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3 TEMPLE BUILT SOON??YOU DESIDE (Apr 6, 2008)

Prayer Request:

The THIRD TEMPLE Entrance

In Alignment With The East Gate

According to the Scriptures and verified by archaeology and the historical works of men.

There are three principal conjectures as to the original, and hence the FUTURE Temple location. 

1. Northern Location aligned with the East Gate (North of the Dome of the Rock) placing the Holy of Holies over the Dome of the Tablets/Spirits
--as supported by Dr. Asher Kaufman and The House of Yahweh.
2. Central or Traditional Location (Dome of the Rock) placing the Holy of Holies over the As-Sakhrah
--as supported by Traditional Judaism, Dr. Leen Ritmeyer, etc.
3. Southern Location (South of the Dome of the Rock) placing the Holy of Holies over the Al Kas fountain
--as supported by Dr. Bagatti, Tuvia Sugiv, etc.

The original Temple location has been hidden and protected for nearly 1900 years --UNTIL NOW!  The Third Temple with its inner court will be built soon on the "greatly exalted mountain" in Yerusalem  [Yechetzqyah (Ezekiel) 40:2; Tehillim (Psalm) 48:1-2; 24:3; 2:6] in the same location as the previous two Temples.  According the following prophecy, the Dome of the Rock and other structures will be left standing (on the south [Yechetzqyah (Ezekiel) 40:2]) unharmed before, during, and after this great rebuilding project --a Peaceful Solution!

Yechetzqyah (Ezekiel) 40:2 2  In the visions of Yahweh, He brought me into the land of Israyl, and set me upon the greatly exalted mountain; and on it like a building of a city on the south.

The Scriptures document well that the previous Temples were built according to a certain pattern, and as part of this pattern they had to be built in a certain place. If it is not built in the correct location, exactly according to the Pattern of Yahweh, and if it is not built according to its correct dimensions as it is written, it will not be a Temple of Yahweh --but a temple of man.  According to the Scriptures, men of The Faith were instructed and inspired by our Heavenly Father whose Name is Yahweh, to operate according to the Law and the Prophets [Yeshayah (Isaiah) 8:20]; NOT as it was in the days of Noah, and is now, lawlessness --according to traditions devised in the imaginations of the hearts of men. [Berashit (Genesis) 6:5 & 8:21; Zecharyah (Zechariah) 7:11-13; Yeshayah (Isaiah) 29:13; Yeremyah (Jeremiah) 17:9]

Many prophecies show that this Temple will be rebuilt in these last days.  And there is a specific last days prophecy and vision of the future Temple and Temple complex sent from Yahweh to one of His Temple priests, also called a prophet,  [Yechetzqyah (Ezekiel) 1:3 -priest; 2:5 -prophet; 40:2-...] showing that this Temple will be rebuilt with the inner court, with a pavement in the outer court AREA on the east and north. [Yechetzqyah (Ezekiel) 40:17-19]  Notice it does not mention a pavement on the south side --just outside the inner court, because that is where the Moslem Mosque sits; as described in the Scriptures --"like a building of a city on the south", [Yechetzqyah (Ezekiel). 40:2 & Revelation. 11:1-2] hence the outer court will not be built at this time. 

Yechetzqyah (Ezekiel) 40:2-5
2  In the visions of Yahweh, He brought me^a into the land of Israyl, and set me upon the greatly exalted mountain; and on it like a building of a city on the southb .
3  When He took me there, then behold, a man, whose appearance resembled bronze.  With a line of flax and a measuring reed in his hand, he stood at the gate.
4  Then the being said to me:  Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and fix your mind on everything that I show you; for the purpose that I show this to you, were you brought here.  Declare all that you see to the house of Israyl.
5  And behold, there was an adjoining separation (a dividing structure) around the House (The Temple).  In the being's hand was a measuring reed six long cubits (about 10 1/2 feet), each cubit (about 18 inches) with a handbreadth (about 3 inches).  So he MEASURED the separation's width to the structure (the Dome of the Rock) one reed (10 1/2 feet), and the height, one reed.

--The Prophet literally viewed the Dome of the Rock (located south of the inner court in the outer court area) and the other structures built on the Mount on the south.  This Prophet from the past in his vision of the future saw what will be at the time of the building of the Third Temple!  "Arabic QUBBAT AS-SAKHRAH, also called MOSQUE OF OMAR ...The Dome of the Rock was built between AD 685 and 691 by the caliph 'Abd al_Malik ibn Marwan, not as a mosque for public worship but rather as a mashhad, a shrine for pilgrims. It is virtually the first monumental building in Islamic history and is of considerable aesthetic and architectural importance; it is rich with mosaic, faience, and marble, much of which was added several centuries after its completion. Basically octagonal, the Dome of the Rock is more typically Roman or Byzantine than Islamic. A wooden dome approximately 60 feet (18 m) in diameter and mounted on an elevated drum rises above a circle of 16 piers and columns. Surrounding this circle is an octagonal arcade of 24 piers and columns. The outer walls repeat this octagon, each of the eight sides being approximately 60 feet (18 m) wide and 36 feet (11 m) high. Both the dome and the exterior walls contain many windows."  [Encyclopædia Britannica CD, "Dome of the Rock"]

