The Second Temple (Hebrew: בֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי Bēṯ hamMīqdāš hašŠēnī, transl. 'Second House of the Sanctum') was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem, in use between c. 516 BCE and its destruction in 70 CE. In its last phase it was enhanced by Herod the Great, the result being later called Herod's Temple. Defining the Second Temple period, it stood as a pivotal symbol of Jewish identity and was central to Second Temple Judaism; it was the chief place of worship, ritual sacrifice (korban), and communal gathering for Jews. As such, it attracted Jewish pilgrims from distant lands during the Three Pilgrimage Festivals: Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot.
Construction on the Second Temple began in the aftermath of the Persian conquest of Babylon; the Second Temple's predecessor, known as Solomon's Temple, had been destroyed alongside the Kingdom of Judah as a whole by the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem around 587 BCE.[1] After the Neo-Babylonian Empire was annexed by the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Cyrus the Great issued the so-called Edict of Cyrus, which is described in the Hebrew Bible as having authorized and encouraged the return to Zion—a biblical event in which the Jewish people returned to the former Kingdom of Judah, which the Persians had recently restructured as the self-governing Jewish province of Yehud Medinata. The completion of the Second Temple at the time of the Persian king Darius I signified a period of renewed Jewish hope and religious revival. According to biblical sources, the Second Temple was originally a relatively modest structure built under the authority of the Persian-appointed Jewish governor Zerubbabel, the grandson of Jeconiah, the penultimate king of Judah.[2]
In the 1st century BCE, the Second Temple was refurbished and expanded under the reign of Herod the Great, hence the alternative eponymous name for the structure. Herod's transformation efforts resulted in a grand and imposing structure and courtyard, including the large edifices and façades shown in modern models, such as the Holyland Model of Jerusalem in the Israel Museum. The Temple Mount, where both Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple stood, was also significantly expanded, doubling in size to become the ancient world's largest religious sanctuary.[3]
In 70 CE, at the height of the First Jewish–Roman War, the Second Temple was destroyed by the Roman siege of Jerusalem,[a] marking a cataclysmic and transformative point in Jewish history.[4] The loss of the Second Temple prompted the development of Rabbinic Judaism, which remains the mainstream form of Jewish religious practices globally.
The accession of Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire in 559 BCE made the re-establishment of the city of Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple possible.[5][6] Some rudimentary ritual sacrifice had continued at the site of the first temple following its destruction.[7] According to the closing verses of the second book of Chronicles and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, when the Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem following a decree from Cyrus the Great (Ezra 1:1–4, 2 Chronicles 36:22–23), construction started at the original site of the altar of Solomon's Temple.[1] These events represent the final section in the historical narrative of the Hebrew Bible.[5]
The original core of the book of Nehemiah, the first-person memoir, may have been combined with the core of the Book of Ezra around 400 BCE. Further editing probably continued into the Hellenistic era.[8]
Based on the biblical account, after the return from Babylonian captivity, arrangements were immediately made to reorganize the desolated Yehud Province after the demise of the Kingdom of Judah seventy years earlier. The body of pilgrims, forming a band of 42,360,[9] having completed the long and dreary journey of some four months, from the banks of the Euphrates to Jerusalem, were animated in all their proceedings by a strong religious impulse, and therefore one of their first concerns was to restore their ancient house of worship by rebuilding their destroyed Temple.[10]
On the invitation of Zerubbabel, the governor, who showed them a remarkable example of liberality by contributing personally 1,000 golden darics, besides other gifts, the people poured their gifts into the sacred treasury with great enthusiasm.[11] First they erected and dedicated the altar of God on the exact spot where it had formerly stood, and they then cleared away the charred heaps of debris that occupied the site of the old temple; and in the second month of the second year (535 BCE), amid great public excitement and rejoicing, the foundations of the Second Temple were laid. A wide interest was felt in this great movement, although it was regarded with mixed feelings by the spectators.[12][10]
The Samaritans wanted to help with this work but Zerubbabel and the elders declined such cooperation, feeling that the Jews must build the Temple unaided. Immediately evil reports were spread regarding the Jews. According to Ezra 4:5, the Samaritans sought to "frustrate their purpose" and sent messengers to Ecbatana and Susa, with the result that the work was suspended.[10]
Seven years later, Cyrus the Great, who allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple, died,[13] and was succeeded by his son Cambyses. On his death, the "false Smerdis", an impostor, occupied the throne for some seven or eight months, and then Darius became king (522 BCE). In the second year of his rule the work of rebuilding the temple was resumed and carried forward to its completion,[14] under the stimulus of the earnest counsels and admonitions of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. It was ready for consecration in the spring of 516 BCE, more than twenty years after the return from captivity. The Temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius, amid great rejoicings on the part of all the people,[2] although it was evident that the Jews were no longer an independent people, but were subject to a foreign power.
The Book of Haggai includes a prediction that the glory of the Second Temple would be greater than that of the first.[15][10] While the Temple may well have been consecrated in 516, construction and expansion may have continued as late as 500 BCE.[16]
Some of the original artifacts from the Temple of Solomon are not mentioned in the sources after its destruction in 586 BCE, and are presumed lost. The Second Temple lacked various holy articles, including the Ark of the Covenant[6][10] containing the Tablets of Stone, before which were placed the pot of manna and Aaron's rod,[10] the Urim and Thummim[6][10] (divination objects contained in the Hoshen), the holy oil[10] and the sacred fire.[6][10] The Second Temple also included many of the original vessels of gold that had been taken by the Babylonians but restored by Cyrus the Great.[10][17]
No detailed description of the Temple's architecture is given in the Hebrew Bible, save that it was sixty cubits in both width and height, and was constructed with stone and lumber.[18] In the Second Temple, the Holy of Holies (Kodesh Hakodashim) was separated by curtains rather than a wall as in the First Temple. Still, as in the Tabernacle, the Second Temple included the Menorah (golden lamp) for the Hekhal, the Table of Showbread and the golden altar of incense, with golden censers.[10]
Traditional rabbinic literature states that the Second Temple stood for 420 years, and, based on the 2nd-century work Seder Olam Rabbah, placed construction in 356 BCE (3824 AM), 164 years later than academic estimates, and destruction in 68 CE (3828 AM).[19][b]
According to the Mishnah,[20] the "Foundation Stone" stood where the Ark used to be, and the High Priest put his censer on it on Yom Kippur.[6] The fifth order, or division, of the Mishnah, known as Kodashim, provides detailed descriptions and discussions of the religious laws connected with Temple service including the sacrifices, the Temple and its furnishings, as well as the priests who carried out the duties and ceremonies of its service. Tractates of the order deal with the sacrifices of animals, birds, and meal offerings, the laws of bringing a sacrifice, such as the sin offering and the guilt offering, and the laws of misappropriation of sacred property. In addition, the order contains a description of the Second Temple (tractate Middot), and a description and rules about the daily sacrifice service in the Temple (tractate Tamid).[21][22][23] According to the Babylonian Talmud,[24] the Temple lacked the Shekhinah (the dwelling or settling divine presence of God) and the Ruach HaKodesh (holy spirit) present in the First Temple.
Following the conquest of Judea by Alexander the Great, it became part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt until 200 BCE, when the Seleucid king