Page "Solomon" Paragraph 48

The conventional dates of Solomon's reign are from circa 970 to 931 BC.

They derive from biblical chronology, mostly from the ancient genealogies in the books, Genesis to Second Kings, spanning the creation of the universe as the ancients understood it to the fall of Jerusalem with the destruction of its Temple in year 586 BC.

Regarding the Davidic Dynasty to which King Solomon belongs, its chronology can be checked against datable Babylonian and Assyrian records at a few points, and these correspondences have allowed archeologists to date its kings in a modern framework.

According to the most widely-used chronology, based on that by Edwin R. Thiele, the death of Solomon and the division of his kingdom occurred in the spring of 931 BC.

Thiele does not explicitly date the beginning of Solomon's reign, but according to the First Book of Kings he ruled for 40 years, thus corresponding to 970 BC according to the Thiele system.