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The First Temple
by Dan Pioske
The
First Temple is one of the most famous buildings of the ancient world and also
one of the most mysterious.
The
temple’s fame stems from the prominence it is accorded within a large number of
biblical texts.
These
passages describe the temple as the sanctuary of Yahweh, the God of Israel, who
is said to dwell within it (e.g., 1 Kings
8:11, 1Kings 8:29; Isaiah 6:1).
The
mystery the temple poses to us today is that no trace of the structure has been
unearthed in Jerusalem.
This
dearth of archaeological evidence is due to the fact that the building would
have been located on the Temple Mount; excavations are not allowed in this area
because the site is holy to both Muslims and Jews.
For
this reason, our understanding of the temple’s history, function, and
appearance depends on how the sanctuary is depicted in the Bible and,
indirectly, how other, contemporary temples were constructed by neighboring
peoples in the Iron Age period (ca.
1175–586 BCE).
Who
built the First Temple and what did it look like?
According
to the Bible (1 Kings 6:37-38, 2 Chronicles
3:2), Solomon built the First Temple
between the fourth and eleventh years of his reign (ca. 950 BCE) at a site in
the more elevated northern precinct of Jerusalem that David, his father, had
purchased (2 Samuel 24:24, 2Chronicles
3:1).
The
description of the sanctuary provided in 1 Kings 6-7 indicates that the temple
was constructed of unhewn stone.
It
had three sections that were laid out on a rectangular plan with an east-west
axis.
These
consisted of a forecourt (ulām) with two large bronze pillars named Jachin and
Boaz (1 Kings 7:15-22) at its entrance; a spacious central room (hekāl) that
included a golden incense altar, table, and lamps; and an inner sanctuary, or
Holy of Holies (debir), where two immense cherubs (winged feline creatures with
human faces) flanked the ark of the covenant, forming a throne where God’s
glory was said to be present (1 Kings
6:19, 1 Kings 6:23; 1 Kings 8:11; Psalm 99:1).
The
temple also contained rich furnishings and decorations composed of cherubs,
date palms, and blooming flowers (1 Kings
6:29).
These
symbols are reminiscent of the cherubs who guarded the entrance to the Tree of
Life (Genesis 3:24).
It
may be that the temple was designed to evoke images of the garden of Eden, a
space that connected heaven and earth.
What’s
also interesting about the First Temple is that it appears to be patterned on
an architectural style found among peoples (the Phoenicians) that resided along
the coastal areas in what is today Lebanon and Syria.
The
Bible states that Solomon contracted craftsmen from the Phoenician city of Tyre
to build the temple and imported raw materials, such as cedar and cypress, from
this same region (1 Kings 5:1-17).
A
series of Iron Age temples unearthed from various ancient cities in this area,
such as at Tell Tayinat, ‘Ain Dara, and Aleppo, also have similar building
plans and features.
Thus,
despite having no archaeological evidence of the First Temple in Jerusalem,
temples do exist elsewhere from neighboring regions that help unravel the
mystery as to how this structure may have appeared.
What
happened to the First Temple and where are its contents now?
The
First Temple would have stood alongside the royal palace in Jerusalem for
nearly four hundred years.
In
586 BCE, the Babylonian army burned the temple down after conquering Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:8-9; Jeremiah 52:12-13).
Between
the time the First Temple is said to have been built by Solomon and its
destruction, however, a number of changes to the sanctuary are described in the
Bible, some portrayed as necessary improvements and others as violations to its
sanctity.
These
include extensive renovations to the temple during the reign of Joash in the
late ninth century BCE (2 Kings 12:1-16) and Josiah in the late seventh century BCE (2 Kings 23:4-14)
that are viewed in a positive light by the biblical writers.
But
these renovations also include the decisions by Ahaz (ca. 735–715 BCE; 2 Kings 16:10-18) and his grandson Manasseh (ca. 697–642 BCE; 2 Kings 21:3-5) to incorporate foreign religious objects and
practices into the temple, which are, in turn, condemned.
The
fate of those items that were in the temple at the time of its ruin are unknown
and has provoked speculation across the ages.
The
Bible states that the Babylonian army seized any objects of value from the
sanctuary and broke them down for easier transport, including the great bronze
pillars that had marked the entrance to the temple (2 Kings 25:13-17).
It
is possible that other items were carried away to Babylon as well.
Around
515 BCE the Second Temple was built atop the location where the First Temple
once stood.
Did
you know…?
According
to the Bible, the area of the First Temple was roughly 165 feet long by 85 feet
wide (or a little less than half the size of an American football field).
The
Bible states that to the right of the entrance of the temple there stood a
large bronze “Sea,” or a giant vat that could hold up to 12,000 gallons of
liquid.
The
vat rested on twelve bronze bulls positioned by threes according to the
directions of the compass.
In 2
Chronicles 3, the First Temple is said to be located on Mount Moriah where,
according to Genesis
22:2, Abraham brought Isaac to be offered as a sacrifice.
Only
the high priest could enter into the Holy of Holies and only on one day of the
year (Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement).
One
of the closest parallels to the First Temple is a sanctuary unearthed at ‘Ain
Dara in northern Syria, where giant footsteps, carved into the ground, are
found leading into the building, suggesting that the god (who was about 65 feet
tall) physically walked through its doors before being enthroned in the sanctuary.
In Isaiah
6, the prophet has a vision in which God sits enthroned “high and lofty”
in the temple, with the hem of God’s robe filling the sanctuary (Isaiah 6:1).
The Babylonians make
no mention of the fate of the temple’s contents when brought to Babylon,
including the ark of the covenant that is said to have been located in the Holy
of Holies.
Dan Pioske
Assistant Professor of
Religious Studies, Georgia Southern University
Dan Pioske is Assistant
Professor of Religious Studies at Georgia Southern University. He is the author
of David’s Jerusalem: Between Memory and History (Routledge, 2015) and Memory
in a Time of Prose: Studies in Epistemology, Hebrew Scribalism, and the
Biblical Past (Oxford, 2018).
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