Was there a real King Solomon or is he a legendary figure of Israelite imagination?
As evidence of his existence we should be able to point to monumental architecture. One possible example are the six-chambered city gates associated with his reign, some of which have been revealed by archaeology (1 Kings 9.15). But is there any material evidence for the temple from the time of Solomon? Some would say no. They would use this lack of visible evidence to undermine what the Bible claims for Israel’s golden age under his united monarchy. However, there is important evidence for the first temple that has been visible, though ignored, all along!
Extensive redevelopment
Direct evidence for the temple of Solomon is difficult to find. The area of the temple mount has been extensively redeveloped over the centuries. The temple built by Solomon was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. When the Jews later returned to resettle Jerusalem they built a more modest temple in the same location. By the time of Jesus, King Herod had practically rebuilt this second temple and greatly expanded the platform on which it was situated. After the Romans destroyed this Herodian temple in 70 AD there followed a pagan temple, an early church structure and an Islamic shrine. The site of the temple is today dominated by the Islamic shrine called the Dome of the Rock. With its beautiful blue and white tiles and famous golden dome, this forms Jerusalem’s most iconic image. It also poses a major obstacle to any attempt to recover evidence for the much earlier temple of Solomon. On the most sensitive piece of real estate in the world, archaeological excavation is nearly impossible.
Mount Moriah?
The Dome of the Rock covers the natural rocky outcrop which was probably once the peak of Mount Moriah, where Abraham once took his son Isaac. The only reason why this natural area of rock should have remained exposed in Herod’s great rebuilding work is that it was itself part of the original Holy of Holies. In a curious irony, the great Islamic structure, which has stood for longer than any of the Israelite temples, has probably served to protect the most venerated spot in Judaism.
So what direct evidence is left of Solomon’s temple? The authenticity of a small carved pomegranate which may have once formed the tip of a priest’s sceptre has been subject to some dispute. Many have considered it the only direct, material link to the first temple. However, Dutch archaeologist Leen Ritmeyer has identified more startling evidence for the temple.
Where the Ark stood
The Holy of Holies housed the Ark of the Covenant. While the ark has long since been lost, Ritmeyer has identified a footprint of its existence. In 1994 he was examining photographs of the rock. Once the dimensions of the first temple are overlaid with the present temple mount, a section of the exposed outcrop aligns with the original Holy of Holies. Dead centre in this sacred space, Ritmeyer noticed a rectangular depression carved in the rock. In biblical terms it measured 1.5 by 2.5 cubits (Exodus 25.10). That is the size of the Ark. The uneven rock surface had a level space at its centre for the Ark to stand upon. While the Ark probably disappeared with the destruction of the temple, its presence has left a mark. The evidence has been there all along, surviving the refurbishments of Romans, Muslims, Crusaders and modern renovation. You can read about this important discovery in Leen Ritmeyer’s The Quest, published by Carta in 2006.
Christians believe in the existence of the first temple because they trust the Bible as a reliable record of history. Sceptics will scorn this faith because they will point to areas where historical evidence is lacking. But whenever material evidence of the past emerges it confirms the reliability of the biblical account. Nothing has yet emerged to contradict the claims we read in the Bible. I once heard British scholar Kenneth Kitchen point out that ‘the absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence’. If there is something in the Bible for which we do not have evidence, perhaps we ought to say that we do not yet have evidence. Maybe, like Solomon’s temple, the evidence is there, we just have not yet seen it!
Chris Sinkinson is pastor of Alderholt Chapel. He also lectures in Apologetics at Moorlands College, Christchurch, Dorset.
