Solomon

King Solomon
King of Israel
Judgment of Solomon Nineteenth century engraving by Gustave Doré
Reign	c. 971 - 931 BCE
Born	c. 1011 BCE
Birthplace	Jerusalem
Died	c. 931 BCE
Place of death	Jerusalem
Predecessor	David
Successor	Rehoboam
Consort	Naamah, Pharaoh's Daughter, around 1000 other wives and concubines
Offspring	Rehoboam
Royal House	House of David
Father	David
Mother	Bathsheba

Solomon (Hebrew: שְׁלֹמֹה, Modern Shlomo Tiberian Šəlōmō, Arabic: سليمان‎ Sulaymān; Turkish: Süleyman; Greek: Σολομών Solomōn; Latin: Salomon) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a King of Israel. The biblical accounts identify Solomon as the son of David.^[1] He is also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah split; following the split his patrilineal descendants ruled over Judah alone.

The Hebrew Bible credits Solomon as the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem,^[1] and portrays him as great in wisdom, wealth, and power, but ultimately as a king whose sin, including idolatry and turning away from God, leads to the kingdom being torn in two during the reign of his son Rehoboam.^[2] Solomon is the subject of many other later references and legends.

Biblical account

A reconstruction of the ancient Middle East, as how the area may have been seen through the eyes of the ancient Israelites.

Family

Solomon's father was David, king of the united Kingdom of Israel with Bathsheba. Solomon had many siblings including Amnon, who was killed on the order of their half-brother, Absalom, for raping Absalom's sister, Tamar. (2 Samuel 13:1-29) Absalom was killed in the Battle of Ephraim Wood, and Adonijah, who had tried to usurp the throne, was put to death. (1 Kings 2:13-25)

Wives

Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. The wives are described as foreign princesses, including Pharaoh's daughter and women of Moab, Ammon, Sidon and of the Hittites. These wives are depicted as leading Solomon astray.^[3] The only wife that is mentioned by name is Naamah, who is described as the Ammonite.^[4] She was the mother of Solomon's successor, Rehoboam.

Succession

Solomon became king after the death of his father David. According to the biblical First Book of Kings, when David was " old and advanced in years" "he could not get warm." ^[5] "So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king."^[5]

While David was in this state Adonijah, David's fourth son, acted to have himself declared king, he being heir-apparent to the throne after the death of his elder brothers Amnon and Absalom. But Bathsheba, a wife of David and Solomon's mother, along with the prophet Nathan induced David to proclaim Solomon king. Adonijah fled and took refuge at the altar, and received pardon for his conduct from Solomon on the condition that he show himself "a worthy man." (1 Kings 1:5-53)

Adonijah asked to marry Abishag the Shunammite, but Solomon denied authorization for such an engagement, although Bathsheba now pleaded on Adonijah's behalf. He was then seized and put to death (1 Kings 2:13-25). As made clear in the earlier story of Absalom's rebellion, to possess the royal harem was in this society tantamount to claiming the throne;^[6] evidently, this applied even to a woman who had shared the bed of a king advanced in age.

David's general Joab was killed, in accord with David's deathbed request to Solomon, because he had killed generals Abner and Amasa during a peace (2 Samuel 20:8-13; 1 Kings 2:5). David's priest Abiathar was exiled by Solomon because he had sided with rival Adonijah. Abiathar is a descendent of Eli, which has important prophetic significance. (1 Kings 2:27) ^[7] Shimei was confined to Jerusalem and killed three years later, when he went to Gath to retrieve some runaway servants, in part because he had cursed David when Absalom, David's son, rebelled against David. (1 Kings 2:1-46) ^[8]

Artist's depiction of Solomon's court (Ingobertus, c. 880.)

Wisdom

One of the qualities most ascribed to Solomon is his wisdom. Solomon prays:

"Give Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people and to know good and evil."1 Kings 3:9 ^[9]

"So God said to him, 'Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked...'" (1 Kings 3:11-12)^[9] The Hebrew Bible also states that: "The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart." (1 Kings 10:24) ^[10]

In one account, known as the Judgment of Solomon, two women came before Solomon to resolve a quarrel about which was the true mother of a baby. One mother had her baby die in the night after rolling over it in her sleep and crushing it; each claims the surviving child as her own. When Solomon suggests dividing the living child in two with a sword, the true mother is revealed to him because she is willing to give up her child to the lying woman, as heartbreaking a decision as it is. Solomon then declares the woman who shows compassion to be the true mother, and gives the baby back to her.

