Jerusalem Temple

The sanctuary in Jerusalem that served as Judah’s central royal and religious institution until its destruction by Babylon in 586 BCE.

Solomon: A king of ancient Israel traditionally associated with building the First Temple in Jerusalem. Biblical tradition makes Solomon the Temple’s builder and links its construction to royal rule.
First Temple: The Jerusalem sanctuary traditionally built under Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. This is the specific building meant by the Temple in its pre-exilic setting.
Babylonian captivity: The deportation and displacement of Judeans by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, especially after Jerusalem’s fall. The destruction displaced communities whose religious life had centered on the sanctuary.
Tel Arad temple: An Iron Age sanctuary in Judah’s fortress at Tel Arad, outside Jerusalem. Its existence complicates claims that all Judean worship was always confined to Jerusalem.
United Monarchy: The biblical kingdom said to have united Israel and Judah under Saul, David, and Solomon. The Temple’s founding story places it within the kingdom’s brief period of political unity.
Kohen: A Jewish priest, traditionally descended from Aaron, who performed sacred duties in the Temple. Priests carried out the rites that made the sanctuary Judah’s active cult center.
Babylonian exile: The period of Judean displacement in Babylonia after the kingdom of Judah fell. Without the Temple, exiled Judeans developed religious life beyond its sacrificial institutions.
Kuntillet Ajrud: An eighth-century BCE archaeological site in the northeastern Sinai with inscriptions mentioning Yahweh and Asherah. Its inscriptions illuminate religious practices beyond the Jerusalem sanctuary.
Hezekiah: A king of Judah who ruled during the late eighth century BCE and undertook religious reforms. His reforms are associated with centralizing worship at Jerusalem.
Korban: A ritual offering presented to God in ancient Israelite and later Jewish worship. Offerings were among the central practices conducted at the sanctuary.

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