Trina Marie Ulrich, C.S.F.N
January 24, 2009
“Tel Arad and the Significance of the Arad Temple”
Tel Arad has an intriguingly long history from the end of the prehistoric time through the Iron Age to a Roman fort and finally serving as a cemetery up till the 16th century C.E. This site dates back with settlers as far as the Chaleolithic period, a period of copper (chalkos) and stone (lithos) in about 4000 B.C.E. whose settlement at Arad concentrated around the hill. The Chaleolithic settlers arrived in significant numbers with their own culture, coming as agriculturalist and shepherds to inhabit mainly the valleys and fringes of the land of Israel. Later Arad in the Early Bronze Age (3150 to 2200 B.C.E.) saw the arrival of the early Canaanite Settlement in the 29th century B.C.E. The Canaanites built Arad around the hill’s “horse shoe” ridge. They constructed Tel Arad, their city, and at the center of the eastern hill, a large public building encircled by a wall, which may have been their temple. Remarkably, it was on this same exact spot over the supposed Canaanite temple that later the Israelites built their first and only Israelite temple ever discovered by archaeologist, which was dedicated to Yahweh. This paper will present the archaeological evidence regarding the existence of the Arad temple: its shape, size and development over the centuries and how this structure fits into the biblical accounts of the Temple of Jerusalem.
Arad Sanctuary
Beginning with the most striking facts concerning the Arad temple’s construction and comparing these with the biblical text will help highlight this temple’s significance and offer new insights into understanding Israel’s history. The Arad sanctuary contained three parts, just as the Jerusalem Temple did: a hekal the “Holy Place,” a debir the “Holy of Holies,” and the sacrificial altar. The temple at Arad spanned the periods from King Solomon to King Josiah (Strata XI-VII), the 10th through the late 7th century B.C.E. The Arad temple underwent four constructions and reconstructions, but the changes seem to be consistent with the biblical mandate for the temple of Yahweh. The changes seemed to be proportionate to an adjustment in the standard length of a cubit that occurred in Israel and Egypt. There was a difference between the common cubit (used in the Jerusalem Temple as stated in the biblical text) and the royal cubit (used in the Arad temple unearthed in archaeological digs) giving the “common cubit” about 45 cm. (about eighteen inches) to the “royal cubit” of about 52.5 cm (about twenty-one inches) after the 10th century B.C.E. in Arad. The royal cubit was the standard measurement used in Egypt called the Egyptian deben, which reflects a connection with Egypt at the end of the 10th century and after in the Negeb where Arad is located.
The hekhal literally the “Holy Place” measured six royal cubits in width in Stratum X. The breadth from its north to south measured exactly as the Jerusalem Temple – twenty cubits if taking into account the common cubit in Jerusalem and the royal cubit in Arad. 2 Chr 3:3, states “These were the specifications laid down by Solomon for building the house of God: the length was sixty cubits according to the old measure, and the width was twenty cubits.” Thus indicating that there were two cubit measurements at different times, which would allow for the difference in size of the Arad temple to the Jerusalem Temple, with each using different standards keep to the same specifications that were laid out in 2 Chronicles 3:3.
The length is completely different: six cubits at Arad and forty cubits in Jerusalem (or sixty cubits if including the debir the “Holy of Holies” in Jerusalem). This discrepancy of the biblical proportions of twenty to six may be explained however if the cubit board mentioned in Exod 26:16 for the movable desert sanctuary constructed of wooden boards would be overlapped a half cubit each and then joined, giving a measurement which would match the biblical text exactly to Arad’s sanctuary. Yet, amazingly, within the space of the hekhal is the altar of burnt offering which measures exactly as mentioned in Exod 27:1; 2 Chr 6:13 (cf. also Ezekiel 43:13-17)! The altar in Stratum X follows the biblical text perfectly with its five royal cubits by five royal cubits and three royal cubits high made of unhewn stones (Exod 20:24-25).
Then finally is the debir, the “Holy of Holies,” which was never moved from its original location throughout all the phases of the Stratum. Even during the time of the enlargement to adjust the temple to the royal cubit, all was arranged so that the debir and the altar would remain on the exact same spot. The debir was oriented east-west just as in the Jerusalem Temple.