Relationship with Queen of Sheba

Solomon and the queen of Sheba by Giovanni Demin (1789-1859)

Renaissance relief of the Queen of Sheba meeting Solomon - gate of Florence Baptistry

King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, painting by Piero della Francesca

In a brief, unelaborated, and enigmatic passage, the Hebrew Bible describes how the fame of Solomon's wisdom and wealth spread far and wide, so much so that the queen of Sheba decided that she should meet him. The queen is described as visiting with a number of gifts including gold and rare jewels to decorate the temple, and also bringing with her a number of riddles. When Solomon gave her "all her desire, whatsoever she asked," she left satisfied (1 Kings 10:10).

Whether the passage is simply to provide a brief token foreign witness of Solomon's wealth and wisdom, or whether there is meant to be something more significant to the queen's visit and her riddles is unknown; nevertheless the visit of the Queen of Sheba has become the subject of numerous stories.

Sheba is typically identified as Saba, a nation once spanning the Red Sea on the coasts of what are now Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen, in Arabia Felix. In a Rabbinical account (e.g. Targum Sheni), Solomon was accustomed to ordering the living creatures of the world to dance before him (Rabbinical accounts say that Solomon had been given control over all living things by God), but one day upon discovering that the mountain-cock or hoopoe (the Hebrew name for the creature is Shade) was absent, he summoned it to him, and the bird told him that it had been searching for somewhere new.

The bird had discovered a land in the east, exceedingly rich in gold, silver, and plants, whose capital was called Kitor and whose ruler was the Queen of Sheba, and the bird, on its own advice, was sent by Solomon to request the queen's immediate attendance at Solomon's court.

In an Ethiopian account (Kebra Nagast) it is maintained that the Queen of Sheba had sexual relations with King Solomon (of which the Biblical and Quranic accounts give no hint) and gave birth by the Mai Bella stream in the province of Hamasien, Eritrea. The Ethiopian tradition has a detailed account of the affair. (See Queen of Sheba)

The child was a son who went on to become Menelik I, King of Axum, and founded a dynasty that would reign in the eventual stalwart Christian Empire of Ethiopia for 2900+ years (less one usurpation episode and interval of ca. 133 years until a "legitimate" male heir regained the crown) until Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974. Menelik was said to be a practicing Jew, had been gifted with a replica Ark of the Covenant by King Solomon, but moreover, the original was switched and went to Axum with him and his mother, and is still there, guarded by a single priest charged with caring for the artifact as his life's task.

The claim of such a lineage and of possession of the Ark has been an important source of legitimacy and prestige for the Ethiopian monarchy throughout the many centuries of its existence, and had important and lasting effects on Ethiopian culture as a whole. The Ethiopian government and church deny all requests to view the alleged ark.^[11]

Some classical-era Rabbis, attacking Solomon's moral character, have claimed instead that the child was an ancestor of Nebuchadnezzar II, who destroyed Solomon's temple some 300 years later.^[12]

Solomon's sins

Jewish Perspective

King Solomon sinned by acquiring too many wives and horses because he thought he knew the reason for the Biblical prohibition and thought it did not apply to him. When King Solomon married the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh, a sandbank formed which eventually formed the "great nation of Rome"- the nation that destroyed the Second Temple. Solomon gradually lost more and more prestige until he became a commoner. Some say he regained his status while others say he did not. ^[13]

Christian Perspective

According to 1 Kings 11:4 Solomon's "wives turned his heart after other gods", their own national deities, to whom Solomon built temples, thus incurring divine anger and retribution in the form of the division of the kingdom after Solomon's death. (1 Kings 11:9-13)

1 Kings 11 describes Solomon's descent into idolatry, particularly his turning after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. In Deuteronomy 17:16-17, a king is commanded not to multiply horses, wives or gold. Solomon sins in all three of these areas. Solomon collects 666 talents of gold each year, (1 Kings 10:14) a huge amount of money for a small nation like Israel. Solomon gathers a large number of horses and chariots and even brings in horses from Egypt. Just as Deuteronomy 17 warns, collecting horses and chariots takes Israel back to Egypt. Finally, Solomon marries foreign women, and these women turn Solomon to other gods.

