[Avodah] Archeological Indication of Shelomo haMelekh's Empire

[Micha Berger]

>From https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/history-ideas/2024/07/recent-excavations-support-the-biblical-narrative-of-ancient-judeas-power

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

Recent Excavations Support the Biblical Narrative of Ancient Judeas Power
Mosaic Magazine -- Essays / Jul 2, 2024 at 7:09 PM

The book of Kings, describing the glory of King Solomons reign, states:

    And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to
    build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Millo, and the
    wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. For Pharaoh
    king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire,
    and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a
    present unto his daughter, Solomons wife. And Solomon built Gezer,
    and lower Beth Horon.... And all the cities of store that Solomon
    had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and
    that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon,
    and in all the land of his dominion.

Archaeologists are divided about this and similar passages. There is no
extrabiblical evidence of Solomon, but the real question for scholars is
whether, around the time of David and Solomon, Judean monarchs ruled a
large kingdom roughly the size of modern Israel, or just a small chiefdom
comprising Jerusalem and surrounding hills. Recent excavations at Gezer,
located in the lowlands west of the Judean hill country (known as the
Shephelah), support the biblical story of a larger kingdom. Marek Dospel
reports, citing the work of the two men who led these excavations:

    Steven Ortiz and Samuel Wolff... present "new archaeological evidence
    from Gezer that in the time of Solomon, the city did indeed boast
    a monumental gate and administrative complex that was meant to
    convey power and authority over newly acquired territories in the
    Shephelah." "It was during Solomons reign, in the mid-10th century
    BCE, that Gezer underwent a radical change. It became a well-fortified
    city with a massive six-chambered gate, an adjoining casemate wall,
    and a large administrative building," write Ortiz and Wolff. Their
    excavations "confirm that during the 10th century, Gezer was a
    fortified city most likely administered by a royal authority."