The Site - Section H

In Section H a tripartite temple built over the remains of three older temples was discovered. It dated from the time of the last king of Hazor, Jabin, and was destroyed when Joshua burned down the city. It consisted of a vestibule, a hall and the holy of holies laid out on the same axis. In the vestibule were two columns. In the holy of holies, which is surrounded by orthostats, the excavators found an altar for the burning of incense, libation offering tables, a basalt vessel, statuettes of seated figures (of the king?), a bronze bull, discs with a pattern of rays, etc. - all suggesting that the temple was dedicated to the weather god Hadad. Yadin saw in this Canaanite temple, which has a parallel in a temple of the 20th/19th century B.C. at Megiddo, a "prototype of the Solomonic Temple" in Jerusalem: a finding of particular importance, since Solomon's Temple is known only from descriptions in the literature, unsupported by Archeological evidence.