Fortress Temples
It was not uncommon to have a temple/sanctuary in a fortress in the land of Israel. In fact it was more common than not to have a cultic presence along side the military presence in ancient Israel. Recall how the Israelites took the Ark of the Covenant from the sanctuary at Shiloh into battle with them, thinking it would assure them of victory (1 Sam 4:3). Yohanan Aharoni uncovered the fortress of Arad (Stratum VII-VI, 7th century B.C.E) in its last stage when it was destroyed possibly during the destruction of the kingdom. The Arad fortress/temple may be an example of all the other Judean temples and sanctuaries of the period. Other sanctuaries listed in the Bible from the 7th century B.C.E. are Bethel, Gilgal, Mizpah (1 Sam 7:16) Shiloh (1 Sam 1:24), and Beersheba (2 Kgs 23:8). Many of Judah’s kingdom border fortresses had cult places, among them were: Beit-Ariel, ‘Uza, Radum, Tel Sheva, Mezad, Michmash, Zachish (a Yahweh sanctuary and city second in importance to Judah) and Khirbet el-Qom where the locals worshipped Yahweh and Asherah as a divine couple.
There were many Yahweh sanctuaries that existed outside of Jerusalem in various towns in the 7th century B.C.E. according to Ephraim Stern. It is difficult sometimes to distinguish between a house and a temple in some instances, because palaces could also look like temples. Also, people would have cultic tools in their own homes, and the word for “house” is used for both temple and home. Any names with Beth– ancient Hebrew, Beit in Arabic or Bet in Modern Hebrew can be used as “House of…” meaning both a private home and a sanctuary, for example the “House of Yahweh” or the “house of Koran.” The temple proper at Arad was founded together with the first fortress in the 10th century in Stratum XI. What preceded the first Israelite Arad temple was an open high-place in Stratum XII, a 12th century stratum attributed to the occupation of the Kenites, a group that will be discussed later in this paper in connection with Moses and his father-in-law, Jethro.
In the Late Iron Age IIA (1200-1150) many fortified centers where built throughout the Beersheba Valley and Shehalah. Among some of the largest and most significant are Lachish, Tel Beersheba, and Tel Arad. The cities consisted of solid city walls about 4 meters wide and a large city-gate with an outer gate for protection. For further protection these cities were built on a hill top over looking the valley. The Arad fortress was built on the highest hill surrounded by the open village below on the lower slopes. It was on the summit of this hill that the people paved a 100 foot long area, enclosed it by a wall three feet thick and constructed on the north side a temple and a square stone altar.
The fortress in Beersheba also had an altar, a horned altar (cf. Exod 27:2), which was reconstructed from the surrounding walls after it had been dismantled. It was about three royal cubits in length and width when reconstructed. It may have been larger, but no other stones where found that would increase the size of this altar. Yet, if stones were discovered the size could easily increase. On the top of the altar were black stain marks indicating that a grill was used for the sacrificial offerings of animals over the kindling of fires (cf. Ezek 43:15-16). The same kind of burnt offerings could be concluded as part of the worship at Arad and not only the offering of incense. It is significant that the stones of the Beersheba altar had been carefully dismantled in Stratum II in the late 8th century B.C.E. at the same time that the Arad shrine went out of use in Stratum VIII. The incense altars at Arad had also been deliberately and respectfully put out of commission by laying them on their sides before they were covered with fill. Beersheba Stratum II and Arad Stratum VIII are also contemporary to Lachish Stratum III. Lachish Stratum III was destroyed by the Assyrian conquest in 701 B.C.E.
Many new settlement cites were established during the Early Iron Age IIA (between 900-600 B.C.E.), which seems to indicate the process of a state formation taking place. This began in the second half of the 11th century in the central highlands, and progressed into the 9th century with the construction of administration centers as part of the emergence of the state of Judah. Arad was one of those numerous new settlements set up between 900-600 B.C.E. A straightforward reading of the archaeological data from the late 11th and early 10th centuries B.C.E. does not support the biblical account as it is written regarding the presence of a “United Monarchy” at that time. However, this is not to diminish the historicity of Kings David and Solomon. It simply reflects a process to statehood that differs from the chronicles of the Hebrew Bible.
The United Monarchy and the Temple of Jerusalem
It is intriguing to think that the Arad fortress established in the 10th century B.C.E. housed a sanctuary that was in keeping with the measurements of the Temple of Jerusalem (Exod 27:1; 20:24-25; 2 Chr 6:13; Ezek 43:13-17), believed to represent the center of cultic worship in a time when the statehood of Israel reached unity, peace and prosperity. The Hebrew Scriptures state, “Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, which had been pointed out to his father David, on the spot which David had selected, the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign” (2 Chr 3:1-2; cf. 2 Sam 24:18-25). King Solomon reigned between 970-931 B.C.E., and he built the first temple on the spot chosen by his father David in about 960 B.C.E.; so what can be said about the Arad temple and the United Monarchy? Finkelstein and Silberman offer some interesting and insightful analysis of the process of statehood for Israel that may allow for more than one temple at the time of King Solomon. It must be recalled that no temple has ever been archaeologically unearthed in Jerusalem in these last centuries of archaeological excavations, which does not necessarily rule out the Jerusalem Temple completely, but it does seem to weaken the argument for its existence from a historical view point. Two reasons could prevent the finding of Temple ruins in Jerusalem which would prevent archaeological discoveries: 1) The massive building activities in Jerusalem wiped out all signs of the earlier city or 2) The Dome of the Rock, a major sanctuary of Islam has occupied the site since its completion in 691 C.E. with the ruins inaccessible.
