Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple was the first Temple in Jerusalem, according to the Hebrew Bible. It was built during Solomon's reign over the United Kingdom of Israel and was fully constructed by c. 957 BCE. It stood for almost four centuries until its destruction in 587/586 BCE by the Neo-Babylonian Empire under the second Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar II, who subsequently exiled the Judeans to Babylon following the fall of the Kingdom of Judah and its annexation as a Babylonian province. The destruction of the Temple and the Babylonian exile were seen as fulfillments of Biblical prophecies and consequently strengthened Judaic religious beliefs, beginning the Israelites' transition from the polytheistic or monolatristic beliefs of Yahwism to the monotheistic beliefs developed in Judaism. This temple houses the Ark of the Covenant, a holy relic that contains the Ten Commandments. Several hundred years later, the temple is destroyed by the Babylonians.