Solomon's Temple


According to the Hebrew Bible, Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the Holy Temple in ancient Jerusalem before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE. The period in which the First Temple presumably, or actually, stood in Jerusalem, is known in academic literature as the First Temple period.
The Hebrew Bible states the temple was constructed under Solomon, king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah and that during the Kingdom of Judah, the temple was dedicated to Yahweh. During different periods of its operation, Asherah, Baal, the host of heaven and a solar deity were also worshipped in the high places. Temple worship included ritual sacrifice and ritual cleansings. It is said to have housed the Ark of the Covenant. The Jewish historian Josephus says; "the temple was burnt four hundred and seventy years, six months, and ten days after it was built". The temple was subsequently replaced with the Second Temple in 516 BCE.
Because of the religious sensitivities involved, and the politically volatile situation in Jerusalem, only limited archaeological surveys of the Temple Mount have been conducted. In modern times, the Israel Antiquities Authority took advantage of a Waqf project to lay an electric cable in order to conduct a partial excavation, during which artifacts dating to the late first temple period were discovered in situ for the first time. In parallel, a massive project is currently underway to sort rubble created when Jordan's Waqf dug new entrances on the mount, potentially destroying a great deal of ancient material in what the former director of the Israel Antiquities Authority called "an archaeological crime".
An ivory pomegranate which mentions priests in the house "of ---h", and an inscription recording the Temple's restoration under Jehoash have both appeared on the antiquities market, but their authenticity has been challenged, and they are subjects of controversy.

Etymology

Hekhal

The noun hekhal means "a large building". This can be either the main building of the Temple in Jerusalem, or a palace such as the "palace" of Ahab, king of Samaria, or the "palace" of the King of Babylon.
Hekhal is used 80 times in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible. Of these, 70 refer to the House of the , the other 10 are references to palaces. There is no reference to any part of the tabernacle using this term in the Hebrew Bible.
In older English versions of the Bible, including the King James Version, the term temple is used to translate hekhal. In modern versions more reflective of archaeological research, the distinction is made of different sections of the whole Temple. Scholars and archaeologists generally agree on the structure of Solomon's Temple as described in, with three main elements: the porch; the main building or hekhal, in English now sometimes called "the sanctuary"; and the devir or inner sanctuary, also known as the Holy of Holies.

Academic theories

Schmid and Rupprecht are of the view that the site of the temple used to be a Jebusite shrine which Solomon chose in an attempt to unify the Jebusites and Israelites.

In Rabbinic literature

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, 165 years later than secular estimates.

Location

The exact location of the Temple is unknown: it is believed to have been situated upon the hill which forms the site of the 1st century Second Temple and present-day Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock is situated.

Worship

During the United Monarchy the Temple was dedicated to Yahweh, the God of Israel. From the reign of King Manasseh until King Josiah, Baal and "the host of heaven" were also worshipped there.
Until the reforms of King Josiah, there was also a statue for the goddess Asherah and priestesses wove ritual textiles for her. Next to the temple was a house for the temple prostitutes who performed sacred prostitution at the temple. It is unclear whether the prostitutes included both male and female or just male prostitutes.
According to Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Asherah was Yahweh's consort, and she was worshipped alongside 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 temple worshipers would face east and bow to the sun. Some Bible scholars, such as Margaret Barker, say that these solar elements indicate a solar cult. They may reflect an earlier Jebusite worship of Zedek 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. However, many 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. Archaeological evidence suggests the Ark may have contained pagan gods and remained in Kiriath Jearim for much longer, possibly until shortly before the Babylonian conquest. Israel Finkelstein believes that the ark never existed.
During the Deuteronomic reform of King Josiah, 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 animal sacrifice, such as a bull, sheep, goat, or a dove that underwent shechita. Sacrifices could also consist of grain, meal, wine, or incense. Offerings were often cooked and most of it eaten by the offerer, with parts given to the Kohen priests and small parts burned on the altar of the Temple in Jerusalem. Only in special cases was all of the offering given only to God, such as in the case of the scapegoat. 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.

In the Hebrew Bible

Construction

The Tanakh or Hebrew Bible recounts the construction of Solomon's Temple in 1 Kings 6 and 2 Chronicles 3-4. According to this narrative, the temple was constructed under Solomon, during the united monarchy of Israel and Judah. The Bible describes Hiram I of Tyre who furnished architects, workmen and cedar timbers for the temple of his ally Solomon at Jerusalem. He also co-operated with Solomon in mounting an expedition on the Red Sea.
puts the date of the beginning of building the temple "in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel", in the month of Ziv, the second month of the religious year. specifies that it was the second day of the second month, but this may have been a scribal error. The conventional dates of Solomon's reign are circa 970 to 931 BCE. This puts the date of its construction in the mid-10th century BCE. says that it took Solomon 20 years altogether to build the Temple and his royal palace; the Temple itself was completed in 7 years.

Transfer of the Ark of the Covenant

and record that in the seventh month of the year, at the feast of Tabernacles, the priests and the Levites brought the Ark of the Covenant from the City of David and placed it inside the Holy of Holies.

