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TODD BOLEN/BIBLEPLACES.COM

DATING SOLOMON. Many scholars claim this six-chambered gate at Megiddo was built under King Solomon (1 Kings 9:15). One of several “Solomonic” gates excavated in Israel and Judah, this monumental structure would presumably date to the tenth century BCE. Other archaeologists, however, have argued these gates should be dated a century later, to the time of King Omri. Although stratigraphic analysis can determine only how old a built structure is relative to earlier or later archaeological deposits, modern scientific methods can provide absolute dates. The most reliable dating results come from the combination of both absolute and relative dating techniques.