Temples weren't invented here or only here obviously, though this became the land of temples. They go afaik much further back than proto-Abrahamic - hard to find any standing so it's all debatable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_religion
Fire temples are evidenced in Aryan history - there was always a special room to keep a fire alight. These were temporary as they moved from place to place, but the idea of a fire that never dies was born pretty early and a protective structure to ensure it could be said to be a temple. Though by about 1000AD the temple building was on like crazy in this part of the world, and the act of building one became worship in itself. They passed this on to the new converts as gospel who did it with much gusto. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prambanan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat (from memory, so the dates are possibly off) Maybe 2600ish BC till 1200+ years later: Indus Valley city plans reveal temple and / or priest chambers (hard to tell) and platforms for rituals. That is pretty good vintage for this part of the world. The name Israel doesn't appear in any sources until 1200BC, so Abrahamic temples are all preceded by subcontinental forays into this sphere. Early Abrahamic era temples were like the present day Ka'aba, just a tent but with a variety of shrines - quite like modern food courts with places for most pagan and Abrahamic faiths. The operators made profit from all foot fall and from offerings and sale of water, food, hay and lodging. The tent was likely erected around to ensure you paid when you entered, and didn't genuflect from a distance and scurry away. All of this is conjecture since these were temporary structures, and the people who ran the show weren't very literate or organized. Then we have, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Temple The first Mosque in India was built by Cheraman Perumal in the tradition of a wooden Kerala temple, without the minarets and such. Minarets were added to it only in the last century. Cheraman Perumal converted during the life of the Prophet if you believe such accounts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheraman_Juma_Masjid
