Solomon's portfolio
Solomon's portfolio
Solomon's portfolio grew and made him wealthy for at two important reasons. First, he takes the risk of building a fleet of ships to send abroad with Israel's products, to trade for exotic products he can't buy in Israel: jewels, African animals and ivory, horses from what is not Turkey, and chariots from Egypt. The ships return every three years, loaded with gold, silver, and other goodies for the king. It was a risk, though. Another king built a fleet for the Red Sea and somehow lost them all at Ezion-geber, in or near the port of origin"Jehoshaphat had a fleet built in the style of Tarshish [7] ships. He wanted to send them to Ophir [8] to bring back some gold. But the ships didn’t make it far. They wrecked in Ezion-geber" (1 Kings 22:48).Solomon also made a bundle off of caravans and locals traveling through his land, which was the only good land bridge between Egypt and other Africa nations in the south with nations in the north and the east, including what are now Turkey, and Greece, Iraq, and Iran.
Queen of Sheba on a shopping spree
Some scholars say the Queen of Sheba came for more than curiosity and a desire to test Solomon's wisdom, as the Bible reports."The queen gave Solomon two and a half tons (4,000 kg) of gold and jewels. And she gave him more spices than Solomon or any other king of Israel ever got or would ever get again in one huge shipment" (1 Kings 10:10).It probably wasn't just a gift. In those times, gifts were reciprocated.
"King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she said she wanted, with royal gifts on top of it. Then he sent her on her way back home" (1 Kings 10:13).For feature articles about the Bible
Stephen M. Miller's blog and YouTube channel
Solomon's international portfolio
Map Persian Empire in time of Ezra, Nehemiah
Map Persian Empire in time of Ezra, Nehemiah
Map Persian Empire in time of Ezra, Nehemiah, with Persian Empire Provinces. Persian kings at the time reigned over provinces like Judah, from Libya and Egypt in the west to the border of India in the distant east. The empire stretched 2,800 miles (4,500 km) from the Indus Valley on India’s border in the distant east, to Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia’s border in the southwest. That’s about Bangor, Maine to Los Angeles.
Persian Empire in time of Ezra, Nehemiah
Map Persian Empire Provinces
Map Persian Empire Provinces
Map Persian Empire Provinces. King Xerxes reigned over 127 provinces from Libya and Egypt in the west to the border of India in the distant east. The empire stretched 2,800 miles (4,500 km) from the Indus Valley on India’s border in the distant east, to Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia’s border in the southwest. That’s about Bangor, Maine to Los Angeles.
Map of Exodus route
Map of Exodus route
Map of Exodus route out of Egypt, which Hosea compares to Israel's future return from exile, led by God.
Map Jerusalem falls
Map Jerusalem falls
Map Micah 3, Jerusalem Falls.
9 Listen to me you rulers of Jacob’s people,
You leaders of Israel
You crooks who poison justice,
And cheat fairness.
10 You have built Jerusalem
In the blood of my people.
You have built my sacred Zion[2]
On the solid rock of evil.
11 Your judges settle cases for a bribe.
Priests will teach you if you pay.
Prophets will advise you for a fee.
Yet they all have the nerve
To invoke God’s support.
They say,
“Absolutely, the LORD is with us
Nobody’s going to hurt us.”
12 Tell it to Jerusalem
When it’s a plowed field.
This city is coming down,
Collapsing into a pile of rocky ruins.
The stately Temple Mount, abandoned,
Will grow into a wooded hilltop.
Micah 3:9-12
Map Jerusalem Falls
Map of Sea Peoples
Map of Sea Peoples
Map of Sea Peoples invading Mediterranean coastland. A volcano erupted in the Aegean Sea around 1500 BC, when many say Moses was growing up in Egypt. It wiped out communities on islands and along the coasts. Sea Peoples, as they are known, started looking for new land, Philistines among them, who became fierce enemies of Israelite ancestors of today’s Jewish people.
Map of Sea Peoples invasion
Map Thebes in Egypt
Map Thebes in Egypt
Map Thebes in Egypt
God's warning to Nineveh
What makes you think you’re better than Thebes The city protected by Amon, And, like you, with walls of water? Armies of nations defended Thebes: Egypt and her allies, Ethiopia, Lybia, and Put. None of that mattered at all. Invaders captured Thebes, Smashed babies in the rocks, And arrested survivors for exile. Invaders threw dice for the nobles. Top officials left home in chains. You in Nineveh get a dose of that, too. The enemy will shock you And you’ll stagger like drunks. Then you’ll run for your lives and hide. Nahum 3:8-11Thebes in Egypt