Royal Stoa (Jerusalem)
Encyclopedia
The Royal Stoa was an ancient basilica
constructed by Herod the Great
during his renovation of the Temple Mount
at the end of the 1st century BCE. Probably Herod's most magnificent secular construction, the three-aisled structure was described by Josephus
as deserving "to be mentioned better than any other under the sun." A center of public and commercial activity, the Royal Stoa was the likely location of Jesus
' Cleansing of the Temple. The Royal Stoa overlooked Jerusalem's residential and commercial quarters, and at its southwestern corner was the place from which a ram's horn was blown to announce the start of holy days.
The Royal Stoa was destroyed by the Roman army during the sack of Jerusalem
in 70 CE. Its site on the Temple Mount esplanade is currently inaccessible to archaeologists. However, artifacts from the Stoa have been recovered both from excavations at the foot of the platform and in secondary use in later constructions. This evidence has confirmed details given in the accounts of the historian Josephus, and has also allowed comparison of the Royal Stoa's decoration with that used in other, contemporaneous monumental buildings.
was one of his principal building projects. Construction began during the last quarter of the 1st century BCE. It was both a monumental architectural feat and an important political achievement. Herod invested a great deal of effort in the expansion of the Temple platform, especially at its southern side where the Temple Mount descends into the Tyropoeon
and Kidron
valleys. This expansion along the southern edge of the esplanade served as a base upon which the Royal Stoa was erected. The building was basilical in form, but open on one side, which led it to being described as a portico, a stoa or cloisters in various sources. It was likely Herod's most magnificent secular edifice. The historian Josephus praised the Royal Stoa as "more worthy of mention than any other [structure] under the sun", and described the building in detail:
A basilica with four rows of columns running lengthwise, each made of 40 columns, the Royal Stoa thus contained three parallel halls, with a central 13.5 metres (44.3 ft) wide hall and two flanking 9 metres (29.5 ft) wide halls. Each column was approximately 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in diameter and, according to Josephus, 9 metres (29.5 ft) tall, though classical proportions would have had it at roughly 17 metres (55.8 ft). The central hall was twice as tall as the aisles, probably nearly 33 metres (108.3 ft) tall. Israeli archaeologist Ehud Netzer
estimates the Royal Stoa was roughly 33 metres (108.3 ft) wide and 240 metres (787.4 ft) long, though Josephus gives its length as a stade
(approximately 600 ft).
The central aisle had a higher ceiling than the side-aisles. Light was provided by clerestory
windows in the upper part of the central hall. It is also possible that an apse
stood at the eastern wall of the Stoa. Josephus describes the columns as Corinthian
in style and Corinthian capitals have indeed been found in excavations along the mount's southern wall, as well as reused in later Roman, Byzantine and Islamic structures. The ceilings were ornamented with deeply cut wood-carvings while other parts of the interior were apparently covered with stucco
. The southernmost row of columns was incorporated into the southern wall
of the Temple mount, while the northern side opened onto the plaza in the middle of which stood the Temple. From the outside, the southern wall was distinguished from the retaining wall of the platform by a series of pilasters running along the length of the superstructure. The main entry to the Stoa from the city was via a monumental staircase which led up from the Tyropoeon Valley and then across Robinson's Arch
, passing over the street and shops below.
The Royal Stoa was built upon the artificially raised portion of the Temple Mount platform. Arches underneath supported the columns of the Stoa, and provided service areas for the structures above. The Huldah Gates
at the bottom of the southern wall led through corridors beneath the Stoa, rising to the Temple plaza, and served as the main entrance to the Temple compound for worshipers. Additional passages led to storage areas, and possibly provided secondary access to the Stoa and the Temple beyond. An arched overpass on the eastern side of the Temple Mount led to a gate which opened into the so-called Solomon's Stables
just beneath the eastern end of the Stoa. It is widely assumed that at least part of this area was used as a storage area in conjunction with business conducted in the Stoa.
