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Solomon at Megiddo

Posted By: Charles Pope
Date: Saturday, 16 March 2002, at 8:04 a.m.

In Response To: Re: Lions or Sphinxes (Naomi)

David Rohl wrote on page 177 of Pharaohs & Kings: "The fine ahlar [triple-entry] gate, located just to the east of the [Megiddo] palace, is usually dated to stratum VIII."

My comment:
This stratum is associated with pharaoh Horemheb in the standard chronology, but also becomes the time of Solomon in Rohl's chronology. The gate can only on that basis be considered Solomaic.

Rohl also writes (p 175): "Stratum VIIB 'marks Megiddo's last great period of material wealth in the Bronze Age' and was the city contemporary with Ramesses II and Merenptah in Egypt." This stratum and the ones immediately preceding it contained 'Canaanite art at its best' but also showed a distinct Egyptian influence. Rohl continues (p 178), "If we look at some of the ivories from Megiddo's LB II palace, we find a number of Egyptian motifs, including papyrus plants, lilies and lotus flowers (the floral motifs of Upper and Lower Egypt), as well as palm trees and winged sphinxes."

Regarding resemblence of names, there are definite phonic, phonetic and linguistic links.

For example, Ahmed Osman compares Thoth (Egy. Twt) with David (Heb. Dvd). Another one that I bring out is Wah-ibre and the Patriarch Eber. These would be examples of transliterations between languages. However, people use language in very "unscientific" ways. Epithets are highly unpredictable and usually have more to do with meaning and bias than they do the rules of language. For example, even in the Bible, the Canaanite name Isabel ("Bel is prince") was changed to Jezebel ("piece of shit").

To come full circle with this posting, I think that the Biblical name of Solomon is based on an Egyptian form. Amenhotep III was a champion of the cult of Amon-Re. In fact, he would have been considered the living incarnation of the god Amon-Re. The sun god Re is the solar god. Therefore, the name Solomon was probably derived from Sol-amon or Amon-Re. Linguists would have a heart attack over such an argument. However, they do not presently recognize the multi-lingual culture of the ancient royal court.

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