“Excellent! And of course you recognize that magnificent edifice with its roof of gold and alabaster on the summit of the hill across the city?”

“Of course. The great Temple of the Jews. It sits on Mount Moriah and was Herod’s supreme legacy to a people whose love and respect he never received. More than ten thousand engineers and laborers toiled day and night during its early stages of construction, and nearly a thousand priests received special training in the art of stone-masonry so that only their holy hands would touch the marble and mortar that eventually formed the sacred inner courts and altar. As we stand here, if this is A.D. 36, it has already been under construction for more than fifty years. Thirty-four years from now, soon after its completion, it will be destroyed completely by Titus and the legions of Rome after the Jewish revolt is suppressed in September, A.D. 70.”

Joseph was furious. “Matthias, you must not do that! You must guard carefully against drawing on your knowledge of the future and using it to prophesy. That will get you into the kind of trouble from which there is no salvation.”

I couldn’t resist. “Jesus also prophesied the destruction of the Temple, and it got him into trouble too.”

The old man’s jaws tightened. He turned his back on me and pointed. “Beyond the Temple and outside the city, to the east, is a tree-covered hill. What is it called?”

“The Mount of Olives—and it is separated from the city by the Kidron Valley. The Garden of Gethsemane is there, where Jesus was taken prisoner on that Thursday night—”

“To the left, north of the Temple and almost touching it: what is that building?”

At last there was a touch of admiration in his voice. I shaded my eyes in the direction he was pointing and said, “That monstrosity was originally named Baris and erected by the Maccabeans to defend the city. Herod converted it into a sumptuous palace and renamed it Antonia after his powerful friend of earlier times, Mark Antony. Now it is a Roman fortress, under the command of Pontius Pilate, occupied by approximately a thousand troops responsible for the maintenance of law and order here. Pilate’s headquarters are in Caesarea, but he usually comes to Antonia for the most important Jewish holidays, bringing with him additional troops to handle the increased number of pilgrims, who usually get carried away with patriotic zeal during their holiest feast days. It was on Antonia’s pavement, in the large outer courtyard, that Jesus was brought before Pilate for trial on the morning of his crucifixion.”

Joseph nodded and pointed to the area south of the Temple where dark smoke hung permanently above thatched roofs and streets clogged with humanity. “And what is that section called?”