Can anybody prove the location of the Seleucid Acra?

Overview

The Seleucid Greek Epiphanes banned orthodox Jewish practices and ordered the sacrifice of swine on the temple altar, and to ensure this took place, built a castle adjoining (as we now find) on the south wall of the pre-Herodian temple mount, set on a hill - most likely the hump described by the word Ophel - to overlook the temple.

His troops took over the city of David and fortified it and the Jewish heathens took shelter there. This was, in effect, the start of the Jewish civil war that lasted on and off to the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans in AD 70.

The Macabean family who were Hasmonean and orthodox, revolted (circa 167 BC) and after taking control, demolished the Seleucid castle. Descendent, John Hyrcanus, Jewish priest, built his castle to the north of the temple area to protect it - which became the Antonia when Herod embarked on his temple expansion in 18 BC (finished in AD 65).

Herod took in twice as much land to extend the temple mount, as witnessed by the change in construction technique seen at the south-east angle. The southward extension would have obviously been built over where the "citadel" (castle) adjoined the earlier temple mount. The location of which by archaeologist Leen Ritmeyer, agrees with this location.

Josephus tells us a valley was filled to join the city with the temple, and then after the demolition of the Seleucid castle (Acra), the hill or hump was also levelled perhaps into the same valley.

This might be why archaeologists have discovered artefacts linking with the Seleucid Acra in the Givati Parking Lot excavations.

Religious scholars and historians have been studying the location for hundreds of years, and still haven't proved it. Except though, those sensationalists who claim the temple mount was the tower of Antonia — they claim to have found the true location of it through reading the works of Josephus Flavius and the book of 1 Macabees.

Let's take a brief but detailed look at 1 Macabees first.

(The spelling of Macabees with one 'c' is in line with the texts found at https://archive.sacred-texts.com/bib/apo/index.htm, and used here verbatim. In the KJV Apocrypha it has the two 'c's')

The Seleucid Acra in 1 Macabees

According to 1 Macabees, the Seleucid Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes was welcomed by the heathens of Israel "Whereupon they built a place of exercise at Jerusalem according to the customs of the heathen" (1 Macc 1:14), and after conquering Ptolemee in Egypt, raided the temple and set fire to Jerusalem, and turned the city of David into a stronghold.

"Then builded they the city of David with a great and strong wall, and with mighty towers, and made it a strong hold for them. And they put therein a sinful nation, wicked men, and fortified themselves therein." (1 Macc 1:33-34)

"Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side;" (1 Macc 1:54)

Then they destroyed the books of law and murdered anyone found with any part of the book of the testament. And sacrificed forbidden meats on the altar of God.

A priestly family of the Hasmonean (Asamonean) race arose to fight against the the heathen and drive out Epiphanes and his Seleucid army. They were the sons of Mattathias, including Simon Thassi, and Judas Maccabeus, who gathered together an army.

"Now Jerusalem lay void as a wilderness, there was none of her children that went in or out: the sanctuary also was trodden down, and aliens kept the strong hold; the heathen had their habitation in that place;" (1 Macc 3:45)

And from (1 Macc 1:33-34) above, we know the stronghold was the city of David.

But Judas and his men defeated a number of the Seleucid armies and:

"Then said Judas and his brethren, Behold, our enemies are discomfited: let us go up to cleanse and dedicate the sanctuary." (1 Macc 4:36)

"At that time also they builded up the mount Sion with high walls and strong towers round about, lest the Gentiles should come and tread it down as they had done before. And they set there a garrison to keep it" (1 Macc 4:60-61)

(mount Sion, as we know from 1 Kings 8:1 and 2 Chronicles 5:2 is the city of David)

By 1 Macabees 6, verse 26 the Seleucids had retaken Jerusalem:

"And, behold, this day are they besieging the tower at Jerusalem, to take it."

But then there was famine and the Seleucids wanted a peace treaty:

"Then the king's army went up to Jerusalem to meet them, and the king pitched his tents against Judea, and against mount Sion." (verse 48) " "Also the king and the princes made an oath unto them: whereupon they went out of the strong hold. Then the king entered into mount Sion; but when he saw the strength of the place, he broke his oath that he had made, and gave commandment to pull down the wall round about."

Note here that by this time there is a stronghold distinctly different to mount Sion, and originally the stronghold was the city of David, which is Sion, so one or the other suggests some form of citadel or castle.

