The First Temple or Solomon’s Temple was built in the 10th century BC. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, the Second Temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in the year 70 CE as a result of the First Jewish-Roman War. Each Temple stood for a period of about four centuries.

According to Judaism’s religious texts, when the legions of Titus destroyed the Temple, only a part of an outer court-yard “western wall” remained standing. Jewish texts teach that Titus left it as a bitter reminder to the Jews that Rome had vanquished Judea. The Jews, however, attributed it to a promise made by God that some part of the holy Temple would be left standing as a sign of God’s unbroken bond with the Jewish people in spite of the catastrophes which had befallen them.