Former Prophets
Sulayman's Temple and Throne
The First Temple precinct of Sulayman (peace be upon him) at al-Quds (Q 27:38-44, 34:12-14)
The reign of Sulayman (peace be upon him)
Educational historical reconstructionWhere
The Temple Mount, al-Quds (Jerusalem), First Temple period
31.7780, 35.2354 · View on OpenStreetMap
Background
The Qur'an records the reign of the prophet Sulayman ibn Dawud (peace be upon them), the prophet-king of the Bani Isra'il, in several principal passages: Surat al-Naml (Q 27:15-44, including the hoopoe and the queen of Saba'), Surat Saba' (Q 34:12-14, including the construction of mihrabs, statues, and great cooking-vessels by the jinn under Sulayman's command), and Surat Sad (Q 38:30-40, including the prayer for a kingdom 'such as no one after me will receive'). The Sunni tradition recognises Sulayman (peace be upon him) as the great prophet-king of the Bani Isra'il in the 10th century BCE, builder of the First Temple at al-Quds, granted by Allah the language of the birds and ants (Q 27:18-19), dominion over the jinn and the wind, and an unprecedented kingdom. The construction of the temple is preserved in the Sunni tradition through the standing hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari 3366 (the hadith of Abu Dharr radiyallahu 'anhu): 'I asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Which mosque was built first on earth? He said: al-Masjid al-Haram. I asked: Then which? He said: al-Masjid al-Aqsa. I asked: How long between them? He said: Forty years', establishing al-Masjid al-Aqsa (the platform of the al-Aqsa precinct in al-Quds) as one of the foundational mosques of the Muslim tradition. The Sunni tradition holds the temple precinct of Sulayman (peace be upon him) as the precursor of the al-Aqsa platform; the rock at the centre of the platform, enshrined in the Umayyad Dome of the Rock, is the same rock from which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ascended on the night of al-Isra' wa-l-Mi'raj. The dating is by anchor (the reign of Sulayman peace be upon him), conventionally the 10th century BCE; the Sunni qisas tradition does not fix specific dates. This scene depicts the temple precinct and the throne hall in their glory, cedar beams, bronze work, the hoopoe perched on a balustrade, with the throne dais empty and the prophet Sulayman (peace be upon him) absent from the visual frame.
What you see
A great temple precinct on the central platform of al-Quds in the First Temple period (Iron Age, c. 10th century BCE). The temple itself is a long rectangular building of dressed limestone faced with cedar of Lebanon; the inner sanctuary is in the western end. A bronze sea and twin pillars (Jachin and Boaz in the Israelite tradition; the standing Sunni tradition recognises the precinct without these specific names) stand before the entrance.
Inside the precinct, the throne hall of Sulayman (peace be upon him), the throne the Qur'an refers to in Q 27:38-42, when he commanded the throne of Bilqis to be brought from Saba'. The throne dais is dressed in inlaid cedar and bronze; the seat is empty, no figure depicted.
On the side of the precinct, a small hoopoe (hud-hud) bird perched on a balustrade, the messenger Sulayman (peace be upon him) had sent to investigate Saba'. The hoopoe is the foundational reference of the Qur'anic narrative in Q 27:20-26 in which Sulayman (peace be upon him) and the hoopoe converse. The bird is depicted but no human figure.
Cedar beams stacked at the side of the precinct, the wood of Lebanon used in the construction. Bronze fittings on the workbenches. The construction is in its glory, completed or near completed.
The Sunni tradition recognises Sulayman ibn Dawud (peace be upon them) as the prophet-king of the Bani Isra'il granted dominion (Q 27:15-16), the language of the birds and ants (Q 27:18-19), and a kingdom unprecedented and not to be repeated (Q 38:35). The temple precinct is the foundational platform of al-Masjid al-Aqsa, the second of the three holy mosques of Islam, established in the Sunni tradition in this period (Sahih al-Bukhari 3366: 'Which mosque was built first on earth?, al-Masjid al-Haram. Then which?, al-Masjid al-Aqsa. How long between them?, forty years.').
The light is the silver light of the Jerusalem highlands. The dating is by anchor: the reign of Sulayman (peace be upon him), conventionally the 10th century BCE in the academic consensus, with the Sunni qisas tradition recognising the period without fixing precise dates.
The narrative: Q 27 (Surat al-Naml), Q 34 (Surat Saba'), Q 38:30-40. The Sunni qisas: Ibn Kathir, Qisas al-Anbiya'; al-Tha'labi. The site tradition: Sahih al-Bukhari 3366; Mujir al-Din's al-Uns al-Jalil bi-Tarikh al-Quds.
Primary sources
The Qur'an, Surat al-Naml (Q 27:15-44), Surat Saba' (Q 34:12-14), Surat Sad (Q 38:30-40): The principal Qur'anic passages on Sulayman (peace be upon him): the language of the birds, the hoopoe, the queen of Saba', the throne, the construction by the jinn, the unique kingdom.
Sahih al-Bukhari 3366: The hadith of Abu Dharr (radiyallahu 'anhu) on al-Masjid al-Haram and al-Masjid al-Aqsa, the Sunni hadith foundation for the standing of the al-Aqsa platform.
Ibn Kathir, Qisas al-Anbiya' (14th c.): Standard Sunni stories of the prophets; the chapter on Sulayman (peace be upon him).
al-Tabari, Tarikh and Jami' al-Bayan: Standard Sunni history and tafsir.
Further reading & cross-references
al-Tha'labi, 'Ara'is al-Majalis: Sunni qisas compilation.
Mujir al-Din al-'Ulaymi, al-Uns al-Jalil bi-Tarikh al-Quds (late 15th c.): Standard Sunni topographical history of Jerusalem; preserves the Sunni continuity of the al-Aqsa platform with the temple of Sulayman (peace be upon him).
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