Thursday, June 25, 2009

Monday, June 22, 2009

Temple and Mosque?

A proposal for building the Third Temple on the Temple Mount, but not on the site of the Dome of the Rock is discussed here.

My suspicion is that it won't satisfy either Muslims or Jews.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Fiction on the Temple Mount

This blog includes links to a number of novels in which conflict over the Temple Mount is a theme.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Barker on Temple Music

Margaret Barker's recent presentation on Temple Music is online here.

Mark's Throne

The "throne of Mark" is the patriarchal throne of the Coptic popes. This web page has a number of photos of the throne. It is clearly a representation of the cherubim throne from the vision of Ezekiel, with a lion, bull, eagle and man panel, and many other temple motifs. Artistically it seems to date from the early medieval period of Coptic art.

Stephan Huller's book, The Real Messiah is a highly speculative interpretation of the this throne as a proto-messianic coded symbol.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Val Brinkerhoff's new book

Val Brinkerhoff, a professor of photography at BYU, has spent years studying and photographing sacred symbols, art and architecture, etc. He has photographed most most LDS temples, as well as numerous temples, mosques, cathedrals and sacred places throughout the world. Over 3000 of his photographs are online here.

He has also recently published a two volume book--The Day Star: Reading Sacred Architecture--with hundreds of photographs on his interpretation of sacred symbols and the LDS Temple.

It can be purchased on Amazon.com: ISBN 1934537454.

His work is well worth studying.

Muslim views of Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif conflict

Many Muslims fear a Jewish takeover the Haram al-Sharif. For example:

http://masoodmemon.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/al-aqsa-facing-real-immediate”-danger/

It should be emphasized that there are many different views about the meaning and importance of the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif among Muslim and Jewish people. These recent posts are only one part of a wide range of ideas.

Orthodox Jews of Temple Mount

Some Orthodox views of the importance of the Temple Mount here.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

BYU Sacred Space Symposium

Notes and summaries of the presentations at they BYU Sacred Space Symposium can be found here.

Temple Institute update

The Temple Institute is trying to reconstruct all the Temple furniture, vessels, etc, in anticipation of rebuilding the Temple. Their latest vessels are the incense holders.

Video here
(Also links to other videos they've made)

Most of their designs are based on Baroque period Jewish interpretations, rather than on ancient art and archaeology.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Temple Restored in Ghana?

Described here.

It's not quite clear what's going on, but it sounds interesting.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Palestinian Temple Denial

An ideology has developed among Palestinians in the past few decades which denies that there ever was a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. Here is a report on this ideology from the BBC.

James Davila responds to some of these claims.

Barker's Temple Symposium 2

David Larsen has posted a detailed account of the Temple Music conference on his blog.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Temple Music 2

Here is an interesting theory about the cantillation marks in the Hebrew Bible as musical notation.

Here and here are some examples of the singing of Biblical texts based on this theory.

For more see here.

(I have no idea how speculative this type of reconstruction might be.)

Temple Music

Here is a preliminary report on a seminar on Temple Music held on 30 May at the Temple Church in London.