Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...
between the 10th century BC and . According to the
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah ( he, , ''Yəhūdā''; akk, 𒅀𒌑𒁕𒀀𒀀 ''Ya'údâ'' 'ia-ú-da-a-a'' arc, 𐤁𐤉𐤕𐤃𐤅𐤃 ''Bēyt Dāwīḏ'', " House of David") was an Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. C ...
in . It stood for around four centuries until it was destroyed by the
Neo-Babylonian Empire
The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC and bei ...
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compou ...
in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
by the time of the Babylonian siege, there is significant debate over the date of its construction and the identity of its builder.
The Hebrew Bible, specifically within the Book of Kings, includes a detailed narrative about the construction's ordering by Solomon, the penultimate ruler of amalgamated Israel and Judah. It further credits Solomon as the placer of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, a windowless inner sanctum within the structure. Entry into the Holy of Holies was heavily restricted; the High Priest of Israel was the only authority permitted to enter the sanctuary, and only did so on
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day' ...
, carrying the blood of a sacrificial lamb and burning incense. In addition to serving as a religious building for worship, the First Temple also functioned as a place of assembly for the
Israelites
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
. The First Temple's destruction and the subsequent Babylonian captivity were both events that were seen as a fulfillment of biblical prophecies and thus affected Judaic religious beliefs, precipitating the Israelites' transition from either
polytheism
Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, t ...
or
monolatrism
Monolatry ( grc, μόνος, monos, single, and grc, λατρεία, latreia, worship, label=none) is the belief in the existence of many gods, but with the consistent worship of only one deity. The term ''monolatry'' was perhaps first used by J ...
(as seen in
Yahwism
Yahwism is the name given by modern scholars to the religion of ancient Israel. Yahwism was essentially polytheistic, with a plethora of gods and goddesses. Heading the pantheon was Yahweh, the national god of the Israelite kingdoms of Is ...
) to firm Jewish monotheism.
Previously, many scholars accepted the biblical narrative of the First Temple's construction by Solomon as authentic; however, during the 1980s, skeptical approaches to the biblical text as well as the archaeological record led some scholars to doubt whether there was any Temple in Jerusalem constructed as early as the 10th century BCE. Some scholars have suggested that the original structure built by Solomon was relatively modest, and was later rebuilt on a larger scale during the later years of the United Monarchy. No direct evidence for the existence of Solomon's Temple has been found, although no real archaeological excavations have ever been conducted on the Temple Mount due to the extreme religious and political sensitivity of the site. The ''House of Yahweh'' ostracon, dated to the 6th century BCE, may refer to the First Temple. Two 21st century findings from the Israelite period in present-day
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
have been found bearing resemblance to Solomon's Temple as it is described in the Hebrew Bible: a shrine model from the early half of the 10th century BCE in Khirbet Qeiyafa; and the Tel Motza temple, dated to the 9th century BCE and located in the neighbourhood of Motza within
West Jerusalem
West Jerusalem or Western Jerusalem (, ; , ) refers to the section of Jerusalem that was controlled by Israel at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. As the city was divided by the Green Line (Israel's erstwhile border, established by t ...
.
Location
According to the Bible, Solomon's Temple was built on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, where an angel of God had appeared to David (). The site was originally a threshing floor David had purchased from
Araunah
Araunah (Hebrew: ''’Ǎrawnā'') was a Jebusite mentioned in the Second Book of Samuel, who owned the threshing floor on Mount Moriah which David purchased and used as the site for assembling an altar to God. The First Book of Chronicles, a la ...
the Jebusite (; ).
Schmid and Rupprecht are of the view that the site of the temple used to be a Jebusite shrine that Solomon chose in an attempt to unify the Jebusites and Israelites.
The exact location of the Temple is unknown. It is believed to have been situated upon the hill that forms the site of the 1st century Second Temple and present-day
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compou ...
1 Kings
The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the book ...
, the foundation of the Temple is laid in Ziv, the second month of the fourth year of Solomon's reign and construction is completed in Bul, the eighth month of Solomon's eleventh year, thus taking about seven years.
The Hebrew Bible records that the Tyrians played a leading role in the construction of the Temple. The Second Book of Samuel mentions how David and Hiram forged an alliance. This friendship continues after Solomon succeeds David, and the two refer to each other as brothers. A literary account of how Hiram helps Solomon build the Temple is given in
1 Kings
The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the book ...
(chapters 5–9) and
2 Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...
(chapters 2–7). Hiram agrees to Solomon's request to supply him with
cedar
Cedar may refer to:
Trees and plants
*''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae
*Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar
Places United States
* Cedar, Arizona
* ...
and
cypress tree
Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the la ...
for the construction of the Temple. He tells Solomon that he will send the trees by sea: "I will make them into rafts to go by the sea to the place that you indicate. I will have them broken up there for you to take away." In return for the lumber, Solomon sends him wheat and oil. Solomon also brings over a skilled craftsman from Tyre, also called Hiram (or Huram-abi), who oversees the construction of the Temple. Stonemasons from Gebal (
Byblos
Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 8 ...
) cut stones for the Temple.
After the Temple and palace (taking an additional 13 years) is completed, Solomon hands over twenty cities in the northwestern Galilee near Tyre as a repayment to Hiram. Hiram was not pleased with the gift, however, and asks "what are these towns that you have given me, my brother?". Hiram then calls them "the land of
Cabul
Cabul (), classical spelling: Chabolo; Chabulon, is a location in the Lower Galilee mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, now the Kabul local council in Israel, 9 or east of Acco.
History Bronze and Iron ages
Cabul is first mentioned as one of the l ...
", and the writer of
1 Kings 9
1 Kings 9 is the ninth chapter of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the First Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a D ...
says they were called by this name "to this day". Hiram however remains on friendly terms with Solomon.
The Second Book of Chronicles fills in some details of the construction not given in narrative brought in 1 Kings. It states that the trees sent as rafts were sent to the city of Joppa on the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
coast, and in return for the lumber supplied, Solomon, in addition to the wheat and oil, sent wine to Hiram.
Transfer of the Ark of the Covenant
and record that in the seventh month of the year, at the
feast of Tabernacles
or ("Booths, Tabernacles")
, observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans
, type = Jewish, Samaritan
, begins = 15th day of Tishrei
, ends = 21st day of Tishre ...
