The Silwan Location thesis maintains that the Jewish Temple was located in the northern end of the Palestinian neighborhood called Silwan that refers to the entirety of the southwest ridge of Jerusalem under which is located the remains of the City of David, the original city of Jerusalem.
We know from Josephus that the Temple could not possibly have been located on the platform of the Haram ash-Sharif.
The other reason it could not be located there is that it lacked a feature every temple had to have: a natural spring of flowing water. The only spring within a five mile radius of Jerusalem is the Gihon Spring. It is located on the eastern slope of Silwan.
All descriptions of the temples place the temple above the spring of Silwan. Flowing spring water along qualified for Jewish ritual cleansing, of which much was demanded by Temple practices, and for mikveh, the Jewish ritual bath, which remains a requirement for Orthodox Jews to this day.
This is the second major reason the temples cannot have been located at the Haram, which has plenty of cisterns but no naturally flowing spring.
Photo credit: Emek Shaveh
This is where the Jewish Temples were located. It is a shot of the Haram from the south. In the foreground is the al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Golden Dome of the Dome of the Rock.
The foreground where the Temples were located forms the northern area of the red area below marked "Silwan / Ir David". Ir David is Hebrew for "City of David", which occupied all of the red area. It contained the Temple and the Citadel. The citadel was dismantled by king Simon the Hasmonaean and replaced by a fort called the Baris on the site of the Haram. Herod then built Fort Antonia on the site, which remained the home base of the Tenth Frementina Legion from 70 CE until it was moved to Eilat in 289 CE.
Photo credit: Fubar and Grill
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