priestly robe remained with the Jews until King Agrippa died. After him, Cassius Longinus, who was governing Syria at the time, and Cuspius Fadus, the procurator of Judaea, ordered the Jews to store the priestly robe in the Antonian citadel, for they claimed that the Romans should have authority over it, just as they had previously. The Jews sent ambassadors to Claudius Caesar to intercede with him on the matter. On their arrival, King Agrippa the younger, who was then at Rome, requested and obtained authority over [the robe] from the emperor, who ordered Vitellius, then commander in Syria, to give it to them. Before that, it was kept under the seal of the high priest and the treasurers of the Temple, and the day before a festival, the treasurers would go up to the Roman captain of the Temple guards and, examining their own seal closely, would take the robe. When the festival was over, they brought it back to the same place and showed the captain of the Temple guards their seal, which corresponded to his seal, and deposited it there. These matters have been made known because of the afflictions that happened to us afterward. At the time that Herod, king of the Jews, fortified this tower more firmly than before in order to secure and guard the Temple, he named it the Tower of Antonia, thereby gratifying Antonius, who was his friend and the Roman ruler.

At the western quarter of the Temple enclosure were four gates. The first led to the king’s palace by way of a passage over the intermediate valley, two more led to the suburbs, and the last led to the other city, where the road descended down into the valley by a large number of steps, and from this point up again by way of the ascent. For the city was situated opposite the Temple like a theater, as it was encompassed by a deep valley along the entire south quarter. The fourth front of the Temple, the one facing south, did have gates in its center, as it also had the royal portico, with three walks, which extended from the east to the west valley, for it was impossible for it to extend any further. This portico was more worthy of mention than anything under the sun, for while the valley ran very deep, and no one could tolerate looking down to the bottom, if someone looked from above into the depth, the immense elevation of the portico would stand so far above that height that if anyone looked down from the peak of the battlements or down both those altitudes, he would suffer from dizziness, his sight unable to reach such an immeasurable depth. This portico had pillars that stood in four rows, one opposite the other all along, for the fourth row was interwoven into the wall. The thickness of each pillar was such that three men with their arms extended could encompass it and join their hands again, while its length was twenty-seven feet, with a double spiral at its base. There were 162 pillars [in that court]. Their capitals were made with sculptures in the Corinthian style, and [spectators] were amazed by the grandeur of the entire display. These four rows of pillars included three spaces for walking in the middle of the cloister, two of whose walks were made parallel to each other and were designed the same way, each being thirty feet wide, a stade long, and over fifty feet high. Yet the width of the middle portion of the cloister was one and a half times the other, and the height was double, for it was much higher than those on each side. The roofs were adorned with deep wood carvings representing many sorts of figures. The middle was much higher than the rest, and the wall of the front was adorned with beams, resting on pillars that were interwoven into it, and the front was all of polished stone, so that its fineness, to those who had not seen it, seemed unbelievable, and to those who had encountered the sight, it was truly amazing.

Such was the first enclosure. In the midst of it and not far away was the second, accessible by a few steps. It was encompassed by a stone wall for a partition, bearing an inscription that prohibited any foreigner from entering on penalty of death. This inner enclosure had on its southern and northern quarters three gates [equally] distant one from another, but on the east quarter, toward the sunrise, was one large gate, through which we who were pure would pass together with our wives. But the temple further toward the interior in that gate prohibited entry for the women, and still further inside there was a third [court of the] Temple, wherein it was not lawful for any but the priests to enter. The Temple itself was within this priestly sanctum, and in front of the Temple was the altar, on which we used to offer our sacrifices and burnt offerings to God. Into none of these three did King Herod enter, for he was prevented due to not being a priest. However, he was engaged in the building of the porticoes and the outer enclosures, and these he built in eight years.

The Temple itself was built by the priests in a year and six months, upon which all the people were filled with joy. They gave thanks first of all to God, and after that to the king for the zeal he had demonstrated, and they feasted and celebrated the rebuilding of the Temple. As for the king, he sacrificed three hundred oxen to God, as did the others in accordance with their means. The number of these is impossible to speak of, for to give an accurate account is beyond our ability. For the appointed day commemorating the work on the Temple coincided with the day of the king’s inauguration, which he celebrated by custom as a festival, and as a result of both coinciding, the festival turned out to be most illustrious.

A secret underground passage was also built for the king leading from Antonia to the inner sanctum of the Temple, at its eastern gate. Over this he also erected a tower for himself so that he would have the ability to make an underground ascent to the Temple, as well as to guard against any sedition made by the people against their kings. It is also reported that during the time the Temple was being rebuilt, it did not rain in the daytime but that the showers fell at night, so as not to hinder the work. And this story, which our ancestors handed down to us, is by no means unbelievable if one considers the other manifestations of God. In this way was the Temple rebuilt.

Translated byWilliam Whiston, adapted byAaron Samuels.