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The Temple of Jerusalem (Wonders of the World) Hardcover – March 31, 2005

by Simon Goldhill (Author)

4.5 17 ratings

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Read the Bldg Blog interview with Mary Beard about the Wonders of the World series (Part I and Part II)

It was destroyed nearly 2000 years ago, and yet the Temple of Jerusalem--cultural memory, symbol, and site--remains one of the most powerful, and most contested, buildings in the world. This glorious structure, imagined and re-imagined, reconsidered and reinterpreted again and again over two millennia, emerges in all its historical, cultural, and religious significance in Simon Goldhill's account.

Built by Herod on a scale that is still staggering--on an earth and rock platform 144,000 square meters in area and 32 meters high--and destroyed by the Roman emperor Titus 90 years later, in 70 A.D., the Temple has become the world's most potent symbol of the human search for a lost ideal, an image of greatness. Goldhill travels across cultural and temporal boundaries to convey the full extent of the Temple's impact on religious, artistic, and scholarly imaginations. Through biblical stories and ancient texts, rabbinical writings, archaeological records, and modern accounts, he traces the Temple's shifting significance for Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

A complex and engaging history of a singular locus of the imagination--a site of longing for the Jews; a central metaphor of Christian thought; an icon for Muslims: the Dome of the Rock--The Temple of Jerusalem also offers unique insight into where Judaism, Christianity, and Islam differ in interpreting their shared inheritance. It is a story that, from the Crusades onward, has helped form the modern political world.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though only one retaining wall (the famous "Wailing Wall") survives, the Temple of Jerusalem remains a meaningful symbol in many religious traditions and is a source of inspiration for artists, poets, archaeologists and others who have been captivated by the idea of the once glorious structure. Goldhill, a professor of Greek Literature and Culture at the University of Cambridge, discusses the significance of the Temple to Christians, Muslims, Jews and even Freemasons, who "take their 'passwords' and allegorical meanings from the Temple" for their levels of initiation. He explains that the Temple, built to replace the first one that was destroyed in 587 BC and a second one that was deemed insufficient by Herod the Great, is commonly regarded as the second Temple because the construction of a third would represent the End of Days for Jews and Christians. Though the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, it still inspired many artistic imaginings that Goldhill acknowledges are a valid part of its "archaeology." These renderings are based on descriptions of the grand appearance of the Temple in scripture, which Goldhill describes at length, along with the many sacred rituals that took place inside. This fourth installment in Harvard's Wonders of the World series (The Parthenon, The Alhambra, etc.) illustrates the temple in fantastic detail and conveys its significance and symbolism both when it was standing and after its destruction. The thorough discussions of a wide variety of interpretations comprise a fascinating and vivid treatment of what Goldhill demonstrates to be "the most potent symbol of the human search for a lost ideal...that has prompted struggle, brutal war between cultures and nations, and some of the most moving poetry and art of the Western tradition." 25 halftones, 9 line drawings.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Built by Herod the Great, king of Judea, the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman emperor Titus 90 years later, in 70 C.E. Goldhill, a professor of Greek literature and culture at the University of Cambridge, presents his book as a "tour of the bizarre and wonderful history of an imagined building: it will take us from sex and politics in the Bible to the violence and romance of the Knights of the Crusades." As a political and religious center, Goldhill says, "it inevitably became the focus of war and social struggle, but as a destroyed building, the space of its absence has attracted the hopes and aspirations of millions of people over the centuries." With 25 halftones and nine line drawings, this book captures in extraordinary detail the remarkable history of this religious monument. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

The Temple in Jerusalem, as Simon Goldhill reminds us in this admirably readable account of its long and tortured history, has always been more than a holy place: it is above all an idea--a myth, a fantasy, a utopian dream that has dominated the imagination for three millennia and continues to act as a source of contention...As far as it goes, his book is thoroughly absorbing: the writing is fresh, the erudition lightly worn with pleasing nuggets of fact and fantasy culled from an impressive variety of sources. (Malise Ruthven Sunday Times 2004-08-01)

