Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem

An Exalted House

King Solomon built his Jerusalem Temple dedicated to Yahweh in the mid-tenth century B.C.E., on a hill north of the City of David. The biblical text identifies the site as a threshing floor owned by the Jebusite Araunah (2 Samuel 24:24–25), which David purchased for 50 shekels. In 2 Chronicles 3:1 the Temple site is identified with Mount Moriah, where Abraham offered to sacrifice Isaac.

Although nothing remains from the Temple building itself, its structure, furnishings and ornamentation can be determined from biblical descriptions, especially 1 Kings 6–7, and from analogous archaeological remains and descriptions of other ancient temples. These sources indicate that Solomon’s Temple consisted of three rooms laid out on an east-west axis: a forecourt (ulam), an outer sanctum (heikhal) and a shrine or Holy of Holies (dvir). The entrance was in the short, eastern wall. The building measured at least 70 cubits (105 feet) long, 20 cubits (30 feet) wide and 30 cubits (45 feet) high (a cubit equals about 18 inches), and was constructed of unhewn stones.