Solomon

For such a small number of adherents Judaism has had a huge world impact.  The parent faith of the largest religions ever seen (Christianity and Islam), the People of the Book have left their mark far and wide.

Around 957 B.C., the Hebrews built one of the most celebrated temples in Western history: Solomon's Temple. This was the first instance of what is more properly known as the Jerusalem Temple. Yet this was not just one temple, nor did it retain the same form throughout history. 

Fact: the Hebrews erected three temples at about five-hundred year intervals.

In 586 B.C., Babylonians razed Solomon's Temple to the ground. While exiled by the rivers of Babylon, Ezekiel prophesized his visionary temple. Then in 538 B.C., the Persians conquered the Babylonians and allowed the Hebrews to return to Jerusalem.  Upon their return c. 515 B.C., they built Zerubbabel's Temple, the second Jerusalem Temple named for the king overseeing their return from exile.

By Caesar's time, the temple was in grave disrepair and the Jewish king Herod the Great began restoring it in 20 B.C.  Herod’s Temple was dedicated soon after but work did not finish until 63 A.D.

Prior to these temples there was also the Tabernacle of Moses that accompanied the Hebrews on their wilderness journey, c. 1300 B.C.   Designed for portability, the Tabernacle consisted of fabric and wood, unlike the later stone temples.