During the message today, I mentioned a model of Herod’s temple that was built by a British pensioner. The man’s name is Alex Garrard, and he spent the last thirty years constructing his model – which stretches 20 feet long and 12 feet wide. Sadly, Mr. Garrard passed away in 2010, and the model is no longer displayed for the public.
You can read the Telegraph article about Garrard and his hobby. I have to say that while the Holyland Model is pretty cool (I saw it in 1997), the scale of Garrard’s model makes it pale in comparison. The Holyland Model is 1:50 scale, and Garrard’s is 1:100, but Garrard’s is much more focused on the temple complex itself.
Here are some pictures of Garrard’s amazing model. They help us get a grasp of the massive complex begun by Herod the Great in 19BCE and completed in 62CE. The entire thing was destroyed in 70CE by the soon-to-be-emperor Titus.
Alec Garrard standing behind his model of the temple. You can see the temple courtyards clearly.
This was the inner court, which was restricted to Israelite men only.
The colonnaded walkways to the left are what were known as “Solomon’s Porch”
The colonnaded walkways provided cover, as well as meeting spaces.
All Jews were allowed in the Court of the Women. Only Gentiles were restricted from it.
This low wall separated the Court of the Gentiles from the Court of the Women.
There were a number of covered areas in the courtyards.
You can see the epic scale of the retaining walls constructed by Herod. The Temple guards and the on-duty priests had residences within the walls.
The “House of God” is really a building inside the Temple complex. Herod’s building was constructed to the dimensions given for Solomon’s temple.
Reblogged this on Sappy Happy Tales and commented:
Loved the pictures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great
What a great post. What an amazing model.
I would to buy this Temple, how much? Mr. Scott