What is the historical timeline of the three Temples in Jerusalem?

King Solomon began the construction of the First Temple on Mount Moriah around 967 BC, completing the structure in approximately six and a half years 1. According to the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Virginia, construction started around 966 BC and concluded around 959 BC. The First Temple stood for nearly five centuries as the spiritual center of the Hebrew people until Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, looted and destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 BC 1. In Craft Masonry, this Solomonic Temple serves as the primary symbol of mortal human life and the search for divine truth 1.

Rebuilding of the sanctuary initiated the era of the Second Temple after King Cyrus allowed the return from Babylonian captivity. Work commenced under Sheshbazzar in 536 BC and was completed by Zerubbabel in 516 BC or 515 BC after two decades of labor 1. The Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Alberta notes that Zerubbabel rebuilt this Second Temple in the sixth century BC. In the Royal Arch, the Temple of Zerubbabel forms the symbolic foundation, representing eternal life and the ultimate discovery of truth 1.

Herod the Great established the Third Temple by undertaking a extensive restructuring and expansion project between 20 BC and 19 BC 1. The Provincial Grand Lodge of South Wales notes that Herod's renovation of the Temple Mount began around 37 BC or 25 BC. This massive architectural enterprise was not fully completed until between 62 AD and 64 AD 1. Shortly thereafter, in 70 AD, Roman legions burned the Third Temple to the ground during the suppression of the Jewish revolt 1.