evaluate the claim that solomon was a wise king
Solomon’s achievements, as described above, were numerous, and guided Israel into their ‘Golden’ age. The Bible tells of Solomon’s God-given wisdom for which he was so renowned - for example the Queen of Sheba’s visit was driven by her desire to test this wisdom with difficult questions. None of these questions was too abstruse for Solomon to answer, and all were amazed at his wisdom. It also recounts an incident in which two women came to Solomon arguing over the parenthood of an infant. Solomon solved the matter by ordering that the baby should be cut in half, and half be given to each woman. ... Solomon decided that the first woman was the mother of the baby, and all were amazed at his wisdom. It is also clear that Solomon was a very wise and shrewd businessman, as illustrated by his numerous profitable alliances, most importantly with Hiram of Tyre and the Queen of Sheba, and his trading innovations such as the fleet of ships built to trade across the Red Sea, and his taxing of the caravan routes, which brought in a huge amount of money to the royal purse.