What was the Temple of Solomon?
According to the Bible, it was the Israelites’ first permanent ‘house’ of God, built specifically to house the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark, a gold covered wooden chest containing the Ten Commandments, had originally been carried by the chosen people and Moses through the desert. When they arrived at the promised land of Canaan, they kept the Ark at the heart of the tabernacle, a tent-like structure regarded as God’s dwelling place on Earth. After King Saul unified the Israelites, they settled in Jerusalem under his successor David. It was David’s son Solomon who built the luxurious temple, now known as the Temple of Solomon. Eventually it would become the Israelites’ only legitimate place of worship. In Jewish history this time is known as the First Temple period, and begins at around 1,000BC. What evidence is there that the Temple of Solomon existed? The only evidence is the Bible. There are no other records describing it, and to date there has been no archaeological evidence of the