b- "city on the south"  --Many have presumed that this refers to the ancient city of Yerusalem being located exclusively to the south, not understanding that most of early Yerusalem was to the west of the Temple Mount.   "Since 1967 archaeological excavations have been going on in various places in Jerusalem and the finds have been astonishing.   They include discoveries that considerably enhance our knowledge of the First Temple period and cast light on the scope of the city's boundaries during that era.   The fact is that finds from the First Temple period have turned up all over the western hill.  ...Consequently, a good part of the western hill must have been included in the fortified city of Jerusalem at that time.  ...it proves that by the end of the First Temple period organized settlement extended to the western hill.  We are therefore able to state with confidence that the city covered the broad area suggested by a minority of scholars."   "...today we know that the city's walls in the First Temple period encompassed a broader area than was originally believed, including the western hill.   So if the walls reconstructed by Nehemiah followed a course similar to the walls at the end of the First Temple period, they must have embraced the southern hill (the City of David) and the western one." [In The Shadow Of The Temple, The discovery of Ancient Jerusalem, "The Boundaries of Jerusalem", p.34 & "The Persian and Hasmonean Eras", p.60] "Hezekiah reinforced the walls of Jerusalem and included in the city part of the western hill, the Mishneh (II Kings 22:14) or "second" Jerusalem, which was already settled in his time." [Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Jerusalem, History, David and First Temple Period, Under The Kings of Judah"]   Nehemyah clearly rebuilt and restored the outer walls and gates of the city which included the northern and eastern Temple Mount walls as well as the southern and  western city walls. [Nechemyah (Nehemiah) 3:1-32]  Without a doubt we see that Yechetzqyah was not referring to a condensed form of the city of ancient Jerusalem in verse 40:2 but was obviously speaking of the future (present) structures a short distance to the south of the inner court the first being the massive Dome of the Rock..
a- "Ezekiel was a functioning priest probably attached to the Jerusalem Temple staff. He was among those deported in 597 to Babylonia.... It is evident that he was, among his fellow exiles, a person of uncommon stature." [Encyclopædia Britannica CD, "Ezekiel"]   "Ezekiel was immersed in the whole range of Israel's prophetic tradition. ...prophesying under seizure by "the hand of YHWH" (cf. Elijah [I Kings 18:46] and Elisha [II Kings 3:5]), transportation by the "wind^x of YHWH" (cf. Elijah, I Kings 18:12; II Kings 2:16). He is the only prophet after Moses who not only envisions the future but lays down a blueprint and a law for it." [Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Ezekiel, Influences Upon The Prophet"]  [^x wind, i.e. ruach meaning spirit]

Again, notice this vision was for a future time.  To this day it is admitted that this Temple was never built!  According to this vision,to the South of the Temple inner court, where they were standing, was the MOSLEM MOSQUE (or shrine) called The Dome of the Rock!    Notice verse 5 again: "And the separation's WIDTH (between the dividing wall by the inner court wall) to this structure (The Dome of the Rock) was one reed" which is about 10 1/2 feet!

It is acknowledged (with much bafflement) that when the exiles returned from Babylon and rebuilt the Temple (the Second Temple complex), it was not Yechetzqyah's plan that was used.  Many still do not understand what the Second Temple builders understood; that Yechetzqyah's vision was not for those who came out of the Babylonian captivity for the building of the Second Temple, but for the far future and the Third Temple --for today!  "The least influential part of Ezekiel's prophecy was his program for the future (chs. 40-48). Medieval exegetes were painfully aware of the contradictions in detail between what Ezekiel laid down and what the community of the Restoration did; they "saved" Ezekiel by declaring his program to be purely messianic... The authorities of Second Temple times may also have thought so; in practice, they made the Torah their rule, and ignored Ezekiel's program entirely." [Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Ezekiel, Ezekiel's Message And Its Effects"]  This confusion has led many in the past to speculate that a future coming messiah will "do it all for them" (an idea that runs rampant through much of the world to this day). No, the Temple will not descend from heaven. Yahweh has always worked through His authorized men, and this Third Temple, the Temple to be built now in these last days, will be no different. [Shemot (Exodus) 18:19-20; 25:8-9;  See also:   A Heaven-Sent Temple: In Halakha by Yisrael Ariel, Director, The Temple Institute, Jerusalem, Israel]

The Encyclopaedia Judaica and many other references concerning this prophecy admit that the prophet Yechetzqyah (Ezekiel) describes in great detail in his vision a FUTURE Temple complex which to this present day has not been built!

"A Messianic Priestly Code
(Kaufmann; chs. 40–48). Following the general topical order of the priestly writings in the Pentateuch, a description of the future sanctuary, regulations for the cult and its personnel, and provisions for settlement in the land are set out in detail. Modernization and rectification of past wrongs are pervasive motives.
A VISIONARY TRANSPORTATION TO THE FUTURE TEMPLE
(40:1–43:12; a counterpart to chs. 8–11). A blueprint of the Temple area is narrated as a tour through its courts, gates, and rooms, the prophet being guided by an angelic “man” with a measuring rod and line. The design appears to follow the latest form of the Solomonic Temple..." [Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Ezekiel, Prophecies of Israel's Restoration"]

Did you notice?  This FUTURE Temple will NOT be modeled after the Hellenistic --Greco-Roman architecture of Herod; [Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Architecture And Architects, In Antiquity; and also:  History: Second Temple Period (The Hellenistic-Roman Period), Erez Israel, Herod's Rule"] but the same pattern as used for Solomon's Temple.  "Original Israelite elements are also contained in the design of the Temple, particularly in the Holy of Holies, which continue the tradition of the early Tabernacle." [Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 15, 947, "Temple, First Temple, Structure, The Ground Plan of the Temple"]  "The descriptions of the Temple found in Jewish literature, talmudic and other, from the end of the Second Temple period reflect, for the most part, the building as it was after the Herodian reconstruction." [Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 15, 962-963, "Temple, Second Temple, Structure, Reconstruction by Herod"]  Herod and his minions did not fully understand this pattern --this plan of Yahweh.

