Review of Negev, Avraham, ed. “Arad.”

Negev, Avraham, ed.  “Arad.”  In Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land, 27-8.  Englewood, NJ: SBS Publishing, 1980. [Israel/Arad/Design/Furnishings/Priesthood]

About twenty percent of this article is devoted to the “most remarkable discovery at Arad”–the temple which was found in the north-western corner of the citadel.  Its orientation was similar to that of the Temple of Solomon.  It was a rectangular building with two rooms, the western most room was a raised holy of holies. Two incense altars, a relatively large courtyard to the east, bases of pillars such as those of Jachin and Boaz and an altar for burnt offerings were found at the site.  Two Hebrew ostraca were also found with names of priestly families known in the Bible–those of Meremoth and Pashhur.  The altar was not used from the end of the 8th century BC and the temple was destroyed with the erection of the last Israelite citadel in the second half of the 7th century BC.

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