§ Debates · Ch. 1 · Ancient Israel and Other Ancestors
Can Solomon's Temple be historically reconstructed?
2 positions · no single answer
Position A · held by Reconstructions based on Kings and regional temples
Comparable biblical plan
Kings and architectural parallels make it possible to imagine a building in the Levantine tradition.
Rests on: p. 17
Reads the same page as : the same source, different readings.
Where the debate comes up
Statements tied to the debate
- Today's impressive visible remains on Jerusalem's Temple Mount belong to the Second Temple period. No physical trace of an older building survives there.
- From a historical perspective, it is wrong to deny that Solomon's Temple existed: although nothing of it survives, the biblical description cannot be dismissed as fantasy, since it matches in many ways the temple architecture of Canaan and Syria at the time. But it is also certain that the search for it has led many scholars astray.