Again, please understand "the dimensions are not arbitrary but were arrived at through precise planning."  [Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 15,  947, "Temple, First Temple, Structure, The Detailed Plan of the Temple"]   Yahweh has a certain pattern, or plan. This same pattern was always revealed to only a chosen few at the proper time.

Shemot (Exodus) 25:8-9
8  And let them make Me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
9  According to all that I show you, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all its furnishings, EXACTLY so shall you make it.

Dibre Hayamim (I Chronicles) 28:19
19  David said:  All this is written because Yahweh made me understand all the details of this plan (pattern), for His hand was upon me.

The Ancient East Gate

Solomon's Temple, as well as Zerubabel's Temple, was built according to the same pattern used for the Tabernacle.  One element of the Temple pattern was that it faced to the east, with an east inner court gate and an east outer court gate. "There is no doubt that the building was oriented from east to west, so that the porch faced eastward. Evidence of this can also be found in the words of Ezekiel." [Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 15, 951, "Temple, First Temple, Structure, The Temple's Site and Orientation"; See also:  Yechetzqyah (Ezekiel) 11:1; 40:3; 47:1]   The prophecy shown to us in the Book of Yechetzqyah (Ezekiel) for the building of the future Temple with its gates, is according to this same pattern: facing east with its line of eastern gates. At the end of this straight line of gates (west to east) was another gate: the eastern (old city) Temple Mount enclosure gate.

The Temple Mount enclosure is called Har HaBayit* ["Mount (Mountain) of the House" or "the Temple Mount"] in Hebrew and Haram al Sharif ("Noble Enclosure") in Arabic.  Today, a gate is indeed visible in the eastern wall of this Temple Mount enclosure.  "The eastern wall of the Temple Mount contains a magnificent gate that appears from the outside to be composed of two arches but is actually a complex structure built into the wall. ...The earliest identification of this gate can be found in the writings of tenth-century Arab historians and geographers who referred to it by two names, one for each of its arches: the Gate of Mercy and the Gate of Repentance.  ...The name used by the Christians (and translated into all the languages of Europe) is the Golden Gate."  [In The Shadow Of The Temple, The discovery of Ancient Jerusalem, "The Start of the Moslem Age" p. 282-283; See also:* "Har HaBayit Yahweh" i.e. "Mount of the House of Yahweh" -Dibre Hayamim (II Chronicles) 33:15]

Since the location of  the ancient East Gate in the Temple Mount enclosure that led to the Temple precincts is one of the keys to finding the ORIGINAL location of the previous Temples and the future Third Temple, some have speculated on the existence of yet another gate in the eastern wall located across from the present Dome of the Rock (traditional location). They do this in order to give some credence to their idea of the original Temple location, but to no avail. No such gate has been found!  Even though the traditionalists admit that a gate across from their supposed location in the eastern wall has not been found, they also grant the fact that there has indeed been an ancient gate discovered north of the traditional location!  "The location of the gate to the Temple court in the eastern wall is, as yet, undetermined.  The only visible entranceway, the Golden Gate, dates from the Omayyad period (seventh century A.D.).  The arch of another gate lies directly beneath the blocked entranceway of the Golden Gate, but the location of this lower gate precludes its being Herodian." [Secrets of Jerusalems's Temple Mount, "Reconstructing Herod's Temple Mount in Jerusalem", p. 37-38]   Even the Mishnah admits to only one original gate which led to the inner Temple Mount area from the east; called Shushan.  "The Mishnah (Mid. 1:3) mentions only five gates to the Temple Mount: the two gates of Huldah on the south, Coponius Gate in the west..., the Gate of Tadi in the north, and the Shushan Gate in the east. This description fits the archaeological findings except for the western side."*  [Encyclopaedia Judaica Vol. 15, 963, "Temple, Second Temple, Structure, Reconstruction by Herod"] 

*The Mishnah mentions five gates, the five gates that gave one access to the inner Mount itself, whereas  Josephus describes all the gates; including those which led to the other public areas of the Temple Mount surround, which was sealed off from the inner Mount.   "If a person standing in the vicinity of these public institutions wished to to reach the Temple's precincts, he had to leave the compound and re-enter it through one of the gates specifically designed for that purpose, since there was no direct access between these two sections of the Temple Mount.  The Mishna, by its nature, deals only with the aspects of the Temple Mount related to halakhah, so the Midot Tractate mentions the five gates that led to the sanctifed area.  Josephus, on the other hand, described all the gates of the Temple Mount, not only those leading to the Temple's precincts." [In The Shadow Of The Temple, The Discovery Of Ancient Jerusalem, "The Gates of the Temple Mount", p. 136]

The walls and gates around the Old City were repaired and partially rebuilt by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1537-1541) after the Ottoman conquest of Israel. [Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Jerusalem, History, Under Ottoman Rule (1517-1917) Suleiman The Magnificent And His Work"]  However, this east wall, and the eastern gate to the old city and the Temple Mount enclosure, was the only one not rebuilt by him. 

