Many archaeologists have hunted for evidence to support or refute the ancient Biblical stories about Israel. But the First Temple in Jerusalem — and its builder, King Solomon — remain shrouded in mystery.
King Solomon’s temple was the first temple built by the Israelites to honor their god, the Bible tells us. It’s also where the Jewish people are said to have kept the mythical Ark of the Covenant holding the 10 Commandments. But was the temple of Solomon actually a real place?Solomon was the son of King David, the Biblical figure who killed Goliath. Tradition says that when David died, Solomon inherited his father’s kingdom and extraordinary wealth.
That’s surprising considering the scale of Solomon’s alleged empire. The First Temple was completed in the year 957 B.C., taking the Bible at its word. In the chronology of ancient history, that’s several centuries after the legendary Trojan War and two centuries before the mythical founding of Rome. And according to the Bible, the First Temple stood for roughly 400 years before Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it and sent the Jews into exile.
Other researchers have looked for Solomon’s fabled mines. These would have been vital to secure the precious minerals and wealth needed to construct the First Temple. Many have come up empty handed. But in research published in 2017, archaeologists said they’ve found evidence of extensive ancient mining of copper in a nearby part of Jordan. The time period seems to match up, and if Israel held control of the area back then, it might have been a key source of minerals and wealth.
But perhaps the most doubt-inducing claim is that Solomon had a staggering 1,400 chariots, suggesting an army big enough to rival other great civilizations. Setting aside the lack of physical evidence for Solomon’s stables, a war victory inscription and the Bible itself claim that the Egyptian Pharaoh Shishak managed to conquer Israel, sack Jerusalem and steal all the treasures from the First Temple just five years after Solomon died.
Christians believe that Jesus visited the Temple Mount, then home to the Second Temple, and criticized the religious figures of the day before supposedly predicting the site would be destroyed. And in the Islamic faith, the Temple Mount is where the Prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven. It’s also the site of the still-standing Dome of the Rock, one of the oldest Islamic buildings in the world, built over the Second Temple centuries after it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.
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