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c. 20/19 BCEReputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Herod Rebuilds the Temple Under Roman Rule

A client king of Rome turns the Temple Mount into the ancient world's largest religious platform

On the timeline · around c. 20/19 BCE · Second Temple and ExileSecond Temple and ExileRabbinic and Medieval JudaismHerod Rebuilds the Temple Under Roman Rule200 BCE100 BCE1 CE100 CE200 CE300 CE

Quick facts

Herod's reign
37-4 BCE, client king of Rome
Temple expansion begun
c. 20/19 BCE
Labor force
10,000 laborers, 1,000 trained priests
Surviving remnant
The Western Wall

What happened

Rome absorbed Judea into its sphere of control in 63 BCE, and installed Herod the Great, a non-Hasmonean client king, to rule Judea from 37 to 4 BCE. Herod's most consequential project was a massive expansion of the Second Temple and the platform it stood on: he extended the Temple Mount to the north, west, and south, enclosed it within retaining walls including what is now known as the Western Wall, and built the Royal Stoa for public assembly on its southern end. Josephus records that ten thousand laborers and a thousand specially trained priests worked on the project, with the Temple building itself finished in about a year and a half while the surrounding porticoes took roughly eight more years, all while daily sacrifices continued uninterrupted.

Why it matters

Herod's Temple Mount became the largest religious sanctuary in the ancient world and the version of the Temple that stood during the lifetimes of Jesus and the early rabbis, and its massive retaining walls, including the Western Wall, are the only part of the structure to survive Rome's later destruction of the building in 70 CE, making them the holiest accessible site in Judaism today.

How we know

Herod's Temple Mount expansion is described in detail by the 1st-century historian Josephus and confirmed by extensive archaeological excavation of the Temple Mount's retaining walls and surrounding structures in Jerusalem.

Sources

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Herod Rebuilds the Temple Under Roman Rule · History of Judaism · SourcedStory