Once More on the Nicanor Gate
Talmudic tradition locates the Nicanor Gate at the western exit of the Forecourt of Women and attributes it to a certain Nicanor who brought doors of Corinthian bronze from Alexandria. According to the Rabbis, one of the doors was cast overboard during a storm, but was miraculously recovered when Ni...
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
1991
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Year: 1991, Volume: 62, Pages: 245-283 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Biblical geography
/ History 37 BC-70
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| IxTheo Classification: | HH Archaeology |
| Further subjects: | B
Temple
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| Summary: | Talmudic tradition locates the Nicanor Gate at the western exit of the Forecourt of Women and attributes it to a certain Nicanor who brought doors of Corinthian bronze from Alexandria. According to the Rabbis, one of the doors was cast overboard during a storm, but was miraculously recovered when Nicanor arrived in the Land of Israel. A sarcophagus inscription mentioning Nicanor who "made the doors" was identified with the Nicanor of the sages. Josephus, who is completely unaware of Rabbinic tradition, locates the "Corinthian Gate", made of Corinthian bronze, at the eastern entrance to the Forecourt of Women. The present study seeks to explain the contradiction between Josephus and the Rabbis regarding the locations of the gate, as well as to offer a different explanation for the etymology of the Nicanor of the gate that bears his name. Josippon and non-extant traditions of the Palestinian Talmud found in accounts of Talmudic commentators mention another Nicanor. The "original" Nicanor Gate will be shown to refer to the Greek general who was defeated by Judas Maccabaeus, and whose limbs, according to some versions of the tradition, were hung from what was later to become the Nicanor Gate. All of the Nicanor material will also be examined within the framework of the history and development of the Temple Mount. |
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| ISSN: | 0360-9049 |
| Contains: | In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
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