To get to the new quarter that Solomon built from the old city of David, one had to pass through the gate in the northern Davidic city wall. Going in a northerly direction, the new complex consisted of an entrance hall, the so-called Hall of Pillars (1 Kings 7:6); the House of the Forest of Lebanon (7:2–5); the porch (7:6b); the king’s house (7:8a); and the house of his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter (7:8b).
The House of the Forest of Lebanon, shown here to the west of the Hall of Pillars, served as an armory. The main hall had rows of cedar pillars, and gold shields and targets hung on its walls (10:16–17). To the east of the Hall of Pillars was the porch, or Hall of the Throne, Solomon’s place of judgment. Beyond the Hall of Pillars lay Solomon’s palace. Here is the setting which so impressed the Queen of Sheba on her visit to King Solomon (1 Kings 10).
There are parallels between this palace complex and the contemporary palaces of northern Syria, with the order of the parts of the building in 1 Kings 7 corresponding to the order of the units in these palaces.
