Jerome Murphy-O’Connor of the École Biblique et Archéologique Française in Jerusalem contends that the Antonia on Herod’s Temple Mount was only about half the size of the one reconstructed by Ehud Netzer of the Hebrew University (“Herod’s Antonia Fortress,BAR 35:01) and that the contemporaneous Jewish historian Josephus exaggerated certain measurements with respect to the Antonia.

Archaeologist/architect Leen Ritmeyer also published a much different reconstruction of the Antonia on his blog.

Murphy-O’Connor’s and Ritmeyer’s reconstructions may be found in our online forum, along with Ehud Netzer’s response.—Ed.