Reexamining the Akedah Location: Temple Zero and Mount Moriah’s Sanctity
The location of the altar of Akedat Yitzchak (binding of Isaac) remains a pivotal question in Jewish tradition, with the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Beit HaBechirah 2:1 asserting that the altar’s site is "extremely precise" and unchangeable, linking the Akedah (Genesis 22:2) to Solomon’s Temple on Mount Moriah (II Chronicles 3:1) [1]. Traditionally, this is the Temple Mount’s Even HaShtiyah (Foundation Stone). However, the Middle Bronze Age (1615–1445 BCE) Temple Zero complex in the City of David, with its westernmost altar platform and matzevah, offers a compelling alternative for the altar at Akedah’s historical site, prompting a reevaluation of the Rambam’s Hebrew phrasing and Mount Moriah’s sanctity [2].
The Rambam’s use of בַמִּקְדָּשׁ ("in the temple") and אֶרֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּה ("land of Moriah") introduces ambiguity, as מִקְדָּשׁ can mean a "sanctified place" and אֶרֶץ suggests a broader region [1]. This permits the Akedah at Temple Zero, 500–700 meters south of the Temple Mount, within Mount Moriah’s limestone ridge [3]. Buried by circa 1550 BCE, Temple Zero aligns with Zion as the City of David (2 Samuel 5:7), where originally David sought a pre-existing Israelite heritage site [4]. The argument posits that Temple Zero is the site of Akedah’s true altar, potentially the future Third Temple’s site, citing its alignment with the Ein Shemesh (Gihon Spring) and prophetic critiques of the post Solomon's Temple altar placement (Haggai 2:9, II Kings 18:4) [2, 4].
Commentators relate the Even HaShtiyah as the entirety of Mount Moriah, the "Foundation Stone" or "Rock" (Zohar, Vayera 97b), unifying Temple Zero’s sanctity with the Temple Mount [5]. Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 48:10–20) expands the Third Temple’s sacred zone to include the City of David, supporting Temple Zero’s holiness [6]. However, the Rambam’s unchangeable altar and halachic tradition (Mishnah Middot 3:1) prioritize the Temple Mount as the site for Solomon’s and the Third Temple’s altars [1, 7]. A synthesis proposes Temple Zero as the Akedah’s historical altar, its sanctity subsumed into the Temple Mount’s Even HaShtiyah when David chose the threshing floor (II Samuel 24:18) as guided by prophecy [3]. This reconciles the brevity of Temple Zero evidence with halachic primacy, whilst the claim for the Third Temple’s altar at Temple Zero lacks mainstream support [2].
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