According to 1 Kings 11:9-13, it was because of these sins that "the Lord punishes Solomon by tearing the kingdom in two":^[2]

And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, "Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.

Solomon's enemies

Near the end of his life Solomon was forced to contend with several enemies including Hadad of Edom, Rezon of Zobah, and one of his officials named Jeroboam who was from the tribe of Ephraim.^[2]

Death, succession of Rehoboam, and kingdom division

The United Monarchy breaks up, with Jeroboam ruling over the northern Kingdom of Israel (blue on the map) and Rehoboam ruling the Kingdom of Judah to the south.

According to the Hebrew Bible and historical research, Solomon died of natural causes^[14] at around 80 years of age. Upon Solomon's death, his son, Rehoboam, succeeded him as king. However, ten of the Tribes of Israel refused to accept him as king, causing the United Monarchy to split and form the northern Kingdom of Israel ruled by Jeroboam, while Rehoboam continued to reign in the southern Kingdom of Judah.

Building and other works

Solomon and the plan for the First Temple, illustration from a Bible card published by the Providence Lithograph Company

A sketch of Solomon's Temple, based on descriptions in the Scriptures.

During Solomon's long reign of 40 years, the Israelite monarchy, according to the Bible, gained its highest splendour and wealth. In a single year, according to 1 Kings 10:14, Solomon collected tribute amounting to 666 talents of gold (39,960 pounds).

Solomon is described as surrounding himself with all the luxuries and the external grandeur of an Eastern monarch, and his government prospered. He entered into an alliance with Hiram I, king of Tyre, who in many ways greatly assisted him in his numerous undertakings. For some years before his death, David was engaged in collecting materials for building a temple in Jerusalem as a permanent abode for the Ark of the Covenant. Solomon is described as completing its construction, with the help of an architect, also named Hiram, and other materials, sent from King Hiram of Tyre.

After the completion of the temple, Solomon is described as erecting many other buildings of importance in Jerusalem; for the long space of thirteen years he was engaged in the erection of a royal palace on Ophel (a hilly promontory in central Jerusalem); Solomon also constructed great works for the purpose of securing a plentiful supply of water for the city, and the Millo (Septuagint, Acra) for the defense of the city. However, excavations of Jerusalem have shown a distinct lack of monumental architecture from the era, and remains of neither the Temple nor Solomon's palace have been found. However, a number of significant but politically sensitive areas have not been extensively excavated, including the site where the Temple is traditionally said to have been located.

Solomon is also described as rebuilding major cities elsewhere in Israel, creating the port of Ezion-Geber, and constructing Tadmor in the wilderness as a commercial depot and military outpost. Solomon is additionally described as having amassed a thousand and four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. Though the location of Solomon's port of Ezion-Geber is known, no remains have ever been found. More archaeological success has been achieved with the major cities Solomon is said to have strengthened or rebuilt (for example, Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer — 1 Kings 9:15); these all have substantial ancient remains, including impressive six-chambered gates, and ashlar palaces, as well as trough-like structures outside buildings that early archaeologists have identified as the stables for Solomon's horses.

According to the Bible, during Solomon's reign Israel enjoyed great commercial prosperity, with extensive traffic being carried on by land with Tyre, Egypt, and Arabia, and by sea with Tarshish (Spain), Ophir, and South India.

Apocryphal texts

Rabbinical tradition attributes the Wisdom of Solomon to Solomon although this book was probably written in the 2nd century BCE. In this work Solomon is portrayed as an astronomer. Other books of wisdom poetry such as the Odes of Solomon and the Psalms of Solomon also bear his name. The Jewish historian Eupolemus, who wrote about 157 BCE, included copies of apocryphal letters exchanged between Solomon and the kings of Egypt and Tyre.