The present eastern Temple enclosure wall of the old city is believed to have been built upon, and its gate constructed along with the rebuilding and repairs done to the other old city walls in the 7th century by Abd al-Malik (5th Umayyad caliph (685-705)). [Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Jerusalem, History, Arab Period, Umayyad Rule"; & Jerusalem, An Archaeological biography, p. 180]  (Abd al-Malik is also known to have built the Dome of the Rock and the Mosque of al-Aqsa. [Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Temple Mount"])  It was this newer East Gate (above ground level today) which came to be called the Golden Gate.  It was walled up by the Arabs and has remained closed now for many centuries. 

What is not commonly known is that this east old city wall along with the present day East Gate was built on top of the old existing city wall with its ancient East Gate.  "When Herod enlarged the Temple Mount, he did not change the line of the eastern wall (the steep slope of the Kidron Valley was too close to the existing wall to move it).  So the line of the eastern wall was pre-Herodian--perhaps even Solomonic." [Secrets of Jerusalems's Temple Mount, "Locating The Original Temple Mount", p. 66]  The ancient East Gate built into this wall was sealed up but left intact, and is presently below ground.  The top of this ancient wall is seen today at the present ground level of the East Gate.  "Monolithic stones in the wall just above ground have been identified as 6th Century BC masonry from the time of Nehemiah".  [Biblical Archaeological Review, Mar/Apr 1992, p. 40]  Discovered in April 1969 below ground, beneath the the present Golden Gate built into the wall, were five wedge-shaped stones set in a massive arch.  "Then I noticed with astonishment that on the eastern face of the turret wall, directly beneath the Golden Gate itself, were five wedge-shaped stones neatly set in a massive arch spanning the turret wall. Here were the remains of an earlier gate to Jerusalem, below the Golden Gate, one that apparently had never been fully documented." [Biblical Archaeology Review, Jan./Feb.1983, p. 30]  The stones of the arch are definitely not Herodian; "they are flat, with no margins, bosses or decorations and there appears to be no frame of any kind". [Jerusalem: An Archaeological biography, p. 183]   Here, beneath the present day East Gate, were the remains of an ancient gate to Jerusalem which had been buried over and forgotten in the midst of time. "To his astonishment, directly beneath the arches of the Golden Gate he found five wedge-shaped stones set neatly in a massive arch.  Here, beneath the Golden Gate, were the remains of an earlier gate to Jerusalem that had been hitherto unknown." [Jerusalem: An Archaeological biography, p. 181]  

"Sha'ar Harahamim (the Golden Gate) is located on the northern half of the eastern wall. At the southern base of the gate is the remains of an older gate that has been sealed. It is upon this that Sha'ar Harahamim has been built. This earlier gate cannot be seen from the outside as the Moslems have covered it with a big grave that is built up against the structure of Sha'ar Harahamim. During the Six-Day War this grave was damaged (probably from mortar fire) and for over a year afterwards the interior of the grave was visible and photographed. These photographs reveal the remains of an arch, the area under which has been sealed by small stones.  Sha'ar Harahamim today has been sealed up and a Moslem graveyard lies at the foot of the section of the wall where the gate is.  There has been much research into finding the eastern entrance to Har Habayit that according to most sources was in line with the entrance to the Temple."  [Har Habayit Archaeological Summary, 9. "The Golden Gate (Sha'ar Harahamim) and Sha'ar Hakohen"]

"The Second Temple, as well as Solomon's Temple before it, faced east; that is, it was entered from the east.  The only clearly visible entrance to the Temple Mount from the east is through the blocked Golden Gate.  ...the mid-point of the Golden Gate is located about 348 feet (106 meters) north of the line running through the center of the Dome of the Rock in an east-west direction.  This fact is, of course, consistent with the placement of the Temple north of the Dome of the Rock, in the northern part of the Temple Mount.   Moreover, it now seems clear that before the Golden Gate was constructed, the entrance to the Temple Mount from outside the city was in exactly the same location.  Recently, part of an arch was discovered directly beneath the Golden Gate.  This partial arch definitely belongs to an older gate, a gate that may date even to Solomonic times"  [Biblical Archeology Review,Vol IX No.2, Mar./Apr. 1983, "Where the Ancient Temple of Jerusalem Stood, Extant "Foundation Stone" for the Ark of the Covenant Is Identified", p. 45; See also:  Biblical Archeology Review, Jan./Feb. 1983, "The Undiscovered Gate Beneath Jerusalem's Golden Gate";  Jerusalem: An Archaeological Biography, p. 179-183 & 70-73]

