northern wall

Northern Wall Area. All of these buildings are also built over the Northern Wall.
School Building. This school is built over the Northern Wall. In years past, it was used as an army barracks for Turkish soldiers.

North Wall Area. Of all the walls of Har HaBayis, we know the least about the Northern Temple Wall. This is due to the fact that many schools, churches, and homes are built against it. This is a drawing made of the Northern Wall area from inside the Temple Mount.

More than Meets the Eye. Only a small portion of Barclay's gate is seen today. Most of it is hidden by the Moslem wall and is buried below ground. The original gateway was about 30 feet high (3 stories) and 15 feet wide.
The Great Lintel Stone. The lintel stone on Barclay's Gate in 27 feet long and weighs over 100 tons!
Barclay's Blocked Gate. In the center of the photo is part of the great lintel stone that rested atop Barclay's Gate. The rest of the stone is blocked by the wall the Arabs built years ago. Atop the steps is a small room which women now use for prayers. More of the stone can be seen from inside that room. The small stones, behind the railing on the steps, were placed there by the Arabs to block the opening of Barclay's Gate.

Barclay's Gate. In the Bais HaMikdash there was a gateway that led from the Western walkway onto Har HaBayis. It's archeological name is Barclay's Gate, named after a nineteenth century American diplomat who discovered it. Barclay also discovered Tzidkiyahu's cave. See Room 5, exhibits 5h-5k

"No Gentiles Allowed" stones

"No Gentiles Allowed" Fragment. This is fragment from another stone. It too is written in Greek. This one can be seen in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.


The "No Gentiles Allowed" Inscription. Surrounding the outside of the "azarah" courtyard was a low wooden fence. There were markers written in Greek and Latin stating: No gentile is allowed within the wall surrounding the sanctuary nor the enclosed courtyard. Anyone apprehended doing so is at the risk of taking his own life in his hands. This fragment is presently in the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul, Turkey.

the moshiach stone

The "Moshiach" Inscription. In the seventh century the Persians conquered Eretz Yisroel from the Christian Byzantines. The Persians gave the Jews permission to rebuild their Bais HaMikdash. Preparations were made and the construction began. One Jew, thinking that Moshiach was about to arrive and would herald the "t'chiyas ha'maysim," the resurrection, carved a "pasuk" on the Western Wall, under Robinson's Arch. (See other posts) It is from the haftorah of Shabbos Rosh Chodesh and reads. "And you shall see and your hearts shall rejoice. Your bones like the grass will spring forth." The last word is missing from the inscription. Also, the inscription actually reads "their bones." It should say "your bones." Before the Jews could complete the building, an earthquake destroyed their work. Shortly thereafter, the Byzantines regained Jerusalem and banished the Jews. The time for Moshiach had not arrived.


this stone prooves the no "broken telephone" has been made throughout the generations (not that we need any proof and not that this is the only proof as this whole website is proof) as in the 7th century they were learning and thinking about the same torah which we learn and think about

floor tiles from the beis hamikdosh

Ashlar Fragment. Building stones that were used within the "azarah," had to be perfectly smooth. The surface of this jagged stone is very smooth.
Ashlar Fragment. This building stone was part of a building outside the "azarah." Notice the rough design carved onto the surface of the fragment. This stone was discovered by the "museum" curator's wife during an expedition in 1982
Floor Tile Fragment. The floor of the "azarah" consisted of white tiles, tan tiles, and bluish-purple tiles. This interesting stone was discovered by the "museum" curator's son, Menachem.