Much evidence supports that the Temple of Solomon existed, although it might not have been as grand as many have envisioned. Concerning what is left of Herod’s Temple and from records that date to the 1st century C.E. several pieces of information from independent sources would be considered reliable. Three independent sources testify that the eastern cloister of Herod’s temple was called “Solomon’s Portico.” Two New Testament books with different independent authors refer to the eastern cloister as “Solomon’s Portico” in John 10:23 and Luke’s Acts 3:11; 5:12. Furthermore the uses of “Solomon’s Portico” were explained by Josephus in his Antiquities 20:220-1; War 5:185. Then, finally, as Murphy-O’Connor points out regarding the remains of Herod’s Temple: “the base of the east wall is certainly pre-Herodian.” These bits of information, and although they may not be results of a full-fledged excavation are evidence for a Solomon Temple in Jerusalem.
Another difficulty about the existence of the Arad temple is that according to archaeological evidence it was constructed precisely at the time when the Israelites should have destroyed all other gods and their shrines to establish a monotheistic religion united in Jerusalem. Stratum XI when the fort and temple of Arad was first built was in the 10th century B.C.E. What makes the existence of an outlaying “House of Yahweh” believable in relation to the United Monarchy is a different view presented of King David and King Solomon.
There are two inscriptions which support the historical existence of David’s dynasty taking him out of the merely legendary or mythical category. In an 835 B.C.E. a fragment artifact of a monument that was found at the site of Tel Dan has written on it, “House of David.” Further evidence and more convincingly are the victory records of the King of Damascus, King Hazael who defeated the Israelites. The inscription reads: “I killed Jehoram [King of Israel from 851-843] son of Ahab king of Israel, and I killed Ahuziahu son of Jehoram king of the House of David. And I set their towns into ruins and turned their land into desolation.” The mention of a King of Israel less than 100 years after the reign of Solomon still attributed to the Davidic dynasty is grand evidence for David’s fame in the land of Israel. Furthermore at the southern end of Israel a similar inscription also attests to the fame of the Davidic dynasty. It is the famous inscription discovered near the Dead Sea by Mesha, the Moabite king from the 9th century B.C.E., who writes of the “House of David,” as known throughout the whole region. This inscription too, clearly validates the biblical figure that is called David. David was clearly the founder of the Judahite kings in Jerusalem according to archaeological data.
It is clear that there was a King David (reigned 1005-970) and a King Solomon (reigned 970-931). David who was the founder of the Judahite kings among the tribes of Israel; and Solomon who ruled a not so grand kingdom, but who is believed to have a built a temple in Jerusalem. The monumental structures of Megiddo, Gezer and Hazor, the six chambered gates, and fortifications which was attributed to Solomon’s vast, wealthy, and powerful kingdom which many believed were signs of the full statehood of Israel are dated currently to have been built a century after the time of Solomon. The technology exhibited in these magnificent cities did not arrive in the surrounding areas until at least a century after him. The palace structures of Meggido found their parallel in Syria only in the 9th century B.C.E. after Solomon’s rule. If Solomon is dated to the 10th century then according to the archaeological finds in Judah show that Judah still remains to be a remote and undeveloped region at the time of Solomon’s kingdom. Yet how does the knowledge of their reigns impact an understanding of the archaeological finds of the fortress and Yahweh Temple at Arad? A look at some of the ostraca which came out of the Strata at Arad will help to illuminate the activity in Judah and the Negeb during the time of the monarchy of Israel.
The Revelation of the Ostraca
It is from ostraca of Stratum X-VI, during the Iron Age, that elements of the culture of Arad can be seen, which also reflect the life of Judah during the 9th to the 6th century B.C.E. Most of the ostraca are marked with inscriptions of ink that were revealed during the water dipping method of Yohanan Aharoni. Before brushing the fragments each one was dipped into water, which allowed for the ink inscriptions preserved by the dry climate of the Negeb to come forward and to be read. What was found then in the 9th century at the end of the monarchy were names of interest; for names reveal the embodiment of ideals in the persons of the culture. Significantly what was found were names with a theophoric Yahwistic component with the form “yau” (yw) in the names. Such names were found as Derashyahu, Nakhonyahu, and Shebonyahu. These names coming from Arad during the 9th century B.C.E. clearly reveal a devotion to the God of the Israelites -Yahweh. No names contained ba’al, a frequent element at Samaria; nor did the names contain the general term el meaning “god.” Later still the theophoric Yahwistic component is also found in Stratum VII when several seals read with the inscription “Belonging to Eliashib son of Eshyahu.” Therefore the temple at Arad is further seen as the “House of Yahweh” by this archaeological evidence. Moreover, were the names Israelite priests which are found in the Hebrew Bible: Meremoth and Pashhur.
