Temple of Herod

Herod began a massive building project of the Temple and surrounding area leading to mount Moriah (the Temple Mount).  As part of this project, he built the staircase shown, the arch - now called Robinson's arch, named after its discoverer (refer back to picture 6599 for the part of the arch still standing today), the Western Wall (the wall to the left), and the other massive stonework shown in this picture and in the next picture.  "By the time of Jesus' ministry the temple's construction had gone on for 46 years. A thousand vehicles transported the stone, a thousand priests supervised the work, and ten thousand skilled laborers wrought wonders with the costly materials.  Built of marble and gold, the house of worship itself probably surpassed any of the architectural marvels of that or any day."   Bruce R McConkie