A temple is defined as a structure or building dedicated to religious or spiritual activities. Oldest Temples have been built over the ages and many new temples open their doors every year. However, the ancient temples on this list were built thousands of years ago by people who no longer practiced their religion and belief system.
These buildings are some of the oldest man-made structures on Earth. It serves as a testimony to cultures and civilizations long gone. Here we review a number of the oldest temples in the world, in no order.
Temple of Seti I
The Temple of Seti I is the mortuary temple of Pharaoh Seti I. The ancient
temple was built at the end of Seti's reign and was probably completed by his
son Ramesses the Great after he died in 1279 BC. The temple was dedicated not
only to Seti I but also to several deities.
The reliefs in this ancient temple are among the finest and
most detailed in all of Egypt. The temple also contains a list of the kings of
Abydos. It is a chronological list of Egypt's many pharaohs from Menes, the
Egyptian king credited with founding the First Dynasty, to Ramesses I, Seti's
father.
Hagar Qim and Mnajdra
Hagar Qim rock complex is located on top of a cliff on the
southern edge of the island of Malta. The Mnajdra Temples are located about 600
meters down the cliff. Qim consists of a main temple and three additional
megalithic buildings next to it. The largest megalith in Qim is about 7 meters
high and weighs about 20 tons. Mnajdra consists of three temples joined but not
connected.
The oldest temples were built between 3600 and 3200 BC. Many
artifacts have been recovered from inside the temples indicating that these
ancient temples were used for religious purposes. These structures were not
used as tombs as no human remains have been found.
Stonehenge
One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge consists of earthworks
surrounding a circular group of large standing stones in southwest England.
Stonehenge was produced by a culture that left no written records; so many
aspects of Stonehenge remain a matter of debate.
Evidence suggests that the famous stone monument was
constructed around 2500 BC, while the last known construction at Stonehenge was
around 1600 BC. The giant stones probably came from a place about 40 kilometers
north of Stonehenge on the Marlborough Downs.
It is not known with certainty what purpose Stonehenge
served, but many scholars believe the monument was used as a ceremonial or
religious center.
Göbekli Tepe
Sometimes referred to as the First Temple or the Oldest Temple, it is a temple built on a hilltop in southeastern Turkey. The houses or temples are round rock buildings while the walls are made of unworked dry stone and include numerous T-shaped monolithic limestone columns up to 3 meters high.
The site was established by hunter-gatherers in the 10th
millennium BC, making it the oldest man-made place of worship discovered to
date. Göbekli Tepe not only dates back to before pottery and the invention of
writing or the wheel, but it was also built before the beginning of agriculture
and animal husbandry.
Knossos Palace
Knossos Palace is Located about 5 km south of Heraklion and it is the most important and famous Minoan palace
complex on the island of Crete. The Great Palace was built gradually between
1700 and 1400 BC, with periodic rebuilding after destruction until it was
finally destroyed by fire. The palace consisted of living spaces, reception
rooms, workshops, shrines, and storage rooms, all built around a central
courtyard.
The main function of the palace is still under discussion.
It would have been used primarily as an administrative center, a religious
center, or both, in a theocratic manner. Knossos is also often associated with
the legend of the Athenian hero Theseus who killed the Minotaur.
Amada Temple
Amada Temple is the oldest temple in Nubia and was first
built by the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III in the fifteenth century BC. The
temple was dedicated to Amun and Ra-Horakhti. Alterations and decorations were
made by subsequent pharaohs.
Akhenaten had the name Amun destroyed throughout the temple,
for example, while Seti I restored it again. Although the temple is very small
and has a dilapidated exterior, its interior features some delicate carvings
with bright, vibrant colors.
Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum
The Hypogeum in Malta is the only prehistoric underground
temple in the world. The temple consists of halls, rooms, and corridors carved
into the rock. It is believed to have originally been a sanctuary but became a
cemetery in prehistoric times.
The complex is grouped into three levels – the upper level
(3600-3300 BC), the middle level (3300-3000 BC), and the lower level (3150-2500
BC). The deepest room in the basement is 10.6 meters underground. Only a
limited number of visitors are allowed in and can wait 2-3 weeks to get a
ticket.
Luxor Temple
Luxor Temple is located on the eastern bank of the Nile in
the ancient city of Thebes. It was founded in 1400 BC during the New Kingdom.
The temple was dedicated to the three Egyptian gods Amun, Mut, and Shunes. This
ancient temple was the center of the Opet Festival, the most important festival
in Thebes.
During the annual festival, statues of the three gods were
taken from Karnak to Luxor Temple along the Sphinx Road, which connects the two
temples. The festival lasted 11 days during the Eighteenth Dynasty, but it
increased to 27 days during the reign of Ramesses III in the Twentieth Dynasty.
No longer an active religious site, holidays in Luxor are very popular with
tourists nowadays.
Ġgantija Temples
The prehistoric Ggantija temple complex is located on a high
hill on the island of Gozo. Built between 3600 and 3000 BC, the Gantija Temples
are the oldest series of megalithic temples in Malta, predating the Pyramids of
Egypt and Stonehenge in Britain by more than 1,000 years.
This megalithic monument is actually two temples, built side
by side and surrounded by a boundary wall. Numerous statues and statues
indicate that the temples may have been the site of fertility worship. The
temples in Malta are the oldest in Europe.
Hatshepsut Temple
The mortuary temple of
Hatshepsut, who ruled Egypt from around 1479 BC until she died in 1458 BC, is
located beneath the cliffs at Deir el-Bahri on the west bank of the Nile. It is
a columned structure, designed and executed by Senemut, Hatshepsut's royal
architect, to serve her posthumous worship and to honor the glory of Amun.
The temple is built on
a slope that rises steeply above it and consists of three tiered terraces up to
30 meters high. These terraces are connected by long slopes that were once
surrounded by gardens.