Solomon's Temple: Myth, Conflict, and Faith

This work charts the fascinating history of one place Temple Mount, Jerusalem over the course of three thousand years. “In this carefully researched and beautifully illustrated work, Alan Balfour places the Temple Mount within its cultural context, making a vital contribution to our understanding of the Middle East today.”Jonathan Schneer, Author of The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. “With the skill of a master detective, scholar and architect, Alan Balfour peels away the layers of time to reveal the astonishing history of one of the world’s most significant places.”Robert Campbell, The Boston Globe.This work charts the interrelated histories of Solomon’s Temple and Islam’s Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem over the course of three thousand years. Alan Balfour, a leading architectural historian, combines scrupulous research, primary documentation, and ample illustration, with an authoritative and elegant narration to chronicle the history of a place that serves as a cultural nexus of Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. He vividly re-creates the will of the players – Solomon, Herod, Christ, Paul, Muhammad – and the epic events that have been played out on this sacred ground, which continues to compel the imagination of all the religions of the book. The book details the constructions and reconstructions from its founding into the present and the continuing struggle after the Israel–Arab wars; anticipating the future controversies about the possession and use of the site. Alongside the pilgrims, plunderers, and power brokers, Solomon’s Temple depicts the many travelers and artists who have passed through, narrated, and imagined the Temple across the millennia. A highly original architectural history of Solomon’s Temple and Islam’s Dome of the Rock that doubles as a social and cultural history of the region The most extensive study of the interrelated history of two monuments, Solomon’s Temple and The Dome of the Rock, drawing on an exhaustive review of all the visual and textual evidence Relayed as a gripping narrative, allowing readers to re-enter and experience the emotions and the visceral reality of the major events in its history Integrates illustration with the text to offer a highly detailed and accurate portrait of the major structures and figures involved in the history of the temple Opens up a fascinating line of questioning into the conventional interpretation of events, particularly Christ’s actions in the Temple Reproduces rarely seen detailed drawings of the subterranean passages beneath Temple Mount as part of the British survey in the 19th century