A small but unique discovery: Phoenician presence and Solomon’s Temple

In this three-part series of articles, we will explore some of the evidence relating to Solomon’s Temple.

In Part One, we explored how ancient wooden beams, uncovered after an earthquake at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, provided surprising evidence linking back to Solomon’s Temple.

In Part Two, we continue our exploration by examining a tiny golden pendant from the Ophel excavations – a jewel that may testify to Phoenician presence in Jerusalem during the time of David and Solomon.

Can a Tiny Jewel Tell Us About the Temple?

Archaeology often begins with small objects that open doors to big stories. Recently, a pendant no larger than a small button has become a remarkable testimony, which possibly sheds light on the First Temple and the world of King Solomon.

The Temple Mount and the Elusive First Temple

The First Temple, built by Solomon in the 10th century B.C., is thought to lie beneath the great stone platform constructed by Herod the Great on the Temple Mount. Modern political and religious sensitivities make excavations there impossible, leaving us without direct archaeological proof of Solomon’s Temple. What we do know is that the Temple was looted several times and finally destroyed in the 7th century B.C.

Yet, discoveries from nearby areas continue to provide indirect but compelling evidence.

The Golden Basket Pendant

In 2024, Brent Nagtegaal of the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology and Dr. Amir Golani of the Israel Antiquities Authority published their study of a unique pendant discovered in the Ophel excavations – the southern slope descending from the Temple Mount to the City of David.

The object is a small golden pendant shaped like a square basket, crafted from electrum –an alloy of gold, silver, and copper. Its delicate design, with two crossing arches tied to a ring, shows the hand of a skilled artisan. The addition of silver to the gold enhanced the jewel’s color and reflected high-quality craftsmanship.

Interestingly, this pendant had been unearthed years ago but went unrecognized until scholars took a closer look.

Dating the Find: The Time of David and Solomon

The pendant was discovered in a room beneath an ancient floor fill, alongside pottery securely dated to Iron Age IIA – the 10th century B.C. This is the very period of David and Solomon.

Never before had such an object been found in Jerusalem. So researchers compared it with similar designs found elsewhere.

The Phoenician Connection

The square-basket motif has long been associated with the Phoenicians, the seafaring Canaanite people from Tyre and Sidon in today’s Lebanon. Wherever archaeologists find such pendants across the Mediterranean – from North Africa to Spain – they also find Phoenician presence.

But here lies the difficulty: most Phoenician basket-shaped jewelry dates later, to the 8th to 6th centuries B.C., well after Solomon’s reign.

However, in the 11th–10th centuries BCE, similar pendants – though made of perishable materials rather than gold – were found in Canaanite sites within Israel, such as Tel Beth Shean and Tel Miqne. This shows the motif was already well known in Canaanite culture before the Phoenicians carried it westward. And let us remember: the Phoenicians were themselves Canaanites!

What does this pendant represent? Twenty years ago, Amihai Mazar, who excavated Beth Shean, found a bronze basket weight and suggested it depicts a miniature altar. This interpretation links the pendant not merely to wealth, but to worship – a sacred emblem.

Why Were Phoenicians in Jerusalem?

The pendant from Jerusalem appears to have been lost accidentally, perhaps by a person of high rank. Its presence in the Ophel is not part of a burial or hoard but seems to have belonged to someone important.

The most compelling conclusion is that Phoenician artisans or nobles were in Jerusalem in the 10th century B.C.E. – the very time Solomon built the Temple.

Scripture confirms this:

“So King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze; he was filled with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge to do all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.” (1 Kings 7:13–14)

The pendant is therefore more than a piece of jewelry. It is a witness. It testifies to the Phoenician presence in Jerusalem during Solomon’s reign and offers archaeological support for the biblical account of the Temple’s construction.

In Part Three, the final article in this series, we will explore the question of King Solomon’s historicity, engaging with modern skepticism about Solomon, explaining the silence in extra-biblical sources, and affirming the Bible’s reliability as history.