Universal History Annotation << Back JUAN BAUTISTA VILLALPANDO AND ISAAC NEWTON ABOUT ANCIENT HEBREW SACRAL ARCHITECTURE K.S. Sharov The views of Spanish mathematician Juan Bautista Villalpando and English mathematician, physicist and historiographer Sir Isaac Newton regarding the reconstruction of the Temple of Jerusalem and the role of Ancient Hebrew sacral architecture in the development of architectural traditions of the Mediterranean peoples, are analysed and compared. Villalpando and Newton in their writings reflected the opposite approaches to the re-construction of the Hebrew Temple and the understanding of Ancient Hebrew sacral architecture. Villalpando in his reconstruction focussed primarily on mathematical perfection, sacrificing historical accuracy. In addition, Villalpando’s project of the Temple is characterised by many architectural anachronisms. Isaac Newton, on the contrary, tried to re-create the external and internal appearance as well as geometric parameters of the Temple. He based his viewpoint on all Hebraist historical sources available to him, as well as some archaeological evidence. Newton developed his theory that Ancient Egyptian and Greco-Roman sacral architectural styles are directly related to the Ancient Hebrew sacral architectural tradition. The borrowing took place through Egypt. The quadrature of the Hebrew Temple also influenced the architectural styles of India and Southeast Asia through Persia. An example of this is the temple of Angkor Wat. From Newton’s point of view, these styles were derived by the ancient world from the classic style of Jewish architecture. As well Newton directly connects the square symmetry characteristic of hermetic traditions of Solar Cities with the square symmetry of the Jerusalem Temple. Newton connects the square forms of real and utopic ancient temples and cities with the development of natural philosophy teaching about the elements of the world (the four aggregate states of matter). Keywords: sacred architecture, ancient architecture, history of architecture, history of New European science, Judaic studies, Hebraism, Newton, Villalpando, reconstruction of Jerusalem Temple. DOI: 10.25791/vseist.02.2019.707 Contacts: E-mail: const.sharov@mail.ru Pp. 35-41.