As of 2159AD, there had only been three Jewish temples (the one on the Island of Elephantine in the Nile excluded), all on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. It's generally thought that this is the only place where a true Jewish temple could be built. Of these only the last was still in existence. Before the construction of the first, the Israelites had used a mobile structure called the tabernacle. During the periods between the temples no real substitute was used.

First temple - built by King Solomon around 950BC. This was a fairly small, mostly wooden structure. It was destroyed by the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar on 9^th Av (a date, in the Jewish calendar, on which many Israeli disasters have occurred) 587BC.

Second temple - this was built on the foundations of the first, in spite of much opposition, and completed in 515BC. It was enlarged by King Herod the great about 40BC. This was the temple with which Jesus and his disciples were familiar. It was destroyed (as prophesied by Jesus) by the Romans in 70AD (again on the 9^th Av).

Temple of Jupiter - built by the Emporor Hadrian after a Jewish revolt. Little is known about it but it's been noted that the El Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock bear remarkable similarity in floor plan to the temple of Baalbek in Lebanon, it's thought that later Muslim stucktures were built on the foundations of the Temple of Jupiter.

El Aksa Mosque and Dome of the Rock - Temple Mount (where it is generally thought the Jewish temple had stood) had become a rubbish tip by 638AD, when Muslims cleared it and built the Dome of the Rock (technically a shrine, not a mosque) in 690AD and the first El Aksa Mosque in 700AD. Although the latter was destroyed several times, the former had a remarkably stable history. The presence of the these Muslim structures (the El Aksa Mosque being considered the 3^rd most holy site of Islam - a claim based on a highly questionable interpretation of a passage in the Koran) on what was generally considered the site of the Jewish temple was a major irritant in the conflicts between Israelis and Palastinians after the Jewish homeland was restored in 1949AD. Many of the Jews felt that a new temple should descend from heaven so pragmatism prevailed into the early 21^st century. Like most Muslim religious sites, they were destroyed during the Muslim war (exact date not given to prevent temporal paradoxes).

Third Temple - After the Muslim war, Israel had an influx of mostly Messianic Jews (who accepted Jesus as the Messiah but generally followed Jewish traditions), many of whom had discovered their Jewish ancestry due to their relatives been subseptable to a Jew specific nanotechnological weapon (developed by Muslims as an attempt at genoside). Ironically many of these Messianics were former Muslims. It was in this period of upheaval that the third temple was built by Messianics who mostly thought that they should build the temple described by the prophet Ezekiel (who'd lived between the first and second temples). Some felt that this temple was meant for the Millennium (Christ's 1000 year earthly reign - prophecised to occure after the battle of Armageddon) but many also felt that the second coming was imminent. Others pointed out that Ezekiel's temple had walls and guards so was presumably meant to be built before the Millennium.

There was some dispute about the exact location of the previous temples or if Ezekiel's temple should be located north of Jerusalem rather than in it. This dispute was settled when it was pointed out that the easiest way to fit Ezekiel's temple (which was 600 cubits, about 290m square) on temple mount would have it aligned with the Church of the Holy Sepulcre (which was built around what was widely beleived to be Christ's tomb and the site of Golgotha). This was seen as a sign. Other problems were that Ezekiel was vague about most things other than the floor plan (e.g. he mentioned a building to the west of the sanctuary which was 100 cubits square but says nothing else about its appearance or function). Some people wanted all the buildings to be basically brick shaped while others thought that the upper parts may have been so fantastic that Ezekiel couldn't describe them (there was even a camp which thought that it sounded suspiciously like the Mir space station and should have been constructed in geosyncronous orbit oven a point south of Jerusalem - which was north of the equator). Time and resources resulted in a fairly restrained interpretation but the upper parts did serve as a defense against aerial attack (presumably a problem Ezekiel would have had dificulty understanding).

Another problem was that the design put alcoves for guards on the sides of the inner gates facing into the inner court (where only priests were allowed). This was easily solved by using mech guards without bio components. Unlike most mechs, these had a fairly amorphous form, with a macro exterior around the mech skeleton. This was done to avoid breaking the second commandment.

Ezekiel describes the glory of God returning through the east gate and occupying the temple. As of 2159 this had not happened. Many thought that this was because the Ark of the Covenant had not been recovered. It was now fairly certain that it had been removed by priests during the reign of King Manasseh and ultimately taken to Ethiopia (via the Island of Elephantine). It was taken (stolen?) from Ethiopia by the Knights Templar who'd probably taken it to Europe (Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland was often mentioned but this was now buried under ice). Unfortunately, the Priory of Sion (for whom the Knights Templar were a front) seem to have been angered when hackers found the Sangreal Documents (genealogies following the house of David into modern times) in a secret directory of a certain genealogical database used by another of their front organizations. This allowed the Messianics to recruit the rightful king of Israel to their cause (Ezekiel alluded to him) but probably hardened Sion's leaders against returning the Ark of the Covenant.

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