Dedication

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 which interrupted the dedication ceremony, "for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord the priests could not stand to minister". Solomon interpreted the cloud as " that his pious work was accepted":
The allusion is to :
The Pulpit Commentary notes that "Solomon had thus every warrant for connecting a theophany with the thick dark cloud".
Solomon then led the whole assembly of Israel in prayer, noting that the construction on the temple represented a fulfilment of God's promise to David, 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 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 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 from the entrance of Hamath 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".

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.

Plunder and destruction

According to the Tanakh, the Temple was plundered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire king Nebuchadnezzar II when the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem during the brief reign of Jehoiachin c. 598 BCE. A decade later, Nebuchadnezzar again besieged Jerusalem and after 30 months finally breached the city walls in 587 BCE, subsequently burning the Temple, along with most of the city. According to Jewish tradition, the Temple was destroyed on Tisha B'Av, the 9th day of Av.

Architectural description

The Temple of Solomon is considered to be built according to Phoenician design, and its description is considered the best description of what a Phoenician temple looked like. The detailed descriptions provided in the Tanakh 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 descriptions have inspired modern replicas of the temple and influenced later structures around the world.
Reconstructions differ; the following is largely based on Easton's Bible Dictionary and the Jewish Encyclopedia:

Holy of Holies

The Holy of Holies, or Kodesh haKodashim in Hebrew,, also called the "Inner House", 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, and its walls and floor were overlaid with gold amounting to 600 talents or roughly 20 metric tons. It contained two cherubim 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, purple, and crimson and fine linen. It had no windows and was considered the dwelling-place of the "name" of God.
The Kodesh haKodashim was prepared to receive and house the Ark ; and when the Temple was dedicated, the Ark, containing the original tablets of the Ten Commandments, was placed beneath the cherubim.

Hekhal (main chamber)

The Hekhal, or Holy Place,, is also called the "greater house" and the "temple" ; 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 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
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, 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.

Porch

The Ulam, or porch, acted as an entrance before the Temple on the east. This was 20 cubits long and 10 cubits deep. notes that this porch was 120 cubits high. The description does not specify whether a wall separated it from the next chamber. In the porch stood the two pillars Jachin and Boaz, which were 18 cubits in height.

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, or Court of the Priests, was separated from the space beyond by a wall of three courses of hewn stone, surmounted by cedar beams. It contained the Altar of burnt-offering, the Brazen Sea laver and ten other lavers. A brazen altar stood before the Temple, its dimensions 20 cubits square and 10 cubits high. The Great Court surrounded the whole Temple. It was here that people assembled to worship..

Molten Sea

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Molten Sea or Brazen Sea was a large basin in the Temple for ablution 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 cubits 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, while Chronicles states it can hold up to 3,000 baths 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 which 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, but was afterwards brought by a conduit from Solomon's Pools. The molten sea was made of brass or bronze, which Solomon had taken from the captured cities of Hadarezer, the king of Zobah. Ahaz 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", resting 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. Josephus reported that the vessels in the Temple were composed of orichalcum covered in gold in Antiquities of the Jews.

Archaeology

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's expedition of 1867–70. There is no archaeological evidence for the existence of Solomon's Temple, and the building is not mentioned in surviving extra-biblical accounts. Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman argue that the first Jewish temple in Jerusalem was not built until the end of the 7th century BCE, around three hundred years after Solomon. They believe the temple should not really be assigned to Solomon, who they see as little more than a small-time hill country chieftain, and argue that it was most likely built by Josiah, who governed Judah from 639 to 609 BCE.

Temple Mount Sifting Project

There is archaeological and written evidence of three Israelite temples, either contemporary or of very close date, dedicated to Yahweh, either in the Land of Israel or in Egypt. Two of them have the same general outline as given by the Bible for the Jerusalem Temple.

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.

Islam

The Temple in Jerusalem is mentioned in verse 7 of the surah Al-Isra in the Quran with the words " to.... enter your Temple"; commentators of Quran such as Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur postulate that this verse refers specifically to the Temple of Solomon.

Kabbalah

views the design of the Temple of Solomon as representative of the metaphysical world and the descending light of the creator through Sefirot of the Tree of Life. The levels of the outer, inner and priest's courts represent three lower worlds of Kabbalah. The Boaz and Jachin pillars at the entrance of the temple represent the active and passive elements of the world of Atziluth. 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 on the Tree of Life, behind which the Shekhinah or Divine Presence hovers.

Popular culture

Solomon's Temple appears in Solomon and Sheba and in the novel King Solomon's Mines. It also appears in the video game Assassin's Creed where the main character Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad deal with Robert de Sablé. It appears too on Assassin's Creed Unity where the Knight Templar Jacques de Molay is burned and died.

The ''hekhal'' in synagogue architecture

The same architectural layout of the temple was adopted in synagogues leading to the hekhal being applied in Sephardi usage to the Ashkenazi Torah ark, the equivalent of the nave.

General