Replicas of the Jewish Temple are scale models or authentic buildings that attempt to replicate either the Temple of Solomon or the Second Temple (Herod's Temple) in Jerusalem.
Sources for the description of the Temple are found primarily in the works of Josephus, tractate Middot and the Temple Scroll; however, these sources are not consistent.[1]
Scale models
Judah Leon model
In the seventeenth century, Rabbi Jacob Judah Leon of Amsterdam (1602–1675) built a widely exhibited model of the Temple based on his understanding of the biblical specifications.[2]
Conrad Schick constructed a series of replicas of the Jewish Temple. His replica of the Biblical Tabernacle was visited in Jerusalem by several crowned heads of state, toured the United Kingdom, and was exhibited at the 1873 Vienna World's Fair. It was purchased by the King of Württemberg, who awarded Schick a knighthood in recognition of his work. Schick built a replica of the contemporary Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock for the Ottoman Sultan. His final model, in four sections, each representing the Temple Mount as it appeared in a particular era, was exhibited at the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904.[4][5]
A scale model existed at the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva, but was destroyed during World War II. Two of Schick's models are located in the basement of the Schmidt school for girls in east Jerusalem, near the Damascus Gate.[citation needed]
Alec Garrard of Norfolk, UK, worked for 30 years creating a 1:100 scale model of Herod's Temple. His model has been recognized as the most authentic version of the temple in the world.[8]
In 2009, Jews in the Israeli settlement of Mitzpe Yeriho in the West Bank in Palestine began building a life-size replica of the Temple of Jerusalem.[10]
In 2010 the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God started the construction of a replica of Solomon's temple in São Paulo, Brazil. According to local press reports, the building would be an "exact replica" of the ancient Temple of Solomon,[11] but with increased dimensions, despite resembling considerably more Herod's Temple.[citation needed] The temple was inaugurated in July 2014. The mega-church seats 10,000 worshipers and stands 180 feet tall, the height of an 18-story building.
Buildings evoking the Temple
Several churches and synagogues have been designed to evoke the Temple. The most famous of them is el Escorial, the royal residence of Spain (1563–1584) by architect Juan Bautista de Toledo under the order of Philip II of Spain. The central axis reveals a pattern of an courtyard, a sanctuary, and the Holy of Holies.[13]
Masonic Temples in Freemasonry bear a similar symbolism. Solomon's Temple is a central symbol in Freemasonry, which holds that the first three Grand Masters were Solomon, Hiram I of Phoenicia, and Hiram Abiff, the fictitious craftsman and architect who built the temple. Masonic initiation rites include the reenactment of a scene set on the Temple Mount while it was under construction. Every Masonic lodge, therefore, is symbolically the Temple for the duration of the degree, and possesses ritual objects representing the architecture of the Temple. These may either be built into the hall or be portable. Among the most prominent are replicas of the pillars Boaz and Jachin through which every initiate has to pass.[21]
Replicas in the form of the Dome of the Rock
During and after the Christian conquest of Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock was renamed the Templum Domini. The nearby al-Aqsa Mosque was renamed the "Temple of Solomon", the latter of which was where the Knights Templar had their headquarters in Jerusalem. The two buildings were sometimes conflated,[22] and several buildings were designed as replicas of Solomon's Temple in the shape of the Dome of the Rock.
^S, L H. (2001-01-01). "DESCRIPTIONS OF THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE IN JOSEPHUS AND THE TEMPLE SCROLL". Historical Perspectives: From the Hasmoneans to Bar Kokhba in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls. BRILL. p. 69–82. doi:10.1163/9789047400745_009. ISBN978-90-04-12007-5. Accordingly, such studies have usually attempted to establish a correspondence between Josephus' accounts and the Temple plan found in tractate Middot of the Mishnah. It has generally been assumed that some form of harmonization of the data in these two sources would yield a reasonable reconstruction of the architectural plan and appearance of what is generally termed the Herodian Temple-- the Temple as rebuilt by King Herod (38-4 B.C.E.)… Josephus presents three descriptions of the Jerusalem Temple. In Antiquities 8, he describes the Temple as it was built by Solomon. Scholars have suggested that Josephus was influenced in this description by the nature of the Temple as it stood in his own day. In narrating the life of King Herod in Antiquities 15, Josephus describes the Temple which Herod built. Finally, in War 5 Josephus describes the Temple within the context of the description of Jerusalem on the eve of the Roman conquest. In addition, various minor comments regarding the Temple structure which appear scattered throughout the writings of Josephus will be dealt with in notes… The Temple plan found in the Temple Scroll is set out in one of the sources of the Temple Scroll. Probably dating to the early Hasmonean period or to earlier in the Hellenistic period, this plan is spelled out in great detail with exacting dimensions. I t was created based on some form of exegesis of the Tabernacle texts in the Pentateuch as well as the descriptions of the Temple in Exodus, Kings and Chronicles with some literary dependence on the Temple plan of Ezekiel as well. In this context, we should note that Josephus' description of the Solomonic Temple was no doubt to a great extent the product of biblical interpretation on his part… The descriptions of the Jerusalem Temple presented by Josephus and the Temple Scroll share very little beyond basic details which they derived from the biblical material pertaining to the Solomonic Temple. The structure of courtyards, the surrounding chambers, and the facades described are quite different… Josephus' plan for the Solomonic Temple resulted from biblical interpretation with only minimal influence from the existing Temple of his day.
^Al L. Shane, Jacob Judah Leon of Amsterdam (1602–1675) and his models of the Temple of Solomon and the Tabernacle, Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, 96, 1983, pp. 145-169
^The Temple of Jerusalem by Simon Goldhill, Harvard University Press, 2005, p. 140
^Simon Goldhill, The Temple of Jerusalem, Harvard University Press, 129
^H. Goren and R. Rubin, "Conrad Schick's Models of Jerusalem and its Monuments", PEQ 128 (1996), pp. 103-124
^Juan Rafael de la Cuadra Blanco (2005). "King Philip of Spain as Solomon the Second. The origins of Solomonism of the Escorial in the Netherlands", en The Seventh Window. The King's Window donated by Phillip II and Mary Tudor to Sint Janskerk (1557), p. 169-180 (concept & editing Wim de Groot, Verloren Publishers, Hilversum ed.). ISBN90-6550-822-8.