For today's lecture, we dived into the history of Jerusalem after King David and shifted our focus to Solomon's reign in Jerusalem. King Solomon is known to be very wise and intelligent king, marking the Golden Age of Jerusalem. Solomon is also known to have built the first temple in Jerusalem, dedicated to God and for the placement of the Ark of the Covenant. There is very little architectural evidence of the temple because it was knocked down and all the remains were taken away. Instead of pushing all the waste into the center and rebuilding on top of that mount of waste, the remains of the first temple was totally cleared away. Without any remains of the temple Solomon built, some believe that the temple never even existed. Is this evidence that nothing even existed?
In 1 Kings 6-7, the temple that Solomon built is described in detail. In front of the great hall was supposed to be too columns, named Jachin and Boaz. This is a possible reference to God and His wife. The back of the temple was where the Ark of the Covenant was supposed to have resided. In an attempt to legitimize the existence of the temple, scholars have compared the literary description of Solomon's temple to other temples in the area. The descriptions are almost identical. However, there is still very little archeological evidence to prove that the temple ever existed. The Tel Ta'yinat and 'Ain Dara temples are similar temples compared to Solomon's temple. The gates were also similarly constructed.
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