PART ONE The reign of Sol'o-mon may be regarded as the culminating period in the history of Is'ra-el. But, strictly speaking, the latter part of Da'vid's reign and only the former part of Sol'o-mon's constitute "the golden age of Is'ra-el"; for Sol'o-mon's later years manifested a decline, which after his death rapidly grew to a fall. I. =Sol'o-mon's Empire= embraced all the lands from the Red Sea to the Eu-phra'tes, and from the Med-i-ter-ra'ne-an to the Syr'i-an desert, except Phoe-ni'cia, which was isolated by the Leb'a-non mountains. 1. Besides Pal'es-tine, he ruled over E'dom, Mo'ab, Am'mon, Syr'i-a (here referring to the district having Da-mas'cus as its capital), Zo'bah, and Ha'math. 2. On the Gulf of Ak'a-ba, E'zi-on-ge'ber was his southern port (1 Kings 9. 26); on the Med-i-ter-ra'ne-an, Ga'za (Az'zah) was his limit; in the extreme north, Tiph'sah, by the Eu-phra'tes (1 Kings 4. 24); in the desert, Tad'mor, afterward Pal-my'ra (1 Kings 9. 18). II. =His Foreign Relations= were extensive, for the first and only time in the history of Is'ra-el. 1. His earliest treaty was _with Tyre_ (Phoe-ni'cia), whose king had been his father's friend (1 Kings 5. 1). (What this alliance brought to Sol'o-mon see 1 Kings 5. 6-10; 2 Chron. 2. 3-14.) 2. His relations _with E'gypt_: in commerce (1 Kings 10. 28, 29); in marriage, a bold departure from Is'ra-el-ite customs (1 Kings 3. 1). Perhaps Psalm 45 was written upon this event. 3. _With A-ra'bi-a_, the land bordering on the southern end of the Red Sea (1 Kings 10. 1-10, 14. 15). 4. _With the Far East_, perhaps India, referred to in 1 Kings 9. 21-28. 5. _With the West_, perhaps as far as Spain, the Tar'shish of 1 Kings 10. 22. III. =His Buildings.= No king of Is'ra-el ever built so many and so great public works as did Sol'o-mon. Among these are named: 1. _The temple_, on Mount Mo-ri'ah, to be described later. [Illustration: PLAN OF SOLOMON'S PALACE. (According to Stade.) "Reprinted from Kent's History of the Hebrew People, from the Settlement in Canaan to the Division of the Kingdom. Copyrighted, 1896, by Charles Scribner's Sons."] 2. _His own palace_, south of the temple precincts, on the slope of O'phel and Mo-ri'ah. This consisted of several buildings, as follows: 1.) The House of the Forest of Leb'a-non, so called because of its many columns of cedar; this was the forecourt, or entrance. 2.) The Porch to the Palace. 3.) The Throne Hall. 4.) The King's Palace. 5.) The Queen's Palace, or Harem. 3. _His fortified cities_, forming a cordon around his kingdom. (See the lists of these in 1 Kings 9. 17-19.) 4. _His aqueducts_, some of which may still be seen (Eccl. 2. 4-6).