The Temple of Jerusalem could not be the subject of a guide book at all, since it now only exists in the mind: the Romans destroyed it entirely in AD 70. Simon Goldhill's study accordingly concentrates on the idea of the Temple down the centuries...The heart of the book...lies in its reconstruction of the Temple in the mind. Beginning with the prophet Ezekiel, Jewish mystics and rabbis have in different ways reimagined the Temple as a symbol of the divine in the midst of the people of God...Most interesting to me are the later chapters of the book, which describes the Temple in art, nineteenth-century quests for the site of the Temple, and 'Archaeology and Imperialism,' all showing how preconceptions of the Temple colour the imaginations of those who seek it...Goldhill is just the writer to attempt such a bold exercise in 'reception history,' his vivid and almost conversational style leading the reader comfortably through complex material. The problem in reception history is always how to avoid a merely miscellaneous list--a few texts from here, a few pictures from there. In a book this short there is inevitably a lot of selection, but it is judicious, and always contributes to the central theme: that the Temple is what we make it. (John Barton Times Literary Supplement 2004-11-19)

Goldhill skilfully allows the reader to understand how the Jerusalem Temple has become a dreamscape for all the Abrahamic faiths. Even more importantly, he shows how that religious longing has inspired artists to imagine their Jerusalem...After reading Goldhill's book, I can understand how 'Jerusalem' is not merely the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock but also an empty space filled with conflicting myths. When we look at this void, we fill it with our own ideal. And we bring Solomon, David, Jesus and Mohammed with us, too. (Julia Pascal The Independent 2004-09-02)

History spun from facts alone is 'dry as dust' said the great Thomas Carlyle. Scholarly research remains precisely that unless the writer dreams life into the documented past--which is what Cambridge don, Simon Goldhill, has done in his latest book. And for his subject, he has chosen the most enticing of all bygone destinations--the Temple of Jerusalem...It's no mean challenge evoking the architecture, the spiritual power, the politics and the fantasies associated with a building burned down by the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago. But Goldhill rekindles those half-remembered myths from cheder childhood...Its pride of place signifies just how powerfully we cling to the mysticism and mystery of the Temple--the eternal embodiment, as Goldhill writes, of glorious idealism and man's failure to meet it. (Madeleine Kingsley Jewish Chronicle 2004-11-12)

In a crisp and lucid style, Goldhill, a classicist at Cambridge University, sets out to write a history both of ancient Jerusalem's glorious House of God and of the ways it has been imagined over the 2,000 years since its final destruction by the Romans. (Benjamin Balint Commentary 2005-09-01)

What this book [makes] clear is that the Temple of Solomon is more important for its memory than for its once existent reality. It is central to Jewish memory and piety and is woven into the theology of Christianity. (Lawrence S. Cunningham Commonweal 2005-10-21)

About the Author

Simon Goldhill is Professor of Greek Literature and Culture at the University of Cambridge.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard University Press (March 31, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0674017978
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674017979
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.75 x 0.75 x 7.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,511,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #94 in Jerusalem Travel Guides
- #326 in General Israel Travel Guides
- #411 in Religious Building Architecture

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Daniel Bayless

This is a fascinating history of this most sacred building ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2016

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This is a fascinating history of this most sacred building. It sets the social context as well as the day-to-day workings of Temple worship. Extremely well-written!

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2017

I love it!

Two Gods. Two Goddesses. One Temple Mount.

Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2005

There is plenty of information about the Temple of Jerusalem in this short book. We see a plan of the Temple Mount in the time of the Herodian Temple, as well as a plan of Herod's Temple itself. And we see a plan of the earlier Solomon's Temple.

The significance of the Temple is shown through the ages. We see it the Temple on a Bar Kochba shekel (from the second century AD), with a lulav and and etrog on the other side of the coin.

Then we jump to the Christians. We read a comment from Saint Jerome about Jewish pilgrims to the Western Wall, "they are not worthy of pity." By the way, disparaging comments such as this one were so typical of Christian saints that it may make the word "saint" more of an insult than a compliment. In any case, Goldhill explains how the Christians went from an initial conclusion that "there was a need for no building" on the site of the Temple Mount to a later conclusion that a big beautiful building would be a good idea after all.

The author does not forget about the Muslims (my ancestors!) and their connection to the Temple Mount. And he does discuss the Dome of the Rock. I found that especially interesting, given that I've been to the Dome of the Rock and even touched the Rock.

What's missing from all this?

