In the Bible, (1) King Solomon is said
to have:
1. Inherited a vast empire conquered
by his father David that extended
from the Nile in Egypt to the
Euphrates River in Mesopotamia (1
Kings 4:21; Gen. 15:18; Deut.
1:7,11:24; Joshua 1:4; 2 Sam. 8:3; 1
Chron. 18:3).
2. Accumulated great wealth and
wisdom (1 Kings 10:23).
3. Administered his kingdom through
a system of 12 districts (1 Kings
4:7).
4. Possessed a large harem, which
included "the daughter of
Pharaoh" (1 Kings 3:1; 1 Kings
11:1,3; 1 Kings 9:16).
5. Honored other gods in his old age (1
Kings 11:1-2,4-5).
6. Devoted his reign to great building
projects (1 Kings 9:15,17-19),
including:
a. the Temple (1 Kings 6).
b. the Royal Palace (1 Kings 7:2-12).
c. the walls of Jerusalem,
d. the Millo (an earthen fill made to
enlarge Jerusalem) (1 Kings 11:27)
e. the royal cities of Megiddo, Hazor,
and Gezer
f. the store cities, the cities for his
horsemen and the cities for his
chariots throughout his empire.
To be consistent with the pattern of
other great Bronze and Iron Age
cultures in the ancient Near East
(Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian,
and Hittite), it would be expected
that numerous documents, art, and
inscriptions on buildings or public
monuments would have been left by
such a great king or by his
descendants later in honor of him.
(2) Yet no article of any kind bearing
his name has ever been found. (3)
The cities of Hazor, Megiddo and
Gezer have now been extensively
excavated. A stratum containing
large palaces, temples and strong
fortifications was found in each of
these cities. The name of Solomon
was not found, but the cartouche of
the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh
Amenhotep III instead. (4) In
Jerusalem, it has not been possible
to excavate the temple mount,
however, extensive excavations in
the city, including the areas adjacent
to the temple mount have not
revealed the existence of a Solomaic
palace complex. (5) Moreover,
excavation of the Millo has revealed
(due to pottery found in the Millo)
that its original construction was
also contemporary with the Egyptian
18th Dynasty of Amenhotep III.(6)
Amenhotep III, known in ancient
times as the "King of Kings" and
"Ruler of Ruler's," (7) was a Pharaoh
of Egypt's glorious 18th Dynasty. He,
like Solomon, inherited a vast
empire whose influence extended
quite literally from the Nile to the
Euphrates. (8) In contrast to the
empire of Solomon, the empire of
Amenhotep is indisputable.(9) The
buildings, monuments, documents,
art, and numerous other vestiges of
his reign are ubiquitous and
unparalleled (with the possible
exception being those left by the
19th Dynasty Pharaoh, Ramses II).
The entire reign of Amenhotep III
was devoted to monumental
construction throughout Egypt,
Canaan, and Syria. (10) In addition to
the ancient world's most glorious
temple at Luxor,(11) he built many
other temples of similar design
throughout Egypt and in the rest of
his empire,(12) including the
Canaanite garrison cities of Hazor,
Megiddo , Gezer,(13) Lachish and
Beth-shean. (14)
According to Egyptian records,
Amenhotep's father Thutmose IV
and grandfather Amenhotep II
deported over 80,000 Canaanites.
The Canaanite inhabitants of Gezer
were specifically included in this
deportation. (15) It was during
Amenhotep III's reign that Gezer and
other major Palestine cities were
refortified as royal Egyptian
garrisons, and endowed with fine
temples and palaces.
The Bible states that in Solomon's
day, the Pharaoh of Egypt captured
the Canaanite city of Gezer and
presented it to his daughter as a
dowry upon her marriage to
Solomon (1 Kings 9:16-17). (16)
It was customary and obligatory for
Amenhotep III to marry "the
daughter of Pharaoh" in order to
secure the throne. (17) This is
precisely what was done when he
was married to Sitamun, the
daughter of his father, Pharaoh
Thutmose IV.
