Page "Second Temple" Paragraph 30

Mt.

Moriah had a plateau at the northern end, and steeply declined on the southern slope.

It was Herod's plan that the entire mountain be turned into a giant square platform.

The Temple Mount was originally intended to be 1600 feet wide by 900 feet deep by 9 stories high, with walls up to 16 feet deep, but had never been finished.

To complete it, a trench was dug around the mountain, and huge stone " bricks " were laid.

Some of these weighed well over 100 tons, the largest measuring 44. 6 feet by 11 feet by 16. 5 feet and weighing approximately 567 to 628 tons, while most were in the range of 2. 5 by 3. 5 by 15 feet ( approximately 28 tons ).

King Herod had architects from Greece, Rome and Egypt plan the construction.

The blocks were presumably quarried by using pickaxes to create channels.

Then they hammered in wooden beams and flushed them with water to force them out.

Once they were removed, they were carved into precise squares and numbered at the quarry to show where they would be installed.

The final carving would have been done by using harder stones to grind or chisel them to create precise joints.

They would have been transported using oxen and specialized carts.

Since the quarry was uphill from the temple they had gravity on their side but care needed to be taken to control the descent.

Final installation would have been done using pulleys or cranes.

Roman pulleys and cranes weren't strong enough to lift the blocks alone so they may have used multiple cranes and levers to position them.

As the mountainside began to rise, the western side was carved away to a vertical wall and bricks were carved to create a virtual continuation of the brick face, which was continued for a while until the northern slope reached ground level.

Part of the Antonian hill to the north of Moriah was annexed to the complex and the area between was filled up with landfill.