, the priests and the
Levites
Levites (or Levi) (, he, ''Lǝvīyyīm'') are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew de ...
and recount the events of the temple's dedication. When the priests emerged from the holy of holies after placing the Ark there, the Temple was filled with an overpowering cloud that interrupted the dedication ceremony,Pulpit Commentary on 1 Kings 8 accessed 2 October 2017 "for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord uch thatthe priests could not stand to minister" (1 Kings 8:10–11; 2 Chronicles 5:13, 14). Solomon interpreted the cloud as "
roof
A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of te ...
that his pious work was accepted":
The allusion is to :
The Pulpit Commentary notes that "Solomon had thus every warrant for connecting a
theophany
Theophany (from Ancient Greek , meaning "appearance of a deity") is a personal encounter with a deity, that is an event where the manifestation of a deity occurs in an observable way. Specifically, it "refers to the temporal and spatial manifest ...
with the thick dark cloud".Solomon then led the whole assembly of Israel in
prayer
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...
, noting that the construction on the temple represented a fulfilment of God's promise to
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, dedicating the temple as a place of prayer and reconciliation for the people of Israel and for foreigners living in Israel, and highlighting the
paradox
A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...
that God who lives in the heavens cannot really be contained within a single building. The dedication was concluded with musical celebration and sacrifices said to have included "twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep". These sacrifices were offered outside the temple, in "the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord", because the
altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...
inside the temple, despite its extensive dimensions, was not big enough for the offerings being made that day. The celebration lasted eight days and was attended by "very great assembly atheredfrom the entrance of
to the Brook of Egypt". The subsequent feast of Tabernacles extended the whole celebration to 14 days, before the people were "sent away to their homes".
After the dedication, Solomon hears in a dream that God has heard his prayer, and God will continue to hear the prayers of the people of Israel if they adopt the four ways in which they could move God to action: humility, prayer, seeking his face, and turning from wicked ways. Conversely, if they turn aside and forsake God's commandments and worship other gods, then God will abandon the temple: "this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight".
Plunder
According to the biblical narrative, Solomon's Temple was plundered several times. In the fifth year of
Rehoboam
Rehoboam (; , ; , ; la, Roboam, ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the last monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel and the first monarch of the Kingdom of Judah after the former's split. He was a son of and the successor to Solomon and a gr ...
's reign (commonly dated to 926 BCE), Egyptian pharaoh
Shishak
Shishak, Shishaq or Susac (, Tiberian: , ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, an Egyptian pharaoh who sacked Jerusalem in the 10th century BCE. He is usually identified with the pharaoh Shoshenq I.Troy Leiland Sagrillo. 2015.Shoshenq I and bib ...
(positively identified with
Shoshenq I
Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I (Egyptian ''ššnq''; reigned c. 943–922 BC)—also known as Shashank or Sheshonk or Sheshonq Ifor discussion of the spelling, see Shoshenq—was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Twenty-secon ...
) took away treasures of the Temple and the king's house, as well as shields of gold that Solomon had made; Rehoboam replaced them with brass ones (; ). A century later, Jehoash, king of the
northern Kingdom of Israel
The Kingdom of Israel (), or the Kingdom of Samaria, was an Israelites, Israelite kingdom in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. The kingdom controlled the areas of Samaria, Galilee and parts of Transjordan (region), Transjordan. Its capi ...
, advanced on Jerusalem, broke down a portion of the wall, and carried away the treasures of the Temple and the palace (). Later, when
Ahaz
Ahaz (; gr, Ἄχαζ, Ἀχάζ ''Akhaz''; la, Achaz) an abbreviation of Jehoahaz II (of Judah), "Yahweh has held" (; akk, 𒅀𒌑𒄩𒍣 ''Ya'úḫazi'' 'ia-ú-ḫa-zi''Hayim Tadmor and Shigeo Yamada, ''The Royal Inscriptions of Tiglath- ...
of Judah was threatened by defeat at the hands of
Rezin
King Rezin of Aram () or Rasin of Syria in DRB (; akk, 𒊏𒄭𒀀𒉡/𒊏𒆥𒀀𒉡, Ra-ḫi-a-nu/Ra-qi-a-nu; arc, probably *''Raḍyan''; la, Rasin, link=no) ruled from Damascus during the 8th century BC. During his reign, he was a tribu ...
of
Aram-Damascus
The Kingdom of Aram-Damascus () was an Aramean polity that existed from the late-12th century BCE until 732 BCE, and was centred around the city of Damascus in the Southern Levant. Alongside various tribal lands, it was bounded in its later ye ...
and
Pekah
Pekah (, ''Peqaḥ''; akk, 𒉺𒅗𒄩 ''Paqaḫa'' 'pa-qa-ḫa'' la, Phacee) was the eighteenth and penultimate king of Israel. He was a captain in the army of king Pekahiah of Israel, whom he killed to become king. Pekah was the son of Rem ...
of Israel, he turned to king Tiglath-Pileser IV for help. To persuade him, he "took the silver and gold that was found in the house of Yahweh, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the King of Assyria" (). At another critical juncture,
Hezekiah
Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yahweh, Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Kingdom of Jud ...
cut off the gold from the doors and doorsteps of the temple he himself had overlaid, and gave it to king
Sennacherib
Sennacherib (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or , meaning " Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Sargon II in 705BC to his own death in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynast ...
().
Joash's restoration
and recount that King Joash and the priests of the temple organised a restoration programme funded from popular donations. The temple was restored to its original condition and further reinforced.
Destruction by the Babylonians
According to the Bible, the Temple was plundered by King Nebuchadnezzar II of the
Neo-Babylonian Empire
The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC and bei ...
Jehoiachin
Jeconiah ( he, יְכָנְיָה ''Yəḵonəyā'' , meaning " Yah has established"; el, Ιεχονιας; la, Iechonias, Jechonias), also known as Coniah and as Jehoiachin ( he, יְהוֹיָכִין ''Yəhōyāḵīn'' ; la, Ioachin, Joac ...
c. 598 BCE ().
A decade later, Nebuchadnezzar again besieged Jerusalem and after 30 months finally breached the city walls in 587/6 BCE. The city finally fell to his army in July 586/7 BCE. A month later, Nebuzaradan, commander of Nebuchadnezzar's guard, was sent to burn and demolish the city. According to the Bible, "he set fire to the Temple of
Yahweh
Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he posse ...
, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem" (). Everything worth plundering was then removed and taken to Babylon ().
Jewish tradition holds that the Temple was destroyed on ''
Tisha B'Av
Tisha B'Av ( he, תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב ''Tīšʿā Bəʾāv''; , ) is an annual fast day in Judaism, on which a number of disasters in Jewish history occurred, primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian E ...
