Solomon's Temple

A sketch of Solomon's Temple facing East.

According to the Hebrew Bible, Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was constructed by Solomon, king of the ancient Israelites, on a hill called Moriah in Jerusalem. It housed the Ark of the Covenant and functioned as a religious focal point in ancient Judaism for worshipping the God of Israel.

According to secular historians, the Temple was completed in around 960 BCE and destroyed by the Babylonians in 587/6 BCE. Traditional rabbinic sources state that the First Temple stood for 410 years and based on the 2nd-century work Seder Olam Rabbah, place construction in 832 BCE and destruction in 422 BCE (3338 AM), 165 years later than secular estimates. The Second Temple was subsequently built and destroyed on the same site and Jewish eschatology includes the belief that a Third Temple will also be built there.

To date, no archaeological evidence for Solomon's Temple has been found and the only information regarding the First Temple in Jerusalem is contained in the biblical books of Joshua, Judges, 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings.

Biblical summary

The only source for information on a Temple in Jerusalem in the Iron Age II (c. 1000-586/587 BCE) is the account contained in the books of Joshua, Judges, 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings, which are all included in the Bible (see so-called Deuteronomistic History). The Temple also figures in some of the books of prophecies attributed to the pre-exilic prophets, for example, Isaiah 6, Micah 4:1, and Jeremiah 7, which are also included in the Bible.

The Temple was constructed based on specific plans given to King David by God. David had hoped to build it, but was told by God that his son would be the one to assemble the first temple. During his reign, David began to collect most of the raw materials used in the construction, from the wood, to the huge foundation stones, to the gold, silver, bronze and other metals used. The Temple was designed to house the Ark of the Covenant, and to serve all nations, particularly the Hebrew nation of Israel, as a place where any man could worship the God of Israel.

1 Kings 6:1-38 tells how King Solomon built the Temple: details of the building are given in this chapter and chapter 7 (see Description section below), and its dedication by Solomon is described in chapter 8. 2 Kings 12:4-16 describes arrangements for the refurbishment of the Temple in the time of king Jehoash of Judah in the 9th century BCE.

According to 2 Kings 14:14 the Temple was looted by Jehoash of Israel (a different Jehoash) in the early 8th century and again by King Ahaz in the late 8th century (2 Kings 16:8). Ahaz also installed some cultic innovations in the Temple which were abhorrent to the author of 1-2 Kings (2 Kings 16:10-18).

The Temple also figures in the account of King Hezekiah, who turned Judah away from idols; when later in the same century Hezekiah is confronted with a siege by the Assyrian king Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:23, 19:1 and the Taylor prism), Hezekiah "instead of plundering the temple treasuries... now uses the temple the way it is designed to be used - as a house of prayer (2 Kings 19:1-14),.

Closer view of the Inner Court and House as depicted in a 3-D computer model.

Hezekiah's son, however, is much different from his father and during the reign of Manasseh of Judah in the early and middle seventh century (2 Kings 21:4-9), Manasseh makes innovations to the Temple cult. He has been described as an idolatrous Solomon who also fell into idolatry, and Manasseh is described as a king who "makes" (2 Kings 21:3-7), "builds" (2 Kings 21:3) high places (cf. 1 Kings 11:7)(see Deuteronomy 12 for the prohibition against high place worship), yet while Solomon's idolatry was punished by a divided kingdom, Manessah's idolatry will be punished by exile.

King Josiah, the grandson of Manasseh, refurbished and made changes to the Temple by removing idolatrous vessels and destroying the idolatrous priesthood c. 621 BCE (2 Kings 22:3-9; 23:11-12). The Temple was plundered by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, during the brief reign of Jehoiachin c. 598 (2 Kings 24:13), Josiah's grandson.

The Babylonians attacked Jerusalem again and burned the Temple in 586/587 BCE, along with most of the city. The city wall was broken down, and the surviving population of the city were carried away. (2 Kings 25).

Architectural description

A sketch of Solomon's Temple based on descriptions in the Tanakh.

Several temples in Mesopotamia, many in Egypt, and some of the Phoenicians are now known. The description given of Solomon's Temple is not a copy of any of these, but embodied features recognisable in all of them. Its general form is reminiscent of Egyptian sanctuaries and closely matches that of other ancient temples in the region.

The detailed descriptions provided in the Tanakh and educated guesses based on the remains of other temples in the region are the sources for reconstructions of its appearance. Technical details are lacking, since the scribes who wrote the books were not architects or engineers. Nevertheless, the recorded plans and measurments have architecturally influenced later structures around the world.

