Sure--The Temple Mount extends to the North to where the Fortress was (That part has been excavated all the way to the end of it, which the Israelis have a neat walk in the Catacombs--Currently about 600 of that part of the wall--to the NW corner is overlain by the Casbah of the Palestinians, but if you walk in the tunnel below you come out at the very end of the Via Dolorosa, opposite of the Convent.) They have excavated quite a few of the cisterns that were used until the Temple was destroyed (remember, there is about 70 feet of 'city' above the base of the Western wall to the Convent (that is where a prison has been excavated (probably where Jesus was ajudicated and tortured, according to the Catholics.) The massive stones extend to the south, all the way to where you can see the steps (if you look at modern day pictures, where the Islamic cupula is located on the southwest corner. The steps date back to 70 c.e., and there is a closed large opening that went into Solomon's Stables. Then to the southeast corner, the large slabs extended all the way to the muslim cemetary, which is on the eastern slope of the Temple Mount. The NE corner is approximately 150 yards to the east of the Damascus gate. There have been a number of excavations that have located the Pool of Siloam, many Mickvas (baptismals) ect., where the Jews would be baptized before entering the Temple Mount. I have been in the excavation of the fortress as well as all of the surrounding excavations. I worked with several Archaelogists with Antiquities Authority (the most famous were Pesach bar Adon and Yigael Yadin, as well as with several from the Rockfeller museum. Almost all of the non-Israeli Archaelogists went out of their way to disprove any jewishness of the site. It's interesting that this guy quotes Josephus selectively, as this is how the typical Archaelogist researches. For the most part, most Archaeologists discount Josephus unless he supports their own stupid theories. If you ever get a chance to see the Western Wall (you will understand that the stones could not have been totally destroyed without leaving considerable evidence to that event. I hope this clarifies for you. If you want to see the ancient maps of the Temple Mount, check out this website:
http://maps-of-jerusalem.huji.ac.il/Thank you.
Almost all of the non-Israeli Archaelogists went out of their way to disprove any jewishness of the site. It's interesting that this guy quotes Josephus selectively, as this is how the typical Archaelogist researches. For the most part, most Archaeologists discount Josephus unless he supports their own stupid theories.
Actually, I had formed no opinion of Dr. Martin myelf. I read the article, he never seemd to get to the punch line - a teaser to get his book sold I assume.
I believe all of Israel belongs to the Jews, including Gaza, West Bank, all of Jerusalem and there is no such thing as a "Palestinian". I do recognize there are people who try to revise history. I'm not one of them. I didn't read enough in Dr. Martin's article to conclude he is. But honestly, I might not know until it became blatant.
My question is solely related to a factual identification of where the Herodian Temple stood. To that end, I though Dr. Marten was leading up to an argument that the Herodian Temple was destroyed as was Jerusalem, and all that was left was the Antonia Fortress.
The punchline I was waiting for, but the article broke off, was Titus and Josephus spoke/wrote their accounts as they viewed the damage from the Antonia Fortress. That's why the Antonia Fortress wasn't mentioned but still stands (it was under their feet and taken for granted as standing), and the Temple and the city was destroyed as Jesus said it would be.
On a related matter, what is your opinion of Tuvia Sagivat's hypothesis of The Southern Conjecture? He seemingly has a rather well researched theory that the Temple perhaps stood on the southern end of the mount, south of the Dome, but just north of the mosque? Seemingly in the stepped-down court yard between where Dr. Martin has the fort and Temple.