The expansion of the Temple Mount platform and the erection of the Royal Stoa required Herod's engineers to overcome the difficult topographic conditions. It was thus necessary to build 35 metres (114.8 ft) tall foundations above the slope of the Tyropoeon valley and equivalent 40 metres (131.2 ft) tall foundations above the Kidron. The great effort invested in the construction of the Royal Stoa is a testimony of its immense importance to Herod and his status on the Temple Mount. Unlike his predecessors, the Hasmonean
kings who had also served as High Priests
, Herod was not of the priestly caste and was therefore unable to participate in priestly rituals. A client king appointed by the Romans, lacking legitimacy and unpopular with his subjects, Herod had initiated the Temple reconstruction to win favour among the Jews
, but was forbidden from even entering the inner sanctum of his crowning achievement. It was thus the monumental Royal Stoa which gave Herod his rightful status on the Mount, a showcase of his majesty and grandeur.
Every major Roman city had a basilica which was used for banking, law courts, and other commercial transactions. In Jerusalem, the Royal Stoa was the center of this activity. In the forty years prior to the Great Revolt it served as the seat of the Sanhedrin
, Judaism
's supreme judicial court, which was moved from the Chamber of Stone to the "Shop" (Chanuyot
in the Talmud), referring to the commercial activities conducted in the Stoa. A fragment of a monumental inscription found near the eastern Huldah gates below the Stoa refers to the Zeqenim (elders) and may indicate the Sanhedrin's meeting place near the gates or in the Stoa above.
This center of commercial activity within sight of the Temple was considered irreverent to many devout Jews. It was also a site of commerce related to the Temple ritual, where sacrificial doves could be bought and coins bearing prohibited images could be exchanged. It is therefore a likely location for Jesus' confrontation with the dove sellers and money changers which is related in chapter 21 of the Gospel of Matthew
. Special coinage was used for sacred contributions and other purposes. The Israel Antiquities Authority
's numismatist Donald T. Ariel has proposed that the Royal Stoa as the site for a mint
, run by the priesthood. During the Great Revolt against Rome, this may have been the site where silver shekel
s were produced. The stoa's convenient proximity to the Temple's silver stores and the area's use for other commercial purposes argue for identification of the stoa as the location of minting operations. Other "Revolt" coinage
was in base metal, and these may have been struck elsewhere in Jerusalem.
Above the basilica, either on a parapet or tower, was a place from which a trumpet or ram's horn would be blown to signal the start of the Sabbath
and holy days. On the pavement below the southwest corner of the Royal Stoa complex, a piece of stone coping was excavated which bears a dedicatory inscription which reads "to the Place of Trumpeting". This location overlooked most of Jerusalem's neighborhoods, and the recovery of the inscription confirms that the southwest corner is the site where the trumpeting took place.
, XII Fulminata
, XV Apollinaris
and V Macedonica
legions under the command of emperor Vespasian
's son Titus
. It is likely that the stoa was modified during the initial phases of the revolt when the Temple Mount was fortified, first by Simon Bar Giora
and then by John of Gischala. The main entry at Robinson's Arch was destroyed and towers built. Excavated remains of the Stoa provide evidence of its demise in a great fire. Chemical analysis of the remains has shown that some of the materials underwent transformations requiring a minimum temperature of 800 kelvins (980.3 °F)—a result of sustained, high-temperature burning consistent with Josephus's account of destruction in a large conflagration. Some remains also contain the mineral apatite
, a component of bone, though its origins, human or animal, are unknown.
The site of the Royal Stoa is currently occupied by the Al-Aqsa Mosque
, Islam
's third-holiest shrine, and is therefore unavailable for archaeological exploration. Between 1968 and 1978, however, professor Benjamin Mazar
of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
carried out excavations
at the foot of the southern wall. These uncovered over 400 architectural fragements in the destruction debris below the site of the Stoa, some of which were incorporated in secondary use in later Byzantine
and Ummayad construction. Despite their fragmentary nature, these provide some of the largest and richest Second-Temple era assemblages ever found, a testament to the splendor described by Josephus.
