World English Bible · The united kingdom
1 Kings 10
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When the queen of heard of the fame of concerning name, she came to him with hard questions. She came to with a very great caravan, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she had come to , she talked with him about all that was in her . answered all her questions. There wasn't anything hidden from the king which he didn't tell her. When the queen of had seen all the of , the house that he had built, the food of his table, the sitting of his servants, the attendance of his officials, their clothing, his bearers, and his ascent by which he went up to house, there was no more in her. She said to the king, "It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your . However, I didn't the words until I came and my eyes had seen it. Behold, not even half was told me! Your and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard. Happy are your men, happy are these your servants who stand continually before you, who hear your . is your , who delighted in you, to set you on of Israel. Because loved Israel , therefore he made you king, to do justice and ." She gave the king one hundred twenty of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again was there such an abundance of spices as these which the queen of gave to King . The fleet of that brought gold from also brought in from great quantities of almug trees and precious stones. The king made of the almug trees pillars for house and for the king's house, harps also and stringed instruments for the singers; no such almug trees came or were seen to this day. King gave to the queen of all her , whatever she asked, in addition to that which gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants. Now the weight of gold that came to in one year was six hundred sixty-six of gold, in addition to that which the traders brought, and the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of the mixed people, and of the governors of the country. King made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred of gold went to one buckler. He made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three of gold went to one shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of . Moreover the king made a great of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold. 19There were six steps to , and the top of was round behind; and there were armrests on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests. Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps. Nothing like it was made in any kingdom. All King drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of were of pure gold. None were of silver, because it was considered of little value in the days of . For the king had a fleet of ships of at sea with fleet. Once every three years the fleet of came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. So King exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in . All the earth sought the of to hear his which had put in . Year after year, every man brought his tribute, vessels of silver, vessels of gold, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules. gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. He kept them in the chariot cities and with the king at . The king made silver as common as stones in , and cedars as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland. The horses which had were brought out of . The king's merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price. A chariot was imported from for six hundred of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty ; and so they exported them to all the kings of the and to the kings of .
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The world at this moment · The united kingdom, 1050 BC to 931 BC ›
Saul, David, and Solomon. A rare window when both Egypt and Mesopotamia are weak, which is how a small kingdom in the corridor between them could briefly become a regional power.
- The power vacuum
- This is the whole political explanation for the united kingdom. Egypt is fragmented, Assyria is recovering but still local, the Hittites are gone, and nobody is in a position to object to a strong state in the corridor. It lasts about a century, and Israel's golden age fits exactly inside it.
- Phoenicia
- Tyre under Hiram is the commercial power of the coast, and supplies the cedar, the craftsmen, and the shipping for Solomon's building programme. The alliance is trade, not charity: Israel had grain and a land route, Tyre had timber and ships.
- Egypt
- Weak enough that a pharaoh gives a daughter in marriage to an Israelite king, which is the opposite of Egyptian practice in stronger centuries. Late in the era it recovers under a new house, and Shishak will invade within five years of Solomon's death.
- Further afield
- Greece is still in its dark age but beginning to recover, and will adopt the Phoenician alphabet within a century or two. Carthage is founded by settlers from Tyre by tradition in 814 BC. In the Americas the Olmec centre shifts to La Venta.