Named Solomon News Today

A mountaintop in the center of the walled old city. it is a storied place, layered with spiritual meaning and now dominated by the golden dome and a muslim mosque. but just a short walk away outside the city walls a picture is emerging of the ancient and humble beginnings of jerusalem, which the bible says was founded by solomons father, david. >> the city of david was a rather small settlement, hardly can be termed as a city. most probably unfortified. but it was here somewhere. >> reporter: we...

Discovered by accident in the 19th century when an archaeologist was walking his dog, this massive network of caves and tunnels is known as solomons quarries. >> is this a natural cave? >> no, not at all. >> reporter: the quarry once provided building materials for some of the greatest construction projects in the city. >> so what is this great big gaping hole here? >> actually, what you see here is the shape of cut of a big stone that used it in the second temple. we can see today in the wester...

Their sacred building on the same spot, on the same hill. >> reporter: even though evidence of the temple or the man himself hasnt been found, most scholars believe there was a solomon. >> but not the larger than life solomon in the hebrew bible did not exist. he did not rule a vast kingdom. he did not build a huge capital city in jerusalem. he was not a nationally or internationally known figure. >> reporter: even though the wisdom of solomon is legendary, it turns out like his father he had fl...

>> and each victor would build on top of their vanquished foe, providing finkelstein and his crew with an abundance of evidence from 1200 to 700 b.c. >> so were talking about what, 500 years -- >> 500 years. >> the turbulent period of king david and king solomon as well as their heirs. >> in these 500 years there were four major destruction layers at megiddo because of big wars. >> reporter: the wars brought turmoil. >> rioting broke out. >> reporter: think of america in the 1960s. and at times ...

Before he was assassinated. >> like anybody, i would like to live a long life. >> martin luther king saying that just before he died as if it was a premonition. i mean, you must have thought of that a lot. >> well, of course ive thought of that a lot. i thought that he understood that his transition was at hand. he understood that it might even be a violent transition. >> and ive seen the promised land. i may not get there with you, but i want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to ...

On our journey through the lands of the bible we found ourselves lingering in the old city of jerusalem here in this place that is so sacred to jews, christians, and muslims. it is easy to imagine your way back to around 970 b.c., when the bible says the famous king solomon reigned. >> solomon became in a sense the very ideal of the oriental emperor as the sort of magnificent king. >> under david and solomon the israelites were able to amalgamate into a pretty powerful kingdom. >> solomon seemed...

The church of the holy sepulcher, the place christians believe jesus was crucified. hello. very nice to see you in this beautiful, beautiful spot. >> we met an ethiopian orthodox priest named abasamuel, who surprisingly told us that he knows exactly where the ark is. his evidence goes back to that affair between king solomon and the queen of sheba. >> queen of shebas son with king solomon. >> yes. >> took the ark of the covenant, moses commandments. >> yes. >> and so where do you think they are?...

Beneath the asphalt, immediately the early remains of jerusalem start to appear. >> how much do we know about solomons temple, the first temple? >> actually, we know nothing. if not the biblical account, we have absolutely no proof about the building itself. >> reporter: but they say theyre getting closer. >> we know that from the 9th century on, just a bit after the time of solomon, most of the things that are told in the bible are historically correct. most of them. but we are still left with ...

Caves and tunnels is known as solomons quarries. >> is this a natural cave? >> no, not at all. >> reporter: the quarry once provided building materials for some of the greatest construction projects in the city. >> so what is this great big gaping hole here? >> actually, what you see here is the shape of cut of a big stone that used it in the second temple. we can see today in the western wall. >> reporter: the secretive freemasons even believe the stones mined here were used to build something ...

>> his government is inflated. he runs it according to corve, according with forced labor. hes married or marrying hundreds of wives and hundreds of concubines, who as the bible say took his heart astray. >> reporter: the wives solomon took tone hans ties with foreign kingdoms turned him to their idols and eventually corrupted his own relationship with god. and the story of solomons downfall is an interesting window into the religious practices of the early israelites. >> people worshiped many g...