NY Times Source Slams Article on Temple Mount
Prof. Jodi Magness: “I know of no credible scholars who question the existence of the two temples or who deny that they stood somewhere on the Temple Mount”
Professor Jodi Magness, one of the scholars quoted — actually misrepresented and exploited — in The New York Times article last week which outrageously called into question the presence of the biblical temples, an allegation that was subsequently retracted — slams the article in a letter to the editor yesterday.
Professor Magness writes:
I am one of the specialists interviewed for “Historical Certainty Proves Elusive at Jerusalem’s Holiest Place” (news article, Oct. 9).
The question of the existence and location of two successive temples on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is not nearly as contested as the article suggests.
Literary sources leave little doubt that there were two successive ancient temples in Jerusalem dedicated to the God of Israel (the first destroyed in 586 B.C., and the second in 70 A.D.). These sources and archaeological remains indicate that both temples stood somewhere on the Temple Mount.
The only real question is the precise location of the temple(s) on the Temple Mount. The site of the Dome of the Rock is the most likely spot for various reasons, despite the lack of archaeological evidence or excavations. I know of no credible scholars who question the existence of the two temples or who deny that they stood somewhere on the Temple Mount.
JODI MAGNESS
Chapel Hill, N.C.
The writer is a professor specializing in early Judaism at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
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