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Next up is Solomon, the 3rd king of Israel and the last in the united kingdom. I wanted to portray him as the complicated man he was: gifted with wisdom beyond his years, with riches and wealth and national prosperity, but with a nagging syncretism and desire for wives and concubines that took him far away from his beginnings rooted in the worship of Jehovah God. So here I portrayed him intentionally with symbols of Jewish culture as well as significant departures, such as the head piece from Egypt, the neck plate with Nubian influence, and the Hittite patterned wrap. the Bible says that his wives, which were probably as much about the political alignments as anything, took his heart away from the worship of the one true God and led him into a syncretized worship that included many other gods from the surrounding (and far) nations. Then again, he was also the one who built the greatest temple the Jews have ever known.

I also wanted to show his Jewish roots in the snake on his head piece by giving it wings, alluding to the winged fire snake, or Seraphim.

He was complicated.

#kingsofisrael #israelhistory #ancientneareast #biblicalillustration #bookofkings #bookofchronicles #biblicalart #Solomon #solomonstemple #syncretism

Description
Next up is Solomon, the 3rd king of Israel and the last in the united kingdom. I wanted to portray him as the complicated man he was: gifted with wisdom beyond his years, with riches and wealth and national prosperity, but with a nagging syncretism and desire for wives and concubines that took him far away from his beginnings rooted in the worship of Jehovah God. So here I portrayed him intentionally with symbols of Jewish culture as well as significant departures, such as the head piece from Egypt, the neck plate with Nubian influence, and the Hittite patterned wrap. the Bible says that his wives, which were probably as much about the political alignments as anything, took his heart away from the worship of the one true God and led him into a syncretized worship that included many other gods from the surrounding (and far) nations. Then again, he was also the one who built the greatest temple the Jews have ever known.

I also wanted to show his Jewish roots in the snake on his head piece by giving it wings, alluding to the winged fire snake, or Seraphim.

He was complicated.

#kingsofisrael #israelhistory #ancientneareast #biblicalillustration #bookofkings #bookofchronicles #biblicalart #Solomon #solomonstemple #syncretism