Western Wall NOT the remnant of the Holy Temple??

[link to becomingone.org]
Check out the pics on this site that line up with the reseach.
According to the writings of Josephus , ancient Jewish scholar, the western wall is likely from the old Roman Citadel , FORT ANTONIA.

Because of prophecy pertaining to the Temple, the knowledge of the exact location of the Holy Temple of Israel is very important. Today almost everyone thinks that the location of the Temple is the huge flat trapezoid area called Haram esh-Sharif by the Arabs or the Temple Mount by today's Jews. But today's Temple Mount may not be, and probably is not, the real temple Mount. How can this be you ask? Do read on as we examine some of the evidence.



The western wall Josephus described was the western wall of the city, not the western wall of the Temple Mount -- "the wall as enclosed the city on the west side." Josephus elsewhere said that the western side of the city was the upper city, but the Temple was in the lower city on Mount Moriah (War, book 5, 4, 1), thus not near the western wall of the city. Thus the so-called western wall that the Jews worship at is supposed to be the western wall of the Temple Mount, but the Romans destroyed the temple and its wall, and only planned to save the western wall of the city so that future generation would see what a great city the Roman had destroyed. But as it turned out the Romans also destroyed the western wall of the city while only leaving fort Antonia as a monument to the Romans (see later). Thus the western wall that the Jews worship at is not the western wall of the Temple, but the western wall of something else.

And I cannot but wish that we had all died before we had seen that holy city demolished by the hands of our enemies, or the foundations of our holy temple dug up after so profane a manner. But since we had a generous hope that deluded us, as if we might perhaps have been able to avenge ourselves on our enemies on that account, though it be now become vanity, and hath left us alone in this distress, let us make haste to die bravely. (War, Book 7, chap 8, 7)

According to Josephus (War, book 5, chap 5, 8) Fort Antonia was built around a huge rock 75 feet high (50 cubits). Today's "Temple Mount" also is built around a huge rock that is now covered over by the Dome of the Rock.

On the south side of Fort Antonia adjacent to the Temple were passages or stairs down to the cloisters that connected the Fort to the Temple (War, book 5, chap 5, 8). These are the same stairs that the Roman soldiers came down from the higher Fort (camp [parembole], "castle," or "barracks") to save Paul from the Jews (Act 21:30-40). Today, if you go to Jerusalem, you can see these same steps on the south side of the so-called Temple Mount. Fort Antonia was on a higher hill than the hill north of it (Bezetha) and the hill Acra to the south of it (War, book 5, chap 5, 8 compare w/ book 5, chap 5, 1). Today, the so-called "Temple Mount" is also higher than these hills.


Josephus in his Wars of the Jews (book 5, chapter 4) said that Jerusalem was built on two main hills. The first hill, the upper city since it was higher, was built on the higher western hill, which in the past was mistakenly named Zion. The upper city of Christ and Josephus's time was apparently, according to Martin, built in the second or third century BC and was continually built until the time of the apostles (p. 267). (Today's writings of Josephus also mistakenly called this upper hill David's Citadel.) Josephus then describes the lower eastern hill as a crescent-shaped hill on which the lower city of Jerusalem was built:

But the other hill [as opposite to the upper western part of the city] was called "Acra," and sustains the lower city, is of the shape of a moon when she is horned [crescent-shaped hill] (War, book 5, ch 4, Para 1)

He then mentions a third hill over against the crescent shaped hill but then says this hill was originally ["naturally"] lower than the lower city of Acra, but that Acra had been cut down in the past. He also mentioned that there was a valley between the upper and lower city; he called this valley the "Valley of the Cheese-mongers," but today we call it the Tyropoeon Valley. The Tyropoeon Valley today has been partially filled in over the ages with garbage and land fill. Martin gives us other quotes from others that also call Jerusalem a crescent-shaped city (pp 267-268).

Alfred Edersheim in his book on The Temple also gives information as to the shape of the part of Jerusalem that was called Acra in Josephus's time:

To the north and the east, opposite Zion, and divided from it by the deep Tyropoeon Valley were the crescent-shaped Acra [lower city] and Moriah, the latter [Acra] with Ophel as its southern outrunner.” (Chap 1, “Four Hills,” Alfred Edersheim, The Temple)

As Martin goes a long way toward proving in his book, today's Temple Mount is actually the camp of the Romans called by some, Fort Antonia. Fort Antonia was the only structure left after the Roman invasion of Jerusalem. It was only spared because it was a Roman fort, and not really a part of Jerusalem. Therefore, today's Jews are worshipping at the western wall of the Fort that the Romans used to destroy Jerusalem and the Holy Temple. What an irony. The real Temple Mount is south of today's false Temple Mount. The real Temple Mount should be across from the Gihon Spring in the area called Ophel.