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ARCHAEOLOGY is the study of antiquities of all kinds, and is not limited to stones and inscriptions. There is so little of this kind of evidence of this period in Israel’s history that it has been claimed that there is no archaeological evidence that David and Solomon ever existed. Is that allegation true?

Happily, there are many facets to the study of antiquities, and as a result of casting the net wider some interesting indirect evidence has come to light. Of course, strictly speaking, the Bible itself is an archaeological document, just as much as Egyptian inscriptions or scrolls of papyrus.

Israel’s first king, Saul, reigned before the establishment of the little city of Jerusalem as capital. The villages of his kingdom were agricultural settlements, built of local stone. They crumbled and were rebuilt many times, leaving only a site for the archaeologist to investigate. Many of these sites have been clearly identified with place names mentioned in the Bible, as the geography of the land has not altered.

The City of David, the hilltop walled city of Jebus, has been very extensively excavated in recent years. It lies south of the Temple Mount and is no longer within the city walls. Archaeologists have investigated it right down to bedrock, through many levels of occupation. No monuments or inscriptions have been found from the David and Solomon period.

This is hardly surprising in view of the succession of destructions that the city has endured, for Jerusalem has been attacked more times than any other city. David’s time was one of war and the consolidation of his kingdom. What sort of evidence can be found for confirming the authenticity of the Bible record?

Unfortunately, tradition has caused some sites to be misnamed. For example, David’s Citadel in Jerusalem does not date from King David’s time, but is named in his honour; the Pillar of Absalom has no relationship to David’s wayward son; King Solomon’s Mines at Timna are now known to have no connection with that king, being Egyptian workings from long before his time, the early archaeological conclusions having now been proved to be in error.

The Philistines

The Bible record of this period has numerous references to these neighbours and rivals of Israel. Is there any evidence that they were in fact a historical people?

The very name of the land, Palestine, is one form of evidence. But so far there are no signs of Philistine inscriptions, nor any other form of writing. The main forms of evidence for their existence are to be found in contemporary Egyptian records. To the Egyptians they were known as the Sea People because they had invaded the coastal lands of the Mediterranean from the sea. Although they had failed to take Egypt they succeeded in settling on the coast of Canaan, as recorded in the Egyptian Wen-Amon scroll. Another document found in Egypt, known as the Onomasticon of Amenemope, lists the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Gaza as being settled by the Sea People. In the Bible these cities are named as occupied by the Philistines.

Quantities of the distinctive Philistine pottery have been found. This appears to be a debased form of the beautiful Mycenean ware, which had been exported far and wide in the Mediterranean world. The power of the Myceneans, based on the coasts of the Aegean Sea, was at its height at the time of the Sea People’s incursion into Egypt and Canaan. It is thought that they may have come from Crete.

In Joshua’s record of the conquest of Canaan it is noticeable that Israel did not take the cities of the Philistines. This is consistent with the record in Genesis 21:27 that Abraham and the Philistines made a covenant together. The Bible record is in accord with the meagre information available from other sources.

In the excavated ruins of the Philistine city of Ekron (now known as Tel Miqne) over one hundred olive oil-pressing installations have been found, in an industrial area separate from the housing area. The site has been clearly identified with the Philistines because their distinctively decorated pottery has been found in the olive oil workshops. The question is, Why were the Philistines pressing the oil from olives grown in the nearby Judean hills?

 King Saul and the Philistines

The Philistines became competitors with Israel for the best of the land, and in time occupied the Valley of Jezreel and the city of Beth-shan. King Saul and his son Jonathan led the Israelite army in an attempt to regain this valuable territory. But the battle went against Israel, and both Saul and Jonathan died in tragic circumstances. It is on record in 1 Samuel 31:10 that the Philistines put Saul’s armour on display in the temple of Ashtaroth at Bethshan. Yet in 1 Chronicles 10:10 it is stated that they “fastened his head in the temple of Dagon”.

Critics of the Bible like to ask, Has the Bible got its facts mixed? Archaeology has provided a definitive answer. Ashtaroth was a goddess of the Canaanites, whereas Dagon was the Philistine god. Did the city of Beth-shan have two temples? It is now known that it did.