'', the 9th day of Av (Hebrew calendar), the same date of the destruction of the Second Temple. Rabbinic sources state that the First Temple stood for 410 years and, based on the 2nd-century work ''
Seder Olam Rabbah
''Seder Olam Rabbah'' ( he, סדר עולם רבה, "The Great Order of the World") is a 2nd-century CE Hebrew language chronology detailing the dates of biblical events from creation to Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia. It adds no storie ...
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
says; "the temple was burnt four hundred and seventy years, six months, and ten days after it was built".
Solomon's Temple was subsequently replaced with the Second Temple in 516 BCE.
Architecture
The description of Solomon's Temple given in
I Kings
The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books ...
and
II Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...
is remarkably detailed, but attempts to reconstruct it have met many difficulties. The description includes various technical terms that have lost their original meaning to time. Archaeological studies have provided ancient Near Eastern counterparts for architectural features, furnishings and decorative motives. Contemporary Israeli archaeologist
Finkelstein Finkelstein ( he, פֿינק(ע)לשׁטײַן or , russian: Финкельштейн) is a German and Yiddish surname originating from Old High German ''funko'' (spark) and ''stein'' (stone).
''Fünkelstein'' meant pyrite (George J. Adler A Dictio ...
considered Solomon's Temple to be built according to
Phoenicia
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
n design, and its description is in accordance with how Phoenician temples looked;According to Finkelstein in ''
The Bible Unearthed
''The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts'', a book published in 2001, discusses the archaeology of Israel and its relationship to the origins and content of the Hebrew Bible. The author ...
'', the description of the temple is remarkably similar to that of surviving remains of Phoenician temples of the time, and it is certainly plausible, from the point of view of archaeology, that the temple was constructed to the design of
Phoenicians
Phoenicia () was an ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient thalassocracy, thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-st ...
. others have described the structure as
temple in antis
Temple in antis is an architectural design that became popular in Syria and other parts of the Levant (Syria/Lebanon and Israel/Palestine/Jordan) starting in the Early Bronze Age (3500-3000 B.C.E.) and persisting until the Iron Age (1000-586 B.C.E. ...
. In 2011, three small portable shrines were discovered in Khirbet Qeiyafa, an archaeological site 30 km (20 mi) from
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
dated to 1025–975 BCE, a range that includes the biblical date for the reigns of David and Solomon. The smaller shrines are boxes shaped with different decorations showing impressive architectonic and decorative styles. One of the excavators, Israeli archaeologist
Yosef Garfinkel
Yosef Garfinkel (hebrew: יוסף גרפינקל; born 1956) is an Israeli archaeologist and academic. He is Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology and of Archaeology of the Biblical Period at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Biography
Yosef (Yo ...
, suggested that the style and the decoration of these cultic objects are very similar to the biblical description of some features of Solomon's Temple.
Archeologists categorize the biblical description of Solomon's Temple as a ''langbau'' building. That is, a rectangular building that is longer than it is wide. It is furthermore classified as a tripartite building, consisting of three units; the ''ulam'' (porch), the ''heikal'' (sanctuary), and the ''debir'' (the Holy of Holies). It is also categorized as being a straight-axis temple, meaning that there is a straight line from the entrance to the innermost shrine.
Porch
The ''ulam'', or porch, featured two bronze pillars
Jachin and Boaz
According to the Bible, Boaz ( he, ''Bōʿaz'') and Jachin ( ''Yāḵīn'') were two copper, brass or bronze pillars which stood on the porch of Solomon's Temple, the first Temple in Jerusalem. They are used as symbols in Freemasonry and sometim ...
. It is unclear from the biblical descriptions whether the porch was a closed room, a roofed entranceway, or an open courtyard. Thus, it is not known whether the pillars were freestanding or structural elements built into the porch. If they were built into the porch, it could indicate that the design was influenced by similar temples in Syria or even Turkey, home to the ancient
Hittite Empire
The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centra ...
. While most reconstructions of the Temple have the pillars freestanding, Yosef Garfinkel and Madeleine Mumcuoglu finds it likely that the pillars supported a roof over the porch.
Sanctuary (main chamber)
The porch led to the ''heikal'', main chamber, or sanctuary. It measured 40 cubits in length, 20 cubits in width, and 30 cubits in height and contained a candelabrum, a table and a gold-covered altar used for offerings. In the sanctuary, loaves of
Showbread
Showbread ( he, לחם הפנים ''Leḥem haPānīm'', literally: "Bread of the Faces"), in the King James Version: shewbread, in a biblical or Jewish context, refers to the cakes or loaves of bread which were always present, on a specially-de ...
were left as an offering to God. At the far end of the sanctuary there was a wooden door, guarded by two cherubim, leading to the Holy of Holies.
The walls of the sanctuary were lined with cedar, on which were carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers that were overlaid with gold (). Chains of gold further marked it off from the Holy of Holies. The floor of the Temple was of fir overlaid with gold. The doorposts, of olivewood, supported folding doors of fir. The doors of the Holy of Holies were of olivewood. On both sets of doors were carved cherubim, palm trees, and flowers, all being overlaid with gold ( et seq.) This main building was between the outer altar, where most sacrifices were performed, and inside at the far end was the entry to the Holy of Holies, originally containing the Ark of the Covenant. The main hekhal contained a number of sacred ritual objects including the seven-branched candlestick, a golden
Altar of Incense
Altars ( he, מִזְבֵּחַ, ''mizbeaḥ'', "a place of slaughter or sacrifice") in the Hebrew Bible were typically made of earth () or unwrought stone (). Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places (; ; ; ; ). The first altar recorded ...
, and the table of the showbread. According to 1 Kings 7:48 these tables were of gold, as were also the five candlesticks on each side of the altar. The candle–tongs, basins, snuffers, fire-pans, and even the hinges of the doors were also gold.
Holy of Holies
The Holy of Holies, also called the "Inner House," was 20
cubit
The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was primarily associated with the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Israelites. The term ''cubit'' is found in the Bible regarding No ...
s in length, breadth, and height. The usual explanation for the discrepancy between its height and the 30-cubit height of the temple is that its floor was elevated, like the ''
cella
A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Ancient Greek, Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek temple, Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extende ...
'' of other ancient temples. It was floored and wainscotted with
cedar of Lebanon
''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great religi ...
