FINAL WARNING: The Shining Star
Wall (Kotel Maarabi), known as the Wailing Wall, was left standing by
the Romans as a symbol of how powerful they were. Titus later
returned to Rome with some of the Temple treasure.When Constantine died in 361, his nephew, Flavius Claudius Julianus,
the last emperor of Rome (361-363), ruled for 19 months, and
attempted to reinstate paganism, and emperor worship. Although he
had grown up under the teachings of Eusebius, Bishop of Cesarea, he
turned away from those teachings, and pushed for religious tolerance.
His hatred of Christianity drove him to return Jerusalem back to the
Jews, to restore Jewish law, and to advocate the rebuilding of the
Jewish Temple. He freed them from taxes, and gave his support for the
reestablishment of animal sacrifices, but he was told that the Jews no
longer practiced the ritual because they had no Temple. Julian
appointed Alypius of Antioch to oversee its building, while the
governors of Syria and Palestine were instructed to assist. Workmen
cleared the debris, and work was begun in 363. When they tried to dig
into the foundation, an earthquake occurred, which ignited pockets of
natural gas underground, causing fires and explosions, destroying all
the stones, wood and metal which were being stored on the site. A
number of workers were killed. This was taken as a divine sign that the
Temple was not to be rebuilt at that time, and construction was halted
after Julian died in the battle against the Persians. After the return to
power by the Christian Roman Emperors, the idea was forgotten.The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built on higher ground in 326 by
Byzantine Christians during Constantine’s rule, on the traditional site
(according to Catholics) of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection.
Across from the Temple Mount, it was actually intended to
symbolically replace the Temple, which is why its layout is reminiscent
of the Temple. As a way of offending Jews, the condition of the Temple
area was allowed to deteriorate and was even used as a repository for
human waste and other refuse.In 614, the Persians broke through Byzantine defenses, and with the
help of the Jews, defeated Heraclius. Chosroes II, the Persian King,
placed a Jew named, ironically, Nehemiah, as the governor of the city,
and gave them permission to rebuild the Temple. Although it is
believed that the sacrifices were resumed, no construction was
initiated. About fifteen years later, Heraclius returned to take over the