Finds include Corinthian capitals, Doric
friezes and modillion cornices. The motifs featured on the fragments found occasionally match patterns witnessed in other Second-Temple era public buildings unearthed in the region, while others reflect unique architectural characteristics. These include floral motifs, rosettes
, cable patterns similar to finds in the Hauran
region of southern Syria and acanthus leaves
featured in Roman architecture.
In 1999, the Wakf
authority controling the Islamic structures atop the Temple Mount platform began illegally excavating and dumping large amounts of fill from the former site of the Royal Stoa in order to construct a new access to a restoration and expansion of the El Marwani
mosque. Material dug from the site was dumped in the Kidron Valley
, and although the important information has been lost which could have been acquired through proper excavation of the material in its archaeological context, an operation to sift through the debris was started by Zachi Zwieg and Gabriel Barkay to rescue any remaining artifacts. The resulting Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage Operation
has resulted in the recovery of many architectural fragments from the Second Temple buildings and other remnants.
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
constructed by Herod the Great
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
during his renovation of the Temple Mount
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...
at the end of the 1st century BCE. Probably Herod's most magnificent secular construction, the three-aisled structure was described by Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
as deserving "to be mentioned better than any other under the sun." A center of public and commercial activity, the Royal Stoa was the likely location of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
' Cleansing of the Temple. The Royal Stoa overlooked Jerusalem's residential and commercial quarters, and at its southwestern corner was the place from which a ram's horn was blown to announce the start of holy days.
The Royal Stoa was destroyed by the Roman army during the sack of Jerusalem
Siege of Jerusalem (70)
The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was the decisive event of the First Jewish-Roman War. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which had been occupied by its Jewish defenders in...
in 70 CE. Its site on the Temple Mount esplanade is currently inaccessible to archaeologists. However, artifacts from the Stoa have been recovered both from excavations at the foot of the platform and in secondary use in later constructions. This evidence has confirmed details given in the accounts of the historian Josephus, and has also allowed comparison of the Royal Stoa's decoration with that used in other, contemporaneous monumental buildings.
Construction
Herod's reconstruction of the Second TempleSecond Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
was one of his principal building projects. Construction began during the last quarter of the 1st century BCE. It was both a monumental architectural feat and an important political achievement. Herod invested a great deal of effort in the expansion of the Temple platform, especially at its southern side where the Temple Mount descends into the Tyropoeon
Tyropoeon Valley
Tyropoeon Valley is the name given by Josephus the historian to the valley or rugged ravine, in the Old City of Jerusalem, which in ancient times separated Mount Moriah from Mount Zion and emptied into the valley of Hinnom...
and Kidron
Kidron Valley
The Kidron Valley is the valley on the eastern side of The Old City of Jerusalem which features significantly in the Bible...
valleys. This expansion along the southern edge of the esplanade served as a base upon which the Royal Stoa was erected. The building was basilical in form, but open on one side, which led it to being described as a portico, a stoa or cloisters in various sources. It was likely Herod's most magnificent secular edifice. The historian Josephus praised the Royal Stoa as "more worthy of mention than any other [structure] under the sun", and described the building in detail:
A basilica with four rows of columns running lengthwise, each made of 40 columns, the Royal Stoa thus contained three parallel halls, with a central 13.5 metres (44.3 ft) wide hall and two flanking 9 metres (29.5 ft) wide halls. Each column was approximately 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in diameter and, according to Josephus, 9 metres (29.5 ft) tall, though classical proportions would have had it at roughly 17 metres (55.8 ft). The central hall was twice as tall as the aisles, probably nearly 33 metres (108.3 ft) tall. Israeli archaeologist Ehud Netzer
Ehud Netzer
Ehud Netzer was an Israeli architect, educator and archaeologist, known for his extensive excavations at Herodium, where in 2007 he found the tomb of Herod the Great; and the discovery of the oldest Jewish synagogue, located at Jericho....
estimates the Royal Stoa was roughly 33 metres (108.3 ft) wide and 240 metres (787.4 ft) long, though Josephus gives its length as a stade
Stadion (unit of length)
The stadion, Latinized as stadium and anglicized as stade, is an ancient Greek unit of length. According to Herodotus, one stade is equal to 600 feet. However, there were several different lengths of “feet”, depending on the country of origin....
