BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

A Second Temple in First Temple Jerusalem?

Archaeologists identify previously unknown cultic site

Solomon’s Jerusalem Temple is easily one of the most central and important buildings in the Hebrew Bible. However, an archaeological discovery suggests that for much of the First Temple period (c. 1000–586 BCE), Solomon’s Temple was not the only place of worship in Jerusalem. On the eastern slopes of the City of David, just a few hundred yards away from the Temple Mount, archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority claim to have uncovered a second temple.

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A Shocking Discovery

At over 2,300 square feet and partly dug into the side of the hill, the cultic site is made up of eight rock-hewn rooms, each containing different installations, including an altar, a massebah (standing stone), an oil press, and a winepress. The oil and winepress were probably used for preparing offerings to the temple’s deity (represented by the massebah), and the altar, which included a drainage channel, might have been the site of sacrifices. According to the researchers, who published their results in the journal ‘Atiqot, the temple was most likely built in the 16th century BCE—at the very end of the Middle Bronze Age—and went out of use in the eighth century BCE, around the time of King Hezekiah.

According to Eli Shukron, director of the excavation, “The structure ceased to function during the eighth century, possibly as part of King Hezekiah’s religious reform. According to the Bible, Hezekiah sought to centralize worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, abolishing the ritual sites scattered across the kingdom. The Bible describes how, during the First Temple period, additional ritual sites operated outside the Temple, and two kings of Judah—Hezekiah and Josiah—implemented reforms to eliminate these sites and concentrate worship at the Temple.”

Another room of the temple featured mysterious V-shaped carvings on the floor. According to the excavation team, the carvings may have been used for preparing liquids, or as the base for a loom or perhaps a tripod structure used for ritual activities. At one end of the room, a small cave was carved into the hill that contained a stash of objects dating to the eighth century. Among the objects were cooking pots, jars bearing fragments of Hebrew writing, loom weights, scarabs, stamp seals, and grinding stones. The inscriptions may have served magical purposes or had some other religious meaning. The cave was carefully sealed before the building went out of use, which may suggest it was used as a favissa, a cultic storage place.

The temple itself is quite different from other Iron Age temples. “A key characteristic of this compound is its construction within rock-cut chambers,” Helena Roth, one of the report’s authors, told Bible History Daily. This is a “unique feature compared to other Iron Age cultic compounds in the region, which are typically stone-built. While some architectural elements, such as the small back chamber hosting the standing stone, align with known Iron Age temples, the lack of an apparent eastern wall raises questions about its function. It is possible that this was a ceremonial temple, open to the valley and the opposite slope.”

Despite clear differences with other Iron Age temples, such as the lack of a tripartite structure, the researchers are still quite confident in their assessment of it as a cultic site. “This is indicated by the discovery of a massebah and its platform, the carefully sealed favissa, and the unique and significant artifacts,” continued Roth. “While no in situ finds were located due to the rooms being sealed after their floors were cleared, the nature of these artifacts points towards a centralized institution, possibly a temple.”

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The nature of the temple, being built directly into the hillside, is one possible explanation for why it was so different from other temples of the period. However, it is also possible that it was not originally intended as a cultic site. Based on their stratigraphy, the complex’s rock-cut chambers were first cut no later than the end of the Middle Bronze Age (c. 1550 BCE). Yet, all of the cultic finds from the building date to the Iron Age. Thus, while it may have also been a cultic site during the Bronze Age, cultic activity at the site can only securely be dated to the Iron Age.

If the researchers are correct in their interpretation, the discovery of this second temple is shocking, not only because it appears to run counter to the biblical impression that Solomon’s Temple was the sole place of worship in Jerusalem, but there are also very few known temples in the whole kingdom of Judah from this time. A few notable exceptions have been discovered at sites like Arad, Beer Sheva, Lachish, and Moza. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to determine which deity (or deities) was worshiped in this newly discovered temple. However, it seems unlikely that it was a place of worship for the Israelite god Yahweh, as it would be unusual to have two temples to the same deity within such proximity. Nonetheless, the careful way in which the temple appears to have been decommissioned, with its standing stone left upright, is reminiscent of the Arad temple, which is often believed to have been dedicated to Yahweh.

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Related reading in Bible History Daily:

Unearthing Jerusalem’s Millo

Mysterious Jerusalem Channels Confound Archaeologists

Jerusalem’s Iron Age Moat Discovered

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library:

The Missing Millennium in Jerusalem’s Archaeology

Jerusalem and the Holy Land(fill)

Jerusalem in David and Solomon’s Time

Jerusalem as Eden