The Eastern Wall is an ancient structure in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

that is both part of the eastern side of the city wall of Jerusalem and the eastern wall of the ancient

Temple Mount The Temple Mount (), also known as the Noble Sanctuary (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, 'Haram al-Sharif'), and sometimes as Jerusalem's holy esplanade, is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a ...

. The Eastern Wall is the oldest of the four visible walls of the Temple Mount; the Northern,

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and Southern Walls date from the period of

Herod the Great Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the ...

, who expanded the area of the Temple Mount to the north, west and south. Older walls on these sides are presumed to survive underground. The Eastern Wall now visible was built in at least four stages, possibly as early as the reign of

Hezekiah Hezekiah (; ), or Ezekias (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the thirteenth king of Kingdom of Judah, Judah according to the Hebrew Bible.Stephen L Harris, Harris, Stephen L., ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "G ...

, during the time of

Zerubbabel Zerubbabel ( from ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a governor of the Achaemenid Empire's province of Yehud Medinata and the grandson of Jeconiah, penultimate king of Judah. He is not documented in extra-biblical documents, and is considered ...

, in the Hasmonean period and in the

Herodian Herodian or Herodianus () of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus'' (τῆς με ...

period. Repairs and major renovations were made in later periods. Major renovations to the

Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by ...

were made in the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

period.

History of construction

First Temple period

Architectural archaeologist Leen Ritmeyer identifies specific courses of visible ashlars located on to the northern and south of the

as earlier than the Hasmonean and Herodian ashlars, comparing them to similar stones of the 6th century BCE in the Temple of Eshmun and

Pasargadae Pasargadae (; ) was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC), located just north of the town of Madar-e-Soleyman and about to the northeast of the city of Shiraz. It is one of Iran's UNESCO World Heritage Site ...

. He dates them, on the basis of Biblical texts, to the period of King Hezekiah. More such stones are supposed to survive underground. According to Hershel Shanks, "most scholars," think that Ritmeyer is "correct." Ritmeyer has pointed out that the

Dome of the Rock The Dome of the Rock () is an Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. It is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, the List_of_the_ol ...

is seated on a square platform atop the Temple Mount, the sides of which, defined by short flights of steps, are square and parallel to the modern walls of the Mount with one exception: the western steps deviate from parallel. Moreover, the bottom step on the western side of the Dome of the Rock platform is composed of a single line of distinctively large and "beautifully polished" ashlars. According to Ritmeyer, the measurements given in the

Mishna The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

, tractate Middot, "The Temple Mount measured 500 cubits by 500 cubits," can be traced on the modern Temple Mount, with this step the outline of the western side of the square and the Eastern Wall the eastern side. The "precise" measurement of an ancient Judean royal

cubit The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was primarily associated with the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Israelites. The term ''cubit'' is found in the Bible regarding Noah ...

, 20.67 inches, outlines these landmarks area exactly. The northern edge of the ancient square was demarcated by

Charles Warren Sir Charles Warren (7 February 1840 – 21 January 1927) was a British Army officer of the Royal Engineers. He was one of the earliest European archaeologists of the Biblical Holy Land, and particularly of the Temple Mount. Much of his military ...

, the last archaeologist permitted by the local

waqf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...

to explore the underground areas of the Mount, in his the underground structure he labeled as No. 29 in surveys he carried out in the 1860s. The south eastern corner of the 500-cubit ancient platform square is marked by a visible bend in the eastern wall, at the point where a round column protruding from the wall near the top.Leen Ritmeyer, "Locating the Original Temple Mount," ''BAR'', March/April 1992. Ritmeyer proposes that this 500 cubit walled square was constructed by King Hezekiah c. 700 BCE to expand the flat area in which the faithful could gather at the Solomonic-era Temple. The

Foundation Stone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

around which is the ancient Jewish Temple was built and which is now sheltered under the Dome of the Rock, is a natural rock outcrop at the highest point of a Mount Moriah; the natural contour of the land fell away steeply on all sides, although on the eastern side the natural contour formed a flat plateau before falling sharply to the Kidron Valley along the line where the Eastern Wall stands.Leen Ritmeyer, Kathleen Ritmeyer, ''Jerusalem; The Temple Mount'', Carta, Jerusalem, 2015, .

Hasmonean expansion

The

Hasmonean dynasty The Hasmonean dynasty (; ''Ḥašmōnāʾīm''; ) was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during the Hellenistic times of the Second Temple period (part of classical antiquity), from BC to 37 BC. Between and BC the dynasty rule ...

expanded the 500 cubit Temple platform toward the south; distinctively Hasmonean ashlars are visible in the Eastern Wall. The seam between the Hasmonean and Herodian extensions of the wall, known as the "straight joint", is visible as a vertical row of ashlars 32 meters north of the southeast corner.

Herodian expansion

King Herod expanded the Temple Mount still further toward the south; distinctively Herodian ashlars are visible in the Eastern Wall, in the last stretch before the southeastern corner.

Gates in the Eastern Wall

Golden Gate

The magnificent Muslim period Golden Gate (sealed) replaced the ancient Golden Gate. The present gate is understood to have been constructed during the

period atop the ancient footings.

Lion's Gate

Lions' Gate is the second gate in the Eastern Wall of Jerusalem, it is located north of the Golden Gate.

Muslim cemetery

There is a Muslim cemetery along the southern stretch of the Eastern Wall. A path through the cemetery and parallel to the wall lies atop the ancient city wall, explored by Charles Warren in excavations since covered over, which once lay just outside the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount.

References

{{Old City (Jerusalem) Archaeological sites in Jerusalem Buildings and structures in Jerusalem Temple Mount Jewish holy places New Testament geography Ancient sites in Jerusalem Classical sites in Jerusalem Buildings and structures completed in the 8th century BC Biblical archaeology