Institute of Biblical Archaeology

Conference on Temple Building and Temple cult

The conference was investigating the questions of temple building and temple cult in the Levant during the 2nd and 1st Millennium B.C. (Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age). The focus was resting on city temples, i.e. monumental buildings for the temple cult in urban centre sites. The various lectures presented new archaeological results as well as new historical and theological studies relating to temple building and temple cult in Ancient Israel, Phoenicia, Philistia and the Aramaic and Transjordanian cultures.

New Evidence for Temple Building and Temple Cult:

Within these sub-regions of the Levant several temple complexes and associated cultic paraphernalia have been newly exposed or re-evaluated during recent years. The results of these investigations significantly expand and modify our knowledge about temple building and temple cult in the Levant. These new insights into the field can be of great importance for the research on the Temple in Jerusalem and for the studies on the Old Testament.

Interdisciplinary Concept of the Conference

Of particular interest for the archaeology of Syria-Palestine and for the research on the Phoenician-Punic culture was the interdisciplinary concept of the conference. The conference included comparative studies within several fields of archaeology (Biblical Archaeology, Old Testament Studies, Near Eastern Archaeology, and Classical Archaeology) in order to interpret regionalization of temple building and temple cult in the Levant. Different forms of source material applicable to the study of temple building and temple cult were discussed in the lectures (including epigraphical and iconographical sources).

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Publication

Poster