This ancient eastern wall and gate, which has so recently been re-discovered, was part of the ancient walls and gates of the old city as refortified by King David and by his son, King Solomon,  [Sefer Melakim (I Kings) 3:1, 9:15; & Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Jerusalem, History, David and First Temple Period, Conquest By David & Under Solomon"] as reinforced by Hezekyah, [i.e. Chezekyah (Hezekiah); See:  Dibre Hayamim (II Chronicles) 32:5; Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Jerusalem, History, David and First Temple Period, Under the Kings of  Judah"] and then rebuilt and restored by Nehemyah!  [Nechemyah (Nehemiah) 3:29 & 2:13, 17-20; 3:1-32; 4:1-23; 6:1, 15; 7:1...]  "Nehemiah's Account of the Walls: The most complete Scriptural description we have of the walls and gates of Jerusalem is that given by Nehemiah. His account is valuable, not only as a record of what he did, but of what had been the state of the walls before the exile. It is perfectly clear that considerable traces of the old walls and gates remained, and that his one endeavor was to restore what had been before..." [International Standard Bible Encylopaedia, "Jerusalem, Parts VI,12."]  Yes, these very stones in this area of the wall have indeed been dated to the time of Nehemyah, when the Second Temple was built.  [Biblical Archaeological Review, Mar/Apr 1992, p. 40]  Nehemyah's repair work was built upon "considerable surviving elements of the wall" and upon "pre-existing gates".  [Digging Up Jerusalem, "The Post-Exilic Period", p. 182]  Some 600 years after Nehemyah, King Herod rebuilt and repaired the old city walls and gates.  However, according to Josephus, this ancient eastern Temple Mount enclosure wall was the only one not entirely rebuilt by Herod the Great. [Wars V, 184-189]

"The arch of another gate lies directly beneath the blocked entranceway of the Golden Gate, but the location of this lower gate precludes its being Herodian.  This lower gate is flush with the Golden Gate that is visible today.  The Golden Gate protrudes from the line of the wall, so the lower gate does also.  But none of the other gates of the Herodian enclosure wall around the Temple Mount protruded from the wall as this one does.  In fact, gates set flush in the wall are also the rule in other Herodian sacred precincts such as the ones at Damascus and Hebron."  [Secrets of Jerusalems's Temple Mount, "Reconstructing Herod's Temple Mount in Jerusalem", p. 37-38] This unquestionably confirms that this ancient gate below the Golden Gate is much older than any of the other gates on the Mount!

"THE NORTHERN PART OF THE EASTERN WALL
...The Golden Gate may have been built over the original Temple Mount's Eastern Gate.   Ritmeyer identifies two monoliths (large, upright stone blocks), visible only from inside the Golden Gate, as the jambs for the Eastern Gate.  These monoliths are about 12 and 15 feet high.  Ritmeyer also identifies the lowest course visible above ground on either side of the outside of the Golden Gate as sixth-century B.C. masonry from the time of Nehemiah, characterized by large, bulging bosses" [Secrets of Jerusalems's Temple Mount, "Locating The Original Temple Mount", p. 80]

DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS?   A section of Nehemyah's RESTORATION of this ANCIENT WALL and ENTRANCE GATE on its ORIGINAL FOUNDATION IS STILL THERE!

Yes! Underneath the present East Gate (rebuilt in the 7th century) under the present day ground level is a very much intact ancient east wall and gate!  Please understand --this means that this closed underground gate beneath the new East (Golden) Gate is the ancient Shushan Gate!

"It is called 'the Shushan Gate', from the sculptured representation over it of the city to which so many Jewish memories attached. From this gate an arched roadway, by which the priests brought out the 'red heifer', and on the Day of Atonement the scapegoat, is said to have conducted to the Mount of Olives. Near the spot where the red heifer was burned were extensive lavatories, and booths for the sale of articles needed for various purifications.

* Jewish tradition mentions the following five as the outer gates of the Temple: that of Shushan to the east, of Tedi to the north, of Copponus to the west, and the two Huldah gates to the south. The Shushan gate was said to have been lower than the others, so that the priests at the end of the 'heifer-bridge' might look over it into the Temple. In a chamber above the Shushan gate, the standard measures of the 'cubit' were kept.

The Holy Place itself faced east-wards, and was approached from the east; but most assuredly the ministering priests and the worshippers looked not towards the east, but towards the west." [The Temple: Its Ministry and Services,  Ch. 1 "A First View of Jerusalem, and of the Temple, The Shushan Gate", p. 36-37]

With Herod's abominable Greco-Roman refurbishing of the Second Temple and precinct areas there was a series of five Gates (at different levels) that ran in a straight line from the East (Shushan) Gate to the entrance of the Temple!  These gates were called as follows; "the Eastern Gate, the gate of Chayl*, the gate of the Women's Courtyard, the gate of Nicanor and the gate of the entrance hall.  So if the temple was built on flat ground, one would have been able to see through all the gates at once". [Mishneh Torah, Commentary Halachah 5 & 6] 

*The Temple Mount of Herod had the 500 by 500 cubit soreg designating the original outer court^x area.  "At the end of the court was a soreg (a stone lattice work) which surrounded the consecrated area--the Temple Mount proper in the narrow mishnaic sense, i.e., the "500 cubits by 500 cubits" (Mid. 2:1). According to the Mishnah (Mid. 2:3) the height of the soreg was 10 handbreadths (70 cm. = 28 in.), but Josephus states that it was 3 cubits (1.5 m. = 5 ft.); this latter measurement seems more appropriate for a fence to which were attached plaques written in Greek and Latin forbidding gentiles to pass that point on pain of death. Remains of these inscriptions bearing the Greek text (one complete plaque and one partly preserved) have been discovered in Jerusalem (in 1870 and 1936). Beyond the soreg were 14 steps and then the hel [Chayl] ("rampart"), which was 10 cubits (5 m. = 17 ft.) broad (Mid. 2:3; Wars 5:195-7). Beyond the hel [Chayl] were the wall of the main forecourt (azarah), and the Court of the Women (ezrat nashim). In the outer court were the store-chambers for the shekels and the Temple vessels, and also "shofarot" (chests in the form of horns, i.e., narrow at the top, where the opening was, and wider lower down) for the donations (terumot) of the people (Shek. 2:1).." [Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Temple, Second Temple, Structure, The Temple Square"; (^x "the great court" - I Kings 7:12, 9; Ezekiel 42:15-20, 8)]
[Many erroneously think that the Mishna describes the original entire Temple Mount area as being 500 by 500 amah (cubits) when in reality it was merely describing the dimensions of the Outer Court soreg area as located on the northern portion of the Temple Mount.]