Archaeologists have found in the ruins of Beth-shan, at the level that corresponds to the time of Saul, a ruined temple containing a figure of Ashtaroth. Then, soon afterwards, another ruined temple came to light, so near that it was connected by a corridor with the first one. While so far there is no evidence that it was a temple of Dagon, the proximity of the two temples is good evidence that the trophies of the death of Saul could have been displayed just as described in the Scriptures.

Thus the separate records of Samuel and Chronicles, although written by different scribes in different centuries, did not make an error. Doubtless the superstitious Philistines would wish to attribute their victory to both their own god Dagon and the local goddess Ashtaroth, who thus shared in the celebrations.

The Tsinnor

For the first years of his kingship over Israel David reigned from Hebron, for Jerusalem was in the hands of the Jebusites and was known as Jebus. The little city was built on a rocky spur of Mount Moriah, with its walls atop steep hillsides. The city appeared to be impregnable. In 2 Samuel 5:6-9 there is a description of the subtle way in which David’s men succeeded in entering the well-defended city, in spite of its unscaleable walls.

The Bible account of this exploit seemed preposterous. Then, in the nineteenth century, the explorer Charles Warren discovered the way by which the water of the spring Gihon was led through a tunnel towards the city. However, he wrongly identified the ruins of the Jebusite walls, and concluded that the water supply remained outside the city walls, and therefore that the Bible record was not correct.

It was the intrepid lady archaeologist, Dr Kathleen Kenyon, who discovered that the foundations of the Jebusite wall were actually much lower down the hillside than Warren had assumed. This discovery showed that the access to the water supply was indeed within the city, and that Warren’s conclusion had been wrong.

Today, visitors can be shown the route that David’s men took to get into the city unseen by crawling along the water tunnel, and then climbing the shaft, down which the people from the city above had lowered their buckets to draw their water. The tsinnor, as the water-tunnel is called, flows again as it did in David’s time, and the Bible record, strange as it may have seemed, has been proved to be in accordance with the facts.

Musical instruments

One of the foolish things that Bible critics have said is that musical instruments had not been invented in David’s time. The comprehensive description of the singers and musicians organised by King David in 1 Chronicles 25 is therefore called in question.

Archaeology has provided a complete answer to such criticism. For example, from a period a thousand years before David, in the royal death pits of Ur of the Chaldees, there have been found harps and lyres beside the bodies of the musicians who had been buried with their king. Early Egyptian tombs have yielded various musical instruments, from timbrels to flutes and harps. Papyri inscribed with musical notations have been found. Evidence from Ugarit (Ras Shamra) in northern Syria has indicated that the pagan Canaanites included singers in their heathen rites. These all date from times before that of David, so that it is quite reasonable to accept the Bible account of David’s musicians and singers. An ivory inscription from Megiddo clearly illustrates a small portable harp being played.

The Jebusite tunnel from the city to the top of Warren’s Shaft.

Solomon and the Phoenicians

The Bible records the ambition of David to build a permanent temple for the worship of the God of Israel. This project was finally carried out by his young son Solomon. The Bible gives considerable detail of the construction, but the site today yields little evidence that the building ever existed. This is hardly surprising, since it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C., rebuilt on the same site by Ezra and embellished by Herod the Great, only to be destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. There is nothing obvious remaining now.

However, the explorer Charles Warren had ready access to the site in 1870, and reported finding foundation stones bearing Phoenician masons’ marks. The Bible records the vital part taken by Phoenician craftsmen in its construction.

The Phoenicians were also involved in the supply of cedar wood for the lining of the temple. In the writings of a Phoenician priest, Sanchuniathan, it is recorded that Hiram, king of Tyre, provided building materials in exchange for port facilities. He gives the detail that 8,000 camels were needed to transport the cedar wood down to the coast of Lebanon. The Bible says that it was floated from there by water. Perhaps some of the camels were used to convey it up to Jerusalem. The Bible record sees the transaction from the Hebrew point of view, while the priest’s record sees it from the Phoenician aspect. But the two records agree, and are complementary.

The description of the lavish use of gold to cover all the interior surfaces of the temple should not be doubted. Excavations in Assyria have revealed that heathen temples were adorned in a similar way. It was probably regarded as a safe way of storing gold in the care of the god. In 1 Kings 7:43 there is mention of ten lavers (mobile water tanks). These disappeared, probably melted down for their bronze. However, in nearby Cyprus four large mobile lavers on four wheels have survived, and these provide some idea of the type of receptacle used in Solomon’s temple.

