Archaeological remnants of the Jerusalem Temple

Several kinds of archaeological remnants of the Jerusalem Temple exist. Those for what is customarily called Solomon's Temple are indirect and some are challenged. There is extensive physical evidence for the temple called the Second Temple that was built by returning exiles around 516 BCE and stood until its destruction by Rome in the year 70 CE. There is limited physical evidence of Solomon's Temple, although it is still widely accepted to have existed.
The term First Temple is customarily used to describe the Temple of the pre-exilic period, which is thought to have been destroyed by the Babylonian conquest. It is described in the Bible as having been built by King Solomon and is understood to have been constructed with its Holy of Holies centered on a stone hilltop now known as the Foundation Stone which had been a traditional focus of worship in Jerusalem. Virtually all modern scholars agree that the First Temple existed on the Temple Mount by the time of the Babylonian siege, but there is disagreement among contemporary scholars as to when it was built and who built it.
Because of the religious and political sensitivities involved, no archaeological excavations and only limited surface surveys of the Temple Mount have been conducted since Charles Warren's expedition of 1867–70. As such, archaeologists continue to remain divided over the existence of the Temple. Kathleen Kenyon claimed that there was no archaeological evidence for the existence of Solomon's Temple, but this view is disputed by Ernest-Marie Laperrousaz. Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman argue that the first Jewish temple in Jerusalem was not built until the end of the 7th century BCE, around three hundred years after Solomon. They believe the temple should not really be assigned to Solomon, who they see as little more than a small-time hill country chieftain, and argue that it was most likely built by Josiah, who governed Judah from 639 to 609 BCE. However, Alan R. Millard argues that this minimalist view is essentially a subjective judgement. Philip Alexander argues against the minimalist view based on the detail presented in the written record.
The term "Second Temple" describes the temple described in the Bible as having been built after the accession of Cyrus the Great to the throne of the Persian Empire in 559 BCE made the re-establishment of the city of Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple possible. The physical evidence for the existence of this Temple is extensive. Consecrated in 516 BCE by the exiles returning from Babylon under Ezra and Nehemiah, it is contained within a far grander edifice. This edifice of the ancient Temple Mount was expanded at least twice more, once under the Hasmonean dynasty and then under Herod the Great, who turned it into one of the largest built structures in the ancient world.
The Hasmonean dynasty expanded the 500 cubit square Temple platform toward the south; distinctive Hasmonean ashlars are visible in the Eastern Wall.
The massive Herodian expansion produced the Temple of Jesus' time.
The Trumpeting Place inscription and the Temple Warning inscription are surviving pieces of the Herodian expansion of the Temple Mount. Both inscribed stones are on display in the Israel Museum.
During Temple times, entry to the Mount was limited by a complex set of purity laws. Those who were not of the Jewish nation were prohibited from entering the inner court of the Temple. A hewn stone measuring 60 x 90 cm. and engraved with Greek uncials was discovered in 1871 near a court on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in which it outlined this prohibition:
Translation: "Let no foreigner enter within the parapet and the partition which surrounds the Temple precincts. Anyone caught [violating] will be held accountable for his ensuing death." Today, the stone is preserved in Istanbul's Museum of Antiquities.
Enormous Herodian lower courses of the massive northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Walls survive.
Solomon's Stables is a name given in later centuries to an enormous, underground vaulted support structure erected by Herodian engineers.
Swaths of Herodian paving survive in situ on the Temple Mount in several places.
The Well of Souls beneath the Foundation Stone, understood to be extremely ancient, has never been opened to examination by archaeologists by the waqf.