Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Archaeology WingDSCN5007

The Temple Warning inscription, also known as the Temple Balustrade inscription or the Soreg inscription, is an inscription that hung along the

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its c ...

outside the

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

of the

Second Temple The Second Temple (, , ), later known as Herod's Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between and 70 CE. It replaced Solomon's Temple, which had been built at the same location in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Two of these tablets have been found.Bickerman, Elias J. "The Warning Inscriptions of Herod's Temple"' ''The Jewish Quarterly Review'', vol. 37, no. 4, 1947, pp. 387–405. The inscription was a warning to

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...

visitors to the temple not to proceed further. Both

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

inscriptions on the temple's balustrade served as warnings to pagan visitors not to proceed under penalty of death. A complete tablet was discovered in 1871 by

Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau (19 February 1846 – 15 February 1923) was a noted French Orientalist and archaeologist. Biography Clermont-Ganneau was born in Paris, the son of Simon Ganneau, a sculptor and mystic who died in 1851 when Clermon ...

, in the ad-Dawadariya school just outside the al-Atim Gate to the

Temple Mount The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compou ...

, and published by the

Palestine Exploration Fund The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem, and is the oldest known organization in the world created specifically for the stud ...

. Following the discovery of the inscription, it was taken by the Ottoman authorities, and it is currently in the

Istanbul Archaeology Museums The Istanbul Archaeology Museums ( tr, ) are a group of three archaeological museums located in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, near Gülhane Park and Topkapı Palace. The Istanbul Archaeology Museums consists of three museums: #Arch ...

. A partial fragment of a less well made version of the inscription was found in 1936 by J. H. Iliffe during the excavation of a new road outside Jerusalem's

Lions' Gate Lions' Gate ( he, שער האריות, Sha'ar ha-Arayot, Lions' Gate, ar, باب الأسباط, Bab al-Asbat, Gate of the Tribes), also St Stephen's Gate, is one of the seven open Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. It leads into the Muslim Qu ...

; it is held in the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...

Inscription

Two authentic tablets have been found, one complete, and the other a partial fragment with missing sections, but with letters showing signs of the red paint that had originally highlighted the text.Llewelyn, Stephen R., and Dionysia Van Beek. "Reading the Temple Warning as a Greek Visitor". ''Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period'', vol. 42, no. 1, 2011, pp. 1–22. It was described by the

in 1872 as being "very nearly in the words of Josephus". The inscription uses three terms referring to temple architecture:Bickerman, 1947, pages 387–389: "To begin with, there are three terms referring to the architectural complex of the Temple. Το ίερόν, 'holy place', is the designation of the consecrated area, to which the fore-court led. This area was called by the Jews 'sacred', mikdash (הַמִּקְדָּשׁ). The word ίερόν was common in this sense in Greek and applied to pagan cults. For this reason it was avoided by the Alexandrian translators of the Scripture who use the term το άγιον in referring to the Temple of Jerusalem. But after the Maccabean victory, the Jews had less scruples about using a technical term from Greek heathenism. On the other hand, the word το άγιον which had become fashionable for Oriental holy places, was no longer a distinctive term in Herod's time. Accordingly, Philo and Josephus use both words, ίερόν and άγιον to designate the Temple of Herod. The περίβολος was the wall which encompassed the holy terrace within the outer court. Josephus, Philo and the Septuagint use this Greek word, technical in this connotation, to describe the enclosure of the Temple. The τρύψακτος, the Soreg in the Mishna, was a stone barrier which stretched across the outer court to protect the flights of stairs leading up to the inner court. As we said, the warning inscriptions were fixed on this rail." * ''To hieron'' (Το ἱερόν), "holy place", the sacred area, to which the forecourt led * ''Peribolou'' ( περίβολος), a wall encompassing the holy terrace within the outer court * ''Tryphaktou'' (τρύφακτος), a stone barrier across the outer court

Translation

The tablet bears the following inscription in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

Forgeries

Several forgeries were promptly prepared following the 1871 discovery.

Clermont-Ganneau Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau (19 February 1846 – 15 February 1923) was a noted French Orientalist and archaeologist. Biography Clermont-Ganneau was born in Paris, the son of Simon Ganneau, a sculptor and mystic who died in 1851 when Clerm ...

was shown a similar artifact at the

Monastery of St Saviour , order = Franciscan Order , established = 1560 , disestablished = , mother = , dedication = Jesus as Saviour , diocese = Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jerusalem , chur ...

, which was later shown to be a forgery created by Martin Boulos.

References

External references

* * * * Millard, Alan, ''Discoveries from the Time of Jesus''. Oxford: Lion Publishing, 1990. * Roitman, Aldopho, ''Envisioning the Temple'', Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 2003. * Elias J. Bickerman, "The Warning Inscriptions of Herod's Temple," ''The Jewish Quarterly Review'', New Ser., Vol. 37, No. 4. (Apr., 1947), pp. 387–405. * Matan Orian, "The Purpose of the Balustrade in the Herodian Temple," ''Journal for the Study of Judaism'' 51 (2020), pp. 1–38. {{Istanbul Archaeology Museums 1st-century BC inscriptions 1st-century inscriptions 1871 archaeological discoveries Second Temple Roman-era Greek inscriptions Archaeological artifacts Judaic inscriptions

Inscription

Translation

Forgeries

See also

References

External references