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ZEV RADOVAN/BIBLELANDPICTURES.COM

ARAD TEMPLE. This tiny room was the most sacred part of a small temple, first built in the eighth century B.C.E., excavated at the site of Tel Arad in the northern Negev. It once held a limestone stela with traces of red pigment, two smaller stone slabs, and two altars. Many believe the standing stones served as aniconic representations of the deity or deities worshiped at the temple, one of whom may have been Yahweh. Replicas of the stones and altars have been reconstructed at Arad (pictured here), while the original pieces have been moved to the Israel Museum.