Tadmor

Tadmor is one of the wilderness cities built by Solomon in his northern building program. The UPDV preserves a textual divergence between its two witnesses: in Kings the name appears as Tamar in the wilderness, while in Chronicles it stands as Tadmor in the wilderness, set among Solomon's store-cities in the territory of Hamath.

Solomon's Wilderness Building

In the Kings account, Solomon's building list runs from the fortifications of Gezer and lower Beth-horon onward into the desert: "And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether, and Baalath, and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land, and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion" (1Ki 9:17-19). The wilderness city stands inside that catalogue as one item among many in Solomon's network of fortified and supply towns.

Tadmor in Hamath

The Chronicler's parallel attaches the city explicitly to Hamath. After Solomon goes to Hamath-zobah and prevails against it (2Ch 8:3), the building notice runs: "And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store-cities, which he built in Hamath" (2Ch 8:4). The two store-city lists then converge in Beth-horon and Baalath (2Ch 8:5-6). Where Kings names "Tamar in the wilderness" inside Solomon's territory, Chronicles names "Tadmor in the wilderness" tied to Hamath; the umbrella collects both as the same city in the Solomonic wilderness building.