Floor Tile Fragment. A fragment of tan flooring tile of the Bais HaMikdash

(first from the top) Dinarim, dinars
(third from the bottom) Shekalim (shekels), these are dated to the year 68 CE, two years before the "churban."
(second from the bottom) prutas, from the time of the Maccabees
(first from the bottom) "machatzis h'shekel, " a half shekel issued 2 years before the "churban"

Coins relating to the Bais Hamikdash #2

(top image) Judea Capta, issued by the Roman Empire to "celebrate" the downfall of Eretz Yisroel and the destruction of the Temple. Judea Capta means "Judea has been captured."
(fourth from bottom) The Roman general, Titus Flavius, "yimach shemo," commander of the Roman troops who destroyed our Holy Bais Hamikdash
(third from bottom) Emperor Vespasian (large image) and his two sons, Titus (the general, small image on the left) and Domitian, (who built the famous Arch of Titus commemorating the destruction of Yerushalayim
(second from bottom) The Roman emperor, Vespasian, at the time of the "churban
(first from bottom) Hadrian - "yimach shemo," the Roman emperor who converted the Bais HaMikdash into a temple for "avodah zorah."

coins relating to the beis hamikdosh

The façade of the Heichel in the Bais HaMikdash, minted by Bar Kokhbah about 50 years after the "churban."




These are coins found in Massada

stones from beis hamikdosh

under the beis hamikdosh

mishna - kehati

There were seven gates in the wall surrounding the azarah - the inner courtyard (see 2:6) - three in the north, and three in the south, and one in the east - as the mishnah elaborates:Those in the south: Nearest the west - Shaar Hadelek - (lit. "the gate of the fuel") through which firewood for the altar was brought in - second to it - i.e., immediately east of it - Shaar Habekhorot - (lit. "the gate of the firstbom") through which firstbom animals were brought in, rather than through Shaar Hakorban on the north side like other sacrifices (see 1:5), to demonstrate that they could be slaughtered on the south side of the azarah - third to it, Shaar Hamayim - oit. "the gate of the water") through which a pitcher of water drawn from the Shiloah well, just south of Har Habayit, would be brought into the azarah on Sukkot, for the water libation. Ezekiel prophesied that a stream of water will flow through this gate; thus: "And he brought me back to the opening of the building, and behold, water issuing from under the threshold of the building eastward...and he brought me out through the gate northward, and he led me around the outside to the outer gate through the one leading eastward, and behold, there was water trickling on the right side" (Ezek. 47:1-2; see 2:6; and see Bartenura).That - gate that was - in the east: Shaar Nikanor - the main entrance to the azarah named after the man who constructed its doors (see 2:3)-and it had two chambers-near it-one on its right and one on its left. One was the Chamber of Pinhas the Outfitter - where the uniforms of the kohanim were stored, named after one of the officials who occupied this chamber - and one was the Chamber of the Havitin Makers - where the havitin, the special fried meal-offering of the kohen gadol was prepared daily.

eastern wall

Tadi Gate:All the temple gateways shared the same basic rectangular design. The Tadi gate, however, had a unique triangular shape. The name Tadi comes from the Greek word meaning "high". The angle formed at the top made this doorway higher or taller than the others.

shushan gate

Tombs of the Mercy Gate. In ages past there was a great epidemic in Jerusalem. Many Moslems died and they were buried in a mass grave in front of the Mercy Gate. Over the years, the bodies decomposed and compressed. This created a cavern underground in the cemetery. Very few people knew of this secret cavern. When the Moslems heard of the cavern, they filled it in with trash and debris the bricks on top are The Cavern. Very few photos were taken inside this small cavern. In the back against the wall, you can see the upper portion on an arch.

All the gates of the Holy Temple were twenty cubits high and ten cubits wide. The Kiponos Gate had a square lintel as did the other gates of the Mikdash , (with the exception of the Tadi Gate), and its doors were overlaid in gold. "the gate of Kiponos," was connected by a bridge across the Tyropoeon with the city (where now is Wilson's Arch near the Kotel). this is all next door to the famous "western wall" which will be extrapolated in anothe post

The western flight of stairs leading to the main entrances of the Temple Mount was 200 feet wide. Excavators uncovered the easternmost part of this staircase with its alternating long and short steps. Some suggest that the fifteen long steps may have been one of the locations where pilgrims sang the fifteen Psalms of Ascent (120-34) as they went up to worship

eastern wall