In 2012, archaeologists made a stunning discovery: a temple within sight of Jerusalem in the period following the reign of King Solomon . Established around 900 B.C.E., and functional until the early sixth century B.C.E., this Judahite temple at Tel Moẓa defies everything we would have expected.
THE NEWLY BUILT HIGHWAY 1 runs through the archaeological site at Tel Moẓa. It was during the surveys preceding the planned road construction that an Iron Age II temple was discovered at the site, in 2012.
Credit: Courtesy of the Tel Moẓa Expedition Project
The Bible credits kings Hezekiah and Josiah (late eighth and late seventh century B.C.E., respectively) with authoritatively consolidating Jahve’s worship to Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, eliminating all other cultic activities in the territory under their control (2 Kings 18, 23; 2 Chronicles 29–31, 34–35). So what could a rival temple be doing less than 4 miles northwest of Jerusalem during the Iron Age II—the time of Solomon’s Temple—when the Bible says the only temple in Judah was in Jerusalem?
“Despite the biblical narratives describing Hezekiah’s and Josiah’s reforms, there were sanctioned temples in Judah in addition to the official temple in Jerusalem,” claim Shua Kisilevitz and Oded Lipschits in the January/February 2020 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. Archaeologists Kisilevitz and Lipschits, who have been excavating Tel Moẓa on behalf of Tel Aviv University, present their intriguing findings in an article titled, “Another Temple in Judah! The Tale of Tel Moẓa.” They explain how the rival temple came to be, and how it fits into the latest interpretations of the early cult and state formation in Judah during the Iron Age II.
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AN AERIAL VIEW of the temple at Tel Moẓa reveals one long room segmented into two spaces: a smaller “holy of holies” and a larger front chamber connected to a portico with two columns flanking the entrance.
Credit: Photo by P. Partouche, SkyView
Archaeological work on the temple at Tel Moẓa is not finished yet, as two more seasons of excavations are planned—for the springs of 2020 and 2021. Yet the findings and preliminary conclusions have already “fundamentally changed the way we understand the religious practice of the Judahites,” posit Kisilevitz and Lipschits. Despite their initial skepticism, they now assert that their “analysis of the archaeological finds and biblical texts clearly demonstrates that the temple at Moẓa conforms to ancient Near Eastern religious conventions and traditions and to biblical depictions of cult places throughout the land.”
A cultic structure at Tel Moẓa predated the building of the temple complex on the same site. It appears this owes to the site’s favorable location in a fertile valley near Jerusalem. Agricultural production and growing social stratification made Tel Moẓa economically and administratively important in the region, turning it into a royal granary catering to Jerusalem as early as the late tenth century B.C.E. A temple construction at the site was a logical development. “A link between economic subsistence, production, and development of religious elites during the Iron IIA period has been suggested at several [other] sites. […] Similarly, the temple at Tel Moẓa was built as an addendum to the agricultural structures,” Kisilevitz and Lipschits explain.
CULT ARTIFACTS found deposited on the courtyard floor included a cult stand, pictured here as it just came out of the ground.
Credit: Photo by David Yeger; courtesy of the Tel Moẓa Expedition Project
For the full argument and detailed description of the temple at Tel Moẓa, read the article “Another Temple in Judah! The Tale of Tel Moẓa” by Shua Kisilevitz and Oded Lipschits in the January/February 2020 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.
A version of this article first appeared in Bible History Daily in December, 2019
More on Solomon’s Temple in Bible History Daily:
“The Doorways of Solomon’s Temple”
“Searching for the Temple of King Solomon”
Subscribers: Read the full article “Another Temple in Judah! The Tale of Tel Moẓa” by Shua Kisilevitz and Oded Lipschits in the January/February 2020 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.
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