Editing Hiram I (section)

==Hypotheses regarding chronology of reign==
[[File:The struggle of the nations - Egypt, Syria, and Assyria (1896) (14591864250).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Baal Lebanon inscription]] is thought to mention Hiram.]]
The beginning date of Hiram's reign is derived from a statement by [[Josephus]] by citing both Tyrian court records and the writings of [[Menander of Ephesus|Menander]],<ref name=":1">''[[Against Apion]]'' i:17,18.</ref> relating that 143 years passed between the start of construction of [[Solomon]]'s Temple until the founding of [[Carthage]] (or until [[Dido (Queen of Carthage)|Dido]]'s flight that led to its founding). Josephus also related that Hiram's reign began 155 years and 8 months before that event and that construction of Solomon's Temple began in the twelfth year of Hiram's reign, which would be 143 years before the building of Carthage.

As pointed out by [[William Barnes]] (1801–1886), the date for the start of Temple construction using the Tyrian data is derived "wholly independently" of the way that date is derived by using the Scriptural data.<ref>William H. Barnes, ''Studies in the Chronology of the Divided Monarchy of Israel'' (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1991) 31.</ref>

By incorporating another source, Pompeius Trogus' date for the founding of Carthage (825 B.C.), we can arrive at an alternate solution.  This approach places the beginning of Hiram's reign in 979/8 B.C. and the commencement of Temple construction eleven years later, in 968/7 B.C.  It is important to note that most chronological systems place the start of Solomon's reign around 971/70 B.C.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |date=1953 |title=Summary |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23729411 |journal=Bulletin of the Israel Exploration Society / ידיעות החברה לחקירת ארץ-ישראל ועתיקותיה |volume=יז |issue=ג/ד |pages=I–VIII |jstor=23729411 |issn=2312-007X}}</ref>