Herod and the temple

In his book "Antiquities of the Jews," historian Joseph Ben Matityahu (better known as Josephus Flavius) described the resurrection of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by Herod, king of Judea in the first century BCE, as the holiest and most beautiful undertaking of his time. Josephus mentioned elsewhere that Herod believed building the temple would be his most acclaimed enterprise and that it would immortalize his name.

However, neither Josephus nor Herod imagined that 2,000 years later, two Israeli archaeologists, Prof. Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron, would by chance unearth 17 bronze coins. Four of these coins are embossed with a symbol indicating that they date back to the time of Roman Prefect Valerius Gratus, who reigned 20 years after Herod's death.

Thanks to these four pieces of metal, it has become apparent that while Herod began construction on the temple, he did not live to see it in its full glory. This also means that the Western Wall, which was part of the retaining wall surrounding the Temple Mount, was not built during Herod's time. Just like that, Herod has lost a significant cornerstone in the wall of fame he sought to erect around his name.

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There is quite a bit of poetic justice in this discovery. Historical research has shown that it was the megalomania that characterized this king with Hellenistic aspirations (whose paternal grandfather was an Edomite and whose mother's family was of Arab origin) that was the driving force behind the construction of the temple in Jerusalem, not the desire to beautify the Jews' house of worship. Herod wanted the temple to crown him with the cornet that was denied to his enemies, the Hasmonean kings. Now it turns out he is not responsible for what remains of his masterpiece.

This new evidence proves Herod did not build the Western Wall. Yet aside from this interesting historical-archaeological detail, the question arises as to whether this finding has greater significance than satisfying archaeologists' curiosity. Who apart from them is interested in a discovery that simply transfers credit for the temple's construction from Herod to someone else, whose name might never be known-

Well, in fact this is an extremely interesting detail, especially for contemporary Israelis. Such a discovery is particularly important at a time when the Palestinian authorities are trying to deny the historic connection between Israelis and the Land of Israel, between Israelis and Jerusalem – and the Temple Mount in particular. Consider, for example, the "research" of Dr. Al-Mutawakkil Taha, former head of the Palestinian writers' union, who has claimed that the Western Wall is only the western boundary of the Al-Aqsa mosque.

There are those who would say that this is a futile debate between two conflicting narratives and that each side must be respected. However, archaeological discoveries are what return the debate from the ideological arena to its rightful place in the historical one.

The Western Wall was built about 2,000 years ago as part of the construction of the Second Temple and the expansion of the Temple Mount. Herod, it turns out, did not see the project through to completion. However, there is no doubt that it was the crowning glory of the Judean kingdom's feats of engineering, and as such is of great importance to modern Jews who have had the privilege of praying there.

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