The Kingdom of David and Solomon: Myth and Reality

February 26, 7:30pm - 8:30pm
DORIS DUKE THEATRE, HONOLULU MUSEUM OF ART

Professor Avraham Faust
Bar-Ilan University, Israel

The United Monarchy – the famed kingdom of David and Solomon – is currently at the center of a heated debate. While until some 25 years ago there was a consensus that David and Solomon were historical figures who ruled over fairly large territories, this is now questioned by many, who either believe that these kings were no more than small chiefs who controlled a limited territory around Jerusalem, or that they did not even exist.

Given the doubts surrounding the reliability of the biblical testimonies for this early period, the archaeological evidence came to the central stage, and all schools of thought rely on some lines of material evidence that seem to support their position.

A large-scale examination of the nature of the Iron I-II transition, however, reveals major changes in practically every aspect of life, from settlement patterns and forms to various aspects of material culture, including pottery form and decoration, architectural developments, and more.

It is the aim of the present lecture to briefly present the sweeping changes that accompanied the Iron I-II transition, to reconstruct (temporally and spatially) the processes of growing social complexity that they reflect, and subsequently to examine the implications of this analysis on the debate over the historicity of the so-called United Monarchy.


Ticket Information
FREE

Event Sponsor
LLEA ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA, U H Fund for the Promotion of Jewish Life and Studies, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Robert Littman, 8082268518, littman@hawaii.edu

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