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HIRAM OF TYRE AND SOLOMON Edward Lipiński University of Leuven Josephus Flavius took a particular interest in the relations between Hiram, king of Tyre, and Solomon. Describing their friendly relation- ship, maintained on a basis of equality, Josephus undoubtedly aimed at underscoring the importance of Solomon in the eyes of his non- Jewish readers, he was addressing in Jewish Antiquities, followed soon by Against Apion. 1. Josephus and His Sources The sources of Josephus were not only the biblical Books of Kings and the Books of the Chronicles, but also some Hellenistic historiogra- phers of the 2nd c. BCE, like Menander of Ephesus, Dius, and Eupo- lemus. Menander and Dius quote translated extracts from the Tyrian annals, while Eupolemus’ work contains letters allegedly exchanged between Hiram and Solomon. Although the writings of Menander and Dius were no primary sources, they were works independent from the Bible and, in consequence, had more appeal for the heathen readers of Josephus. They are unfortunately lost, and the quotations from both authors preserved by Josephus have most likely been excerpted from the History of Phoenicia compiled ca. 70–60 BCE by Alexander Polyhistor,1 who had copied large passages from his predecessors’ writ- ings. Josephus stresses the importance of the Hiram-Solomon relation- ship in his Jewish Antiquities and in the somewhat later booklet Against 1 Alexander Polyhistor, a native of Miletus, an ancient city on the Anatolian shore of the Aegean Sea, compiled excerpts from several Hellenistic historiographers, related to Phoenicia. Preserved fragments of his work have been collected by F. Jacoby (ed.), Fragmente der griechischen Historiker IIIA (Berlin: Weidmann, 1940) 96–121, with a commentary F. Jacoby (ed.), Fragmente der griechischen Historiker IIIa (Berlin: Weidmann, 1943) 248–313. The most complete study of Alexander Polyhistor and of his Judaeo-Hellenistic sources remains J. Freudenhal, Alexander Polyhistor und die von ihm erhaltenen Reste jüdischer und samaritanischer Geschichtswerke (Breslau, 1875). 252 edward lipiński Apion,2 where he explicitly refers to the authority of Menander3 and of Dius.4 Calling the king of Tyre “Hirom,” according to the Phoenician pronunciation of the name, he thus writes in Against Apion:5 Hirom, king of Tyre, was a friend of our king Solomon, a friendship which he had inherited from his father. Sharing Solomon’s zeal for the splendour of the edifice, Hirom gave him 120 talents of gold, and also cut down the finest timber from the mountain called Libanus and sent it to him for the roof. In return Solomon, among other gifts, made him a present of land in Galilee in the district called Chabulon (Cabul). But the main bond of friendship between them was their passion for learn- ing. They used to send each other problems to solve; in these Solomon showed the greater proficiency, as, in general, he was the cleverer of the two. Many of the letters which they exchanged are preserved at Tyre to this day. Josephus refers here to the authority of Dius, who wrote about the subject about two hundred years earlier: To prove that these assertions about the Tyrian archives are not of my own invention, I will call upon Dius who is regarded as an accurate his- torian of Phoenicia, for his witness. In his history of the Phoenicians he writes as follows: ‘On the death of Abibalus, his son Hirom came to the throne. He levelled up the eastern part of the city with embankments, enlarged the town, united to it by a causeway the temple of Olympian Zeus, which was isolated on an island, and adorned it with offerings of gold; he also went up to Libanus and had timber cut down for the construction of temples. It is said that Solomon, the sovereign of Jeru- salem, sent riddles to Hirom and asked for others from him, on the understanding that the one who failed to solve them should pay a sum of money to him who succeeded. Hirom agreed, and being unable to guess the riddles, spent a large part of his wealth on the fine. Afterwards they were solved by a certain Abdemon of Tyre, who propounded others. Solomon, failing to solve these, paid back to Hirom more than he had received.’ Thus has Dius attested my previous statements. 2 The composition of Jewish Antiquities was probably achieved in 93/94 CE, while Against Apion was written two or three years later. 3 Menander of Ephesus compiled some Phoenician sources in Greek. His excerpts from Tyrian annals were used by Josephus Flavius in Jewish Antiquities VIII, 5, 3, §144–146; 13, 2, §324, and in Against Apion I, 18, §116–126. Preserved fragments of his work have been collected by F. Jacoby (ed.), Fragmente der griechischen Historiker IIIC (Leiden: Brill, 1958) §783. 4 Dius, author of a History of Phoenicia, is quoted by Josephus Flavius in Jewish Antiquities VIII, 5, 3, §147–149, and in Against Apion I, 17, §113–115. 5 Against Apion I, 17, §108–115. Translation by H. St.J. Thackeray, Josephus I. The Life. Against Apion (Loeb Classical Library; London, 1926) 207, 209..
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