Well, first, I think we're missing a couple of perspectives about the Temple Mount. The Dome of the Rock is a pretty structure, but it has political significance. Its words are a direct insult to Christians. Its location is a direct insult to Jews. These insults are central in nature: the fact that some Jews and Christians do not feel insulted by it does not change the challenge to Christian doctrine nor the fact that Judaism is a Temple-based religion without a Temple.

The fact that the majority of Jews do not wish to rebuild their Temple does not change the fact that some Jews do wish to do so. And I think that in the long run, those who wish to build a Temple will be very hard to stop. That will be all the more true if they pick a different location than the Temple Mount, but it may be true in any case. It is similar to the case of a girl who wants to get married. Suppose only 14 of the 84 local eligible bachelors want to marry her. What do you think her chances are? Awfully good. If only one out of six (or fewer) Jews were interested in building a new Temple, I suspect they would succeed. And the book's discussion of the Temple scroll makes it clear that a Temple is by no means a minor or peripheral element of Judaism.

So I think the Temple Mount has a potential for being a source of trouble not only in the past and present, but in the future as well. And this may be true just for nationalistic reasons, not merely for religious reasons. Not only that, I think that solemn assurances by a few Jewish leaders that the Jews will never rebuild their Temple anywhere would just make matters worse. I suspect such assurances would just make Judaism look inferior, less trustworthy, and more threatening.

Of course, there is another badly missing perspective. Three of the four most famous Deities associated with this place are simply overlooked. The Temple Mount in Aelia Capitolina was the site of the Temple of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. I think the author ought to have discussed Them.

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Linda W

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2015

Great book to own.

Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2015

Love it!!!!

Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2014

like new

Fun read on a solemn subject

Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2005

The writing is clever, with the right zest of irony. The book is sparkling, with the right cocktail of erudition, trivia bits, political analysis and text criticism. My intention was to browse this short volume just to find the dates and facts I needed, but I found myself reading it almost cover to cover (chapter 10, "Archeology and Imperialism", was too English-centered for my taste, and the last chapter, "The Temple is ours!", failed to teach me something new).

The main contribution of the book, in my view, is to put the historical facts in a much broader perspective -- the influence of the destruction of the Jewish Temple on modern political discourse, for example, is disserted in a truly fascinating chapter.

Goldhill (great name, since the Temple was located on Jerusalem's most sacred hill!) excels in clarifying the biblical text and in explaining the motivations behind it. The Koran gets the same analytical treatment. The book includes lots of illustrations (black and white, alas), some I've never seen before. If you're looking for an intelligent commentary on the Temple of Jerusalem thru history, don't look any further.

16 people found this helpful

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Pierre Gauthier

Superficial and Disjointed!

Reviewed in Canada on July 1, 2018

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This short book is marred by the author’s thesis is that the Temple of Jerusalem is both a (destroyed) building and an idyllic concept. Throughout the book, he constantly shifts his focus from one to the other without ever reaching any depth.

The latter, by definition, varies almost from one individual to the next and does not present much interest to those who are not of Jewish faith. Sadly, the former is also very poorly circumscribed, either because the author shies away from reality or because the book is already dated.

Specifically:

• The author makes no reference to the destruction of the Jewish Quarter after 1948 or its reconstruction after 1967. Indeed, no mention is made of the existence of a Christian, a Muslim, an Armenian and a Jewish quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem.
• The author does not mention the Western Wall Tunnels, the archeological digs that have been made there and the tours that are currently possible.
• The author never evokes the word “Kotel“, currently preferred by Israelis to refer to the Western Wall.
• The author does not mention the City of David National Park which lies immediately South of the Esplanade and includes many notable artefacts such as Wilson’s Arch to which he does refer.
• It is far from clear that the author has personally visited the current Muslim complex on the plateau as he never alludes to the atmosphere of peace and beauty that prevails there and that may or may not be reminiscent of that of the Jewish Temple 2000 years ago.

The reader does not expect a guide book but may legitimately anticipate that, like Mary Beard’s Parthenon in the same series, the discussion will be anchored in current reality.

The sad truth is that this book is hardly an introduction before any visit to the Temple area and certainly not a worthy complement.

The situation is unfortunately not redeemed by the poor black and white photos and the few maps and sketches unworthy of our computer-assisted age.

Jonny Monny

Very informative

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 10, 2011

Verified Purchase

There are very few books on the market which describe the layout, architecture and workings of the temple and this little book does it admirably well.

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