August 29, 587 BC has gone down in history as the date of the destruction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II, recalls "Aleph".
What the story tells:
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the first Jewish temple in Jerusalem. It was the main focal point of Judaism and a place for making sacrifices. Its construction was completed in the 10th century BC.
The beginning was laid by Solomon's father, King David, who before his death had collected a large amount of materials for the construction of the Temple on Mount Moriah, where he had purchased land and made sacrifices. Solomon carried out the plan. The Bible states that Solomon, king of the then only kingdom of Israel, at the beginning of his reign prepared materials for the construction of the temple in order to fulfill his father's ideas. He had large stone blocks extracted from a quarry in Jerusalem, which were to serve as the foundations and walls of the Temple. They were prepared and taken to the construction site under the supervision of experienced builders from the city of Tyre. At the same time, Solomon concluded a contract with the King of Tyre, Hiram I, for the supply of cedar wood from the forests of Lebanon, which was delivered by sea to Jaffa, and from there transported to Jerusalem.
Solomon also took care of the construction of a water supply system – carving into the rocks of large cisterns into which water flowed, coming through channels from the “reservoirs”, located near Bethlehem.
Preparation for the construction lasted three years. In the fourth year of Solomon's reign, the construction itself began. It was carried out according to the Phoenician model. David left Solomon enough gold and silver with which to build the Temple. The construction took him seven and a half years. In the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, the Temple was consecrated during the New Year's holidays. The Ark of the Covenant (Aron haKodesh) was solemnly moved to a specially designated place in the Temple - in the Holy of Holies. Legend has it that Solomon climbed onto a platform specially created for him and raised his hands to heaven and his heart to the Lord. According to tradition, the Ark housed the stone Tablets of the Covenant with the Ten Commandments, as well as the jar of manna and Aaron's rod.
The Feast of Dedication, which lasted seven days, marked the beginning of a new era in the history of Israel.
After the capture of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II on August 29, 587 BC, the Ark disappeared. For more than 2,500 years, countless legends have been told about its location.
On the site of the ruins, after their liberation from the Babylonians, the Jews built a new Jerusalem Temple, which became known as the Second Temple or Herod's Temple. The work on its construction was finally completed only in 64 BC. It was destroyed again six years later when the Roman legions of Emperor Titus conquered Jerusalem.