Byzantine Empress Eudocia, 438 CE: Sukkot

The Jewish people’s continued attachment to the Temple Mount is exemplified by an event that occurred during the reign of the Byzantine Empress Eudocia. When she went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 438, she was greeted warmly by Jews everywhere, probably as a result of her policy of supporting non-Christians. When the leading rabbis asked her for permission to once again ascend the Temple Mount, she immediately agreed. Great excitement gripped the local Jewish leaders who sent letters to other communities throughout the world informing them of the good news and asking them to come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the coming Sukkot festival. More than 100,000 Jews came to Jerusalem that year, but once again, Jerusalem’s Christians launched a violent protest and blocked access to the mountain.

Source: Kenneth Holum, Theodosian Empresses (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), p. 217.