King Hiram I

Hiram, King of Tyre ( 999 BC *, † 935 BC) was a Phoenician king. He enlarged and fortified the island city of Tyre on the west coast of Asia Minor and strengthened its role as mediator between East and West.

Tyre, the old terminus of the caravan routes of the Near East, he became the dominant trading center of the Mediterranean, whose offices were spread to Italy, the Iberian Peninsula, West Africa and possibly Britain.

In the Old Testament, Hiram is mentioned several times:

• In the first book of Kings: 5.15 to 32; 7.13; 7.40 to 45; 9:11-14; 9.27; 10,11 and 10, 22
• In 2 Chronicles: 2.2; 2.10 to 2.13; 4.11 to 4.16; 8.2; 8.18; 9.10 and 9.21

Hiram stood by the report of the Bible in relations with the kingdom of Israel under King David ( 1 Chronicles 14:1 King James ) and his builders under Solomon ( 1 Kings 5:18 ). Among other things, he assisted him in the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem with building materials and craftsmen. On behalf of Solomon he set up a merchant fleet in the Red Sea and also drove in the gold land of Ophir ( Abyssinia ). There is no extra-biblical evidence for this Hiram the 10th century, making its historicity is doubted.

However, immersed in the annals of Tiglath-Pileser III. twice a Hirummu as a tribute. Some authors of these living in the thirties of the 8th century, and driving with the Northern Kingdom Trade King is called Hiram II. In discussion is that in Solomon's account of the Bible, the conditions this time and this Hiram could have stood in the background.