Lecture Notes: Jodi Magness — Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus

Jodi Magness

Otago University, May 2026

1. Time Period and Historical Frame

“I’m covering a period that archaeologists… call the Herodian period.”

• Herodian Period: 40 BC (Herod appointed) to AD 70 (Temple destroyed).
• Herod the Great → his sons → Roman prefects (e.g., Pontius Pilate).
• Ends with the First Jewish Revolt and Roman destruction of Jerusalem.

2. Background Before Herod

“The country was under Jewish rule… until the year 63 BC, when it was annexed by Rome.”

• Alexander the Great conquers region (332 BC).
• Maccabean Revolt → Hasmonean Kingdom (independent Jewish rule).
• Rome annexes Judea in 63 BC.
• Romans choose Herod as client king because he is not Hasmonean.

Herod’s Identity Problem

“He wasn’t even fully Jewish, technically speaking.”

• Father: Idumean (forcibly converted under Hasmoneans).
• Mother: Nabatean (Arab).
• Many Jews viewed him as illegitimate.
• His building program aimed at winning Jewish loyalty.

3. Jerusalem Before Herod

“This is basically the Hasmonean city of Jerusalem.”

• City enclosed by the First Wall.
• Core areas: City of David (SE hill) and Southwestern Hill.
• Temple Mount existed but was smaller.

4. Herod’s Palace and the Three Towers

“He built a palace and he tucks it in to the northwest corner of the first wall.”

Herod’s Palace

• Built because the Hasmonean palace was not his lineage.
• Located at highest point of the Southwestern Hill.
• Josephus describes gardens, fountains, and two wings.

The Three Towers

“Only one of them has survived.”

• Phasael (brother), Hippicus (friend), Mariamne (wife).
• Only one survives, inside the Citadel (“Tower of David”).
• Lower courses = Herodian; upper = medieval/Ottoman.

5. Herod’s Reconstruction of the Temple and Temple Mount

“This… is really the big thing that Herod did in Jerusalem.”

The Second Temple

• Originally rebuilt 516 BC.
• Herod completely rebuilt the Temple building.
• Massively expanded the Temple Mount platform.

Engineering the Platform

“As you go south… the bedrock drops off.”

• North: bedrock cut back.
• South: supported by underground vaults (cryptoporticus).
• Later called “Solomon’s Stables” by Crusaders.

Temple Mount Layout

• Enclosure wall (Western Wall is part of this).
• Colonnades on three sides.
• Royal Stoa/Basilica on the south.
• Temple building likely where the Dome of the Rock stands today.

Commercial Activity

“The idea that the Temple Mount was a purely religious space is completely anachronistic.”

• Functioned like a Roman forum.
• Commerce, money changing, public gatherings, judicial activity.

6. Jesus and the Money Changers

“It would be completely anachronistic to think Jesus opposed commercial activity.”

• Gospels use hieron (precinct), not naos (Temple building).
• Issue was likely exploitation around the Temple tax.
• Tax required Tyrian silver coins.
• Doves sold for poor people’s sacrifices.

7. The Soreg and Gentile Access

“A low stone fence… prohibiting Gentiles… on pain of death.”

• Soreg separated inner courts from Gentiles.
• Two Greek inscriptions survive (one complete in Istanbul).
• Explains the riot in Acts when Paul was accused of bringing a Gentile inside.

8. Antonia Fortress

“He named it in honor of Mark Antony.”

• Overlooked the Temple Mount for surveillance.
• Garrisoned with non-Jewish troops.
• Lithostratos pavement and Ecce Homo arch are not Herodian.
• They are 2nd-century AD (Hadrian’s forum), not the place of Jesus’ trial.

9. Rethinking the Via Dolorosa

“The Antonia Fortress was not the praetorium.”

• Roman governors stayed in Herod’s Palace.
• Therefore the traditional Via Dolorosa route is historically incorrect.
• The real route would begin near Jaffa Gate.

10. City Walls and the Holy Sepulchre

“In order for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to be authentic, it has to be outside the wall.”

• Three walls: First, Second, Third.
• Both minimalist and maximalist reconstructions place the Second Wall so the Holy Sepulchre lies outside.
• Matches Gospel accounts.

The Garden Tomb

“Absolutely not possible.”

• Dates to Iron Age or Byzantine period.
• Not a 1st-century tomb.

11. Aftermath: Roman Victory

“The Arch of Titus… depicting the spoils from the Jerusalem Temple.”

• Arch of Titus shows the menorah carried to Rome.
• Judaea Capta coins depict a mourning Jewish woman under a date palm.