During the time of the First Temple, one standing on the Mount of Olives could look over this Eastern Gate (also called Shushan or HaKohan gate) into the huge area presently north of the Dome of the Rock and see all the gates (at different levels) in a perfect line:  the East (or Shushan) Gate --Outer Court Gate [see * above] --Inner Court Gate --Temple Entrance.  "All the walls which were there were high, except the wall in the east, so that the priest who burned the heifer, standing on the top of the Mount of Olives, and directing himself to look, saw through the gateway of the sanctuary, at the time when he sprinkled the blood."  [Mishnah, Middot 2:4]

The Gate found underneath the present day Golden Gate is the ancient Shushan Gate noted in the Mishnah. [Mishnah, Middot 1, 3]  This Gate was also called the East Gate. [Nechemyah (Nehemiah) 3:29; Yechetzqyah (Ezekiel) 43:1, 2, 4]  Going out this East or Shushan Gate to the east was a causeway supported by arches that ran across the Kidron Valley, and was known as the Causeway of the Heifer, since the High Priest used this path to reach the Mount of Olives where the ritual burning of the Red Heifer took place, to purify the pilgrims with its ashes. [Parah 111, 6; Shekalim 4, 2]

"Charles Warren examined the gate in 1867-69 and found a wall descending 13 m below the level of the gate, the wall of the Temple Mount at this point is thus 20 m high. 80 m further north Warren found the base of the wall at a depth of 40 m. Schick cleaned the gate in 1891. It is to be hoped that this magnificent gate will again serve its original purpose, making possible pilgrimages to the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives."  [This is Jerusalem, "Ch. VI, The Gates And Walls Of Jerusalem In Our Time, The Mercy Gate", p. 247]

"During the period of the Second Temple, the Mount of Olives was of great importance in Jerusalem: the red heifer was burnt upon it; a bridge, or possibly two such bridges, connected its slopes with the Temple Mount. During the period of the Roman procurator Felix, thousands gathered upon it, there to be beguiled into believing the words of a false Egyptian prophet (Jos., Ant. 20:169; Wars 2:262). During the siege of Jerusalem, the Tenth Roman Legion encamped on it (Wars 5:70, where the location of the Mount of Olives is clearly established as being six ris (=3,707 ft.; 1,110 meters) east of Jerusalem, across a deep valley called Kidron)."  [Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Mount of Olives"]

Dr. Asher S. Kaufman concluded that the original site of the Temple was at the northwest corner of the Temple Mount; north of the Dome of the Rock.  He has determined that the east-west line aligning the Mount of Olives with the Eastern Gate and the Temple bisect on a small shrine called the Dome of the Spirits. The Holy of Holies is thought to have been located on the bedrock covered by this small cupola.  He noted that the bedrock inside this little domed area is the only such bedrock appearing on the Temple Mount --it sticks up from the surface.   The rest of the area around the Dome of the Rock has been paved. This is the "Eben Shetiyyah" (Foundation stone) that was the floor in the ancient Holy of Holies.  [Biblical Archeology Review, Vol IX No.2, Mar./Apr. 1983, "Where the Ancient Temple of Jerusalem Stood, Extant "Foundation Stone" for the Ark of the Covenant Is Identified", p. 42-59; See also: Jerusalem: An Archaeological Biography, p. 70-73]

The EAST Gate in Alignment with the Holy of Holies! The east-west axis of the Dome of the Tablets lines up exactly with the Ancient Eastern Gate located underneath the Southern side of the present day East Gate!  The dome (in the background) marks the place (red arrow) where the Holy of Holies was located!  "At the southern base of the gate is the remains of an older gate that has been sealed".

Herod's Reconstructions and Additions to the Mount

According to Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides) in referring to Talmudic writings from the times before the destruction of Herod's refurbished Temple in 70 A.C.E.,  the Temple was not built in the center of the Temple Mount (in the Dome of the Rock location [Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Temple Mount"]).  He states that the Temple Courtyard was not situated directly in the center of the Temple Mount. Rather, it was set off farther from the southern wall of the Temple Mount than from the wall of any other direction.  [Mishnah, Middot 2:1]   This explains why the entire inner court fits perfectly in the area north of the Dome of the Rock and west of the present day East Gate!  This is fully understood when one studies Herod's rebuilding of (as well as additions to) the Temple Mount.  Herod rebuilt the west and north retaining walls as well as making a southern extension to the Temple Mount.  Most of the enlargement to the south was by means of fill and underground vaults and supports.  The Temple Mount area was rebuilt primarily to accomodate the large amount of people coming for the Holy days as commanded in the Law,  [i.e. the three traveling feasts: Pasach (Passover), Succot (Tabernacles) and Shabaut (Weeks) and the other Holy days: Deuteronomy 16:16; Leviticus 23]. Only by adding this southern extension to the Temple Mount and building a huge entryway and exit on the south could the considerable number of worshipers be accommodated.  This southern area of Herod's extension of the Temple Mount became the main public area, and hence it is written concerning the area outside of the northern 500 by 500 cubit (soreg) area "it was largest on the south; next largest on the east; then on the north; smallest on the west." [Mishnah, Middot 2:1; See also:   Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Temple, Second Temple, Structure, The Temple Square"]  "From the Mishna we also know that 'the two Hulda Gates in the south that served for coming in and going out' were the main gates to the Temple Mount.  ...The two gates in the southern wall are about 70 meters apart and served the pattern established for entry and exit:  'Whoever it was that entered the Temple Mount came in on the right and went around and came out on the left...'"  [In The Shadow Of The Temple, The discovery of Ancient Jerusalem, "The Gates of the Temple Mount", p. 135-136]  The entry and exit gates were built on the far south because only this southern area (the largest area on the Mount) could withstand the many thousands who came to the Temple for "The place where there was most measurement there was also most service." [Mishnah, Middot 2:1]

