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Second Temple

Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between c. 516 BCE and 70 CE

AI overview

The Second Temple was a Jewish religious structure built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem around 516 BCE and destroyed in 70 CE, serving as the central place of worship for Jewish people during that period. It matters because it was the focal point of Jewish religious and community life for over 500 years and its destruction marked a major turning point in Jewish history.

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Key facts

Affiliation: Judaism
Region: Land of Israel
Deity: Yahweh
Leadership: High Priest of Israel
Location: Temple Mount
Municipality: Jerusalem
State: Yehud Medinata (first), Judaea (last)
Country: Achaemenid Empire (first), Roman Empire (last)
Founder: Zerubbabel ; refurbished by Herod the Great
Completed: c. 516 BCE (original), c. 18 CE (Herodian)
Destroyed: 70 CE ( Roman siege )
Height max: c. 46 metres (151 ft)
Materials

Article

The Second Temple (Hebrew: בֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ‎ הַשֵּׁנִי‎, romanized: Bēṯ hamMīqdāš hašŠēnī, lit. 'Second House of the Sanctum') was the temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. The Second Temple was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod the Great around 18 BCE, consequently also being known as Herod's Temple thereafter. Defining the Second Temple period and standing as a pivotal symbol of Jewish identity, it was the basis and namesake of Second Temple Judaism. The Second Temple served as the chief place of worship, ritual sacrifice (korban), and communal gathering for the Jewish people, among whom it regularly attracted pilgrims for the Three Pilgrimage Festivals: Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot.

In 539 BCE, the Persian conquest of Babylon enabled the Achaemenid Empire to expand across the Fertile Crescent by annexing the Neo-Babylonian Empire, including the territory of the former Kingdom of Judah, which had been annexed as the Babylonian province of Yehud during the reign of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, who concurrently exiled part of Judah's population to Babylon. Following this campaign, the Persian king Cyrus the Great issued the "Edict of Cyrus" (sometimes identified with the Cyrus Cylinder), which is described in the Hebrew Bible as a royal proclamation that authorized and encouraged the repatriation of displaced populations in the region. This event is called the return to Zion in Ezra–Nehemiah, marking the resurgence of Jewish life in what had become the self-governing Persian province of Yehud. The reign of the Persian king Darius the Great saw the completion of the Second Temple, signifying a period of renewed Jewish hope and religious revival. According to the biblical account, the Second Temple was originally a relatively modest structure built under the authority of the Persian-appointed Jewish governor Zerubbabel, who was the grandson of the penultimate Judahite king Jeconiah.