history-of-israel-and-jews

The Historical Origins of the Western Wall To understand the Wailing Wall, we must look back to the time of King Herod. The Wall we see today was part of a massive renovation and expansion of the Temple Mount, the site of the Second Temple, completed around 19 BCE. It was not a wall of the Temple itself, but rather the western retaining wall of the vast plaza that surrounded it. Its purpose was to support the enormous platform on which the Temple stood. When Roman legions destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE, this retaining wall was one of...

This is one of the most common misconceptions. The Western Wall was not one of the four walls of the actual Temple sanctuary. Instead, it was one of the four massive retaining walls that King Herod the Great built around 19 BCE to expand the plaza on which the Second Temple stood. He undertook this colossal construction project to create a larger, more magnificent platform, and the Western Wall supported the western side of this Temple Mount platform. Its sanctity comes from its proximity to the location where the Temple’s Holy of Holies once stood, making it the closest accessible...