Pharaoh's daughter (wife of Solomon)

The Pharaoh's daughter is a figure in the Hebrew Bible who is described as marrying Solomon to cement a political alliance between the United Monarchy of Israel and Egypt.

While there is no archaeological evidence of a marriage between an Egyptian princess, the daughter of a Pharaoh, and a king of united Israel, claims of one are made at several places in the Hebrew Bible.

Some scholars believe this unique example was because this marriage in particular "demonstrates the wealth and power of the Hebrew monarchy, for Pharaoh's daughters did not ordinarily marry outside of their own family, and perhaps indicates the weakness of the Egyptian kingdom at this time.

[2] Most scholars believe the alliance was a result of the reputation of Solomon's father, "Under David, Israel had become a factor to be reckoned with in Eastern politics, and the Pharaoh found it prudent to secure its friendship.

This situation changed when the Egyptian army invaded the city, ethnically cleansed the populace, and Pharaoh turned it over to his daughter as a wedding gift, whereby it became the property of Israel.

1: "...he [Solomon] also built cities which might be counted among the strongest, Asor [Hazor] and Magedo [Megiddo], and the third Gazara [Gezer], which had indeed belonged to the Philistines; but Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had made an expedition against it, and besieged it, and taken it by force; and when he had slain all its inhabitants, he utterly overthrew it, and gave it as a present to his daughter, who had been married to Solomon; for which reason the king rebuilt it, as a city that was naturally strong, and might be useful in wars, and the mutations of affairs that sometimes happen.

He also built other cities that lay conveniently for these, in order to the enjoyment of pleasures and delicacies in them, such as were naturally of a good temperature of the air, and agreeable for fruits ripe in their proper seasons, and well watered with springs.

1 Kings 11:14-22 says that Yahweh also "raised up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite … [who had] found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh".

[6]: 308–309 Many Jewish scholars, scribes, and rabbis have commentated on the relationship of Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter portrayed in the Hebrew scriptures.

8a: "For as long as Shimei the son of Gera was alive Solomon did not marry the daughter of Pharaoh" (see also Midrash Tehillim to Ps.

This is in conflict "with Seder Olam Rabbah 15, where it is held that Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter when he began to build the temple, that is, in the fourth year of his reign (comp.

The Jewish Encyclopedia points out that the opinion "prevalent in rabbinical literature is that Solomon lost his royalty, riches, and even his reason on account of his sins.

He bemoans her arrival to Solomon's court for "Unlike Pharaoh's daughter in the Story of the Exodus, who raised and developed [Moses] the Leader of the People of Israel, this daughter of Pharaoh will have the opposite effect upon this Leader of Israel, causing his level of spirituality to fall to the point where he will have to temporarily abandon the kingship.

"[11] The Talmud states that Pharaoh's daughter played a role in why Jeroboam was found worthy of becoming ruler of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

As it is written, And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father.

He said thus to him: Thy father David made breaches in the wall, that Israel might come up [to Jerusalem] on the Festivals; whilst thou hast closed them, in order to exact toll for the benefit of Pharaoh's daughter.

Rashi explains that Solomon sealed up a place that was in Jerusalem, enclosed by a low wall and filled with dirt, called the Millo (mentioned in 1 Kings 11:26-32).

Concerning this Jeroboam admonished him, saying: Your father left it open for the pilgrims, and you enclosed it to make a labor force for Pharaoh’s daughter.

"[5] As the Hebrew scriptures often say that Yahweh raises enemies against the people of Israel when their leaders fall into sin, a similar statement is made about the story of Solomon and his Egyptian wife.

The Talmud at Sanhedrin 21b says that "When Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter, Gabriel descended and stuck a reed in the sea, which gathered a sand-bank around it, on which was built the great city of Rome."

According to the Kebra Nagast of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Pharaoh's daughter tricked Solomon into committing idolatry by making him swear an oath.

The Catholic Encyclopedia states that "The Pharaoh was probably Psieukhannit (Psebkhan) II, the last king of the 21st dynasty, who had his capitol at Zoan (Tanis), and ruled over the Delta.

And I think it was for this reason that Herodotus of Halicarnassus, when he says that there were three hundred and thirty kings of Egypt after Minaias, who built Memphis, did not mention their names, because they were all in common called Pharaōthai.

[19] Professor Edward Lipinski argues that Gezer, then unfortified, was destroyed late in the 10th century (and thus not contemporary with Solomon) and that the most likely Pharaoh was Shoshenq I.

[20] However, the excavators at the site Steven Ortiz and Samuel Wolff argue that the archaeological evidence indicates that Gezer was initially destroyed in the early 10th century, around the times of Siamun.

Any foreign princess that married the Pharaoh came with a large dowry and many attendants, she settled into life at the palace by taking an Egyptian name and becoming a minor (second) wife.

[26] In the branch of literary analysis that examines the Bible, called higher criticism, the story of Solomon falling into idolatry by the influence of Pharaoh's daughter and his other foreign wives is "customarily seen as the handiwork of the 'deuteronomistic historian(s)'", who are held to have written, compiled, or edited texts to legitimize the reforms of Hezekiah's grandson, King Josiah who reigned from ca 641 BCE to 609 BCE (over 280 years after Solomon's death according to Bible scholars).

[27] Scholarly consensus in this field holds that "Solomon's wives/women were introduced in the 'Josianic' (customarily Dtr) edition of Kings as a theological construct to blame the schism [between Judah and the Northern Kingdom of Israel] on his misdeeds".

[27] They hold that an author-compiler living after the Babylonian Exile recast the theme of the Books of Kings "from one of too many wives/women (consistent with Deut 17:17a) to one of alien wives, reflecting the same extreme xenophobia which finally carried the day in post-Exilic Yehud (cf.

Pharaoh's daughter is a main figure in a three-act oratorio called Solomon written by the composer George Frideric Handel.