The Gnostic Apocalypse of Adam, which may date to the 1st or 2nd century, refers to a legend in which Solomon sends out an army of demons to seek a virgin who had fled from him, perhaps the earliest surviving mention of the later common tale that Solomon controlled demons and made them his slaves. This tradition of Solomon's control over demons appears fully elaborated in the early Gnostic work called the Testament of Solomon with its elaborate and grotesque demonology.^[15]

Historical figure

Historical evidence of King Solomon, independent of the biblical accounts, is scarce. Nothing indisputably of Solomon's reign has been found. Archaeological excavations at Hazor, Megiddo, Beit Shean and Gezer have uncovered structures that Israeli archaeologists Yigael Yadin, Amnon Ben-Tor, Amihai Mazar and US Professor William G. Dever have argued all belong to his reign and all were simultaneously destroyed by the Shishaq expedition.^[16] Others, such as Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman, argue that these structures should be dated to the Omride period, more than a century after Solomon's reign,^[17] although they do believe that David and Solomon were actual kings in the region.^[18][19] Excavations on these sites are ongoing.

Archaeological evidence

In February 2010 archaeologist Eilat Mazar announced the excavation of what she believes is a 10th-century city wall and royal structure that she suggests, because of writing in Hebrew, to corroborate the existence of a royal palace and fortified capital city under control of a Hebrew king in Jerusalem in the 10th-century BCE. Not all archaeologists believe that there was a strong state at that time, and archaeologist Aren Maeir is dubious about Mazar's dating ^[20][21] In 2008, excavations at Khirbat en-Nahas in southern Jordan revealed ancient copper mines and related industrial remains that were radiocarbon-dated to the 10th century BCE, the chronological time of Solomon. This discovery raised the question of whether the mines were part of Solomon's kingdom.^[22][23]

Solomon's Wealth and Wisdom, as in 1 Kings 3:12-13, illustration from a Bible card published 1896 by the Providence Lithograph Company.

Biblical account criticism

According to Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman, authors of The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts,^[24] at the time of the Davidic and Solomonic kingdoms, Jerusalem may have been unpopulated, or at most populated by only a few hundred residents, leading to the conclusion that this is insufficient for an empire stretching from the Euphrates to Eilath. According to The Bible Unearthed, archaeological evidence also suggests that the kingdom of Israel at the time of Solomon was little more than a small city state, and thus the collection of 666 talents of gold (which Solomon received per year) of tribute to be an implausibly large amount of money. Although both Finkelstein and Silberman do accept that David and Solomon were real kings of Judah about the 10th century BCE,^[25] they write that the earliest independent reference to the Kingdom of Israel is about 890 BCE, whilst for that of Judah is about 750 BCE. They suggest that due to religious prejudice, later writers (i.e., the Biblical authors) suppressed the achievements of the Omrides (whom the Hebrew Bible describes as being polytheist), and instead pushed them back to a supposed golden age of Judaism and godly rulers, i.e., monotheist, and devotees of YHWH. Some go further like the biblical minimalists, notably Thomas L. Thompson, who state that Jerusalem only became a city and capable of acting as a state capital in the middle of the seventh century.^[26]

These views are strongly criticized by William G. Dever,^[27] Helga Weippert, Amihai Mazar and Amnon Ben-Tor.

André Lemaire states in Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple^[28] that the principal points of the biblical tradition of Solomon are generally trustworthy, as does Kenneth Kitchen, who argues that Solomon ruled over a comparatively wealthy "mini-empire", rather than a small city-state, and considers this sum of 666 talents of gold to be a rather modest amount of money. Mr. Kitchen calculates that over a 30 year period such a kingdom might have accumulated from this up to 500 tons of gold, which is small when compared to other examples, such as the 1,180 tons of gold that Alexander the Great took from Susa.^[29] Likewise, the magnitude of Solomon's temple is considered excessively large by some, for example, Finkelstein; however, others, such as Kenneth Kitchen,^[30] consider it a reasonable and typically sized structure for the region at the time.

