1000 - 900 BCE
King Solomon
City of David Megalim Institute
Timeline of King Solomon
- c. 982 BCE Bathsheba gives birth to Solomon.
- c. 970 BCE David dies and Solomon becomes King.
- c. 930 BCE Solomon dies. His kingdom is divided into the 10 “lost” tribes of Israel under King Jeroboam and the 2 Southern tribes of Judea and Benjamin under King Rehoboam.
- c. 925 BCE The Pharaoh Shoshenq (Shishak) invades Israel and raids the Temple of Solomon.
The Gezer Calendar,
10th Century BCE
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
King Solomon wrote:
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
Gezer Calendar Inscription
Early Hebrew writing:
“Two months are planting
Two months are late (planting)
One month is hoeing flax
One month is barley-harvest”
Replica, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
City of David Megalim Institute, Courtesy of George Blumenthal and the Gol Family
Solomon Is Anointed King
c. 970 BCE
1 Kings 1:33-34, 45
The king (David) said to them, "Take my loyal soldiers, and have my son Solomon ride on my mule and bring him down to Gihon. Let the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan anoint him there king over Israel, whereupon you shall sound the horn and shout, Long live King Solomon!"
"... and the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan anointed him (Solomon) king at Gihon. Then they came up from there making merry, and the city went into an uproar. That’s the noise you heard.”
David's Charge to Solomon
by Rembrandt
1 Kings 2:1-3
When David’s life was drawing to a close, he instructed his son Solomon as follows: "I am going the way of all the earth; be strong and show yourself a man. Keep the charge of the LORD your God... as recorded in the Teaching of Moses...”
Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth
The United Monarchy
2 Samuel 8:11-12
King David dedicated these to the LORD... all the nations he had conquered: from Edom, Moab, and Ammon...Zobah.
From 1200–900 BCE, regional empires flourished in the Near East. After the collapse of the Hittite Empire, Tabal arose from its remains, west of Carchemish. Aram-Zobah extended from modern Lebanon south to the Galilee and north to Damascus and the Euphrates. The realm of David and Solomon came to control the Aram-Zobah empire as well as territory from the Mediterranean to Edom, Moab and Ammon east of the Jordan and south to the Gulf of Aqaba.
Biblical Archaeology Society
The Israelite Temple of King Solomon
c. 960 BCE
The City of David Archives
Solomon Builds The First Israelite Temple to God
1 Kings 5:16-19
Solomon sent this message to Hiram:
“You know that my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord… And so I propose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God…”
City of David Megalim Institute, Courtesy of George Blumenthal and the Gol Family
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
National Museum of Beirut
Sarcophagus of Ahiram,
Phoenician King of Byblos, 936 BCE
1 Kings 5:32
Solomon’s masons, Hiram’s masons, and the men of Gebal (Byblos) shaped them. Thus the timber and the stones for building the house were made ready.
Inscription from Sarcophagus
“Sarcophagus made by Ittobaal, son of Ahiram, king of Byblos, for Ahiram his father as a dwelling place for all eternity.”
Laver stands
Laver Stand from Megiddo,
12th Century BCE
1 Kings 7:27
"He (Hiram) made the ten laver stands of bronze. The length of each laver stand was 4 cubits and the width was 4 cubits, and the height was 3 cubits."
Israel Antiquities Authority / Israel Museum (top)
Illustration by Leen Ritmeyer (left)
The Veil of Purple In King Solomon’s Temple
2 Chronicles 3:14
The Temple Construction
“He made the curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen, and he worked cherubim into it.”
Royal purple fabric found in Israel in 2021, dating to the time of King Solomon.
Israel Antiquities Authority
The Walls of Solomon
1 Kings 9:15
This was the purpose of the forced labor which Solomon imposed: It was to build the House of the LORD, his own palace, the Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and to fortify Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
Solomon’s Wall in Jerusalem, Discovered in 2010 by Eilat Mazar, Israel Antiquities Authority
King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
by Rembrandt
1 Kings 10:1
Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions.
7th Century BCE South Arabian Inscription Documenting Trade between Sheba and the "towns of Judah"
This inscription mentions a trading expedition of the kingdom of Sabaea (Biblical Sheba) to ’HGR YHD," translating to the “towns of Judah.”
Photo by André Lemaire
Trade Route from Sheba
Biblical Archaeology Society
King Solomon’s Wealth
1 Kings 10:14-16
"The weight of gold that came to Solomon each year was 666 talents…”
“King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield.”
The Death of King Solomon, c. 930 BCE
1 Kings 11:42-43
Thus the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
And Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David.
Solomon's Kingdom is Divided into the Northern Kingdom of Ten Tribes of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judea and Benjamin
1 Kings 11:31
Prophet Ahijah of Shilo said: “…for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give you (Jeroboam I) ten tribes (leaving the tribes of Judea and Benjamin to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon).”
Jeroboam's Idolatry
1 Kings 12:28-29
The king (Jeroboam I) made two golden calves… One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.
Bronze Bull from Samaria, 12th Century BCE
Israel Museum / Israel Antiquities Authority
The Sacrificial Altar at Tel Dan
1 Kings 12:30
The people walked as far as Dan to worship before one of the calves.
Drone video of Tel Dan by Ardon Bar-Hama
Pharaoh Shoshenq (Shishak)
Takes King Solomon’s Gold,
925 BCE
1 Kings 14:25-26
In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made.
In this wall carving at the Temple of Amun in Karnak, Egypt, Shoshenq boasts of 90 cities he conquered in the land of Israel, including Megiddo, Gibeon and Migdol.
learn moreWikimedia Commons
Shoshenq's Campaign Through Israel and Judah, 925 BCE
Places Mentioned in Shoshenq’s Inscription Include Many Cities in Israel:
- Fort Abram (possibly Beersheba*)
- Adoraim—2 Chronicles 11:9
- Ayalon—Joshua 10:12
- Beth-Horon—1 Kings 9:17
- Beth-Shean—1 Kings 4:12
- Gath—1 Samuel 5:8
- Gibeon—1 Chronicles 21:29
- Megiddo—1 Kings 4:12 (Armageddon)
- Rehov—Joshua 19:28
- Soroh—Joshua 15:35
- Taanach—1 Kings 4:12
Biblical Archaeology Society
Pharaoh Shishak’s Stele Uncovered at Megiddo (Armageddon)
Dating to about 925 BCE, this 15-inch stone fragment discovered at Megiddo reads, “Amun’s beloved, Shishak [I].”
The stele fragment confirms Shishak’s encounter with Israel and Judea that is detailed on the inscription at the Temple of Amun in Karnak.
University of Chicago Oriental Institute
Shishak's Son, Osorkon I, Donated Solomon’s Gold, 921 BCE
Shishak’s son King Osorkon I of Egypt in 921 BCE recorded gifts to the gods, including 383 tons of gold and silver. This fragment from a pillar in a temple at Bubastis, shows itemized lists of gifts to each god and goddess of Egypt.
Temple of Bubastis, Egypt Exploration Fund, 1890
created with
WordPress Website Builder .