King Solomon is known as the wisest and richest man to have ever lived, but who was this man really? Even though we read his words in the Bible, this man who was the son of “the man after God’s own heart” remains a mystery to this day. Even his death is veiled in conspiracy theories. How could a man who was granted his greatest wish by God Himself be so enamored with the pleasures of this world—hungry for sex, power, and more wealth? In King Solomon’s Empire, Archie and Margaret Roy take an in-depth look into the life of the wise king and the kingdom he led. Through this study, the reader will come to understand the time in which King Solomon ruled, enter into the temple that he built for his God, and follow his path to a life of “striving after wind.” While the mystery still remains unsolved, perhaps the reader will come to learn some lessons from the man and avoid some of the pitfalls in their own life, as there is truly “nothing new under the sun.”

Though the world's wisest king, Solomon's heart was led astray by temptations of wealth, sex, and power. And we face the same dangers today, though the temptations may be different in degree and detail. Author Philip Ryken writes, "In witnessing Solomon's moral triumphs and sinful failures we learn how to live more wisely. By the grace of God, we may avoid a tragic downfall of our own and learn how to use money, sex, and power for the glory of God." Tracing Solomon's life from coronation to burial—and from godly devotion to self-serving excess—Ryken shows readers how to avoid similar downfalls and seek God's glory amid earthly temptations. These thirteen chapters are pastoral, rich in application, and biblically faithful. This overview of Solomon's life also includes a study guide, making it a great resource for both personal and group use.

The time was the Bronze to the Iron Age, the third to first millenniums B.C. Great leaders arose from Iraq to Eygpt-- Sargon of Akkad, Gudea of Lagash, Hammurapi of Babylon, and Akhenaten of Egypt--and from these lands of the Fertile Crescent came the underpinnings of Western civilization: law, science, arts, and the alphabet. But the human spirit wanted more. In a universe run by mercurial gods who kept humankind in bondage, there emerged the need for one all-powerful divinity, one omnipresent as mentor and protector. The book of Genesis, with its narratives of real people struggling to survive, provided that God, and thus the roots of monotheism. Genesis: World of Myths and Patriarchs is an in-depth look at the civilizations that formed the background of the first book of the Bible. Drawing on the great archaeological discoveries in the Middle East over the past century, everyday life of the people of Genesis is viewed through their politics, arts, nomadic migrations, commerce, religion, and moral values. With over 250 illustrations, including sixty-four color plates, this rich visual panorama describes what the authors of Genesis saw, and what events and ideas moved them to write the story of their people's origins. The book includes fourteen maps and charts, a selected chronology, and a list of gods of the Middle East. Cyrus Gordon and Nahum Sarna, two of the most renowned scholars of ancient Near Eastern history and Bible, provide the text. Genesis: World of Myths and Patriarchs acquaints us for the first time with the people we know from this familiar book of the Bible, and with the places they inhabited and the culture they developed. We trace what was borrowed, rejected, and transformed to create a new and unique ethic which has continued to shape the world.

Using Solomon's life and teachings as a foundation, Bruce Fleet offers today's readers a unique, well-grounded, proven method of wise investing. Solomon was more than just a character in the Bible-he was the richest man who ever lived. If we could learn from him directly, what would he teach us about growth in riches and knowledge? And how can we relate his life and wisdom to the society and successful financial planning of our contemporary world? Bruce Fleet's The Solomon Secret brings together instructional parables highlighting the wisdom of history's wealthiest man, with practical and sound financial advice for twenty- first-century readers. In the bestselling tradition of The Richest Man in Babylon, The Solomon Secret follows King Solomon as he mentors his young protégé, Abidan, on the seven basic principles of life and their influence on financial success. Each of these parables illustrates a key principle that Abidan must discover before he can garner more wealth and happiness, and is then followed by Fleet's masterful application of these principles to the reader's life and to the most urgent and essential financial questions of our time. Fleet, a successful financial adviser and owner of a large investment firm, draws from the time-honored and historically proven wisdom of the life of the ancient king to offer-through the siphon of his own talent and perspective-the very best in financial strategies for today's challenging economic climate. An accessible and effective mix of teaching stories with powerful financial lessons, The Solomon Secret is a highly readable, informative guide to becoming wealthy and wise.

In this groundbreaking work that sets apart fact and legend, authors Finkelstein and Silberman use significant archeological discoveries to provide historical information about biblical Israel and its neighbors. In this iconoclastic and provocative work, leading scholars Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman draw on recent archaeological research to present a dramatically revised portrait of ancient Israel and its neighbors. They argue that crucial evidence (or a telling lack of evidence) at digs in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon suggests that many of the most famous stories in the Bible—the wanderings of the patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, and David and Solomon’s vast empire—reflect the world of the later authors rather than actual historical facts. Challenging the fundamentalist readings of the scriptures and marshaling the latest archaeological evidence to support its new vision of ancient Israel, The Bible Unearthed offers a fascinating and controversial perspective on when and why the Bible was written and why it possesses such great spiritual and emotional power today.

EBONY is the flagship magazine of Johnson Publishing. Founded in 1945 by John H. Johnson, it still maintains the highest global circulation of any African American-focused magazine.

The story of King Solomon, as told by his court historian.