"Ever since first being built by Solomon, the Temple stood at the top of a hill that came to be known as the Temple Mount.  The summit of this mountain was a relatively small area...  As a result of this topography, the masses that streamed to the Temple were forced to crowd into the small area of the summit, most of which was occupied by the Temple itself.  The first builders of the Temple Mount dealt with this problem by constructing retaining walls on the slopes to support an esplanade around the Temple and make it possible for more people to take part in the events centering on  it.  This same solution was adopted by Herod and his engineers in enlarging the Temple Mount to its present dimensions.   ...the pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the Jewish holidays and festivals was actively promoted and soon became the goal of Jews everywhere.  This custom brought crowds of pilgrims from abroad and within the country as well.  Some scholars have estimated the number of pilgrims during the Roman period at 80,000-100,000 people on each festival.   This swarm of visitors turning up on the holidays presented the city fathers with a major logistical headache.  Above all it was imperitive that this huge congregation be able to visit the Temple Mount at one and the same time.  Jerusalem was then one of the largest cities in the world with a population of 150,000-200,000.  Add to this number the tens of thousands of pilgrims from outside the city and you have a constituency of over 200,000 people massed together in one spot.  And equivalent volume of traffic to a single site is rare even in our day.  Thus the extension of the Temple Mount was designed to host this formidable crowd on an esplanade so that it could witness the ritual ceremonies performed in the Temple's courts."  [In The Shadow Of The Temple, The Discovery of Ancient Jerusalem, "Herod's Monumental Enterprise", p. 74-75]  "According to Josephus, the pilgrims making sacrifices and assembling in the Temple square numbered 255,600 reckoned by the number of sacrifices at Passover.   These were made by heads of families only; the total number of people gathering at Jerusalem on the festivals reached a million." [This Is Jerusalem, "The Temple Mount, Temple Courtyard", p. 95] "Herod's other project in Jerusalem concerned the eastern hill of the city. He transformed the old Baris fortress into a much larger structure, with high towers dominating the Temple area, and called it Antonia, in honor of the triumvir Mark Antony. In the Temple area itself, the esplanade was enlarged, especially on its southern side, and it was given the trapezoid shape which is still preserved."  [Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Jerusalem, History, Second Temple Period, Herodian Period"] 

The evidence clearly points to the original northern Temple complex location on the Mount, yet some still think that the northern side of the Temple Mount including the northern portion of the eastern wall beyond the east gate was "in toto" a Herodian extension.  These theorists have their own preconceived notions on the origins of the northern wall and what they speculate to be the original Temple complex location without any evidence; and yet it is admited that this "northern wall" has not been studied at length!  "The Northern Wall of the Temple Mount has been little studied, its situation being unfavourable for investigation." [Jerusalem Revealed , Archaeology In The Holy City 1968-1974, "The Architecture of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period", p. 17]   Herod refortified the northern Temple Mount; but to proclaim that this northern area is "entirely Herodian" is without merit. The ancient foundation and line of the northern Temple Mount wall, as well as the northern corner of the east wall were no doubt established in First Temple times though Herod obviously rebuilt it.

