In order to study this question by the light of recent o.\]iloration it is necessary to fix the position of Antonia, that of each angle of the Temple en- closure, and the position of the ' topmost plateau ' opposite the summit of Olivet. Antonia is de- scribed [IVar.i, V. v. 8) as standing at the corner of the N. and W. cloisters, on a rock 50 cubits high, scarped on all sides : it had four corner towers, and a large inner space with courts, baths, and places for camjis. A ditch and valley pro- tected the towers outside in the time of Pompey {Ant. XIV. iv. 2). Strabo speaks of this ditch as 60 ft. deep and 250 ft. broa<l (see Wars, I. vii. 3, V. iv. 2). Cloisters joined Antonia to the Temple {Wars, 11. xvi. 5, 6), and the rock hid the Temple on the N. {Wars, v. v. 8), looking down on the courts ( War.i, v. ix. 2, VI. i. 5, ii. 5, 9) : when it was taken, immediate access was obtained to the flat courts and to the inner Temple ( ll'ars, VI. iii. 7). The area of Antonia seems to have formed a projection on the N.W., so that when it was destroyed the Temple enclosure itself became a quadrangle {T(Tpdyufoi>, ff'ars, VI. v. 4). There is only one existing site which answers to such a description — namely, the block of rock already described at the N.AV\ angle of the present tlaram. This rock overlooks all the interior, and rises "20 ft. higher than the .Sakhrah or holy 'rock,' which is the highest point within the I,laram. The o\iter fo.sso is also traceable, separating this site from Be/ctha. The rock thus su|iporting the modern barracks is therefore identilicd, on all recent plans, with Antonia — the older liaris or Uirah of the time of the lla.smona-ans and of Nehciniah. It follows that the W. wall throughout may bo regardcil as belonging to the enclosure of Antonia and of the Temiile in the time of Ilorod. The S.W. angle is generally agrceil to be that of Herod's Temple; and as regards the S.K., .Jos. {f\'(trs, V. iv. 2) clearly states that the t)phel wall joined the ' K. cloister' of the Temple, so that all the E. wall
* If lli'rml'a Ti-iniilo enclosure wu double that of Sol., It is maiiiffstly ini|MMMiblo that both muasurcd four furlongs Ui cir* "uuilLTvuce (see references in text.)
appears also to belong to the time of Herod, since the junction with the Ophel wall has been deter- mined by excavation. The N.E. an^'le remains in doubt; for, as above noticed, the N. wall, east of the Antonia rock, is not of the same masonry with the others, while the cisterns inside this jiirt of the yaram are not rock-cut, but are built of masonry very late in character. It seems probable that this part of the area is modern, and that the old N. wall of the Temple ran E. and W. on the line of the present N. wall of the platform, where remains of ancient buttresses have been found. The N.E. jiart of the yaram is crossed by a valley, running into the Kidron, which has been tilled in with earth, but which, in A.D. 70, may have bounded the Temple on the N., and the inner court of Antonia on the E. A gate called Tadi led, by an underground passage, out of the Temple on this side.
As regards the ' topmost plateau,' the rock below Antonia, on the S., is visible over a considerable area at a level about 2430 ft. above the Mediter- ranean. It has been artiiicially cut down to form a flat surface. Farther S. E. it rises, in the Sakhrah itself, to a height of 2440 ft., but under the platform which surrounds the Sakhrah its height nowhere exceeds 2432 ft. About twenty ob- servations have been made, which concur in show- ing a flat plateau at this level, occupying the central part of the l.laram. The slope to the W. is very steep, the rock falling to an average level of 2350 ft. at the base of the W. outer wall. The sloi)e to the E. is also steep, though not equal to that on the W. On the S. the plateau narrows to a long spur, which sinks towards Siloaiu. It is evident that a building surrounded by terraced courts, at various lower levels, can well be fltted to the ground only if its highest floor level is placed on the highest part of the plateau now ascertained to exist, as above described. If, more- over, a line be drawn E., at ri/;ht angles to the W. wall of the yarara, and through the Sakhrah rock, it will be found to cut the summit of Olivet immediately N. of the present Church of the Ascension. If, on the other hand, the Temple be i)laced farther to the S.W. (as proposed by those who accejit the measurements given by Jos.), not only can no line be so drawn, but the f emple is made to stand on the narrower and lower part of the spur, and its foundations would rest on the steep W. sloiies, here fallinfj 90 ft. below the crest of the spur. These various considera- tions seem, therefore, all to point to the vicinity of the Sakhrah as marking the site of the Holy House itself.