Eastern Wall

"[2] Ritmeyer has pointed out that the Dome of the Rock is seated on a square platform atop the Temple Mount, the sides of which, defined by short flights of steps, are square and parallel to the modern walls of the Mount with one exception: the western steps deviate from parallel.

Moreover, the bottom step on the western side of the Dome of the Rock platform is composed of a single line of distinctively large and "beautifully polished" ashlars.

[2] According to Ritmeyer, the measurements given in the Mishna, tractate Middot, "The Temple Mount measured 500 cubits by 500 cubits," can be traced on the modern Temple Mount, with this step the outline of the western side of the square and the Eastern Wall the eastern side.

[2] The "precise" measurement of an ancient Judean royal cubit, 20.67 inches, outlines these landmarks area exactly.

[2][3] Ritmeyer proposes that this 500 cubit walled square was constructed by King Hezekiah c. 700 BCE to expand the flat area in which the faithful could gather at the Solomonic-era Temple.

[1] The seam between the Hasmonean and Herodian extensions of the wall, known as the "straight joint", is visible as a vertical row of ashlars 32 meters north of the southeast corner.

[1] King Herod expanded the Temple Mount still further toward the south; distinctively Herodian ashlars are visible in the Eastern Wall, in the last stretch before the southeastern corner.