From Publishers Weekly
Though only one retaining wall (the famous "Wailing Wall") survives, the Temple of Jerusalem remains a meaningful symbol in many religious traditions and is a source of inspiration for artists, poets, archaeologists and others who have been captivated by the idea of the once glorious structure. Goldhill, a professor of Greek Literature and Culture at the University of Cambridge, discusses the significance of the Temple to Christians, Muslims, Jews and even Freemasons, who "take their 'passwords' and allegorical meanings from the Temple" for their levels of initiation. He explains that the Temple, built to replace the first one that was destroyed in 587 BC and a second one that was deemed insufficient by Herod the Great, is commonly regarded as the second Temple because the construction of a third would represent the End of Days for Jews and Christians. Though the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, it still inspired many artistic imaginings that Goldhill acknowledges are a valid part of its "archaeology." These renderings are based on descriptions of the grand appearance of the Temple in scripture, which Goldhill describes at length, along with the many sacred rituals that took place inside. This fourth installment in Harvard's Wonders of the World series (The Parthenon, The Alhambra, etc.) illustrates the temple in fantastic detail and conveys its significance and symbolism both when it was standing and after its destruction. The thorough discussions of a wide variety of interpretations comprise a fascinating and vivid treatment of what Goldhill demonstrates to be "the most potent symbol of the human search for a lost ideal...that has prompted struggle, brutal war between cultures and nations, and some of the most moving poetry and art of the Western tradition." 25 halftones, 9 line drawings. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Built by Herod the Great, king of Judea, the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman emperor Titus 90 years later, in 70 C.E. Goldhill, a professor of Greek literature and culture at the University of Cambridge, presents his book as a "tour of the bizarre and wonderful history of an imagined building: it will take us from sex and politics in the Bible to the violence and romance of the Knights of the Crusades." As a political and religious center, Goldhill says, "it inevitably became the focus of war and social struggle, but as a destroyed building, the space of its absence has attracted the hopes and aspirations of millions of people over the centuries." With 25 halftones and nine line drawings, this book captures in extraordinary detail the remarkable history of this religious monument. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Thoroughly absorbing: the writing is fresh, the erudition worn lightly with pleasing nuggets of fact and fantasy culled from an impressive variety of sources.

Book Description

It was destroyed nearly 2000 years ago, and yet the Temple of Jerusalem--cultural memory, symbol, and site--remains one of the most powerful, and most contested, buildings in the world. This glorious structure, imagined and re-imagined, reconsidered and reinterpreted again and again over two millennia, emerges in all its historical, cultural, and religious significance in Simon Goldhill's account.

Built by Herod on a scale that is still staggering--on an earth and rock platform 144,000 square meters in area and 32 meters high--and destroyed by the Roman emperor Titus 90 years later, in 70 AD, the Temple has become the world's most potent symbol of the human search for a lost ideal, an image of greatness. Goldhill travels across cultural and temporal boundaries to convey the full extent of the Temple's impact on religious, artistic, and scholarly imaginations. Through biblical stories and ancient texts, rabbinical writings, archaeological records, and modern accounts, he traces the Temple's shifting significance for Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

A complex and engaging history of a singular locus of the imagination--a site of longing for the Jews; a central metaphor of Christian thought; an icon for Muslims: the Dome of the Rock--The Temple of Jerusalem also offers unique insight into where Judaism, Christianity, and Islam differ in interpreting their shared inheritance. It is a story that, from the Crusades onward, has helped form the modern political world.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/pdf/GOLTEM_excerpt.pdf

FROM THE PUBLISHER