Reconstructions differ; the following is largely based on Easton's Bible Dictionary and the Jewish Encyclopedia:

Most Holy Place

The Kodesh Hakodashim, or Most Holy Place, (1 Kings 6:19; 8:6), also called the "Inner House" (6:27), and the "Holy of Holies", (Heb. 9:3) was 20 cubits 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 of other ancient temples. It was floored and wainscotted with cedar of Lebanon (1 Kings 6:16), and its walls and floor were overlaid with gold (6:20, 21, 30). It contained two cherubim of olive-wood, each 10 cubits high (1 Kings 6:16, 20, 21, 23-28) and each having outspread wings 10 cubits from tip to tip, 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 (2 Chr. 4:22); also a veil of tekhelet (blue), purple, and crimson and fine linen (2 Chr. 3:14; compare Exodus 26:33). It had no windows (1 Kings 8:12) and was considered the dwelling-place of the "name" of God.

The color scheme of the veil was symbolic. Blue represented the heavens, while red or crimson represented the earth. Purple, a combination of the two colors, represents a meeting of the heavens and the earth.

View of the House with ceiling removed as depicted in a 3-D computer model.

Holy Place

The Hekhal, or Holy Place, (1 Kings 8:8-10), called also the "greater house" (2 Chr. 3:5) and the "temple" (1 Kings 6:17); the word also means "palace", was of the same width and height as the Holy of Holies, but 40 cubits in length. Its walls were lined with cedar, on which were carved figures of cherubim, palm-trees, and open flowers, which were overlaid with gold. Chains of gold further marked it off from the Holy of Holies. The floor of the Temple was of fir-wood overlaid with gold. The door-posts, of olive-wood, supported folding-doors of fir. The doors of the Holy of Holies were of olive-wood. On both sets of doors were carved cherubim, palm-trees, and flowers, all being overlaid with gold (1 Kings 6:15 et seq.)

Porch

The Ulam, or porch, acted as an entrance before the Temple on the east (1 Kings 6:3; 2 Chr. 3:4; 9:7). This was 20 cubits long (corresponding to the width of the Temple) and 10 cubits deep (1 Kings 6:3). 2 Chr. 3:4 adds the curious statement (probably corrupted from the statement of the depth of the porch) that this porch was 120 cubits high, which would make it a regular tower. The description does not specify whether a wall separated it from the next chamber. In the porch stood the two pillars Jachin and Boaz (1 Kings 7:21; 2 Kings 11:14; 23:3), which were 18 cubits in height.

Boaz and Jachin

Two brass pillars named Boaz and Jachin stood in the porch of the Temple. (1 Kings 7:15; 7:21; 2 Kings 11:14; 23:3). Boaz stood on the left and Jachin on the right. The Bible records their measurements as 27 feet (8.2 m) high and 6 feet (1.8 m) wide (18 by 12 cubits) with a hollow of 4 fingers thick. (Jeremiah 52:21-22). Their 8-foot (2.4 m) high brass capitals were each decorated with rows of 200 carved brass pomegranates, wreathed with seven chains and topped with lilies. (1 Kings 7:13-22, 41-42; 2 Chronicles 4:13) According to most translations of 1 Kings 7:13-22, these two pillars were cast of brass, though some believe the original Hebrew word used to describe their material, "nehosheth", is actually either bronze or copper, because the Hebrews were unfamiliar with zinc, which along with copper, is required to create brass.

The two pillars had their parallel not only at Tyre but at Byblus, Paphos, and Telloh (see, however, De Sarzec, "Découvertes en Chaldée," pp. 62-64). In Egypt the obelisks expressed the same idea. All these were phallic emblems, being survivals of the primitive Hamito-Semitic "maẓẓebah". Jachin and Boaz were really isolated columns, as Schick has shown, and not, as some have supposed, a part of the ornamentation of the building. Their tops were crowned with ornamentation as if they were lamps; and W. R. Smith supposed that they may have been used as fire-altars. This assumes that they contained cressets for burning the fat.

Chambers

Chambers were built about the Temple on the southern, western and northern sides (1 Kings 6:5-10). 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

Exterior view of the entire Temple complex as depicted in a 3-D computer model.

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).

Lavers

The Brazen Sea laver measured 10 cubits wide brim to brim, 5 cubits deep and with a circumference of 30 cubits around the brim, rested on the backs of twelve oxen (1 Kings 7:23-26). The Book of Kings gives its capacity as "2,000 baths" (24,000 US gallons), but Chronicles inflates this to three thousand baths (36,000 US gallons) (2 Chr. 4:5-6) and states that its purpose was to afford opportunity for the purification by immersion of the body of the priests.

The lavers, each of which held "forty baths" (1 Kings 7:38), rested on portable holders made of bronze, provided with wheels, and ornamented with figures of lions, cherubim, 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 in Antiquities of the Jews. According to 1 Kings 7:48 there stood before the Holy of Holies a golden altar of incense and a table for showbread. This table was of gold, as were also the five candlesticks on each side of it. The implements for the care of the candles—tongs, basins, snuffers, and fire-pans—were of gold; and so were the hinges of the doors.

