Purpose The P material— writings and traditions— has generally been dated mainly on the basis of literary analysis of the Hebrew Bible. This study seeks to determine the implications of the Arad temple— which constitutes a body of non-literary, archaeological evidence— for the question of dating P. Methodology The P Tabernacle, the Solomonic Temple— and those Canaanite temples which are comparable to them— are typologically analyzed in order to identify the most probable determinants of the Arad temple traits. A review of selected critical literature is made in order to determine the prevailing theories on the date of P and how the finds from Tel Arad relate to them. Conclusions There are more parallels between the Arad temple and the P Tabernacle than between them and any other temple in Syro-Palestine, including the Solomonic Temple. The evidence suggests that the P traditions provided the basic criteria for selecting the traits of the Arad temple. Considering that the Arad temple was built in the tenth century B.C., it is concluded that the P traditions originated sometime prior to that date