Solomon’s temple was not a cathedral. It was not for the accommodation of the worshippers, but was a symbol of the Divine presence in the midst of the people, who assembled on the rock-platform around it. The holy place was about thirty feet high, forty-five feet wide and ninety feet long, while the most holy place was a cube of thirty feet in each direction.

Israel’s golden years

That Israel’s golden years were historic can be confirmed by a survey of the known circumstances of that period in the history of nearby nations in the Middle East. It is not true, as some critics have alleged, that the Bible record of the times is the product of an imaginative scribe who was seeking to justify the promises made to Abraham.

According to the Bible record, Israel became a powerful trading nation that did literally extend from “the river [Euphrates] ... unto the border of Egypt [el Arish]” (1 Kgs. 4:21). This prosperity only lasted for about half-a-century. Is this picture too rosy, in view of the known history of contemporary nations?

During the time of the united monarchy it is known that the power of the Hittites had collapsed in the north. In the south, Egypt had been suffering a state of confusion under a succession of alien rulers. Assyria and Babylon were not yet great powers. The kingdom of David and Solomon filled a vacuum left by the former dominant powers in the area. The nation of Israel was in a favoured position to be an entrepot between the riches of Arabia and the lands of the Mediterranean. This historical situation was short-lived. Egypt was slowly coming into the ascendant, and was to show its strength soon after Solomon’s demise. The new power in the north was to be Assyria, which quickly became dominant, and was very aggressive.

The old north-south rivalry of the dominant nations soon reasserted itself, putting a squeeze on the little nations between, including Israel and Judah. The records of Egypt and Assyria, in particular, are fully in accord with the Bible account of this short period of Israel’s greatness.

Exotic products

The account of the exotic products brought back to Solomon’s Israel by the joint venture with the Tyrians (1 Kgs. 10:11) has been scorned by the critics as merely legendary. What can be said to counter this allegation?

The records of Egypt give great details of very similar exotic products brought into Egypt via the Red Sea from a land called Punt. They are even illustrated on wall paintings that can still be seen. It seems strange that the critics accept the Egyptian records at their face value yet decry the Bible record. The fact that the records in the Bible, and in Egypt, are quite independent of one another, yet complement and confirm one another on this subject, is good evidence that both should be accepted as factual.

The puzzlement of modern commentators on the location of Ophir, whence the joint fleet fetched gold, ivory, apes and peacocks, was not shared by the Jewish translators living in Egypt, who made the Septuagint translation of the Scriptures into Greek. They knew the place as India. A confirmation of the trade in gold has been found on a sherd found at Tel Qasile, which was inscribed, “gold from Ophir for Beth Horon 30 shekels”. Tel Qasile is an archaeological site on the northern outskirts of Tel Aviv, at the mouth of the River Yarkon, which appears to have been a port and industrial area in the time of the united monarchy.

The Queen of Sheba

The Bible account of the visit to Solomon of the Queen of Sheba (1 Kgs. 10) gives a very rosy picture of life in Israel at that period of its history. Was this event historical? Who was this queen? Can the Bible account be compared with any other parallel record?

A measure of confirmation has been found in the Kebra Negast, an ancient Abyssinian record. This states that at that time the King of Sheba was Shar Habil, who had a daughter, Balkis, who succeeded him on the throne. The people of Sheba were known as Sabeans, mentioned in the Bible, and were traders in precious items such as gold, frankincense, spices and precious stones (Job 6:19; Isa. 60:6; Jer. 6:20; Ezek. 27:22). At the city of Sana’a, in south Arabia (now Yemen), the explorer Crawford, with great difficulty, was able to examine manuscripts that threw light on this period of history. There was indeed a famous Queen of Sheba, according to these records.

In the Kebra Negast the queen’s visit to Solomon was described in detail. The caravan consisted of 797 camels and numerous donkeys, the largest ever seen in Arabia. The treasure it carried was described as the most extravagant present ever given by a woman to a man. The queen is quoted as saying, “I am smitten by the love of wisdom”, and “My heart seeks to find understanding”. Thus the two records, Bible and Kebra Negast, supplement and complement one another in a remarkable way, both telling a true story.

There may have been a relationship between the queen’s journey and the activities of the fleet sent down the Red Sea by Solomon. Was he threatening the Sabean’s overland route for the conveyance of treasures? Was the queen’s visit to counter this rivalry? According to tradition Solomon offered marriage to her. Such an alliance would have added 1,000 miles or more to his realm, and untold wealth. However, she went home a queen in her own right with even more gifts than she had brought. A noted Israeli archaeologist, Professor Yohanan Aharoni, confirmed that “The story of the Queen of Sheba is a faithful reflection of the rich trading caravans that plied from Judah to S. Arabia along the highways of the Negev and the desert”.(Footnote 1)

Solomon’s riches

The Bible claims that Solomon amassed a vast treasure of gold and silver. The critics cast doubt on the claim, saying that there is no real evidence that such riches ever existed. However, the cuneiform records of Assyrian and Babylonian kings, and the hieroglyphic records of Egypt, mention in great detail the golden plunder of their kings, as taken in war and demanded as tribute from conquered nations.

It may be asked, How could Solomon accumulate such wealth? Some of it was inherited from David’s conquests. His own expeditions to Ophir came back with gold. The king of Tyre gave him “gold, according to all his desire” (1 Kgs. 9:11). Doubtless the princesses who became his wives would bring him dowries. The Queen of Sheba brought 120 talents, over three tons in weight. As an international trader in spices, precious stones, horses and chariots, Solomon would doubtless reap rich profits. When compared with the hoards of gold that came into the possession of other monarchs of that time, Solomon’s treasure was not exaggerated.

What did he do with it? Was it stored away in a strong room? Some of it was (2 Chron. 5:1). But it also seems to have been used in the same way that other nations used it: to make a wide range of vessels, shields, gilded furniture and gilded buildings. Even a golden chariot is mentioned in the Tel el Amarna letters. The tombs of Egyptian pharaohs have revealed all manner of golden objects, and furniture that had been plated with pure gold. Some of these may be seen in the Cairo Museum.

There is ample evidence that walls and pillars of buildings were covered with gold. In ruined buildings holes can be seen where nails once fixed sheets of gold to the stonework. The Bible record of the temple of Solomon being ‘wallpapered’ with gold is in keeping with the practice of other nations, and was in keeping with the instructions for the tabernacle in the wilderness, which had to be lined with gold on every solid surface.

It is reasonable to conclude that the wealth accumulated by Solomon was typical of the riches of other successful monarchs of the time, and we should not regard accounts of it as mere Jewish mythology, as the critics do.

Solomon’s defences

Even though there is little archaeological evidence of Solomon in Jerusalem, there is ample evidence of his impact on the country he ruled. Excavations conducted by Yadin at the site of ancient Hazor, in the north of Israel, revealed that Solomon had rebuilt the city on the ruins of a site that had been abandoned by its inhabitants long before. A well-built casemate wall, and a gateway complex, have been revealed, the gateway being to a design used elsewhere in building work of Solomon’s time.

Reconstruction of the Solomonic gate at Gezer. Note the casemate wall, and the three chambers each side of the gate.

The Bible specifically mentions that Solomon had cities built at Hazor, at Megiddo and at Gezer. As each of these sites have been investigated, a similar construction to that at Hazor has been revealed, perhaps the work of the same architect. Thus the account in 1 Kings 9:15, brief though it is, has been confirmed by the discoveries of archaeologists.

At Gezer a most unusual find was an inscription on a slab of stone in the Hebrew script of the tenth century B.C. This was a ‘calendar’ of the agricultural year. It is also confirmation of the Bible record that this city passed from Canaanite hands into occupation by Israel as recorded in 1 Kings 9:16.

It would appear that Solomon’s defensive forces were deployed in these three strategically placed cities: Hazor in the north, Megiddo controlling the vital pass in the middle, and Gezer in the south. However, ruins of about forty little strong-points have been found in the Negev.

They appear to have been both built and destroyed during the tenth century B.C., or thereabouts. While they cannot be categorically assigned to Solomon, it would be difficult to date them to any other period. They seem to have been placed to guard the caravan routes to the south, and were probably destroyed by Shishak’s invasion soon after Solomon died. Once again, archaeology is confirming the Bible, as more and more discoveries are made.

Remains of Solomonic gate at Hazor. Note the casemate wall in the top left-hand corner.

FOOTNOTES

1. Israel Exploration Journal, 1967, No. 1.

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