The Temple of Jerusalem

The Temple of Jerusalem

By Simon Goldhill

Harvard University Press, 2005. 194 pgs. Nonfiction

This tiny book traces the development of the Temple at Jerusalem as well the idea of the Temple through the many centuries from Solomon’s time until the present day. The Jewish Temple, built and destroyed three times, is an interesting study in and of itself, but Goldhill has gone beyond a simple history, exploring cultural and religious developments brought about by the absence of the Temple. The author indicates that within Judaism, the ritual study of the Talmud largely replaced Temple worship. For Christians, the “body” was the Temple, this being a dual reference to Christ’s body and to the “body” of the Saints. For Islam it was the sacred rock now surrounded by the Qubbat al-Sakhra (the Dome of the Rock) which is important—both as the spot upon which Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac and as the spot from which Mohammed was taken up into heaven.

Included are various artists’ depictions of the Temple (unfortunately not in color) which reveal a wide-range of conceptions of the ancient Temple. Despite the complexity of the topic, this is a fairly quick read.

SML