Image Details

Dan Bahat

Some scholars have proposed that Herod cut this scarp to provide a level foundation for the Antonia just north of his Temple Mount. Netzer believes, however, that Herod used the existing bedrock to build the Antonia here first, to be partly enclosed later by his massive extension of the Temple Mount. According to Netzer, these cuts in the bedrock were made hundreds of years after Herod, by the Umayyad caliph Mu’awiyah (661–680 C.E.), who implemented new building projects on the Temple Mount and rebuilt the east, west and south walls. The photo shows the existing northwest corner of the Temple Mount (highlighted in yellow), where Herod’s Antonia once stood.