Image Details

Mayer, ZDPV 53, 1930, pl. 12 a

A PILGRIM’S PRAYER TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE. A Jewish pilgrim visiting the Temple Mount in the sixth century or somewhat later etched his plea in stone: Ya‘akov son of Josef hoped that the Temple would be rebuilt in his lifetime. The seven-line inscription is written in formal Jewish script. The stone was later reused and built into a wall of the Muslim Makhkama (courthouse) near the northwest corner of the Temple Mount. It was seen briefly by Leo Aryeh Mayer—an Israeli scholar of Islamic art who served as rector of the Hebrew University from 1943–1945—during a short period of access, some 80 years ago.¹