Circa 990–931 BCE
Solomon was the third king of Israel and son of David and Bathsheba. He ruled during Israel’s golden age, a time when the ancient Greeks were composing the earliest versions of Homer’s epics and the Phoenicians were establishing trade routes across the Mediterranean.
His capital, Jerusalem, sat in what is now modern-day Israel. From there, he built the First Temple—a structure so magnificent that it drew visitors from across the known world, including the Queen of Sheba, who traveled from present-day Yemen or Ethiopia.
Solomon authored over 3,000 proverbs and 1,000 songs. He’s credited with Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. His early reign showed remarkable humility—when God offered him anything, he asked for wisdom to lead well. Yet his later years revealed a troubling pattern: the man who could solve everyone else’s problems couldn’t solve his own.