"The king's dale," where Melchizedek and the king of Sodom met Abraham (Genesis 14:17). There Absalom reared for himself a pillar, to keep his name in remembrance; "Absalom's place" (2 Samuel 18:18). (See ABSALOM.) The pyramidal monument, the northern one of the group of monuments W. of Olivet, is hardly "the pillar of Absalom," for "the king's dale" was an 'emeq , i.e. "broad open valley", not a deep ravine as that of Kedron. Josephus says it was a column and of marble (Ant. 7:10, section 3), and erected, whereas the oldest and lowest part of the pyramidal monument is not "erected" but cut out, and this of the limestone of the hill. Its Ionic capitals and frieze ornamentation betray Roman or Grecian art. Josephus' account however that it was "two stadia from Jerusalem agrees with the nearness of Shaveh valley to Salem or Jerusalem.
From the co-author of the classic Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary, Fausset's Bible Dictionary stands as one of the best single-volume Bible encyclopedias ever written for general use. The author's writing style is always clear and concise, and he tackles issues important to the average student of the Bible, not just the Biblical scholars. This makes Fausset an excellent tool for both everyday Bible study and in-depth lesson or sermon preparation.Wikipedia
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