Garo Nalbandian

Four original Herodian domed ceilings on the Temple Mount survive intact today. They are found in an underground passageway beneath the Double Gate, on the Temple Mount’s southern wall. Faintly visible in the photo and reconstructed in the drawing are the intricate rosette patterns that surround a small central rosette. Here, too, as in the Akeldama ceiling, acanthus leaves fill the corners. The Akeldama tomb, one must conclude, copied the decorative program found on the Temple Mount.