A MONUMENTAL palace from the era of Israel’s King Solomon has been uncovered in the ancient royal city of Gezer, sparking new hope of evidence for the elusive biblical king.

Israel’s Haaretz news service is reporting the discovery of the 3000 year old building, but emphasises no evidence has been recovered as to who may have lived then.

But the simple fact it dates from the 10th Century BC means it has been inevitably tied to the fabled King Solomon who, according to biblical accounts, was the driving force behind the success of the newly founded Jewish state.

A team of United States archaeologists have been working on the structure, positioned to the west of the city’s so-called Solomonic Gate, for several years. They’ve now uncovered the remains of a building consisting of a series of spacious rooms arrayed around two long central courtyards.

It is a style similar to that of several other palaces found from that era, they say.

Excavation co-director Professor Steve Ortiz, representing the Tandy Museum of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary of Fort Worth, Texas, told Haaretz that the building was significantly larger than most residential structures — and featured monolithic stones supporting the corners of its rooms.

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A layer of Philistine (non Jewish inhabitants of the Holy Land) bichrome pottery had been recovered from the site, he said. Part of a long-necked, bird-faced female goddess known as an Ashdod figurine, the ivory lid to a game box, amulets, a Canaanite female fertility goddess and a baby’s rattle were also discovered in recent years.

Gezer is a city built on an important crossroads in a pass leading from the coastal plain up to the capital, Jerusalem. Dating from as early as 3400 years ago, it was supposedly conquered by King David.

It was also attacked and captured by the distant superpower on several occasions.

The palace itself is believed to have been destroyed by Pharaoh Sheshonk I in 925BC.

“It appears that everything was cleaned out before the destruction. Perhaps they knew of the impending attack and removed most of the objects,” Ortiz is reported as saying.

The Baptist archaeologists concede that there remains some doubt as to the dating of the site based on the styles of pottery found there. Carbon 14 radioactivity dating analysis is yet to be completed.

From his fabled mines to his lavishly adorned palaces, biblical references to ‘shields of beaten gold’, thrones of ivory, pure-gold tableware and the mystical Ark of the Covenant have driven treasure hunters to scour the Holy Land for King Solomon’s wealth for centuries.