These photographs show two models of ancient Jerusalem and the Temple. The model in the upper photograph was built in Europe and presented at the 13th Zionist Congress in Karlsbad, Czechoslovakia. The model shows the influence of European cities with its European-style turrets and towers. The text below the photograph is in German and reads: “The miniature of Solomon’s Temple,” indicating that this is a model of the First Temple.
The model in the lower picture is a model of Jerusalem at the end of the Second Temple period. The model was built between 1962 and 1966 and is displayed at the Israel Museum. The 50:1 scale model which covers almost an entire acre is based on the appearance of Jerusalem in the year 66 CE, the year of the Great Revolt against the Romans, which led to the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem four years later. The model was built according to the interpretation by archaeologist and historian Michael Avi-Yonah of descriptions written by Josephus Flavius, a first-century Jewish-Roman historian.
The model was built at the initiative of the owner of the Holyland Hotel, Hans Kroch, in memory of his son, Jacob, who fell in the War of Independence. Kroch commissioned Avi-Yonah to design the model in 1962, and it was opened in 1966, quickly becoming one of Jerusalem’s most popular tourist spots. In 2006, the Second Temple Model was transferred to the Israel Museum.