, and its walls and floor were overlaid with
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
amounting to 600 talents or roughly 20 metric tons. It contained two
cherub
A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...
im of olive-wood, each 10 cubits high and each having outspread wings of 10 cubits span, so that, since they stood side by side, the wings touched the wall on either side and met in the center of the room. There was a two-leaved door between it and the Holy Place overlaid with gold; also a veil of
tekhelet
''Tekhelet'' ( he, תְּכֵלֶת ''təḵēleṯ''; alternate spellings include ''tekheleth'', ''t'chelet'', ''techelet'' and ''techeiles'') is a "blue-violet", "blue", or "turquoise" dye highly prized by ancient Mediterranean civilizations. I ...
(blue),
purple
Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, pu ...
, and
crimson
Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple.
It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, ''Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red colo ...
and fine
linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
. It had no windows and was considered the dwelling-place of the "name" of God.
The Holy of Holies was prepared to receive and house the Ark; and when the Temple was dedicated, the Ark, containing the original tablets of the
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
, was placed beneath the cherubim.
Surrounding chambers
Chambers were built around the Temple on the southern, western and northern sides (). These formed a part of the building and were used for storage. They were probably one story high at first; two more may have been added later.
Courts
According to the Bible, two courts surrounded the Temple. The Inner Court (1 Kings 6:36), or Court of the Priests (2 Chr. 4:9), was separated from the space beyond by a wall of three courses of hewn stone, surmounted by cedar beams (1 Kings 6:36). It contained the Altar of burnt-offering (2 Chr. 15:8), the Brazen Sea laver (4:2–5, 10) and ten other lavers (1 Kings 7:38, 39). A brazen altar stood before the Temple (2 Kings 16:14), its dimensions 20 cubits square and 10 cubits high (2 Chr. 4:1). The Great Court surrounded the whole Temple (2 Chr. 4:9). It was here that people assembled to worship. (Jeremiah 19:14; 26:2).
Molten Sea
According to the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" '' cast metal
In metalworking and jewelry making, casting is a process in which a liquid metal is delivered into a mold (usually by a crucible) that contains a negative impression (i.e., a three-dimensional negative image) of the intended shape. The metal is ...
sea
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
") was a large basin in the Temple for
ablution
Ablution is the act of washing oneself. It may refer to:
* Ablution as hygiene
* Ablution as ritual purification
** Ablution in Islam:
*** Wudu, daily wash
*** Ghusl, bathing ablution
*** Tayammum, waterless ablution
** Ablution in Christianity
* ...
of the priests. It is described in and . It stood in the south-eastern corner of the inner court. According to the Bible it was five
cubit
The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was primarily associated with the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Israelites. The term ''cubit'' is found in the Bible regarding No ...
s high, ten cubits in diameter from brim to brim, and thirty cubits in circumference. The brim was "like the calyx of a lily" and turned outward "about an hand breadth"; or about four inches. It was placed on the backs of twelve oxen, standing with their faces outward. The Book of Kings states that it contains 2,000 baths (90 cubic meters), while Chronicles (2 Chr. 4:5–6) states it can hold up to 3,000 baths (136 cubic meters) and states that its purpose was to afford opportunity for the purification by immersion of the bodies of the priests. The fact that it was a wash basin that was too large to enter from above lends to the idea that water would likely have flowed from it down into a subcontainer beneath. The water was originally supplied by the
Gibeonites
Gibeon ( he, , ''Gīḇəʻōn''; grc-gre, Γαβαων, ''Gabaōn'') was a Canaanite and, later, an Israelite city which was located north of Jerusalem. According to and , the pre-Israelite-conquest inhabitants, the Gibeonites, were Hivite ...
, but was afterwards brought by a conduit from
Solomon's Pools
Solomon's Pools ( ar, برك سليمان, ''Burak Suleīmān'', Solomon's Pools, or in short ''el-Burak'', the pools; he, בריכות שלמה, ''Breichot Shlomo'') are three ancient reservoirs located in the south-central West Bank, immediate ...
. The molten sea was made of
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
or
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
that which Solomon had taken from the captured cities of
Hadarezer
Hadadezer ( ''bib'' Heb: ''Ḥăḏaḏeʹzer''; meaning "Hadad helps"), son of Rehob, was king of Zobah, a Syrian (Aramaean) kingdom that may have been in the Beqaa valley of Lebanon, extended along the eastern side of the Anti-Lebanon Mounta ...
, the king of
Zobah
Zobah or Aram-Zobah ( ʾ''Ărām-Ṣōḇāʾ'') was an early Aramean state mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, which extended north-east of biblical King David's realm.
A. F. Kirkpatrick, in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (1896), p ...
().
Ahaz
Ahaz (; gr, Ἄχαζ, Ἀχάζ ''Akhaz''; la, Achaz) an abbreviation of Jehoahaz II (of Judah), "Yahweh has held" (; akk, 𒅀𒌑𒄩𒍣 ''Ya'úḫazi'' 'ia-ú-ḫa-zi''Hayim Tadmor and Shigeo Yamada, ''The Royal Inscriptions of Tiglath- ...
later removed this laver from the oxen, and placed it on a stone pavement (). It was destroyed by the Chaldeans ().
Also outside the temple were 10 lavers, each of which held "forty baths" (1 Kings 7:38), resting on portable holders made of bronze, provided with wheels, and ornamented with figures of lions,
cherub
A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...
im, and palm-trees. The author of the books of the Kings describes their minute details with great interest (1 Kings 7:27–37). Josephus reported that the vessels in the Temple were composed of
orichalcum
Orichalcum or aurichalcum is a metal mentioned in several ancient writings, including the story of Atlantis in the '' Critias'' of Plato. Within the dialogue, Critias (460–403 BC) claims that orichalcum had been considered second only to g ...
covered in gold in ''
Antiquities of the Jews
''Antiquities of the Jews'' ( la, Antiquitates Iudaicae; el, Ἰουδαϊκὴ ἀρχαιολογία, ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by historian Flavius Josephus in the 13th year of the re ...
''.
Worship
During the
United Monarchy
The United Monarchy () in the Hebrew Bible refers to Israel and Judah under the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon. It is traditionally dated to have lasted between and . According to the biblical account, on the succession of Solomon's son Re ...
the Temple was dedicated to
Yahweh
Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he posse ...
, the God of Israel. From the reign of King
Manasseh
Manasseh () is both a given name and a surname. Its variants include Manasses and Manasse.
Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Ezekiel Saleh Manasseh (died 1944), Singaporean rice and opium merchant and hotelier
* Jacob Manasseh (die ...
until King
Josiah
Josiah ( or ) or Yoshiyahu; la, Iosias was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE) who, according to the Hebrew Bible, instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh. Josiah is credited by most biblical s ...
