Solomon’s Stables

1st Century BCE–1st Century CE

Underground vaults on the southern side of the Temple Mount supported Herod’s extension of the Temple esplanade. The vaults were supported by eighty-eight pillars resting on massive Herodian blocks—large, rectangular stones with protruding centers (called bosses) and cut, flat frames (called marginal drafts)—that divided the space into twelve rows of galleries. The galleries were originally used for storage space. The place received its distinctive name when Crusaders converted it into a stable for their horses in the twelfth century, associating it with Solomon’s First Temple. Some of the pillars still have extant metal rings used to tether horses. The space is currently being used as an underground prayer hall for Muslim worshipers.

Credits

American Colony (Jerusalem), Photo Department, Jerusalem El-Kouds, Solomon’s Stables, American Colony, Jerusalem (between 1898 and 1914). Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-matpc-06646.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

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An illustrated reconstruction of an ancient temple complex with high stone walls, arched gateways, and several large buildings, set against a hilly landscape with scattered trees.
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Related Guide

The Jerusalem Temple

4th Century BCE–6th Century CE

Ancient descriptions of the Temple and its material culture indicate that the Jerusalem Temple was the central site of Jewish sacrificial worship. 

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