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I am often intrigued by the “little things” I see on my trips to the Holy Land. This is an example of that. You are looking at the lintel of the Double Gates at the top of the steps at the southern wall of the Temple Mount.
All that remains is the right portion of that lintel. This gate provided access to the Temple Mount through a subterranean passage. What intrigues me here is a stone in the wall. It was put in upside down. How do we know that? There is an inscription on it in Latin and the letters are upside down.
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It is believed to be the base to a statue of Hadrian’s son that was seen by the Pilgrim of Bordeaux when he/she traveled to the Holy Land during August and September, 333 AD. Its position upside down clearly indicates that it is in secondary use. It is thought that the stone was part of the debris picked up and used by Muslims during the construction of the Al Aqsa Mosque.
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The inscription in Latin reads:
TITO AEL HADRIANO
ANTONINO AUG PIO
P P PONTIF AUGUR
D D
English Translation:
To Titus Ael[ius] Hadrianus
Antoninus Aug[ustus] Pius
the f[ather] of the f[atherland], pontif[ex], augur.
D[ecreed] by the D[ecurions]
D[ecreed] by the D[ecurions]
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