insider.si.edu: Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami (d.1209); recto: inscriptions and seals; verso: Solomon enthroned, right-hand half of a double-page
Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami (d.1209); recto: inscriptions and seals; verso: Solomon enthroned, right-hand half of a double-page
Solomon is known for being the king of Israel who built the first Temple in Jerusalem. He was also the second (after his father, David) and last king of a unified Israel, which was at the height of its power during his reign.
King Solomon was the third king of Israel, who ruled Israel for 40 years and, while ushering peace and properity in his era, built the First Holy Temple.
He is also the subject of many later references and legends, most notably in the Testament of Solomon, part of biblical apocrypha from the 1st century CE. The historicity of Solomon is the subject of significant debate.
King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived and also one of the most foolish. God gifted him with unsurpassed wisdom, which Solomon squandered by disobeying God's commandments. Some of Solomon’s most famous achievements were his building projects, particularly the temple in Jerusalem.
Solomon, whose name means peace or peaceful, was the second child produced by King David and Bathsheba. God referred to him as Jedidiah which means "beloved of Jehovah" (2Samuel 12:25).
Granted that Ecclesiastes is the work of Solomon, it could be concluded that Solomon passed through periods of disillusionment, frustration and despair, but that he was able to come through with a basic faith in the one true God.