Was King Solomon the ancient world’s first shipping magnate?

Marine archaeologist unearths evidence suggesting biblical king's riches were based on voyages he funded with Phoenician allies

King Solomon is venerated in Judaism and Christianity for his wisdom and in Islam as a prophet, but the fabled ruler is one of the Bible's great unsolved mysteries.

Archaeologists have struggled in vain to find conclusive proof that he actually existed. With no inscriptions or remnants of the magnificent palace and temple he is supposed to have built in Jerusalem 3,000 years ago, the Israelite king has sunk into the realm of myth.