ABSTRACT
The Question whether or not any form of Israelite historiography existed during the period of the United Monarchy and what form that historiography might have taken has been much debated in the past few years.1 Basic to any support for an early development of Israelite historiography is the possibility of a historian having access to, and use of, historical sources of the period. For the Solomonic period, the “book of the acts of Solomon” (1 Kgs 11:41) is frequently regarded as a work derived from contemporary annals or a chronicle containing much historical material.2 Central to this work and occupying the major part of it would be the building of the temple as described in 1 Kings 6-7. Can this account of temple building be accepted as a historical document refl ecting royal building activity in the Solomonic period?