,
Baal
Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during Ancient Near East, antiquity. From its use among people, it cam ...
and " the host of heaven" were also worshipped there."Josiah" ''Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906).
Until the reforms of King Josiah, there was also a statue for the goddess
Asherah
Asherah (; he, אֲשֵׁרָה, translit=Ăšērā; uga, 𐎀𐎘𐎗𐎚, translit=ʾAṯiratu; akk, 𒀀𒅆𒋥, translit=Aširat; Qatabanian language, Qatabanian: ') in ancient Semitic religion, is a fertility goddess who appears in a ...
() and priestesses wove ritual textiles for her (). Next to the temple was a house for the temple prostitutes () who performed
sacred prostitution
Sacred prostitution, temple prostitution, cult prostitution, and religious prostitution are rites consisting of paid intercourse performed in the context of religious worship, possibly as a form of fertility rite or divine marriage (). Scholars ...
at the temple. It is unclear whether the prostitutes included both male and female or just male prostitutes.
According to the majority of biblical scholars, Asherah was Yahweh's consort, and she was worshipped alongside Yahweh. This is disputed by a significant minority, who maintain that the
asherah
Asherah (; he, אֲשֵׁרָה, translit=Ăšērā; uga, 𐎀𐎘𐎗𐎚, translit=ʾAṯiratu; akk, 𒀀𒅆𒋥, translit=Aširat; Qatabanian language, Qatabanian: ') in ancient Semitic religion, is a fertility goddess who appears in a ...
in the Temple was a wooden pole, rather than a statue. Although originally a symbol of the goddess, the asherah is argued to have been adopted as a symbol of Yahweh. According to Richard H. Lowery, Yahweh and Asherah headed a pantheon of other Judean gods that were worshipped at the temple.
The temple had chariots of the sun () and Ezekiel describes a vision of temple worshipers facing east and bowing to the sun (). Some Bible scholars, such as Margaret Barker, say that these solar elements indicate a
solar cult
Solar may refer to:
Astronomy
* Of or relating to the Sun
** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun
** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. " solar panels")
** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indica ...
. They may reflect an earlier Jebusite worship of
Zedek
Sydyk (, in some manuscripts ''Sydek'' or ''Sedek'') was the name of a deity appearing in a Theogony, theogeny provided by Roman-era Phoenician writer Philo of Byblos in an account preserved by Eusebius in his ''Praeparatio evangelica'' and attribu ...
or possibly a solarized Yahwism.
According to the Tanakh, the Temple housed the Ark of the Covenant. It says the Ark contained the Ten Commandments and was moved from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem by David before being moved into Solomon's temple. A common view among scholars is that the Ark was originally conceived as Yahweh's footstool, above which he was invisibly enthroned. Biblical scholar
Francesca Stavrakopoulou
Francesca Stavrakopoulou (; born 3 October 1975) is a British biblical scholar and broadcaster. She is currently Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion at the University of Exeter. The main focus of her research is on the Hebrew Bible, a ...
states that Yahweh was physically enthroned above the Ark as a
cult statue
In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents. In several traditions, including the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece and Rom ...
and it was only following the Exile that Yahweh was conceived as unseen and the prohibition on carved images was added to the Ten Commandments. On the other hand, some biblical scholars believe the story of the Ark was written independently and then incorporated into the main biblical narrative just before the exile into Babylon. Biblical scholar
Thomas Römer
Thomas Christian Römer (born 13 December 1955, in Mannheim) is a German-born Swiss biblical scholar, exegete, philologist, professor, and Reformed minister. After teaching at the University of Geneva, he became professor of the Old Testament ...
speculates that the Ark may have contained statues of Yahweh and Asherah, and that it could have remained in Kiriath Jearim for much longer, possibly until shortly before the Babylonian conquest.
During the Deuteronomic reform of King
Josiah
Josiah ( or ) or Yoshiyahu; la, Iosias was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE) who, according to the Hebrew Bible, instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh. Josiah is credited by most biblical s ...
, the cult objects of the sun and Asherah were taken out of the temple and the practice of sacred prostitution and the worship of Baal and the hosts of heaven were stopped.
Sacrifice
A korban was a
kosher
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
animal sacrifice, such as a
bull
A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions,
includin ...
,
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
,
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
, or a
dove
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
that underwent ''
shechita
In Judaism, ''shechita'' (anglicized: ; he, ; ; also transliterated ''shehitah, shechitah, shehita'') is slaughtering of certain mammals and birds for food according to ''kashrut''.
Sources
states that sheep and cattle should be slaughtered ...
'' (Jewish ritual slaughter). Sacrifices could also consist of
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
,
meal
A meal is an eating occasion that takes place at a certain time and includes consumption of food. The names used for specific meals in English vary, depending on the speaker's culture, the time of day, or the size of the meal.
Although they ca ...
,
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
, or
incense
Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also be ...
. Offerings were often cooked and most of it eaten by the offeror, with parts given to the
Kohen
Kohen ( he, , ''kōhēn'', , "priest", pl. , ''kōhănīm'', , "priests") is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. Levitical priests or ''kohanim'' are traditionally b ...
priests and small parts burned on the
altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...
of the
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...
. Only in special cases was all of the offering given only to God, such as in the case of the
scapegoat
In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...
. Under Josiah, sacrifices were centralized at Solomon's temple and other places of sacrifice were abolished. The temple became a major slaughtering center and a major part of Jerusalem's economy.
Dating
According to the 1st century CE historian
Flavius Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
, "Solomon began to build the temple in the fourth year of his reign, on the second month, which the Macedonians call Artemisius, and the Hebrews
Jar
A jar is a rigid, cylindrical or slightly conical container, typically made of glass, ceramic, or plastic, with a wide mouth or opening that can be closed with a lid, screw cap, lug cap, cork stopper, roll-on cap, crimp-on cap, press-on c ...
, five hundred and ninety two years after the exodus out of Egypt, but after one thousand and twenty years from
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
's coming out of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
into
Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
and after the deluge one thousand four hundred and forty years; and from
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
, the first man who was created, until Solomon built the temple, there had past in all three thousand one hundred and two years."
In ''
Against Apion
''Against Apion'' ( el, Φλαΐου Ἰωσήπου περὶ ἀρχαιότητος Ἰουδαίων λόγος α and ; Latin ''Contra Apionem'' or ''In Apionem'') is a polemical work written by Flavius Josephus as a defense of Judaism as a ...
