King Solomon’s Mines?

This continues a subject I started back in 1996 and left posted when I reactivated my blog     recently. Under the subject of "King Solomon's Navy", I conjectured how Solomon and     Hiram built their ships and got them to Ezion Geber.

1Ki 9:26 And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.

1Ki 9:27 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.

1Ki 9:28 And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.

 

 

I also questioned what the source of Solomon's wealth was, and this is what I am continuing     with now!

1Ki 10:14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold, (about 60 million dollars)

Most scholars seem to believe that Israel traded in grain in order to get their wealth. However,     this does not seem to me to be likely for the following reasons:

1. Until recent times most farmers did not produce much more than would be consumed locally.
   
2. The Israelis were largely herdsmen, not grain farmers. This is what they had done for 430 years in Egypt. Although they certainly raised grain, it likely was not their major occupation.
   
3. Food was certainly worth more in those days than now, but it still would not have brought in that kind of cash.
   

    Therefore, what did Israel have to trade that was worth so much?

 

I believe the answer is found earlier in the Scriptures, before Solomon's reign.

2Sa 12:27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah; yea, I have taken the city of waters.

2Sa 12:28 Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it; lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.

2Sa 12:29 And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.

2Sa 12:30 And he took the crown of their king from off his head; and the weight thereof was a talent of gold, and in it were precious stones; and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.

2Sa 12:31 And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.

 

An article I read but cannot find now said that Rabbah was a city built on a hill with an underground water source. Joab managed to capture the water source, after which the city was doomed, so he called David in to finish the job and get the credit. The KJV and a few others seem to indicate that David tortured the inhabitants to death, but most modern translators believe this should be translated that he put them to work at those things, and although I am a King James man I believe in this case the modern translators are right.

David was king at the end of the bronze age. Notice in 1 Sam. 17:6,7 that Goliath had bronze armor but an iron spearhead, and in 17:38 that Saul's helmet was bronze. Iron was available but too expensive to be extensively used.

Rabbah (present day Amman) seems to have been a center of ironworking well back into the bronze age. Og's iron bedstead was a tourist attraction there before the Israelites crossed the Jordan (Deuteronomy 3:11). Notice in 2 Sam. 12:31 iron is mentioned repeatedly.

 

David captured the entire Ammonite iron industry at the beginning of the iron age and Solomon inherited it. With the addition of his fleet of oceangoing ships at Ezion Geber, Solomon was ideally situated to export iron products just as demand exploded. I expect weapons and armor brought the most money, but farm implements probably also paid well. I theorize that Solomon became a major iron exporter and arms dealer of that period. This would explain the enormous wealth that Israel accumulated at this time, which enabled the building of the Temple and Solomon's lavish lifestyle. Towards the end, though, the profit must have tapered off, as the kingdom split after Solomon's death over the high taxes levied to support these things. Probably demand slacked off as competition entered the field. The fleet is never mentioned in Scripture again, so it may have been gradually lost over the years.