John M. Lundquist summarized an intensive study of temple
worship in the ancient Near East with the observation that there was a
universal "ritual language and practice" among the ancients in their
systems of temple worship ("Lundquist, John M. "The Common Temple
Ideology of the Ancient Near East." In The
Latter-day revelation enables us to trace these similarities
to an earlier common ground. In the book of Abraham we learn of rituals
commonly associated with the gospel and which were had by Adam even before the Fall and were known to all the ancients who held the
priesthood. Hugh Nibley describes these similarities as "diffusion and
usurpation." In fact, it is simply a matter of apostasy. Anciently, as
today, the world was full of copies of the original. The problem is that people
become so used to bad copies that they fail to recognize the original.
Among those things common to virtually all temples of the
ancient Near East as noted by Lundquist in his summary were the following:
1. The temple
is the architectural embodiment of the cosmic mountain.
2. The temple
is often associated with the waters of life, which will often flow from a
spring within the building itself, apparently a symbol of the waters of
creation.
3. The place
upon which the temple is built is regarded as sacred.
4. The temple
is associated with the tree of life.
5. The temple
is oriented toward the four world regions or cardinal directions, and toward
various celestial bodies such as the polar star.
6. The
structural design of the temple expresses the idea of successive ascension toward
heaven.
7. The plan and
measurements of the temple are given by revelation.
8. The temple
is the central, organizing, and unifying institution of the society.
9. The temple
is associated with abundance and prosperity.
10. The
destruction or loss of the temple foreshadows the death of the community. Such
destruction is the result of disobedience to the laws of God.
11. Within the
temple, kings, priests, and worshippers are washed, anointed, clothed in temple
robes, fed sacramental meals, enthroned and symbolically initiated into the
presence of their deity, where they would enjoy eternal life. Annual rites
introducing the new year are also held, with the
reading of texts and the dramatic portrayal of a pre-earth war in heaven. The
forces of good prevail, led by a chief deity. Sacred marriages are also carried
out at this time. 128
13. Sacral or
communal meals are eaten, often as part of covenant ceremonies.
14. God's word is
revealed in the temple, usually in the Holy of Holies, to priests, priestesses,
or prophets.
15. The building
or restoration of a temple is a time of covenant making, a time of renewal, a
time to reorder society.
16. The temple is
a place of sacrifice.
17. The temple
and its rituals are enshrouded in secrecy.