'', Josephus mentions that according to the
annals
Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record.
Scope
The nature of the distinction between ann ...
of the
Phoenicia
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
n city-state of Tyre, Solomon's Temple was built on the 12th year of
Hiram I
Hiram I ( Phoenician: 𐤇𐤓𐤌 ''Ḥirōm'' "my brother is exalted"; Hebrew: ''Ḥīrām'', Modern Arabic: حيرام, also called ''Hirom'' or ''Huram'')
was the Phoenician king of Tyre according to the Hebrew Bible. His regnal years have b ...
of Tyre and 143 years and 8 months before the Tyrians founded
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
. The foundation date of Carthage is usually dated to 814 BCE, thus, according to Josephus, the construction of the Temple should be dated to circa 958/9 BCE, a date that lies within the conventional dates of Solomon's reign between 970 and 931 BCE.
Archaeology
Most scholars today agree that a temple had existed on the Temple Mount by the time of the Babyloniansiege of Jerusalem (587 BCE), but the identity of its builder and its construction date are strongly debated. 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
General Sir Charles Warren, (7 February 1840 – 21 January 1927) was an officer in the British Royal Engineers. He was one of the earliest European archaeologists of the Biblical Holy Land, and particularly of the Temple Mount. Much of his mi ...
's expedition of 1867–70. As of today, there is no solid archaeological evidence for the existence of Solomon's Temple, and the building is not mentioned in surviving extra-biblical accounts, save for perhaps a single fragmented ostracon that mentions a "
house of Yahweh
The House of Yahweh (HOY) is a religious group based in Eula, Texas. The assembly has been controversial and is referred to as a cult by former members.
Founder
Yisrayl Hawkins (also known as "Buffalo Bill" Hawkins) is HOY's founder. In 1974, ...
" without any further specification. Artifacts previously believed to prove the existence of Solomon's Temple - an
ivory pomegranate
The ivory pomegranate is a thumb-sized semitic ornamental artifact acquired by the Israel Museum. It is not actually made of ivory, but of hippopotamus bone and bears an inscription; ''Holy (Sacred) to the Priest of the House of God (YHWH)''.
...
and a ninth century BCE stone tablet - have turned out to be fakes. Moreover, starting in the 1980s, biblical minimalists have doubted King Solomon's connection to the temple, sometimes describing him as little more than a hill country chieftain.
On the other hand,
William G. Dever
William Gwinn Dever (born November 27, 1933, Louisville, Kentucky) is an American archaeologist, Old Testament scholar, and historian, specialized in the history of the Ancient Near East and the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah in biblical ...
argues that the biblical description of the Temple itself shows profound similarities with other temples of the time (
Phoenicia
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
n,
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
n and
Philistine
The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, when ...
), suggesting that this cult structure was actually built by Solomon (whom he sees as an actual king of Israel) in the 10th century BCE, although the biblical description is undoubtedly excessive. These views are shared by the archaeologist
Amihai Mazar
Amihai "Ami" Mazar ( he, עמיחי מזר; born November 19, 1942) is an Israeli archaeologist. Born in Haifa, Israel (then the British Mandate of Palestine), he has been since 1994 a professor at the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew Univ ...
, who underlines how the description of the Temple in the Bible, albeit exaggerated, is substantially in line with the architectural descriptions already present in the Levant in the second millennium BCE.
Sources mentioning the First Temple
* An
ostracon
An ostracon (Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeological or epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer to sherds or even small pieces of ston ...
(excavated prior to 1981), sometimes referred to as the House of Yahweh ostracon, was discovered at
Tel Arad
Tel Arad ( he, תל ערד), in Arabic Tell 'Arad (تل عراد), is an archaeological tell, or mound, located west of the Dead Sea, about west of the modern Israeli city of Arad in an area surrounded by mountain ridges which is known as the ...
, dated to the 6th century BCE, which mentions a temple that could be the Temple in Jerusalem.; ; This has been challenged by Fabio Porzia and
Corinne Bonnet
Corinne Bonnet is Professor of Greek History at the University of Toulouse, France. She is known for her work on ancient Mediterranean history and religion. She is currently the Principal Investigator of the ERC Advanced Grant project ''Mapping An ...
who wrote that the context and location of the temple mentioned is not known and that the First temple "most likely dates from the 8th century and which was retroactively attributed to the great ruler of the 10th century."
* A thumb-sized
ivory pomegranate
The ivory pomegranate is a thumb-sized semitic ornamental artifact acquired by the Israel Museum. It is not actually made of ivory, but of hippopotamus bone and bears an inscription; ''Holy (Sacred) to the Priest of the House of God (YHWH)''.
...
(which came to light in 1979) measuring in height, and bearing an ancient Hebrew inscription "Sacred donation for the priests in the House of ---h,]", was believed to have adorned a sceptre used by the Kohen Gadol, high priest in Solomon's Temple. It was considered the most important item of biblical antiquities in the
Israel Museum
The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...
's collection. In 2004, however, experts from the Israel Museum reported the inscription to be a
forgery
Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...
, though the ivory pomegranate itself was dated to the 14th or 13th century BCE. This was based on the report's claim that three incised letters in the inscription stopped short of an ancient break, as they would have if carved after the ancient break was made. Since then, it has been proven that one of the letters was indeed carved prior to the ancient break, and the status of the other two letters are in question. Some paleographers and others have continued to insist that the inscription is ancient, some dispute this, so the authenticity of this writing is still the object of discussion.
* Another artifact, the
Jehoash Inscription
The Jehoash Inscription is the name of a controversial artifact rumored to have surfaced in a construction site or Muslim cemetery near the Temple Mount of Jerusalem.
The inscription describes repairs made to the temple in Jerusalem by Jehoash, ...
, which first came to notice in 2003, contains a 15-line description of King Jehoash's ninth-century BCE restoration of the Temple. Its authenticity was called into question by a report by the Israel Antiquities Authority, which said that the surface patina contained microfossils of
foraminifera
Foraminifera (; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of amoeboid protists characterized by streaming granular Ectoplasm (cell biology), ectoplasm for catching food and ot ...
. As these fossils do not dissolve in water, they cannot occur in a calcium carbonate patina, leading initial investigators to conclude that the patina must be an artificial chemical mix applied to the stone by forgers. As of late 2012, the academic community is split on whether the tablet is authentic or not. Commenting on a 2012 report by geologists arguing for the authenticity of the inscription, in October 2012,
Hershel Shanks
Hershel Shanks (March 8, 1930 – February 5, 2021) was an American lawyer and amateur biblical archaeologist. He was the founder and long-time editor of the ''Biblical Archaeology Review''.
