Endnote 13 – Rare Incense Altar Raises Burning Questions

According to Menahem Haran, in Israel incense was only burned in the Jerusalem Temple. See his articles, “The Uses of Incense in the Ancient Israelite Ritual,” Vetus Testamentum 10 (1960), pp. 113–129; Temples and Temple Service in Ancient Israel: An Inquiry into the Character of Cult Phenomena and the Historical Setting of the Priestly School (Oxford: Clarendon, 1978) pp. 235–241; and “‘Incense Altars’—Are They?” Biblical Archaeology Today (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1993), pp. 237–247. Also see Seymour Gitin, “Incense Altars from Ekron: Context, Typology and Function,” Eretz Israel 23 (1992), pp. 43–49; Jacob Milgrom, “The Burning of Incense in the Time of the Second Temple,” in Sefer Ben-Zion Luria: Studies in the Bible and the History of Israel Presented in Honor of his Seventieth Birthday (Hebrew) (Jerusalem: Kiryat-Sepher, 1979), pp. 330–334. On the incense altar and burning of incense in the Temple, see for example Exodus 30:1–10 and 37:25–28; 1 Kings 6:20–22 and 7:48; and 2 Chronicles 26:16.