484 Proceedings of the Royal Society 
of the existing area, arises when the levels of the rock surface are 
carefully studied. 
The Temple enclosure consisted of three principal courts, rising in 
successive steps towards the great fane which stood, as Josephus 
states, on the top of the hill. In order to fit such a building to the 
ground, within the present area, it is necessary to start with the 
assumption that the culminating point is to he found in the Holy 
Eock — the present top of the Sanctuary Hill. If we place the Holy 
House over this rock, the levels of the various courts agree exactly 
with the ascertained levels of the rock as at present remaining ; hut 
if we were to place the Holy House further south-west it would 
have stood, not on the top, hut half way down the steep western 
slope of the mountain. The lowest court would he found to occupy 
the highest part of the hill ; and foundations varying from 50 to 
90 feet in depth would become necessary on the supposition that the 
great edifice was built up from the rock. 
The restoration of Herod’s Temple on the supposition that the 
central fane stood above the sacred rock, called es Sakhrah , in 
the middle of the present Dome of the Eock, has occupied my at- 
tention for more than seven years past ; and the indications which 
confirm this restoration are perhaps sufficiently interesting to claim 
a detailed enumeration. 
In the first place, The rock in question has been regarded by Jews, 
Christians, and Moslems, for at least fifteen centuries as the site of 
the Holy of Holies. We learn from the Talmud that a stone or rock 
called u Foundation ” formed the floor of the most holy place, and 
that it was regarded as the foundation of the whole earth. From 
early Christian writers we gather that this sacred rock was venerated 
by the Jews in the fourth century, and the description then given 
tallies with the present Sakhrah, The traditions of the Crusaders 
and the Arabs reproduce those of the Jews in regarding the present 
Sakhrah as the foundation stone of the world, and thus serve to 
connect the present sacred rock with that on which the Temple stood. 
Secondly , The Temple faced eastwards, and its door, according to 
the Talmud, was directly opposite the summit of Olivet. A line 
drawn due east through the Sakhrah rock will he found, if produced, 
to strike the top of Olivet, which would not he the case- were the 
Holy House placed further south. 
