Observation

The popularity of this question was above average. The B part was less challenging to the candidates as compared to the A part. The weakness in the part A is centred on candidates’ highlighting the wise policies of Solomon instead of the opposite. In some other instances, they were concentrating about his marriage to the foreign women and neglecting his economic policies and failure to continually worship God. On the whole, the performance of this question was above average. Expected answers are highlighted below.

1. He built a magnificent temple for the Lord, a luxurious mansion for himself, the walls of Jerusalem and cities like Hazor and Megiddo.


2. He also rebuilt Gezer, a city offered to him as dowry for the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh.


3. All these building projects became a drain on the national coffers, leading to much suffering and hardship.


4. To arrest the depletion of the national coffers, Solomon embarked upon high taxation to complete the numerous projects.


5. He organised the land into twelve districts and assigned each the feeding of his large household for a month in the year.


6. Solomon also introduced cheap labour in the form of forced unpaid labour (corvee) to cut down expenditure on the projects.

7. The people were enslaved to cart timber, quarry stones etc. from Lebanon and Phoenicia into Israel.


8. The forced labour was an infringement upon the rights of the people resulting into hatred against Solomon.


9. Another unwise policy of Solomon was the giving away of twenty Israelite cities to king Hiram of Tyre to compensate for the services and supplies he received from the king.


10. Solomon’s love for foreign women was also an issue of his unwise policies.


11. Marriage to foreign women was against the Mosaic Law for fear that their hearts would be turned away from Yahweh.


12. Solomon built Shrines for gods of these women in Israel to which they sacrificed to their gods.


13. Solomon’s introduction of syncretism provoked God to anger because it compromised Israel’s religious values.


14. Israel became a disunited nation/citizens became less patriotic.


15. There was civil disobedience / resentment and revolt.


16. There was poverty due to heavy taxation and unpaid labour

1. Bribery and corruption/ corrupt leadership.


2. Excessive taxation/ harsh policies.


3. Abuse of the rights of humans.


4. Lack of transparency.