The Temple of the Rising Sun, Ancient Traces of the Canaanites in Israel

JAKARTA – Archaeologists discovered the ruins of a Canaanite temple built to greet the rising sun at the top of Azekah, an ancient settlement in Israel.

Hareetz reported, Friday (22/3/2024), artifacts that allegedly came from the Late Bronze Age Complex show ancient knowledge about the religious beliefs of the Canaanite people. Researchers note the strong influence of ancient Egyptian culture.

The destruction of temples and entire sites also suggests an attempt by several late Bronze Age civilizations to create new cultures and political entities in the Levant, including the ancient Israelites.

Excavations of the temple at Azekah have been carried out since 2014 by a team from Tel Aviv University, led by Prof. Oded Lipschits. Their discoveries at the complex were described in March 2024 in the journal Biblical Archeology Review.

Archaeologists have detected two phases in the temple’s long history, spanning the second half of the Late Bronze Age (16th – 12th centuries BC). Initially, around the late 14th or early 13th century BC, the Azekah people created an open-air shrine, building a large rocky chamber at the top of a mound with spectacular views eastward over the Elah Valley, which later became the location of a legendary battle between Daud and Goliath.

Worship centered around stone altars and basins for draining liquids from offerings, all covered in plaster. Next to the altar is a pillar, a common object of worship in the ancient Levant that is made of smooth limestone and reflects the morning light. “Given the brightness of these surfaces, it is easy to imagine morning sunlight painting this chamber in vivid colors of gold, orange, and pink,” the archaeologists wrote.

The eastward orientation is known from other sacred sites in the Levant and is very similar to Egyptian sun temples dedicated to the daily rebirth of the sun. In the second phase, which occurred in the late 13th or early 12th century BC, the temple was extensively renovated. Some of the open spaces were closed off with walls and side rooms, benches and more standing stones for worship were added.

“On the foundation, the builders placed seven objects such as lamps and bowls. “While this number of objects is unusual, it was common practice in the Late Bronze Age to place lamps and empty bowls in the foundations of new buildings,” said Dr. Sabine Kleiman, one of the Tel Aviv University archaeologists on the team.

Nation ancient egypt would also place offering objects in the foundations of new or renovated buildings to invoke God’s protection. Although researchers do not know the exact significance of the Canaanite version of this ritual, the bowl represents food and the lamp represents light.