standing in 525 BCE The Israelite temple at Tel Motza, c. 750 BCE discovered in 2012 a few kilometres west of Jerusalem. Several Iron Age temples have been found in the region that have striking similarities to the Temple of King Solomon. In particular the Ain Dara temple in northern Syria with a similar age, size, plan and decorations. Legacy Freemasonry Rituals in Freemasonry refer to King Solomon and the building of his Temple. Masonic buildings, where lodges and their members meet, are sometimes called "temples"; an allegoric reference to King Solomon's Temple. Kabbalah Kabbalah views the design of the Temple of Solomon as representative of the metaphysical world and the descending light of the creator through Sefirot of the Tree of Life. The levels of the outer, inner and priest's courts represent three lower worlds of Kabbalah. The Boaz and Jachin pillars at the entrance of the temple represent the active and passive elements of the world of Atziluth. The original menorah and its seven branches represent the seven lower Sephirot of the Tree of Life. The veil of the Holy of Holies and the inner part of the temple represent the Veil of the Abyss on the Tree of Life, behind which the Shekhinah or Divine Presence hovers. Islam The Quran supposedly refers to Solomon's Temple in the seventh verse of . Quranic commentators such as Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur have postulated that this verse refers specifically to the Temple of Solomon. According to the narrative in Islam, the Temple in Jerusalem was originally a mosque commissioned by Solomon and built by on the commandment of Allah, with the purpose of serving as the of the Israelites. In the early years of Islam, Muhammad and his followers faced Jerusalem for prayers until the city of Mecca (specifically its Kaaba) superseded the former as the new . Architecture Biblical descriptions of the temple have inspired modern replicas and influenced later structures around the world. El Escorial, a historical residence of the King of Spain built in the 16th century was constructed from a plan based on the descriptions of Solomon's temple. The same architectural layout of the temple was adopted in synagogues leading to the hekhal being applied in Sephardi usage to the Ashkenazi Torah ark, the equivalent of the nave. Popular culture Solomon's Temple appears in the film Solomon and Sheba (1959). It also appears in the Assassin's