Within the Seleucids there were competing sides fighting each other, and so Judas Maccabeus was fighting on several fronts. Here it's Nicanor's turn...

"Where there were slain of Nicanor's side about five thousand men, and the rest fled into the city of David. After this went Nicanor up to mount Sion" (1 Macc 7:32-33)

Which again suggests a difference between Sion and the city of David.

By 1 Macabees 9 we have Syrian-Greek general Bacchides who:

"took the chief men's sons in the country for hostages, and put them into the tower at Jerusalem to be kept." (verse 53)

So we now have a tower, it seems, as well as the city of David, which is Sion.

In 1 Macabees 10 we read about Johnathan - a brother to Judas Maccabeus and Simon Thassi:

"Then came Jonathan to Jerusalem, and read the letters in the audience of all the people, and of them that were in the tower: Who were sore afraid, when they heard that the king had given him authority to gather together an host. Whereupon they of the tower delivered their hostages unto Jonathan, and he delivered them unto their parents. This done, Jonathan settled himself in Jerusalem, and began to build and repair the city. And he commanded the workmen to build the walls and the mount Sion and about with square stones for fortification; and they did so. Then the strangers, that were in the fortresses which Bacchides had built, fled away;" (verses 7-12)

Later we find another peace treaty, this time with king Demetrius:

"Let Jerusalem also be holy and free, with the borders thereof, both from tenths and tributes. And as for the tower which is at Jerusalem, I yield up authority over it, and give the high priest, that he may set in it such men as he shall choose to keep it." (verses 31-32)

But that fell through and another war was fought with the Greeks. And this continued on and off for what seems an eternity, because within Seleucid Greece there were so many competing sides.

During the episode in 1 Macabees 12, we read:

"After this came Jonathan home again, and calling the elders of the people together, he consulted with them about building strong holds in Judea, And making the walls of Jerusalem higher, and raising a great mount between the tower and the city, for to separate it from the city, that so it might be alone, that men might neither sell nor buy in it." (verses 35-36)

By 1 Macabees 13 we find more appeasment:

"So Simon was appeased toward them, and fought no more against them, but put them out of the city, and cleansed the houses wherein the idols were, and so entered into it with songs and thanksgiving. Yea, he put all uncleanness out of it, and placed such men there as would keep the law, and made it stronger than it was before, and built therein a dwellingplace for himself. They also of the tower in Jerusalem were kept so strait, that they could neither come forth, nor go into the country, nor buy, nor sell: wherefore they were in great distress for want of victuals, and a great number of them perished through famine. Then cried they to Simon, beseeching him to be at one with them: which thing he granted them; and when he had put them out from thence, he cleansed the tower from pollutions: And entered into it the three and twentieth day of the second month in the hundred seventy and first year, with thanksgiving, and branches of palm trees, and with harps, and cymbals, and with viols, and hymns, and songs: because there was destroyed a great enemy out of Israel. He ordained also that that day should be kept every year with gladness. Moreover the hill of the temple that was by the tower he made stronger than it was, and there he dwelt himself with his company." (verses 47-52)

By 1 Macabees 14 we see the king of Persia put Demetrius away, and a form of NATO pact was signed with the Romans. Simon Thassi had brought peace at last, though his brothers Judas and Johnathan were dead.

"The people therefore sang the acts of Simon, and unto what glory he thought to bring his nation, made him their governor and chief priest, because he had done all these things, and for the justice and faith which he kept to his nation, and for that he sought by all means to exalt his people. For in his time things prospered in his hands, so that the heathen were taken out of their country, and they also that were in the city of David in Jerusalem, who had made themselves a tower, out of which they issued, and polluted all about the sanctuary, and did much hurt in the holy place: But he placed Jews therein. and fortified it for the safety of the country and the city, and raised up the walls of Jerusalem." (verses 35-37)

"Then Simon accepted hereof, and was well pleased to be high priest, and captain and governor of the Jews and priests, and to defend them all." (verse 47)

1 Macabees ends at chapter 16 with a summary which adds very little. And there ends the book of 1 Macabees.

Nowhere does it give the location of the Seleucid Acra - the tower - as it is referenced in these scriptures.

The Seleucid Acra Accounts by Josephus

All we have is an account in Josephus Wars of The Jews and Antiquities of The Jews, which he never witnessed, as he was born some 200 years after the event.

