Boundary of Promised Land
Solomon's harem
And there were the women. King Solomon, renowned for his wisdom, unfortunately succumbed to the allure of foreign women. Despite divine warnings against marrying multiple wives, he married an astounding 700, along with 300 concubines. These unions were politically motivated, aimed at forging alliances and establishing bonds with neighboring nations. However, these marriages ultimately led Solomon to idolatry, as his wives introduced foreign gods and rituals into his kingdom. This deviation from worshiping God alone, as Jewish law required, displeased the Lord, who eventually punished Solomon for his sins.Solomon beautifies Jerusalem
Jerusalem became the pride and joy of Solomon's reign. He had big plans for the capital city. He went all out and built this beautiful temple for the Almighty himself. Picture this: gold decorations, exquisite furnishings, and amazing artwork everywhere you looked. People were absolutely dazzled by it and came from far and wide just to see it. Jerusalem became the talk of the region.WHERE TO FIND MORE BIBLE MAPS
The Casual English Bible® has more than 900 Bible maps, many in 3D style. You can search for maps by place name, such as "Sea of Galilee."Dedicated Bible map search engine
But you can also search for maps by Bible book, such as searching for all the maps in the book of Joshua. In addition, you can search by country, region, or era on a timeline, such as when Israel had kings or when Jesus was on earth. Here's a link to the dedicated Map Search Engine.For more Bible features
Balaam hired to jinx Israel
Rise of the Babylonians
Map of Abraham’s route
Civilization begins
Map Abraham’s journey
Map Abraham's journey
Map Abraham's journey
Mesopotamia
From the ancient NYC
Mapping Abraham's journey begins in Mesopotamia. In Bible times, this part of the world was like the ancient version of the buzzing New York City, only much bigger. It was the vibrant hub of a civilization that emerged from land sandwiched between two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. That's mainly in Iraq and western Iran.
This area was prime real estate for early human settlers because those rivers brought life to the arid land. The word "Mesopotamia" itself means "between the rivers" in Greek. It's a fair name because these rivers provided water for farming and transportation.
Mesopotamia such a big deal in Bible times because it became the stage where many biblical stories played out. This was where we would have found:
- the famous city of Babylon
- the Tower of Babel (that's the one where people tried to build a tower to reach the heavens, and it didn't go too well).
- home to Abraham (city of Ur) the father of three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He came hailed from the city of Ur, which was right there in Mesopotamia.
Daniel in Mesopotamian lion's den
Also, Israelites spent decades in Mesopotamia during their exile to Babylon's land. That's where we come across the story of the prophet Daniel and the lions' den. The Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, who had a starring role in the Bible by destroying Jerusalem, ruled this land too.
Mesopotamia was like the biblical backdrop for many important events in the Bible. Those rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, made it into a thriving civilization.
Matthew traces the family tree of Jesus, back to southern Iraq, home of Abraham, father of the Jewish people. Matthew 1