Another significant correlation between Arad’s temple and the Jerusalem’s Temple was a letter found on an ostraca which was written to Eliashib, who was likely the general commander at Arad’s fortress for about 20-30 years. The letter reads: “To my lord Eliashib, may Yahweh ask for thy peace. And now: give Shermaryahu . . . and to Kerosite give . . . And regarding the matter which thou commandest me – all is well. He dwells in the house of Yahweh.” This letter has a highly Israelite tone to it. It not only contains a prayer to Yahweh, but it also contains a name with the Yahwistic suffix –yahu. Further, it mentions the name Kerosite, most definitely a member of the Keros family who were servants in the Jerusalem Temple (Ezra 2:44; Nehemiah 7:47). The location of which “House of Yahweh” can also be determined by the place from which it was sent, therefore it couldn’t be referring to Arad. Furthermore, the temple at Arad was already destroyed in Stratum VI, as this letter was written at the end of the monarchy during the time of King Josiah.
Then marking the final Stratum of Arad, Stratum VI, the ostraca appears to contain a record of its impending destruction. At the end of the monarchy from 600-598 B.C.E. an inscription reads, “And the word of the king is with you on your souls! Behold, I have sent to admonish you: Are the men with Elisha; lest the Edomites come thither!” This was a warning of the coming of the first campaign of Nebuchadnezzar conspiring with the Edomites. King Jehoiakim reigned in Israel in the years 608-598 and this event can be found in 1 Kgs 24:2 and Jer 35:11 if when reading Aram, Edom is read instead. Thus allowing the archaeological data to correspond with the biblical text which writes of the final destruction of the kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 B.C.E. (2 Kgs 24:1-2; Jer 13:18-19). There was one last Judean fortress at Arad from 594-593 B.C.E. built in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign, but which was destroyed probably by an Edomite invasion (Ps 137:7).
Moses and Arad
Finally, the key to the existence and prominence of Arad may be found in its pre-Israelite Stratum XII. Before Israelite settlers came, the same Tel Arad was occupied by the Kenites. This is significant for various reasons. The most obvious is that the Kenites were the descendents of Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro (Judges 1:16). Finkelstein, Silberman, Miller and Hayes all write that there is little archaeological evidence of a conquest by the Israelites of the land of Canaan. Judges 1:16 explains that “Moses’ father-in-law came up with the Judahites from the city of palms to the desert at Arad [which is in the Negeb]. But they later left and settled among the Amalekites” (cf. Num 10:29-31). In various other passages the Amalekites were either declared enemies of the Israelites or an obstacle for Israelite settlers, which raises more questions than there are answers (Num 13:29; 1 Sam 15:21, 27:10; Deut 25:17).
Yet, what is even more significant with the Arad temple of Yahweh is the Kenite theory of the origin of Yahwistic worship. This theory attributes the naming of God as Yahweh to the Midianites, where Moses would have learned of it through his father-in-law who was a priest of Midian (Exod 2:15-22).
Therefore the passages of Judges 1:16 and Num 10:29-31 are clearly connected to Jethro the Midianite priest and the father-in-law of Moses and his involvement in the settlement of the land of Canaan, beginning at Arad, according to the biblical account. It is a striking connection corroborating a relationship with the Kenite family related to Moses, the earlier Kenite settlement of Stratum XII, the Yahwistic worship in the “House of Yahweh” and the development of Israel as a monotheistic religion worshipping the imageless God, Yahweh. Moreover, Finkelstein and Silberman’s new theory of the settlement of Israel as coming from within the land itself does find support in the Kenite connection.
In conclusion, the Arad fortress and temple reveals a developing state of Israel, whose tolerance for pluralism was more than that expressed in the Hebrew Scriptures. Arad shows that while David was the founder of the Judahite kings and Solomon continued his legacy building the Temple of Jerusalem, the United Monarchy was not centralized at the time, nor wealthy, but rather it gave momentum to the emerging state of Israel. As far as the Arad temple is concerned it is a structure which clearly supports and affirms the worship of Yahweh among the people of Israel, their system of priests and supports and affirms an existence of a Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. It confirms the development of the statehood of Israel and worship among the Israelite people during the Iron Age.
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