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You can share it. >> and this, of course, instantly produces the real mother because the real mother says, no, no, no, no. she can keep the baby. she can keep the baby. >> and that story was held up as great wisdom because solomon knew the mind of a mother. but that's a pretty sadistic thing to do. i think it's evidence that he was a ruthless man that just didn't want to deal with petty things. he wanted grandiose things. >> that is solomon's image in history, but his importance is because he does something astonishing in jerusalem. >> as a king, solomon is always laboring in the shadow of his...

That would constitute the west bank and israel. >> so when you study the history of jerusalem and you appreciate the religious symbolism, then you begin to think about, okay, so then what went wrong? what created this big fissure between these communities? >> the clash today over the narrative of jerusalem is largely tied to the way history gets exploited. politicians who would like to go back to the story of king david claim that what happened in jewish history is a kind of deed that gives judaism and the jews, for that matter, perpetual ownership of the city of jerusalem. so essentially what...

Himself in some way. >> solomon's greatest accomplishment was the construction of the temple in jerusalem, and this was a house for the ark of the covenant. >> solomon's father, david, had brought the ark of the covenant to jerusalem and planted it apparently on a rocky high point overlooking the city. so what solomon does, on top of that rocky outcrop, solomon builds a permanent house for the god of israel. >> temple mount, haram al sharif for the arabs, is the place where the first temple built by solomon stood. almost certainly on top of the rock that today is the foundation stone of the do...

But we see over and over again in the history of jerusalem, we see the rise of kings who may pay lip service to the ideal under which the country was founded, but succumb to the temptation to preserve their own power. >> power corrupts. and absolute power corrupts absolutely. we've heard this expression. and nowhere does it apply more than to jerusalem. jerusalem was made into the city that it is today because of stories like david, like solomon. not the natural resources, not the gold, not the oil. it's the history of jerusalem that makes it the center of the world. >> after solomon's rule, j...

After he moved it there, god lived at jerusalem, and that just sets up centuries of coming conflict over this physical place. >> but for now, the united kingdom is thriving. 12 rival tribes have finally found peace under king david's rule. >> david has worked all of his life, has trusted god. he's worked hard. he started off as a simple shepherd. he's fought all of these battles, and now he's the king of israel. what a time to let your guard down. >> at the height of his power, david will make a decision that will jeopardize everything he's built. architecture firm.