Life and career
Shanks was born in Sharon, Pennsylvani ...
(who believes the inscription is genuine) wrote the current situation was that most Hebrew language scholars believe that the inscription is a forgery and geologists that it is genuine, and thus "Because we rely on experts, and because there is an apparently irresolvable conflict of experts in this case,
BAR
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
has taken no position with respect to the authenticity of the Jehoash Inscription."
Temple Mount Sifting Project
* By 2006, the
Temple Mount Sifting Project
The Temple Mount Sifting Project (TMSP; formerly known as the Temple Mount Salvage Operation) is an archaeological project begun in 2004 whose aim is the recovery and study of archaeological artifacts contained within debris which were removed fr ...
had recovered numerous artifacts dating from the 8th to 7th centuries BCE from soil removed in 1999 by the
Jerusalem Islamic Waqf
The Department of the Jerusalem Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs, together with its board the Islamic Awqaf Council, is the Jordanian-appointed organization responsible for controlling and managing the current Islamic edifices on the Temple Moun ...
from the
Solomon's Stables
Solomon's Stables ( he, אורוות שלמה, ar, المصلى المرواني) is an underground vaulted space now used as a Muslim prayer hall by the name of El-Marwani Mosque, some 600 square yards (500 square metres) in area, at the bottom ...
area of the Temple Mount. These include stone weights for weighing silver and a First Temple period
bulla
Bulla (Latin, 'bubble') may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Bulla (dermatology), a bulla
* Bulla, a focal lung pneumatosis, an air pocket in the lung
* Auditory bulla, a hollow bony structure on the skull enclosing the ear
* Ethmoid bulla, pa ...
, or seal impression.
Objects found next to the Temple Mount
* In 2018 and a few years previously, two First Temple period stone weights used for weighing half-
shekel
Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became c ...
Temple donations were found during excavations under
Robinson's Arch
Robinson's Arch is the name given to a monumental staircase carried by an unusually wide stone arch, which once stood at the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount. It was built as part of the expansion of the Second Temple initiated by Herod th ...
at the foot of the Temple Mount. The tiny artifacts, inscribed with the word ''beka'', which is known from related contexts in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" '' scale, possibly at the very spot where they were unearthed.
Other
*
Leen Ritmeyer Leen Ritmeyer (b. 1945) is a Dutch-born archaeological architect who currently lives and works in Wales, after having spent 22 years (1967–89) in Jerusalem.
Career
Ritmeyer holds an M.A. in Conservation Studies from the Institute of Advanced Arc ...
has suggested that one of the steps leading to the Dome of the Rock is actually the top of a remaining stone course of the western wall of the pre-Herodian Temple Mount platform, which may be dated to the First Temple period.
* In 2007, artifacts dating to the 8th to 6th centuries BCE were described as being possibly the first physical evidence of human activity at the Temple Mount during the First Temple period. The findings included animal bones; ceramic bowl rims, bases, and body sherds; the base of a juglet used to pour oil; the handle of a small juglet; and the rim of a storage jar.
Other contemporary temples
There is archaeological and written evidence of three Israelite temples, either contemporary or of very close date, dedicated to Yahweh (Elephantine temple, probably Arad too), either in the
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...
or in Egypt. Two of them have the same general outline as given by the Bible for the Jerusalem Temple.
* The Israelite temple at
Tel Arad
Tel Arad ( he, תל ערד), in Arabic Tell 'Arad (تل عراد), is an archaeological tell, or mound, located west of the Dead Sea, about west of the modern Israeli city of Arad in an area surrounded by mountain ridges which is known as the ...
in Judah, 10th to 8th/7th century BCE and possibly dedicated to Yahweh and
Asherah
Asherah (; he, אֲשֵׁרָה, translit=Ăšērā; uga, 𐎀𐎘𐎗𐎚, translit=ʾAṯiratu; akk, 𒀀𒅆𒋥, translit=Aširat; Qatabanian language, Qatabanian: ') in ancient Semitic religion, is a fertility goddess who appears in a ...
Elephantine
Elephantine ( ; ; arz, جزيرة الفنتين; el, Ἐλεφαντίνη ''Elephantíne''; , ) is an island on the Nile, forming part of the city of Aswan in Upper Egypt. The archaeological sites on the island were inscribed on the UNESCO ...
in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, already standing in 525 BCE
*The Israelite temple at Tel Motza, c. 750 BCE discovered in 2012 a few kilometres west of Jerusalem.
* Several Iron Age temples have been found in the region that have striking similarities to the Temple of King Solomon. In particular the Ain Dara temple in northern Syria with a similar age, size, plan and decorations.
Legacy
Freemasonry
Rituals in Freemasonry refer to King Solomon and the building of his Temple. Masonic buildings, where lodges and their members meet, are sometimes called "temples"; an allegoric reference to King Solomon's Temple.
Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...
views the design of the Temple of Solomon as representative of the metaphysical world and the descending light of the creator through
Sefirot
Sefirot (; he, סְפִירוֹת, translit=Səfīrōt, Tiberian: '), meaning '' emanations'', are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof (The Infinite) reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm and ...
of the
Tree of Life
The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A History ...
. The levels of the outer, inner and priest's courts represent three lower worlds of Kabbalah. The
Boaz and Jachin
According to the Bible, Boaz ( he, ''Bōʿaz'') and Jachin ( ''Yāḵīn'') were two copper, brass or bronze pillars which stood on the porch of Solomon's Temple, the first Temple in Jerusalem. They are used as symbols in Freemasonry and sometim ...
pillars at the entrance of the temple represent the active and passive elements of the world of
Atziluth
Atziluth or Atzilut (also ''Olam Atsiluth'', עוֹלָם אֲצִילוּת, literally "the World of Emanation") is the highest of four worlds in which exists the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. It is also known as "near to God."MEIJERS, L. D., and J. ...
. The original menorah and its seven branches represent the seven lower Sephirot of the Tree of Life. The veil of the Holy of Holies and the inner part of the temple represent the Veil of the
Abyss
Abyss may refer to:
* Abyss (religion), a bottomless pit, or a passage to the underworld
Film and television
* ''The Abyss'' (1910 film), a Danish silent film starring Asta Nielsen
* ''The Abyss'' (1988 film) (''L'Œuvre au noir''), a French- ...
on the Tree of Life, behind which the
Shekhinah
Shekhinah, also spelled Shechinah ( Hebrew: שְׁכִינָה ''Šəḵīnā'', Tiberian: ''Šăḵīnā'') is the English transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning "dwelling" or "settling" and denotes the presence of God, as it were, in a pla ...
or Divine Presence hovers.
