The Golden Era of the Kings of Israel

They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. ( Amos) 9: 14.
The three Kings were Saul, David and Solomon.

By now the Israelites have settled in Canaan. They were rulers of a sizeable empire.

During these happy years festivals were celebrated with great joy. A favourite was the Grape Harvest, held in September or October. The farmers and their families would get together for dancing and singing.

By day they cut the ripened grapes. At night watchmen watched for boars, foxes or poachers.
Some of the grapes were eaten fresh or dried. Wine grapes were trampled in stone vats. The wine was fermented, then sealed in jars and stored in cool rock cellars.

King Saul.

Israel's first king. He was expected to rule according to the will of God.

Saul became proud. Twice he disobeyed the Prophet of the Lord, Samuel. Samuel withdrew his support of the King.

From then on Saul's fortune took a disastrous plunge. He became very depressed. A boy, called David, who played the harp, was summoned to play to the king in an effort to appease him.

That was David who killed Goliath. David was a strong young man now and showed his prowess on the battlefield.Saul heard that the Israelites were rooting for David. Saul tried to get David killed in many ways. He was jealous of the man he once loved as a son.

David had to go into hiding. Saul committed suicide driven mad by his lack of finding David.

King David.

David was chosen as the next king of Judah with his capital at Hebron. After many battles and mistakes by disobedience to the Lord, David's field commander, Joab, murdered Abner on the pretext of a blood feud.
David ordered a state funeral to prevent problems in his kingdom.

This gesture was widely admired. That day the Northern and Southern areas peacefully United.

David strengthened defenses against future aggression with the Philippines. He then moved to capture Jerusalem which layout the border between Judah and the North. By means of clever strategy, David claimed Jerusalem as his personal holding.

A tabernacle was built to shelter the Ark of the Covenant.
Thus a city with no tribal ties became Israel's capital. The city of David.

King Solomon.

The king after David. His kingdom was firmly established
He enlarged David's administrative structure, introducing a nation wide system of public officials, headed by an overseer. He was very successful and eradicated old tribal boundaries and made twelve new districts.

He obtained a treaty with Egypt by marrying the Pharaoh's daughter.
Solomon's most lucrative Alliance was with the king of Tyre.
The temple of Solomon was his crowning achievement.

His reign was one of splendor and riches. After his death much of his empire disintegrated. Yet later generations never forgot the glorious nationhood of Saul, David and Solomon.

Bibliography: People of the bible and how they lived.Readers Digest. King James translation of the Bible.