This northern wall of the ancient city and the Temple Mount was defensively the "weak side".  "...this side must always necessarily have been the weak side for defense because it was protected by no, or at best by very little, natural valley..." [International Standard Bible Encylopaedia, "Jerusalem, Parts VI,18"]  The northern wall of the city, including the Temple Mount enclosure wall (which was originally part of the northern wall of the ancient city), had to be rebuilt and refortified (including the Birah (Baris) fortress located on the north-western corner of the Mount) after the extensive destruction caused by "ramming engines" when Jerusalem was besieged.  "The invasion of the Parthians, Rome's enemies, into Syria in 40 B.C. enabled the Hasmonean, Antigonus, to reestablish his sovereignty over Jerusalem (40-37 B.C.). He remained in power for only a brief period, while Herod was busy securing effective Roman support for a counterattack. Anthony and Cleopatra saw in Herod a useful instrument against the Parthians, and the Roman Senate crowned him King of the Jews and Friend of Rome. With Roman help, Herod besieged Jerusalem. Josephus gives a dramatic account of the siege, then of his successful assault on the city, in which the walls north of the Temple were smashed with the use of ramming engines, and finally of the capture of the Upper city and the Temple (Antiquities: XIV:487)." [The Mountain Of The Lord, Excavating in Jerusalem, "F. Herod's Period", p.76]  Herod built the western retaining wall [no doubt upon ancient lines] as well as rebuilt the northern wall to the Temple Mount including a fortress he named Antonia.  "ANTONIA, fortress north of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, known after the return from Babylon as "The Citadel" (Heb. birah). Herod fortified it and renamed it in honor of Mark Antony. According to Josephus, it was situated at the corner of the northwestern colonnade of the Temple Mount." [Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Antonia"; And see:  "Birah" in the Heb. of Nechemyah (Nehemiah) 7:2] "The fortress was built on a hill 25 m high, in the north-west part of the Temple Mount, as a defense for it.  The length of the fortress, from east to west, was about 115 m; on the western side its width from north to south was 35 m and in the east 42 m.   During the time of Nehemiah this was the site of the Hananel Tower, also called Birah i.e., tower; it was also known as the Tower of the Hundred.  Nehemiah appointed Hananiah commander of the Birah.  The Hasmoneans called the fortress Baris, and Herod named it Antonia in honor of Mark Antony, ruler of Rome, who appointed Herod over the Jews..." [This is Jerusalem, "The Temple Mount, The Antonia Fortress", p. 99]  This fortress was built on the north-western corner on top of the previous structure called originally the Birah, and by Josephus, the Baris fortress.  "...the Letter of Aristeas, an Alexandrian, recounts the journey of Philadelphus (285-246 B.C.), an official of the court of Ptolemy II, from Alexandria to Jerusalem. Aristeas describes Jerusalem and the Temple in glowing terms, as well as the fortress known as the Birah. This citadel, known since the time of Nehemiah (2:8), stood at the northwestern end of the Temple Mount and protected the sanctuary. It contained a garrison which, according to Aristeas, consisted of five hundred men. The citadel was called Baris by Josephus (Antiquities XV:403); Herod would transform it into a massive stronghold and rename it the Antonia in honor of his patron, Mark Anthony." [The Mountain Of The Lord, Excavating in Jerusalem, "1 The Letter of Aristeas" , p.65]  "The fortress rebuilt by Herod was that formerly built on the same spot and called Baris.  This fortress, Josephus goes on to say, "was erected on a great precipice," and " stood at the junction of the northern and western cloisters, that is, on the north-west angle of the enclosure of the Temple;" and that "it had passages down to both cloisters, through which the guard (for there always lay in the tower a Roman legion) went several ways among the cloisters with their arms on the Jewish festivals, in order to watch the people."   Josephus, in his description of the siege of the Temple by Pompey, BC 63, says that the Roman Commander found it impossible to attack it on any other quarter than the north, on account of the frightful ravines on every other side..." [Ordinance Survey of Jerusalem] 

The Baris which Herod built Antonia upon was in the same area where the ancient towers of  "the Mea" (i.e. Hammeah) and Hananayl stood. (The towers which had been rebuilt west of the Sheep Gate by Nehemyah.) [Nechemyah (Nehemiah) 3:1; 12:39; See also: Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Jerusalem, History, David and First Temple Period, Under Solomon"].  "Sheep Gate: This last gate was the point from which the circuit of the repairs was traced.  The references, <Neh 3:1,31; 12:39>, clearly show that it was at the eastern extremity of the north wall.  ...this side must always necessarily have been the weak side for defense because it was protected by no, or at best by very little, natural valley... West of the Sheep Gate two towers are mentioned <Neh 3:1; 12:39>.  Of these HANANEL was more easterly than HAMMEAH, and, too, it would appear from <Zec 14:10> to have been the most northerly point of the city.  Probably then two towers occupied the important hill where afterward stood the fortress Baris and, later, the Antonia.  At the Hammeah tower the wall would descend into the Tyropoeon to join the eastern extremity of the first wall ..." [International Standard Bible Encylopaedia, "Jerusalem, Parts VI, 18"] 

If the Baris was located next to or even in the same place as the Dome of the Rock as some claim, rather than farther north as many ancient writers proclaimed, there would have been no reason for Herod to extend the western wall as far as he did!  "Herod's other project in Jerusalem concerned the eastern hill of the city. He transformed the old Baris fortress into a much larger structure, with high towers dominating the Temple area, and called it Antonia, in honor of the triumvir Mark Antony."  [Encyclopaedia Judaica CD, "Jerusalem, History, Second Temple Period, Herodian Period"]  "At the north-west corner the bedrock projected above the surface of the precinct. It was cut away to create a more or less level surface, leaving an exposed scarp up to 10m high.  Above that scarp stood a massive fortified tower which Herod had built on the site of an earlier Hasmonean structure shortly before commencing work on the Temple. This new fortress he named Antonia after his Roman overlord, Mark Antony. The extent of the Antonia has been more precisely defined by our recent discovery of extensive remains of its southern wall incorporated into Mamluk buildings now occupying part of the site. Details in Josephus's account of the siege of Titus show that the north wall of the Temple enclosure adjoined Antonia. A north-west corner stone of the enclosing wall, with typical Herodian marginal draft on both north and west outer faces verifying that it is in situ (see p. 204), confirms Josephus's account."  [Mamluk Jerusalem, An Architectural Study, "The Pre-Mamluk Development of Jerusalem, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Remains (37B.C.-A.D.638)", p. 43; And See: Mamluk Jerusalem, An Architectural Study, "14 Al-Jawiliyya, IV Architecture, Earlier Remains (i) Herodian Tower Antonia", p.204]   The ancient Birah (Baris) was used exclusively to protect the Mount and the City; whereas this fortress called Antonia was used to defend both the inner city and the entrance to the Mount, as well as to