Location

The Temple is believed to have been situated upon the hill which forms the site of the present-day Temple Mount, in the center of which area is the Dome of the Rock. Under the Jebusites the site was used as a threshing floor. 2 Samuel 24 describes its consecration during David's reign. Two other, slightly different sites for the Temple have also been proposed, on this same hill. One places the stone altar at the location of the rock which is now beneath the gilded dome, with the rest of the temple to the west. The Well of Souls was, in this theory, a pit for the remnants of the blood services of the korbanot. The other theory places the Holy of Holies atop this rock. Still another location has recently been proposed between the Dome of the Rock and the gilded dome, based on orientation to the eastern wall, drainage channels, orientation of the platform stones, and the location of a possible Boaz pillar base.

Raids and destruction

The following raids mentioned in the Bible, recount the pillage of the Temple during the course of its history, culminating in its destruction:

Year (BCE)	Perpetrator	Reason	Biblical source
c.933	Shishaq of Egypt		1 Kings 14:25–26
c.900	Asa of Judah	In order to persuade Ben-Hadad I of Damascus to come to his aid against Baasha of Israel.	1 Kings 15:9–24
c.825	Jehoash of Judah	To pay Hazael of Damascus, who was besieging the city.	2 Kings 12:17–18
c.790	Joash of Israel		2 Kings 14:14
734	Ahaz of Judah	To persuade Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria to come to his aid against Pekah of Israel and Rezin II of Damascus.	2 Kings 16:8, 16:17–18
712	Hezekiah of Judah	To pay Sennacherib of Assyria, who was besieging the city.	2 Kings 18:15–16
597	Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon		2 Kings 24:13, 2 Chronicles 36:7
587/6	Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon	Temple burned and destroyed; treasures taken to Babylon. The sacred vessels were restored to the Jews by Cyrus at the end of the Babylonian Captivity in 538/9 BCE.	2 Kings 25:9–17; 2 Chronicles 36:19; Isaiah 64:11

Related archeological artifacts

• In 2007, artifacts dating to the eighth to sixth 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.
• By 2006, the Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage Operation had recovered numerous artifacts dating from the 8th to 7th centuries BCE from dirt removed in 1999 by the Islamic Religious Trust (Waqf) from the Solomon's Stables area of the Temple Mount. These include stone weights for weighing silver and a First Temple period bulla, or seal impression, containing ancient Hebrew writing, which may have belonged to a well-known family of priests mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah.
• A thumb-sized ivory pomegranate measuring 44 millimetres (1.7 in) in height bearing an ancient Hebrew inscription "Sacred donation for the priests in the House of YHVH" was once believed by some scholars to have adorned a sceptre used by the high priest in Solomon's Temple. It was considered the most important item of biblical antiquities in the Israel Museum’s collection. However, in 2004, some experts alleged it was a part of an antiquities fraud. Now it is believed that the artifact dates back to the 14th or 13th century BCE and scholars are not able to reach a conclusive result as to whether the inscription is authentic or a modern forgery.

Historical depictions and notable mentions

Isaac Newton's diagram of the Temple of Solomon, 1728

• In the sixth century CE, the Temple was included on a list of seven wonders which included the Pharos of Alexandria and Noah's Ark, compiled by Gregory, Bishop of Tours.
• Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727), the noted English scientist, mathematician and theologian, studied and wrote extensively upon the Temple of Solomon. He dedicated an entire chapter of The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms to his observations regarding the temple. Newton was intrigued by the temple's sacred geometry and believed that it was designed by King Solomon with privileged eyes and divine guidance.

See also

General

• Temple in Jerusalem
• Solomonic column
• Replicas of the Jewish Temple

Persons

People associated with the First Temple

• Prophet Isaiah
• Prophet Jeremiah
• King David
• King Solomon
• King Hezekiah
• King Josiah

Places

Sites associated with the First Temple

• City of David
• Mount Moriah
• Temple Mount
• Hezekiah's Tunnel
• Siloam Inscription

General references

• Finkelstein, Israel (2006). David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition. Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-4362-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Finkelstein, Israel. The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Benjamin Mazar, The Mountain of the Lord (Doubleday, NY, 1975) ISBN 0-385-04843-2.
• Roland De Vaux (tr. John McHugh), Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions (NY, McGraw-Hill, 1961).
• Goldman, Bernard, The Sacred Portal: a primary symbol in ancient Judaic art, Detroit : Wayne State University Press, 1966. It has a detailed account and treatment of Solomon's Temple and its significance.
• Hamblin, William and David Seely, Solomon's Temple: Myth and History (Thames and Hudson, 2007) ISBN 0500251339
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Temple of Solomon". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.

Further reading

• Robins, E. C. (1887). The temple of Solomon: A review of the various theories respecting its form and style of architecture.-The ethics of art; two lectures. London: Whittaker &.

External links

• Resources > Biblical History > Jerusalem, The First Temple Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
• Nat, Arnold vander, "The Temple of Jerusalem".
• Telushkin, Joseph, "The Temple". Jewish Literacy (Jewish Virtual Library).
• Wells, Steve, "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible".