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Judaism Existence of King David and Solomon Insert Insert The Bible gives an account of King David and his son Solomon. King David rose into being a respected a mighty king after he killed a giant by the name Goliath using his sling 3000 years ago. King David’s son, Solomon took over from him and was the wisest king of Israel according to the Bible. Is the Biblical account of this Kings just a myth or is there actual archaeological proof that the two existed?
The Bible documents that King David went on to accomplish many results, which included killing the Giant Philistine warrior Goliath, King David, unified the whole of Israel. King David took over the city of Jerusalem and took from the Jebusites according to the book of Judges 1:21. The city of Jerusalem became the sacred city of the Israelites. King David is built a powerful dynasty that the messiah Jesus would later descent from. King David ensured that the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem. King David’s achievements assured that the Israelites stopped wondering.
King Solomon took over from his father and became the wisest king of Israel. King Solomon’s achievements include building the temple of God and placing the Ark of the Covenant in it. He ensured that he settled the people of Israel through the vast amounts of wealth he had acquired.
The Bible evidence among both the Christian and the Muslims is clear that the two kings lived, but is there archaeological evidence to proof this? Until very recently there has not been substantive evidence to proof their existence. Acquiring the archaeological evidence has been had since the area where Jerusalem is an area with long land disputes where many political battles take place. Jerusalem is also a cradle for civilization where many cities have been built and destroyed. Until recently, a substantial evidence of an underground tunnel that was used by King David to conquer Jerusalem has been found. The mine is estimated to have existed around 1800bc. The evidence of King David existence comes from his enemies, a rock describing the conquest of Israel the Tel Dan Stele by Hazel of Aram-Damascus has been discovered in 1993. The inscription in Aramaic has the words house of David. The archaeological found the mountain of Gath that was the city of the Philistines that was destroyed by King David. The archaeological evidence of Palestine war armor clothing that were vividly described in the Bible contradicts with the archaeological evidence from the clothing of Palestines clothing worn during their wars with the Egyptians. This possesses a great question of whether King David’s Bible account is also false or exaggerated.
The Bible gives a very magnificent description of King Solomon’s temple yet there is no archaeological evidence of its existence. Despite this, scientists have found a temple in Ain Dara Syria with very similar geometric design like those of King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. The two temples have both ornamental and design similarities. King Solomon though is not credited or proved that he built the Ain Dara temple but might have borrowed the design from the regions culture in building his temple.
Scientists believe that many evidences of the existence of king Solomon might have been destroyed the activities of large kingdoms that surrounded Israel at the time with Assyrian empire in the north and Egypt in the south. The first pharaohs of Egypt Shishak conquered many cities, but there is no evidence of conquering Jerusalem. Archaeologist believes that Shishak might have neglected to write his conquest of Jerusalem because they did not put up a fight, but this is also not conclusive.
Conclusion
Many archaeological evidences can be likened to King Solomon, but scientists have not found an encryption citing Solomon-like Tel Dan Stele that sites the house of David. The believer of the Bible view both David and Solomon as not only kings but also religious figures and rulers. Despite their not being a direct link of the two kings to archeology but this does not change their importance in building a history. We all hope to find to a direct connection of the two kings through archeology that will benefit both archaeologists and believers of the Bible.
References
Gideons. (2005). The Holy bible. Chicago: Pacific Press. Read More