Kris wrote:Austendw-- I hadn't heard of any theories of rhe temple being west of the rock-- who's theory is that?
W Scott Caldecott in his book "Herod's Temple : its New Testament associations and its actual structure" (1913) proposes that es-sakhra is the base on which the altar was constructed, necessarily placing the sanctuary itself just to the west. https://archive.org/details/cu31924028590374
Kris wrote:Would it require removal of the Islamic edifices to be built there?
The "Well of Souls" is such a powerful feature and fixed point of the Temple Mount that it is almost inconceivable the Temple could have been anyplace else.
Still, it has been said the Well of Souls has not been explored since the Knights of Templar paved over the floor with marble slabs, so no one really knows for sure what is underneath or what it was used for. Was it the "Holy of Holies", a granary cave or a cistern for blood running from the altar of sacrifice?