The network of Egyptian 18th
Dynasty garrison cities also included
Jerusalem. If construction by
Amenhotep III at Gezer, Hazor,
Megiddo and other garrison cities is
any indication, then a magnificent
temple undoubtedly was also built
by Amenhotep on Jerusalem's
venerated Temple Mount. (18) The
structure adjacent to Jerusalem's
Temple Mount, known traditionally
as " Solomon's stables," is consistent
with the architecture of
Amenhotep's garrison cities. (19)
Archaeology has also confirmed that
chariots were kept in these cities
during his reign in groups of
between thirty to one hundred and
fifty each. (20)
The ancient mining operations at
Timna in the Negev desert, known
as " Solomon's mines," "are earlier
than Solomon by some three
hundred years [in the conventional
chronology]," (21) dating once again
to the time of Amenhotep III. Copper
from Timna, gold from the Sudan,
(22) other precious metals, jewels
and high quality stone were used in
great abundance in Amenhotep's
temples, just as they were in
Solomon's. (23) A stela from
Amenhotep's mortuary temple
boasts that the temple was
"embellished with gold throughout,
its floor shining with silver ... with
royal statues of granite, of quartzite
and precious stones." (24) The list of
materials used in another temple
built by Amenhotep is also
"staggering: 3.25 tons of electrum
[an alloy of silver and gold], 2.5 tons
of gold, 944 tons of copper..." (25)
The Biblical Solomon's greatest
satisfaction is said to have been the
challenge of completing grand
projects (Ecclesiastes 2:4-11). The
same was said of Amenhotep III. A
royal Egyptian text of the period
reads, "Lo, His Majesty's heart was
satisfied with making very great
monuments, the like of which had
never come into being since the
primeval age of the Two Lands." (26)
Only an enormously wealthy king of
a long established empire could have
built so splendidly and in so many
widely distributed locations in the
ancient world. Amenhotep III was
arguably the ancient world's
wealthiest king. The completion of
such magnificent projects required
management of a considerable and
constant source of labor and revenue
extending over a period of many
decades.
The administration and taxation
system of Amenhotep with its 12
districts(27) is identical to that of
Solomon as described in the Bible (1
Kings 4:2-7,27; 5:13; 9:23).
Amenhotep also dedicated himself to
rediscovering the wisdom, mysteries
and traditions of earlier Egyptian
Dynasties. (28) A strong relationship
has been established between the
"Proverbs of Solomon" in the Bible
and the "Maxims of Amenhotep III"
found in Egypt. (29)
In addition to the projects already
mentioned, Amenhotep also built a
completely new palace complex in
Thebes. The new royal residence
included all of the elements
contained in the palace complex of
Solomon which are described in the
Bible (1 Kings 7:2-12), (30) namely:
1. a house made almost entirely out of
cedars of Lebanon (built for
Amenhotep's Jubilee festival); (31)
2. a colonnade (hall of columns)
fronted by a portico (porch) and
surrounded by a column-lined
courtyard; (32)
3. a throne room built with many
wooden columns and whose floor
was a painted lake scene (identical
to the one crossed in wonder by the
Queen of Sheba when she
approached the throne of Solomon,
as described in the Koran); (33)
4. a separate palace built for Sitamun,
"the daughter of Pharaoh;" (34)
5. a royal palace (consisting of his own
residence, the residence of his Great
Wife, Tiye, and a residence for the
royal harem). (35)
Amenhotep, like Solomon, was
relentless in his pursuit of women
for his harem, especially beautiful
foreign women of both royal and
common backgrounds alike. (36)
Amenhotep's harem included two
princesses from Babylon, (37) two
princesses from Syria, two
princesses from Mitanni, and like
Solomon's harem, it included a
princess from each of the seven
nations listed in 1 Kings 11:1. (38) As
the mightiest king of the Middle
East, Amenhotep did not send any of
his own daughters to other kings in
exchange, nor did any other
Pharaoh of this dynasty (or likely
any other throughout Egypt's
history). (39) He specifically denied a
request by the king of Babylon for
an Egyptian wife. (40) Importantly,
the Bible emphasizes Solomon's
Egyptian bride, but does not
mention that Solomon had any
Hebrew wives.(41) Rehoboam, who
is said to have succeeded Solomon,
was the son of an Ammonite
princess. (42)
The court of Amenhotep III was an
extremely liberal one, and reflected
every possible excess of an affluent
and secure kingdom. (43) Eroticism
in art and court life reached its
height during the reign of
Amenhotep. (44) The famous "nude
dancing girls" mural dates to
Amenhotep's reign.(45) As with
Solomon, Amenhotep denied himself
nothing "his eyes desired" and
"refused his heart no
pleasure" (Ecclesiastes 2:10).
However, the last years of
Amenhotep's thirty-eight year reign
were not pleasant ones. The long
years of indulgence had taken their
toll and he had many ailments. As a
compassionate gesture, his Mitanni
brother-in-law (46) sent him an idol
of the goddess Ishtar (i.e., Asherah )
(1 Kings 11:5).
The "inescapable conclusion" (47)
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