Islam
The Quran supposedly refers to Solomon's Temple in the seventh verse of . Quranic commentators such as Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur have postulated that this verse refers specifically to the Temple of Solomon.
According to the narrative in
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, the
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...
was originally a
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
commissioned by
Solomon
Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...
and built by on the commandment of
Allah
Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...
, with the purpose of serving as the of the
Israelites
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
. In the early years of Islam,
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
and his followers faced
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
for prayers until the city of
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
(specifically its
Kaaba
The Kaaba (, ), also spelled Ka'bah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah ( ar, ٱلْكَعْبَة ٱلْمُشَرَّفَة, lit=Honored Ka'bah, links=no, translit=al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah), is a building at the c ...
) superseded the former as the new .
Architecture
Biblical descriptions of the temple have inspired modern replicas and influenced later structures around the world.
El Escorial
El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, u ...
, a historical residence of the
King of Spain
, coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg
, coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain
, image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg
, incumbent = Felipe VI
, incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...
built in the 16th century was constructed from a plan based on the descriptions of Solomon's temple.
The same architectural layout of the temple was adopted in
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
s leading to the ''hekhal'' being applied in
Sephardi
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
usage to the Ashkenazi
Torah ark
A Torah ark (also known as the ''Heikhal'', or the ''Aron Kodesh'') refers to an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls.
History
The ark, also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' or ''aron ha- ...
, the equivalent of the
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
.
Popular culture
Solomon's Temple appears in ''
Solomon and Sheba
''Solomon and Sheba'' is a 1959 American epic historical romance film directed by King Vidor, shot in Technirama (color by Technicolor), and distributed by United Artists. The film dramatizes events described in The Bible—the tenth chapter of ...
'' (1959) and in the novel ''
King Solomon's Mines
''King Solomon's Mines'' (1885) is a popular novel by the English Victorian adventure writer and fabulist Sir H. Rider Haggard. It tells of a search of an unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain for the ...
'' (1885). It also appears in the video game ''
Assassin's Creed
''Assassin's Creed'' is an open-world, action-adventure, and stealth game franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil and its more advanced derivatives. Created by Patrice D ...
'' where the main character
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad ( ar, الطائر ابن لا أحد, meaning "The Bird, Son of No One") is a fictional character in Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartere ...
Assassin's Creed Unity
''Assassin's Creed Unity'' is an Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released in November 2014 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, and in December 2020 ...
'' (2014) where the
Knight Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
Jacques de Molay
Jacques de Molay (; c. 1240–1250 – 11 or 18 March 1314), also spelled "Molai",Demurger, pp. 1-4. "So no conclusive decision can be reached, and we must stay in the realm of approximations, confining ourselves to placing Molay's date of birth ...
Solomonic column
The Solomonic column, also called Barley-sugar column, is a helical column, characterized by a spiraling twisting shaft like a corkscrew. It is not associated with a specific classical order, although most examples have Corinthian or Composite c ...
, spiraling column
*
Solomon's shamir
In the Gemara, the shamir ( he, ''šāmīr'') is a worm or a substance that had the power to cut through or disintegrate stone, iron and diamond. King Solomon is said to have used it in the building of the First Temple in Jerusalem in the place ...
, worm or a substance that had the power to cut through or disintegrate stone, iron and diamond
*
Temple denial
Temple denial is a claim advanced by Palestinian political leaders, religious figures, intellectuals, and authors that the successive Temples in Jerusalem did not exist or were placed other than on the Temple Mount.
Yitzhak Reiter describes the ...
, Palestinian theory
Persons
*
Isaiah
Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
*
Jeremiah
Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...
*
Hezekiah
Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yahweh, Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Kingdom of Jud ...
*
Yosef Elboim
Yosef Elboim (Heb: הרב יוסף אלבוים) is a rabbinical authority on the issues of the Temple Mount and a leading figure in the movement to rebuild the Temple (heb: התנועה לכינון המקדש). As the founder and head of the Mo ...
*
Zadok
Zadok (or Zadok HaKohen, also spelled Ṣadok, Ṣadoc, Zadoq, Tzadok, or Tsadoq; he, צָדוֹק הַכֹּהֵן, meaning "Righteous, Justified") was a Kohen (priest), biblically recorded to be a descendant from Eleazar the son of Aaron (). H ...
Mount Moriah Moriah is a mountain identified in the Book of Genesis; believed in Judaism, Christianity and Islam to be associated with the sacrifice of Abraham's son.
It may also be the Temple Mount.
Moriah may also refer to:
Places
In Australia:
*Moriah Colle ...
*
Old St. Peter's Basilica
Old St. Peter's Basilica was the building that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, where the new St. Peter's Basilica stands today in Vatican City. Construction of the basilica, built over the historical site of the Circus of Nero, began dur ...
Ebla
Ebla ( Sumerian: ''eb₂-la'', ar, إبلا, modern: , Tell Mardikh) was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria. Its remains constitute a tell located about southwest of Aleppo near the village of Mardikh. Ebla was an important center t ...
(Temple D)
*
Emar
)
, image = View_from_the_Byzantine_Tower_at_Meskene,_ancient_Barbalissos.jpg
, alt =
, caption = View from the Byzantine Tower at Meskene, ancient Barbalissos
, map_type = Syria
, map_alt =
, map_size = 200
...
temple
*
Mumbaqat
Tall Munbāqa or Mumbaqat, the site of the Late Bronze Age city of Ekalte, is a 5,000-year-old town complex in northern Syria now lying in ruins. The ruins are located on a steep slope on the east bank of the upper course of the Euphrates. In th ...
temple
*
Tell Tayinat
Tell Ta'yinat is a low-lying ancient tell on the east bank at the bend of the Orontes River where it flows through the Amuq valley, in the Hatay province of southeastern Turkey about 25 kilometers south east of Antakya (ancient Antioch), and lie ...
temple (8th century BCE)Monson, John M. "The Temple of Solomon: Heart of Jerusalem" C. The Ain Dara Temple: A New Parallel from Syria pp. 12–16. In "Zion, city of our God", Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing (1999), editors: Hess, Richard S. & Wenham, Gordon J. . Retrieved 15 February 2011.