(approximately 600 ft).
The central aisle had a higher ceiling than the side-aisles. Light was provided by clerestory
Clerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...
windows in the upper part of the central hall. It is also possible that an apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
stood at the eastern wall of the Stoa. Josephus describes the columns as Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
in style and Corinthian capitals have indeed been found in excavations along the mount's southern wall, as well as reused in later Roman, Byzantine and Islamic structures. The ceilings were ornamented with deeply cut wood-carvings while other parts of the interior were apparently covered with stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
. The southernmost row of columns was incorporated into the southern wall
Southern Wall
The Southern Wall is a wall at the southern end of the Temple Mount and the former southern side of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. It was built during King Herod's expansion of the Temple Mount platform southward on to the Ophel.-Construction:...
of the Temple mount, while the northern side opened onto the plaza in the middle of which stood the Temple. From the outside, the southern wall was distinguished from the retaining wall of the platform by a series of pilasters running along the length of the superstructure. The main entry to the Stoa from the city was via a monumental staircase which led up from the Tyropoeon Valley and then across Robinson's Arch
Robinson's Arch
Robinson's Arch is the name given to an arch that once stood at the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount. It was built during the reconstruction of the Second Temple initiated by Herod the Great at the end of the 1st century BCE. The massive stone span was constructed along with the retaining...
, passing over the street and shops below.
The Royal Stoa was built upon the artificially raised portion of the Temple Mount platform. Arches underneath supported the columns of the Stoa, and provided service areas for the structures above. The Huldah Gates
Huldah Gates
The Huldah Gates are the two sets of now-blocked gates in the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount, situated in Jerusalem's Old City. The western set is a double arched gate , and the eastern is a triple arched gate...
at the bottom of the southern wall led through corridors beneath the Stoa, rising to the Temple plaza, and served as the main entrance to the Temple compound for worshipers. Additional passages led to storage areas, and possibly provided secondary access to the Stoa and the Temple beyond. An arched overpass on the eastern side of the Temple Mount led to a gate which opened into the so-called Solomon's Stables
Solomon's Stables
Solomon's Stables or Marwani Mosque is an underground mosque some 600 square yards beneath al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem...
just beneath the eastern end of the Stoa. It is widely assumed that at least part of this area was used as a storage area in conjunction with business conducted in the Stoa.
The expansion of the Temple Mount platform and the erection of the Royal Stoa required Herod's engineers to overcome the difficult topographic conditions. It was thus necessary to build 35 metres (114.8 ft) tall foundations above the slope of the Tyropoeon valley and equivalent 40 metres (131.2 ft) tall foundations above the Kidron. The great effort invested in the construction of the Royal Stoa is a testimony of its immense importance to Herod and his status on the Temple Mount. Unlike his predecessors, the Hasmonean
Hasmonean
The Hasmonean dynasty , was the ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE, the dynasty ruled semi-autonomously from the Seleucids in the region of Judea...
kings who had also served as High Priests
Kohen Gadol
The High Priest was the chief religious official of Israelite religion and of classical Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem...
, Herod was not of the priestly caste and was therefore unable to participate in priestly rituals. A client king appointed by the Romans, lacking legitimacy and unpopular with his subjects, Herod had initiated the Temple reconstruction to win favour among the Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, but was forbidden from even entering the inner sanctum of his crowning achievement. It was thus the monumental Royal Stoa which gave Herod his rightful status on the Mount, a showcase of his majesty and grandeur.
