sentinel00

Nomad, I might be convinced to re-read the respective passages and construct a summary for you. I have no idea if they will be convincing to you... as I understand their conclusions are very controversial.

What I wonder about is if the other scholars are taking seriously the evidence offered by Finklestein. Since I haven't managed to read a review of Finklestein's work by his peers that had to do with the actual arguments put forth, (rather than proclamations that his work is "controversial" or just "wrong" with no further analysis offered to explain those statements), I really don't have much else to go on at this point.

**At this point, it is good if you read above where I point out to Ish how little time i have to actually follow up on the things that interest me... <sigh>**

Toto

I don't want to get into this discussion, but I pulled my copy of The Bible Unearthed down from the shelf. P. 128 has a section entitled "Did David and Solomon Exist?" They conclude that the answer is "yes."

The authors summarize the points in favor of "biblical minimalists" (in which group they do not include themselves.) Briefly, the description of Solomon's wealth and his wives seems too exaggerated to be true, there is no mention of either in any Egyptian or Mesopotamian text, no archeological evidence in Jerusalem, etc.

Then they summarize the points in favor of the existence of David and Solomon. (Later construction on the Temple Mount during Roman times probably eradicated any trace of Solomon. Lack of mention is understandable, since the great empires of Egypt and Mesopotamia were in decline, etc.)

Then they mention the basalt monument with the inscription "House of David," and conclude that David and his descendants certainly existed.

Then they go on to examine the archeological record to see if the scope of David's conquests or Solomon's building projects is supported by the evidence.

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In other threads in the political sections, we have learned that there are big disputes currently over archeological digs in Jerusalem. I don't know if that would affect the possibility of discovering evidence of Solomon's rule.

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I do not know of anyone on these boards who is arguing that Solomon did not exist.