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Reference Essays

The Gospel According to EgyptEpitome of Ahmed Osman's books:King Solomon

In the Bible,(1) King Solomon is said to have:

Inherited a vast empire conquered by his father David thatextended from the Nile in Egypt to the Euphrates River inMesopotamia (1 Kings 4:21; Gen. 15:18; Deut. 1:7,11:24;Joshua 1:4; 2 Sam. 8:3; 1 Chron. 18:3).

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Accumulated great wealth and wisdom (1 Kings 10:23).2.Administered his kingdom through a system of 12 districts (1 Kings 4:7).3.Possessed a large harem, which included "the daughter of Pharaoh" (1 Kings 3:1; 1 Kings 11:1,3; 1 Kings 9:16).4.Honored other gods in his old age (1 Kings 11:1-2,4-5).5.Devoted his reign to great building projects (1 Kings 9:15,17-19), including:6.

the Temple (1 Kings 6).a.the Royal Palace (1 Kings 7:2-12).b.the walls of Jerusalem,c.the Millo (an earthen fill made to enlarge Jerusalem) (1 Kings 11:27)d.the royal cities of Megiddo, Hazor, and Gezere.the store cities, the cities for his horsemen and the cities for his chariots throughout his empire.f.

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 excavatethe 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 18 th 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'sglorious 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) Thebuildings, 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 duringAmenhotep III's reign that Gezer and other major Palestine cities were refortified as royal Egyptian garrisons, andendowed 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, PharaohThutmose IV.

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The network of Egyptian 18th Dynasty garrison cities also included Jerusalem. If construction by Amenhotep III atGezer, 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 TempleMount, 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 greatabundance in Amenhotep's temples, just as they were in Solomon's.(23) A stela from Amenhotep's mortuary templeboasts that the temple was "embellished with gold throughout, its f loor 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, HisMajesty'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 havebuilt so splendidly and in so many widely distributed locations in the ancient world. Amenhotep III was arguably theancient 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 asdescribed 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. Thenew 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:

a house made almost entirely out of cedars of Lebanon (built for Amenhotep's Jubilee festival); (31)1.

a colonnade (hall of columns) fronted by a portico (porch) and surrounded by a column-lined courtyard;(32)2.

a throne room built with many wooden columns and whose floor was a painted lake scene (identical to the onecrossed in wonder by the Queen of Sheba when she approached the throne of Solomon, as described in the

Koran);(33)

3.

a separate palace built for Sitamun, "the daughter of Pharaoh;"(34)4.a royal palace (consisting of his own residence, the residence of his Great Wife, Tiye, and a residence for the

royal harem).(35)5.

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) twoprincesses 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 ofhis 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 "hiseyes desired" and "refused his heart no pleasure" (Ecclesiastes 2:10). However, the last years of Amenhotep'sthirty-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) is that the story of Solomon was patterned specifically after the life of Amenhotep

III. The name Solomon itself, which literally means "peace" or "safety" points to Amenhotep III whose long andpervasive reign in the 14th Century B.C. did not include any major military campaigns, but was characterized by

unprecedented stability throughout the Near East.(48) After the Egyptian 18th Dynasty, the region between the twogreat rivers was not controlled by a single power again until the Assyrian empire of Ashurbanipal (the grandson of

Sennacherib) who invaded Egypt and pillaged Thebes in the 7th Century B.C.,(49) and the 6th Century B.C. empire of

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Cyrus, who also conquered Egypt and made it a Persian province.(50) There is no evidence of any empire at any time

controlling this region whose capital was Jerusalem.(51)

Solomon is said to have had "a thousand and four hundred" chariots (1 Kings 1:26). This represents a prodigious armyby ancient standards, and one which could only have been amassed over a long period of time by an established

civilization.(52) Yet we are told that only five years after the great King Solomon's death, the Egyptian PharaohShishak and his allies invaded Judah and captured its fortified cities with little or no military resistance (2 Chron. 12).The Bible adds that Jerusalem itself was spared only after delivering up the entirety of King Solomon's accumulatedwealth to Shishak.

The rapidness with which Solomon's empire was established, as described by the Bible, and the ease with which itshortly thereafter submitted to a foreign power is also not consistent with the pattern set by other great ancientcivilizations.

Charles N. Pope, US Library of Congress. All rights reserved.

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