Purpose
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
, Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
's supreme judicial court, which was moved from the Chamber of Stone to the "Shop" (Chanuyot
Chanuyot
The temple shops or Hebrew plural hanuyot were buildings near the Temple in Jerusalem mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud . According to the Talmud the Sanhedrin relocated to the temple shops, hanuyot, at some point before the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE...
in the Talmud), referring to the commercial activities conducted in the Stoa. A fragment of a monumental inscription found near the eastern Huldah gates below the Stoa refers to the Zeqenim (elders) and may indicate the Sanhedrin's meeting place near the gates or in the Stoa above.
This center of commercial activity within sight of the Temple was considered irreverent to many devout Jews. It was also a site of commerce related to the Temple ritual, where sacrificial doves could be bought and coins bearing prohibited images could be exchanged. It is therefore a likely location for Jesus' confrontation with the dove sellers and money changers which is related in chapter 21 of the Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
. Special coinage was used for sacred contributions and other purposes. The Israel Antiquities Authority
Israel Antiquities Authority
The Israel Antiquities Authority is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservation, and promotes research...
's numismatist Donald T. Ariel has proposed that the Royal Stoa as the site for a mint
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
, run by the priesthood. During the Great Revolt against Rome, this may have been the site where silver shekel
Shekel
Shekel , is any of several ancient units of weight or of currency. The first usage is from Mesopotamia around 3000 BC. Initially, it may have referred to a weight of barley...
s were produced. The stoa's convenient proximity to the Temple's silver stores and the area's use for other commercial purposes argue for identification of the stoa as the location of minting operations. Other "Revolt" coinage
First Jewish Revolt coinage
First Jewish Revolt coinage was issued by the Jews after the Zealots captured Jerusalem and the Jewish temple from the Romans in 66 AD at the beginning of the First Jewish Revolt...
was in base metal, and these may have been struck elsewhere in Jerusalem.
Above the basilica, either on a parapet or tower, was a place from which a trumpet or ram's horn would be blown to signal the start of the Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
and holy days. On the pavement below the southwest corner of the Royal Stoa complex, a piece of stone coping was excavated which bears a dedicatory inscription which reads "to the Place of Trumpeting". This location overlooked most of Jerusalem's neighborhoods, and the recovery of the inscription confirms that the southwest corner is the site where the trumpeting took place.
Destruction
The Great Revolt and the subsequent sacking of Jerusalem in 70 CE brought about the destruction of Herod's Temple, including the Royal Stoa, by members of the Roman X FretensisLegio X Fretensis
Legio X Fretensis was a Roman legion levied by Augustus Caesar in 41/40 BC to fight during the period of civil war that started the dissolution of the Roman Republic...
, XII Fulminata
Legio XII Fulminata
Legio duodecima Fulminata , also known as Paterna, Victrix, Antiqua, Certa Constans, and Galliena, was a Roman legion, levied by Julius Caesar in 58 BC and which accompanied him during the Gallic wars until 49 BC. The unit was still guarding the Euphrates River crossing near Melitene at the...
, XV Apollinaris
Legio XV Apollinaris
Legio quinta decima Apollinaris was a Roman legion. It was recruited by Octavian in 41/40 BC. The emblem of this legion was probably a picture of Apollo, or of one of his holy animals....
and V Macedonica
Legio V Macedonica
Legio quinta Macedonica was a Roman legion. It was probably originally levied by consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Octavian in 43 BC, and it was stationed in Moesia at least until 5th century. Its symbol was the bull, but the eagle was used as well...
legions under the command of emperor Vespasian
Vespasian
Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
's son Titus
Titus
Titus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father....
