The profound peace which the nation enjoyed as a fruit of David's victories stimulated the industry of all Israel. The tribes be3-ond the Jordan had become rich by the plimder of the Hagarenes, and had a wide dis- trict where their cattle might multiply to an indefinite extent. The agricultural tribes enjoyed a soil and cli- mate in some parts eminently fruitful, and in all richly rewarding the toil of irrigation ; so that, in the security of peace, nothing more was wanted to develop the re- sources of the nation than markets for its various procl- uce. In food for men and cattle, in timber and fruit- trees, in stone, and probably in the usefid metals, the land supplied of itself all the first wants of its people in abundance. For exportation, it is distinctly stated that wheat, barley, oil, and wine were in chief demand; to which we may conjecturally add, wool, hides, and other raw materials. The king undoubtedly had large dis- tricts and extensive herds of his own ; but besides this, he received presents m kind from his own people and from the subject nations; and it was possible in this way to make demands upon them, without severe op- pression, to an extent that is imbearable where taxes must be paid in gold or silver. He was himself at once monarch and merchant; and we may with much confi- dence infer that no private merchant will be allowed to compete with a prince who lias assumed the mercantile character. By his intimate commercial union with the Tyrians, he was put into the most favorable of all posi- tions for disposing of his goods. That energetic nation, possessing so small a strip of territorj', had much need of various raw produce for their own wants. Another large denrand was made by them for the raw materials of manufactures, and for articles which they could with advantage sell again ; and as they were able to furnish so manj' acceptable luxuries to the court of Solomon, a most active change soon commenced. Only second in importance to this, and superior in fame, was the com- merce of the Red Sea, which could not have been suc- cessfully prosecuted without the aid of Tyrian enter- prise and experience. The navigation to Sheba, and the districts beyond — whether of Eastern Arabia or of Africa — in spite of its tediousness, was highly lucrative, from the vast diversity of [iroductions between the coini- fries so exchanging; while, as it was a trade of monop- oly, a very disproportionate share of the whole gain fell to the carriers of the merchandise. The Egyptians were the onh' nation who might have been rivals in the southern maritime traffic; but their religion and their exclusive principles did not favor sea-voyages; and there is some reason to think that at this early period they abstained from sending their own people abroad for commerce. The goods brought back from the south were chiefly gold, precious stones, spice, al- mug or other scented woods, and ivory, all of which
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were probably so abundant in their native regions as to bo |)!irtt'<l wiili tin easy ti-rins; and of course were all admiraliiy suiii'd for re-exporiaiion to Europe. Tiie carrviuLr-trade. which was thus shared lietween Solo- mon and the ryrians, was probably the most lucrative part ot" the souiliern and eastern commerce. How larj^e a portion of it went on by caravans of camels is wholly unknown, yet that this branch was considerable is cer- tain. From F.;:ypt Solomon imported not only linen varn. but even iiorses and chariots, which were sold aj;ain to the princes of .Syria and of the Ilittites; and were probalily (jrized for the superior breed of the horses, an.l for the li;,'ht, strong, and elegant structure of the chariots. Wine, being abundant in Palestine, and wholly wanting in Egypt, was no doubt a principal means of repayment. jNIoreover, Solomon's fortifying of Tadmor n>r ralmyra).and retention of Thapsacus on the Euphrates, show that he had an important interest in the direct land and river trade to IJabylon; although we have no details on this subject. The ditficulty which meets us is, to imagine by what exports, light enough to bear land-carri.age, he was able to pay for his imports. We may conjecture that he sent out Tyrian cloths and trinkets, or Egyptian linen of the tinest fab- ric; yet in many of these things the I5al)ylonians also excelled. On the whole, when we consider that in the case of Solomon the commercial wealth of the entire community was concentrated in the hands of the gov- ernment, that much of the trade was a monopoly, and that all was assisted or directed by the experience and energy of the Tyrians, the overwhelming riches of this eminent merchant-sovereign are perhaps not surprising. It w.as hardly possible, however, that any financial system could bear the strain of the king's passion for magniticence. The cost of the Temple was, it is true, provideil for by David's savings and the offerings of the people; but even while that was building, yet more when it was linished, one structure followed another with ruinous rapidity. A palace for himself, grander than that which Hiram had built for his father; anoth- er for rharaoh's daughter; the house of the forest of Lebanon, in which he sat in his court of judgment, the pillars all of cedar, seated on a throne of ivory and gold, in which six lions on either side, the symbols of the trilje of .ludah, appeared (as in the thrones of Assyria, Layard, .Vih. <iiid H<ib. ii.oO) standing on the steps and 8up[)orling the arms of the chair ( 1 Kings vii, 1-12; x, lX-"jn) ; ivory palaces and ivory towers, used a|)parently for the king's armory ( I'sa. xlv.H; (;ant.iv,4; vii, 4); the ascent from his own palace to the house or palace of Jeho- vah ( 1 Kings X, .') ) ; a summer-palace in Lebanon (ix, 19 ; Cant. vii. 4); stately gardens at Etham, fxivddises like those of the great Eastern kings (Ecdes. ii, 5, 6; Jose- phus. .1h/. viii.7, 3) [see I'auadisk] ; the foundation of something like a stately scliool or college; costly arpie- (lucls bringing water, it may be, from the well of Heth- lehem, dear to David's heart, to supply the king's pal- ace in .Ferusalem ( Ewald, iii, Wl'.i) ; the fortifications of Jerusalem completed, those of other cities begun (1 Kings ix. l.'i-l'.tj; and. above all, the harem, with all the exjienditiire which il involved on .slaves and slave- dealers, on concubines and eunuchs (1 Sam. viii, 15; I Chron. xxviii, 1). on men-singers and women-singers (Eccles. ii.K). -ihese rose before I he wondering eyes of liin people and dazzled then) wilii their magniticence. .\11 the e<jui|iment of his court, the "a|>parel" of his wrvanis. was on the same scale. If he went from his hall of jurlgment to the Temple, he marched between two lines of soldiers, each with a burnished shield of gold (I Kings X. If,, 17; Ewald. iii.:5-.'()). If he went on a royal progress to his paradise at 1m ham. he went in snow-white raiment, riding in a staielv chariot of cedar, decked with silver and gold and purple, carpeted with the costlii'st tapestry worked by the daughters of Jerusalem (Cant, iii, !t, !()). A body-guard attended him, "ihrecw.,re valiant men," tallest and handsomest of the M,m of Israel, in the freshness of their voulh, ar-