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Such is the understanding of Israeli
archaeologists and masons who, drawing on relics and historical
texts, have recreated the sacred flooring so it can be
experienced today.
"We even made the scratches and all kind of marks that created
the same appearance as it used to look like at the time,"
archaeologist Assaf Avraham told Reuters near the one- metre
square, ankle-high replica on the Mount of Olives, overlooking
Jerusalem's Old City and holy sites.
According to the New Testament, Jesus went to the temple as a
boy for pilgrimage and study and, as an older preacher, cast out
its money-changers in anger. The Gospel of John describes him
"walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon".
The temple was designed by King Herod, as were other grand
structures in Roman-era Judea. Surviving tiles from those ruins
told the archaeologists what materials had been used -
hand-tooled limestone and Dead Sea stone, as well as imported
marble - and that the inlay had been the ornate "Opus Sectile"
style.
Josephus Flavius, a Jewish historian of the period, wrote that
temple courts were "laid with stones of all sorts", another
indication the tiles were of various colours and textures.
Recreating the floor was "very tough work" that took seven
months, said Avi Tavisal, manager of the team of artisans.
"But it was very interesting, and we made it with all our
hearts," he said. "We hope that this will be something that the
people can come and see and feel and touch and feel the feeling
how it was 2,000 years before."
(Writing by Dan Williams, editing by Ed Osmond)
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