jan 1, 20 BC - Renovation of the Second Temple begins

Description:

Herod's grand renovation and expansion of the Second Temple begins in 23/20 BCE and lasts until 15 BCE, but perhaps construction projects continue well into the first century, until 64 CE, a situation alluded to in the NT, as when Jesus comments about destroying-and-rebuilding the temple in three days time (John 2:18–19).

(Josephus fantastically reports that the construction of the temple was conducted by priests, took ten years, and in that time rain fell only at night.)

Image 1: a model of the Herodian Second Temple at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Westward orientation. We are unsure if the temple sanctuary was oriented toward the west (as here) or towards the east.

Image 2: the "Soreg Inscription" forbidding Gentiles from entry into the temple precincts. Only two copies of the inscription exist, one (the more complete one) in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum (pictured here) and one in the Israel Museum. A "soreg" is the low stone fence surrounding the temple's fortifications.

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