Jerusalem: Herod's enlarged Temple Mount

This aerial photograph of the modern Temple Mount, looking toward the northeast (with the Dome of the Rock roughly in its center and the gray dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque at its southern end), one can see just how large and well-built King Herod's expansion of the Jewish Temple complex was. The resulting complex was 36 acres in size and the southern extents soared impressively above the surrounding landscape. The southeastern corner is 130 feet above bedrock and more than twice that height above the Kidron Valley floor. It is truly one of the great architectural feats of the Hellenistic or Roman periods. In the center background you can see the water tower and buildings of the Hebrew University campus on Mount Scopus. Further on the horizon are the hills of the Central Hill.