Lyrik <lyrik@vip.cybercity.dk> wrote:
> Jaaa! Jøderne har heller ikke haft et tempel. Der er jo ingen rester af det
> vel?
Templet /er/ nu fundet. Jeg har selv været i Jerusalem, og været inde i
udgravningerne i selve Tempelbjerget. Ruinerne er *enorme*.
Men man skal her huske på at der har været mere to templer. Og det er
ruinerne af det sidste tempel der er tilbage - incl. Vestmuren, som i
århundreder blev kaldt "Grædemuren".
Jeg skal dog ikke udelukke, at man vil finde eller har fundet rester af
det /første/ tempel:
Jerusalem, Temple of,
either of two temples that were the centre of worship
and national identity in ancient Israel.
In the early years of the Israelite kingdom, the Ark of
the Covenant was periodically moved about among several
sanctuaries, especially those of Shechem and Shiloh.
After King David's capture of Jerusalem, however, the
Ark was moved to that city. This action joined Israel's
major religious object with the monarchy and the city
itself into a central symbol of union of the Israelite
tribes. As the site for a future temple, David chose
Mount Moriah, or the Temple Mount, where it was believed
Abraham had built the altar on which to sacrifice his
son Isaac.
The First Temple was constructed during the reign of
David's son, Solomon, and completed in 957 BC. Other
sanctuaries retained their religious functions, however,
until Josiah (reigned c. 640-609 BC) abolished them and
established the Temple of Jerusalem as the only place of
sacrifice in the Kingdom of Judah.
The First Temple was built as an abode for the Ark and
as a place of assembly for the entire people. The
building itself, therefore, was not large, but the
courtyard was extensive. The Temple building faced
eastward. It was oblong and consisted of three rooms of
equal width: the porch, or vestibule (`ulam); the main
room of religious service, or Holy Place (hekhal); and
the Holy of Holies (devir), the sacred room in which the
Ark rested. A storehouse (yazi'a) surrounded the Temple
except on its front (east) side.
The First Temple contained five altars: one at the
entrance of the Holy of Holies, two others within the
building, a large bronze one before the porch, and a
large tiered altar in the courtyard. A huge bronze bowl,
or "sea," in the courtyard was used for the priests'
ablutions. Within the Holy of Holies, two cherubim of
olive wood stood with the Ark; this innermost sanctuary
was considered the dwelling place of the Divine Presence
(Shekhina) and could be entered only by the high priest
and only on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).
The Temple suffered at the hands of Nebuchadrezzar II of
Babylonia, who removed the Temple treasures in 604 BC
and 597 BC and totally destroyed the building in
587/586. This destruction and the deportations of Jews
to Babylonia in 586 and 582 were seen as fulfillments of
prophecy and, therefore, strengthened Judaic religious
beliefs and awakened the hope for the reestablishment of
the independent Jewish state.
Cyrus II, founder of the Achaemenian dynasty of Persia
and conqueror of Babylonia, in 538 BC issued an order
allowing exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild
the Temple. Work was completed in 515 BC. There is no
known detailed plan of the Second Temple, which was
constructed as a modest version of the original
building. It was surrounded by two courtyards with
chambers, gates, and a public square. It did not include
the ritual objects of the First Temple; of special
significance was the loss of the Ark itself. Ritual,
however, was elaborate and was conducted by
well-organized families of priests and Levites.
During the Persian and Hellenistic (4th-3rd century BC)
periods, the Temple generally was respected, and in part
subsidized, by Judaea's foreign rulers. Antiochus IV
Epiphanes, however, plundered it in 169 BC and
desecrated it in 167 BC by commanding that sacrifices be
made to Zeus on an altar built for him. This final act
touched off the Hasmonean revolt, during which Judas
Maccabaeus cleansed and rededicated the Temple; the
event is celebrated in the annual festival of Hanukka.
During the Roman conquest, Pompey entered (63 BC) the
Holy of Holies but left the Temple intact. In 54 BC,
however, Crassus plundered the Temple treasury. Of major
importance was the rebuilding of the Second Temple begun
by Herod the Great, king (37 BC-AD 4) of Judaea.
Construction began in 20 BC and lasted for 46 years. The
area of the Temple Mount was doubled and surrounded by a
wall with gates. The Temple was raised, enlarged, and
faced with white stone. The new Temple square served as
a gathering place, and its porticoes sheltered merchants
and money changers. A stone fence (soreg) and a rampart
(hel) surrounded the consecrated area forbidden to
Gentiles. The Temple proper began, on the east, with the
Court of Women, each side of which had a gate and each
corner of which had a chamber. This court was named for
a surrounding balcony on which women observed the annual
celebration of Sukkot. The western gate of the court,
approached by a semicircular staircase, led to the Court
of the Israelites, that portion of the Court of Priests
open to all male Jews. Surrounding the inner sanctuary,
the Court of Priests contained the sacrificial altar and
a copper laver for priestly ablutions. This court was
itself surrounded by a wall broken with gates and
chambers. The Temple sanctuary building was wider in
front than in the rear; its eastern facade had two
pillars on either side of the gate to the entrance hall.
Within the hall, a great gate led to the sanctuary, at
the western end of which was the Holy of Holies.
The Herodian Temple was again the centre of Israelite
life. It was not only the focus of religious ritual but
also the repository of the Holy Scriptures and other
national literature and the meeting place of the
Sanhedrin, the highest court of Jewish law during the
Roman period. The rebellion against Rome that began in
AD 66 soon focused on the Temple and effectively ended
with the Temple's destruction on the 9th/10th of Av, AD
70.
All that remained of the Second Temple was a portion of
the Western Wall (q.v.; also called the Wailing Wall),
which continues to be the focus of Jewish aspirations
and pilgrimage. Made part of the wall surrounding the
Muslim Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque in AD 691, it
returned to Jewish control in 1967.
Copyright © 1994-1999 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
--
Per Erik Rønne
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