. It is likely that the stoa was modified during the initial phases of the revolt when the Temple Mount was fortified, first by Simon Bar Giora
Simon Bar Giora
Simon bar Giora d. 70 CE, was a leader of revolutionary forces during the First Jewish-Roman War in the 1st century Judea.- History :...
and then by John of Gischala. The main entry at Robinson's Arch was destroyed and towers built. Excavated remains of the Stoa provide evidence of its demise in a great fire. Chemical analysis of the remains has shown that some of the materials underwent transformations requiring a minimum temperature of 800 kelvins (980.3 °F)—a result of sustained, high-temperature burning consistent with Josephus's account of destruction in a large conflagration. Some remains also contain the mineral apatite
Apatite
Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals, usually referring to hydroxylapatite, fluorapatite, chlorapatite and bromapatite, named for high concentrations of OH−, F−, Cl− or Br− ions, respectively, in the crystal...
, a component of bone, though its origins, human or animal, are unknown.
Temple Mount excavations
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque also known as al-Aqsa, is the third holiest site in Sunni Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem...
, Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
's third-holiest shrine, and is therefore unavailable for archaeological exploration. Between 1968 and 1978, however, professor Benjamin Mazar
Benjamin Mazar
Benjamin Mazar was a pioneering Israeli historian, recognized as the "dean" of biblical archaeologists. He shared the national passion for the archaeology of Israel that also attracts considerable international interest due to the region's biblical links...
of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
carried out excavations
Excavations at the Temple Mount
Several excavations at the Temple Mount have taken place. The first archaeological excavations at the site was by the British Royal Engineers in the 1870s....
at the foot of the southern wall. These uncovered over 400 architectural fragements in the destruction debris below the site of the Stoa, some of which were incorporated in secondary use in later Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
and Ummayad construction. Despite their fragmentary nature, these provide some of the largest and richest Second-Temple era assemblages ever found, a testament to the splendor described by Josephus.
Finds include Corinthian capitals, Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
friezes and modillion cornices. The motifs featured on the fragments found occasionally match patterns witnessed in other Second-Temple era public buildings unearthed in the region, while others reflect unique architectural characteristics. These include floral motifs, rosettes
Rosette (design)
A rosette is a round, stylized flower design, used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity. Appearing in Mesopotamia and used to decorate the funeral stele in Ancient Greece...
, cable patterns similar to finds in the Hauran
Hauran
Hauran, , also spelled Hawran or Houran, is a volcanic plateau, a geographic area and a people located in southwestern Syria and extending into the northwestern corner of Jordan. It gets its name from the Aramaic Hawran, meaning "cave land." In geographic and geomorphic terms, its boundaries...
region of southern Syria and acanthus leaves
Acanthus (ornament)
The acanthus is one of the most common plant forms to make foliage ornament and decoration.-Architecture:In architecture, an ornament is carved into stone or wood to resemble leaves from the Mediterranean species of the Acanthus genus of plants, which have deeply cut leaves with some similarity to...
featured in Roman architecture.
In 1999, the Wakf
Jerusalem Islamic Waqf
The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf is an Islamic trust best known for controlling and managing the current Islamic edifices on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Waqf has governed access to the geographic region since the Muslim reconquest of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187...
authority controling the Islamic structures atop the Temple Mount platform began illegally excavating and dumping large amounts of fill from the former site of the Royal Stoa in order to construct a new access to a restoration and expansion of the El Marwani
Solomon's Stables
Solomon's Stables or Marwani Mosque is an underground mosque some 600 square yards beneath al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem...
mosque. Material dug from the site was dumped in the Kidron Valley
Kidron Valley
The Kidron Valley is the valley on the eastern side of The Old City of Jerusalem which features significantly in the Bible...
, and although the important information has been lost which could have been acquired through proper excavation of the material in its archaeological context, an operation to sift through the debris was started by Zachi Zwieg and Gabriel Barkay to rescue any remaining artifacts. The resulting Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage Operation
Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage Operation
The Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage Operation is an archaeological project begun in 2005 dedicated to recovering archaeological artifacts from 300 truckloads of topsoil removed from the Temple Mount by the waqf during the construction of the underground el-Marwani Mosque from 1996-1999...
has resulted in the recovery of many architectural fragments from the Second Temple buildings and other remnants.