Prominent online atheist anti-theist Jonathan M. S. Pearce, who runs the blog, A Tippling Philosopher (1), provides an example of the fairly standard I approach the tower of Babel story in Genesis 11 with the goal of seeking to understand which aspects of it can be verified by secular archaeology and linguistics.
I will be drawing heavily from an article written by the eminent Bible scholar and historian Edwin M. Yamauchi, entitled, "The archaeological background I present several evidences from secular historical accounts & archaeology that back up the historical trustworthiness of the book of Nehemiah from the 5th c. B.C.
King Solomon is traditionally (and I think, solidly) believed to have been king of the United Monarchy of Judah, from c. 970 - c. 931 B.C. We don't have I survey the surprisingly strong archaeological & historical evidence regarding Solomon's "mines" and the exact location of the legendary (but very real) Tarshish.