But that is the proof offered by [redacted] and others, that the temple mount was the tower of Antonia. Both interpreters - Whiston and Thackeray - disagree with the location given by Josephus.

The location given by Josephus can be read in Antiquities book 12, chapter 5, section 4 or AJ 12.248 depending on source, and Whiston adds the following footnote:

"This citadel, of which we have such frequent mention in the following history, both in the Macabees and Josephus, seems to have been a castle built on a hill, lower than Mount Zion, though upon its skirts, and higher than Mount Moriah, but between them both; which hill the enemies of the Jews now got possession of, and built on it this citadel, and fortified it, till a good while afterwards the Jews regained it, demolished it, and leveled the hill itself with the common ground, that their enemies might no more recover it, and might thence overlook the temple itself, and do them such mischief as they had long undergone from it"

Whiston says "a castle built on a hill, lower than Mount Zion, though upon its skirts, and higher than Mount Moriah, but between them both;" And this would not suit [redacted]'s argument.

The location can also be read in Wars book 5, chapter 4, section 1, where Thackeray adds the footnote:

"in both those passages the levelling of Acra is ascribed to Simon. But this is incompatible with 1 Macc, xiv. 37 which states that he fortified it. Josephus is writing of what had disappeared two centuries before his day, and his description is probably in some points erroneous. It has been suggested that the work was due to Hyrcanus I and that his erection of a Baris or castle at the N.W. corner of the temple led to the demolition of the Syrian Acra to the S. of it."

The Hump of Ophel

On the map (Google or otherwise), is seen a t-junction where there are three street names. This is the junction between the city of David street (north to south), Ma'ale HaShalom street (east to west), and Derekh Ha'ophel street (west to east).

This approximate location is seen on PEF plate 3, just to the right of the Tyropoean valley cutting, where the contours are tightly packed, which indicates steepness.

The contours are not indicative of the actual lay of the land today, but are the heights of the underlying bedrock which were found through the digging of vertical shafts, by Captain Charles Warren and his team, of the Palestine Exploration Fund survey of 1867-70.

Following uphill in a north easterly direction from the t-junction in the direction of the middle of the southern boundary of the temple mount, we see point P (plate 3), and we also see another section line passing through that point in a north westerly direction.

Those who did geography at school will be able to follow the contours and see them level off just inside the temple mount area, before rising again to the rock under the dome.

This levelling off can be seen on the sections on PEF plate 9.

Also of interest on plate 9, is the direction of build up of soil level, which seems to favour south facing inclines. If this had been continued into the temple mount, its southern side would be of a higher level, thus indicating the possibility of an earthen hill at that location.

A tower built on such a hill would be able to overlook the pre-Herodian temple.

Today, Ma'ale HaShalom street continues to rise past Dung Gate toward the upper city. However, the bedrock level in the Giv'ati parking lot excavations is greatly lower, and that's because it is in the Tyropoean valley.

The road however, and the west wall excavations area are much higher.

Josephus tells us why

"The city was built upon two hills, which are opposite to one another, and have a valley to divide them asunder; at which valley the corresponding rows of houses on both hills end. Of these hills, that which contains the upper city is much higher, and in length more direct. Accordingly, it was called the "Citadel," by king David; he was the father of that Solomon who built this temple at the first; but it is by us called the "Upper Market-place." But the other hill, which was called "Acra," and sustains [is at the head of] the lower city, is of the shape of a moon when she is horned; over against this there was a third hill, but naturally lower than Acra [the city of David], and parted formerly from the other by a broad valley. However, in those times when the Asamoneans reigned, they filled up that valley with earth, and had a mind to join the city to the temple. They then took off part of the height of Acra, and reduced it to be of less elevation than it was before, that the temple might be superior to it."

[is at the head of] and [the city of David] are my additions to help the reader understand.

So firstly we see that the valley was filled up with earth - and afterwards - they took off part of the height of Acra and reduced it to be of less elevation.

Based on the above, my suggestion is that the Seleucid tower of Acra was just inside of todays southern temple mount area.

This agrees somewhat with Whiston, where he wrote "but between them both" (the temple and the city of David).

This approximate location is also suggested by archaeologist Leen Ritmeyer (The mysterious Akra in Jerusalem), who provides further extracts from 1 Macabees and Josephus Antiquities.

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