LAIIGItUN:0:-.1HIECO,-':VERGENCEOFTEXTSANDARTIFACT"S 129!Oabove.ThedestructionofthesesiteshasbeenattributedtoShishakof
Egyptanddatedto 925 ll.C.E}2Ifindeedthishand-burnishedmatcrialcan
beassociatedwiththeremainsofthesemassivestructuresandstmligraph-
icallylocatedbelowthedestruclionlevelcreatedbyShishak'sraids,[hena
solidterminusmllequem(thelatestdateallowedbyarchaeologicalevi-
dence)canbecstablishedfortheirusage,Thatis,thefloors,walls,and/or
otherarchitectural remainsassociated withthis pottery couldnoth:we
beenputunderneaththepollCIYoncethelatlerwasfixedbythedestruc-
lion.Ifthepotteryistenthcentury,thensoarethematerialremainsfound
with it. Whetherthesebuildingswereconstructedundertheordersof
someonenamedSolomonorsomeoneelse,thearchaeologicalevidence
C~lOnotdecide,bUl whoeverwasresponsible forthetrJ.c1itionin 1 Kgs
9:15-25mayhavebeenintouchwithalegitimatehistoricaltraclttion.
It iscommonknowledgethatsofarnotanyphysinll,archaeological
remainsoftheso-calledSolomonicorFirstTemplehaveeverbeendiscov-
ered.^33 Doesthismean,assomehaveclaimed,thatthedescriptionofthis
structureinI Kgs6-8wassimplymadeupl<lteinthepostexilicperiod,or
doestheKings'accountreSlonlegitimatehistoricalmemory?Whilearchae-
ologistsarelackingtotallyanyphysicalevidenceofsucha structurefrom
tenth-centuryH.C.E,Jerusalem,thesameisnottrueofmanyothersitescon-
taining such "temple" remains. [n fact, the existence of so many
Canacmite-phoeniciantempleremainsdatingfromtheMiddle13ronzeAge
toIronAgeII ledDevertoconcludethat"eve,ysingledetailoftheBible's
complicateddescriptionof{heJerusalemtemplecannowbecorrobor.:iled
byarchaeologicalexamplesfromtheLateBronze<lnclIronAges.Thereis
nothing'fanciful'about1 Kgs,6-8."3~
Inconclusion,it canheasked,ifwesetasidethebiblic<llandother
texts(althoughtheTelDaninscription,duetoirsdate,countsalmoslas
acontemporalYwitness) and looksimply at materialrealia dated by
manyarchaeologiststothetenthcenturyH.C.E.,whatcanwesee?Wecan
seemonumentalarchitecturalremainscomposedofmassivefortificHion
32 For;llleStim;ltion oftheillllxlrtanccllfShbh;lk'!;rJidon br:lel.!;ce J-1oll:lc!;ty,
"KingdomsofIsraeland)udah,-372-75:cr.1 KgsIIAO.
33 SeeDever,1f'1){1/OidfbeBiblicalW''n'tersKllOlIl,144-57;Johni\lonson,"TheNew'A in
DaraTemple:Closc~tSolomonicI';tr:tllel,"BAR26,3(2000):20-35,67.
3~Dever,W/)(I/Oidt/)eI3iblicalIf'rifersKilOit'.155:emphasisorigin;t!.SpaceconsiderJ-
lionsdonOI allow:tdec:tik:ddiscu~sionoflhem:myrem;linsiclemified;tStemplesnow
knownfrommanysites. ArticlesinlheNEAIl/-ILandtheOliAN!:"onsite.~~u(h;IS1I;17.or,
Megiddo,Shechem,TellTaymal.andp;lrtlcul;lrly'AmU;lrJwillonenllheII11Creste<lre:lder.
Onthemagnificellilypreservedn:m;tins;l1'Ainnor;l,5CeMonson,-New'Ainl)ar;lTemple."
Forthehisioricliimplic:l1ionsofthc'AinDorarcmainsfortheSoI11111onictemple.!;ccDcver,
W!JafDidfheBibliw!If'n'tersKIIOII'.144-57.