Around 970 b.c., David dies in Jerusalem. The text of First Kings records his final instructions as a list of execution orders. The limestone ridges of the city host a brutal transition of power. Solomon takes control of the throne and initiates a systematic purge. The survival of a new ancient Near Eastern regime requires the immediate elimination of domestic rivals.
Solomon targets his older brother Adonijah first. He orders his execution and strips Abiathar the priest of his standing. Solomon confines another rival named Shimei strictly within the city walls. The steep ravine of the Kidron Valley forms a hard boundary less than one mile east of the gates. Shimei later crosses this trench and dies for the breach. The king then dispatches his enforcer Benaiah to kill the old military commander Joab.
Joab flees into the sanctuary before Benaiah arrives. The former commander grasps the four protruding corners of the bronze altar. Ancient Levantine legal customs recognized these metal horns as a place of absolute asylum. A fugitive physically bound himself to the mercy of God. Solomon ignores the religious precedent. The king determines that past political violence nullifies any claim to holy protection. Benaiah strikes Joab down beside the bronze horns. State power overrides the ancient rules of sanctuary.
The establishment of a new state requires the visible destruction of the old guard.
This public destruction removed all remaining military commanders from the previous era. The calculated violence of the new king turned the highest altar in Jerusalem into a common execution block.