Western Wall Heritage to Rome

A TOUR OF THE WESTERN WALL HERITAGE SITE IN OLD JERUSALEM

Every Sunday, I've been watching THE BIBLE on History channel, a film produced by Roma Downey and Mark Burnett.  I noticed in the Exodus part of the film the "Pillar of Fire" was absent while the pharaoh and his soldiers were pursuing Moses and his people.  And when Jesus was born, in the film, it was raining very hard when according to common religious story it was midnight clear, the shepherds were in the field, and the Bethlehem Star was shining brightly.

Entrance to the Western Wall Heritage - By reservation only

Jewish tradition teaches that the Temple Mount is the focal point of creation.  In the center of the mountain lies the  "Foundation Stone" of the world.  Here Adam came into being.  Here Abraham, Isaac and Jacob served God.  The First and Second Temples were built upon this mountain.  The Ark of the Covenant was set upon the Foundation Stone itself.  Jerusalem was chosen by God as the dwelling place of the Schechinah.  David longed to build the Temple, and Solomon his son built the First Temple here about 3,000 years ago.  It was destroyed by Nevuchadnezzar of Babylon (modern-day Iraq).  The Second Temple was rebuilt on its ruins seventy years later.  It was razed by the Roman legion over 1900 years ago. 

In the year 70 A.D., Judaea was besieged by General Vespasian and his army.  He was recalled to Rome and became emperor.  Roman forces led by his son Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple.  The city and the temple were laid to waste.  The First Revolt (66 - 70 A.D.), the defenders of Jerusalem - the Zealots - were totally defeated.  The temple was heaved over the sides of the Temple Mount - not to be excavated until 2,000 years later.  During the prolonged siege and numerous battles of 70 A.D., hundreds of thousands were starved and killed outright by Roman soldiers.  Thousands more were sold to slavery.  Titus was anxious to show his father, now Emperor Vespasian, his complete victory and set sail for Rome.  He sailed with thousands of prisoners, about 20,000, including high-ranking Jewish leaders and Jewish General Josephus who defected to the Romans.  Titus also sailed with all the captured Temple treasures to celebrate his victory.  In Rome, Titus was awarded a Triumph - a civil ceremony and religious rite to honor Roman army generals.  According to Josephus, who became Vespasian's court historian, there was a spectacular parade at the Roman Forum of statues and very tall floats, over four stories in some, with Temple treasures piled high.  The treasures included the sacred Menorah candelabra, the golden Shewbread table, and the silver trumpets of Israel and Jericho.  Behind the treasure rode Vespasian, dressed in purple robe and followed by Titus and his brother Domitian.  Jewish captives were displayed as part of the parade, with rope encircling the neck of military leader and star prisoner Simon ben Giora.  The whole thing was recorded as one of the grandest celebrations in the history of the Roman Empire.

What ever happened to these Second Temple treasures?  In 455 A.D., after the sacking of Rome by the Vandals, they carried the booty to their capital Carthage in Africa.  The Byzantine historian Procopius says the treasure was captured anew by General Belisarius in 533 and carried through the street of Constantinople, capital of eastern Roman Empire, in another triumphal procession.  This meant it was carried through both Roman capitals, about 500 years apart.  Oh! The glory that was Rome.   

The Temple Mount continues to be the focus of prayer for Jews from all over the world

The Western Wall is a remnant of the western Temple Mount retaining walls.  Jews have prayed in its shadow for hundreds of years, an expression of their faith in the rebuilding of the Temple.  The Sages said about it: "The Divine Presence never moves from the Western Wall." 

Herodian Masonry

Passage way to the cistern

Cistern under the Temple Mount - source of water from up above the Temple Mount





The 20,000 Jewish prisoners that Titus brought to Rome were enlisted to build the Colosseum and the booty was used to pay for the construction of the grand new amphitheater.  The Colosseum was named after a gigantic statue of Nero as a gladiator that stood nearby (long destroyed).  It was later changed to the Roman sun god Sol Invictus (unconquered or invincible sun).  The Colosseum was built to honor the Flavians - the house of Vespasian, Titus and his brother Domitian.  It was also built for the entertainment of the Romans.
Part of the Colosseum was destroyed by earthquakes.

Arch of Constantine  315 A.D.

The Colosseum, which held 50,000 spectators and took 20,000 Jewish slaves a decade to build, was connected to the Roman Forum by the Via Sacra or Sacred Way - the main street of ancient Rome.  Emperor Domitian, brother of Titus, added the Arch of Titus to th highest point of the Via Sacra, in 82 A.D. to honor his brother's victories.

Arch of Titus 82 A.D.

Roman Jews traditionally refuse to walk under this Arch, as it represents the slaughter of so many thousands and the loss of Jerusalem.  During the battle for Jerusalem, a group of Zealots and their families fled to Herod the Great's mountain fortress - the Masada - near the Dead Sea.  There they held out for 3 years, until 73 A.D., before committing mass suicide rather than submit to slavery, and worse.  http://libslabyrinth.blogspot.com/2010/12/maze-masada.html  It was the final chapter in the glory that was Rome and the beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire, the conversion from paganism and the rise of Roman Catholicism led by fisherman Peter and letter-writer Paul.

Published 3/22/13  lib's labyrinth

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