Religion has played a major role in shaping humanity over the course of history. Human beings have always identified the need to build elaborate structures in order to please their Gods and to worship them. This practice dates back to the centuries even before the birth of Jesus! However, archaeologists face great difficulty in identifying an archaeological structure as a place of worship or a temple as all the material artefacts that point to a place being a temple do not survive over the years in archaeology. Moreover, for a temple built in many stages or over and over again is difficult to date. Despite this, many old temples have been found all over the world. Let’s have a look over 10 of the oldest temples of the world.
- TEMPLE OF SETI I
Temple of Seti I is an Egyptian mortuary temple built for Pharaoh Seti I. This temple was built somewhere around the 13th century BCE. The pharaoh himself started the construction of this temple but, he died in 1279 BCE, after which the construction might have been finished by his son Ramesses. This temple, located in the Egyptian city of Abydos, is also known for the ancient Phoenician and Aramaic graffiti on its walls. The temple contains the Abydos King List.
2. LUXOR TEMPLE
The Luxor Temple is situated in the present-day city of Luxor, which was known by the name of Thebes in ancient times, in Egypt. It was built around 1400 BCE by the kings of the New Kingdom. The temple was dedicated to three gods, namely Amun, his consort Mut and their son Khonsu. The temple was the part of an ancient festival called the Opet Festival in which the three deities were brought to the temple from the nearby Karnak Temple through the series of sphinxes that lay in between of the temples.
3. TEMPLE OF HATSHEPSUT
The Temple of Hatshepsut is another Egyptian mortuary temple built for the pharaoh Hatshepsut. Situated beneath the cliffs at Dier el-Bahari, this temple was built somewhere around 15th century BCE. It is dedicated to the Egyptian god Amun and to Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut was only the second ever historically confirmed pharaoh. The construction of the temple was looked over by the pharaoh’s chancellor and the royal architect. The temple has three layered terraces joined by ramps.
4. TEMPLE OF AMADA
The Temple of Amada lies in the Nubia region of Egypt and is the oldest temple of this region. The temple was dedicated to Amun and Re-Hokarthy. Its construction was first finished by Pharaoh Thutmose III in the 15th century BCE and later, several modifications were made by other pharaohs. For example, the pharaoh Akhenaten, who denounced the worship of the god Amun and started worshipping Aten, had the name of Amun removed from all the places in the temple. This was later restored by Set I. Despite its small size and weak exterior, the temple has some beautiful reliefs and colours in its interior.
4. PALACE OF KNOSSOS
Crete is a Greek island which saw the oldest bronze-age civilization of Europe, the Minoan civilization. Knossos was a large centre of this civilization and the palace complex excavated here shows a remarkable achievement in artistic field. The palace was built gradually between c. 1700-1400 BCE and was rebuild again and again after it was demolished many times until it was finally destroyed by fire. The palace had living quarters, workshops, shrines, storerooms, etc. built around a central square. Whether it had administrative or religious functions is still debated, but it was designed beautifully with frescoes on the walls.
5. STONEHENGE
The Stonehenge is a very popular megalithic monument situated in Wiltshire, England. Archaeologists say that the structure was built in phases around 2500-1600 BCE but ascribing a certain date to an assembly of large stones seems difficult. The fact that the monument was used as a place of worship is also debatable, however, it is the most popular claim. Other claims include it being an astronomical observatory, a place to bury the dead (like numerous megalithic cultures all over the world), a place of ancestor worship etc. In any case, erecting such large stones was a herculean task for the prehistoric humans which makes people reason that the Stonehenge was constructed for some important reason.
6. THE HYPOGEUM
The Hypogeum, the only known prehistoric temple which was built below the ground, is in Paola, Malta. It was built in three levels between 3600 BCE and 2500 BCE. It also served as a place of burial and the remains of more than 7000 people have been found from it. Since hard metallic tools were unavailable to the people of that place in those times, it is believed that the origination of the underground structure might have been from a natural cave which was further expanded using bone, wood and stone tools.
7. TEMPLE OF HAGAR QIM AND MNAJDRA
The Mediterranean island of Malta is known for its numerous megalithic prehistoric temples. Two of these, those of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra are among the oldest temples of the world. These two temple complexes are situated at a distance of 500m from each other and were built around 3600-3200 BCE. The architecture of Hagar Qim suggests its association with fertility rituals and an altar suggests possibility of animal sacrifice. The Mnajdra temple complex contains three joined but unconnected temples. No human remains were found at both of the complexes showing that they weren’t used as burial places.
8. GGANTIJA TEMPLES
Yet another Maltese megalithic temple, the Ggantija Temples are also the oldest temples in Europe. Built between 3600 and 3000 BCE, these are actually two temples, built side by side. These temples lie on the Maltese island of Gozo. They are associated with a fertility cult as is evident from the figurines found in them. According to a folk tale in Gozo, these temples were built and used as a place of worship by a giantess who ate only broad beans and honey and bore a child from a common man. While building these temples, the child used to hang from her shoulder.
9. GOBEKLI TEPE
Gobekli Tepe, situated in south-east Turkey, is the oldest temple in the world. Dating to c. 9500 BCE, the temple predates the phenomenon of food production and animal husbandry. With the finding of this complex, the complexity of the hunter-gatherer cultures seemed to be far more impressive than previously thought. With its large megalithic pillars, decorated with beautiful engravings, archaeologists are almost sure that it was built for some mysterious cultural purpose which was worth all the time and labour. Famous Israeli historian and author Yuval Noah Harari goes as far as saying that there are chances that the origination domestication of einkorn wheat at Karcadog Hills, which are at about 30 km from Gobekli Tepe, was somehow related to Gobekli Tepe; most probably to feed the workers building it.
