Ain Dara

The Ain Dara is settlement best known for its destroyed Iron Age Syro-Hittite temple. The temple is noted for its similarities to Solomon's Temple, also known as the "First Temple in Jerusalem", as described in the Hebrew Bible.

According to the excavator, Ali Abu Assaf, it existed from 1300 BC until 740 BC and remained almost unchanged during the construction of Solomon's Temple as it had been before so it predates the First Temple. The temples of Emar, Mumbaqat, and Ebla are also comparable, as is the nearby 8th century BCE temple at Tell Tayinat. The surviving sculptures depict lions and sphinxes, which are comparable to the cherubim of the First Temple.