William G. Dever states "that we now have direct Bronze and Iron Age parallels for every feature of the 'Solomonic temple' as described in the Hebrew Bible".^[31]

The archaeological remains that are still considered to actually date from the time of Solomon are notable for the fact that Canaanite material culture appears to have continued unabated; there is a distinct lack of magnificent empire, or cultural development - indeed comparing pottery from areas traditionally assigned to Israel with that of the Philistines points to the Philistines having been significantly more sophisticated. However there is a lack of physical evidence of its existence, despite some archaeological work in the area.^[17] This is not unexpected as the area was devastated by the Babylonians, then rebuilt and destroyed several times.^[30] Also it should be noted that little archaeological excavation has been conducted around the area known as the Temple Mount; in what is thought to be the foundation of Solomon's Temple as attempts to do so are met with protest from adherents to the Muslim faith.^[32]

From a critical point of view, Solomon's building of a temple for YHWH should not be seen as an act resulting from particular devotion to YHWH, since Solomon is also described as erecting places of worship for a number of other deities^[12] (1 Kings 11:4). Solomon's apparent initial devotion to YHWH appearing in for example his dedication prayer (1 Kings 8:14-66) are seen by some textual scholars as a product of a much later writer, Solomon being credited with the views only after Jerusalem had actually become the religious centre of the kingdom (rather than, for example, Shiloh, or Bethel). Some textual scholars consider the authorship of passages such as these in the Books of Kings to be separate from the remainder of the text, and consider these passages to be probably the result of the Deuteronomist.^[33] Such views have been challenged by other textual scholars who maintain that there are evidences that these passages in Kings are derived from official court records from the time of Solomon and from other contemporaneous writings that were incorporated into the canonical books of Kings.^[34][35][36]

Chronological notes

Biblical scholars who believe in a historical Solomon argue that his regnal dates can be derived by independent methods: The division of the kingdom following Solomon's death occurred at some time in the year beginning in Nisan (in the spring) of 931 BCE, as argued by Edwin Thiele,^[37] so that his fourth year would have begun in Tishri (in the fall) of 968/967 BCE. Solomon's fourth year, in which Temple construction allegedly began, is calculated by modern scholars^[38][39][40] from the Tyrian king list of Menander as the year 968 BCE without the use of biblical texts. Edward Lipinski suggests that the length of Solomon's reign, which is unknown, would have likely been 20 to 25 years starting ca. 956/5 or 951/0,^[41] although the Hebrew Bible claims that he reigned for forty years (1 Kings 11:42).

Solomon's Pools

View inside Roman aqueduct from Solomon's Pools to Jerusalem

Solomon's Pools are located near the town of al-Khader about 5 miles southwest of Bethlehem. They are named after the Biblical king, probably because of his mention in Ecclesiastes 2.6, that "I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees".^[42] However, more recent evidence suggests the pools were probably the work of Herod the Great to provide source water for the aqueduct built to supply water to Bethlehem and Jerusalem where it terminated under the Temple Mount. These source pools consist of three open cisterns, each at different elevations, fed from an underground spring. The total water capacity is about 3 million gallons (about 10 million liters).^[43]

Jewish scriptures

King Solomon is one of the central Biblical figures in Jewish heritage that have lasting religious, national and political aspects. As the constructor of the First Temple in Jerusalem and last ruler of the united Kingdom of Israel before its division into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah, Solomon is associated with the peak "golden age" of the independent Kingdom of Israel as well as a source of judicial and religious wisdom. According to Jewish tradition, King Solomon wrote three books of the Bible:

• Mishlei (Book of Proverbs), a collection of fables and wisdom of life
• Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), a book of contemplation and his self reflection.
• Shir ha-Shirim (Song of Songs), a chronicle of erotic love (there are contrasting opinions whether its subject is a woman or God).

The Hebrew word "To Solomon" (which can also be translated as "by Solomon") appears in the title of two hymns in the book of Psalms (Tehillim), suggesting to some that Solomon wrote them.

Religions and Solomon

Christianity

Russian icon of King Solomon. He is depicted holding a model of the Temple. (18th century, iconostasis of Kizhi monastery, Russia).

Christianity has traditionally accepted the historical existence of Solomon, though some modern Christian scholars have also questioned at least his authorship of those biblical texts ascribed to him. Such disputes tend to divide Christians into traditionalist and modernist camps.

Of the two genealogies of Jesus given in the Gospels, Matthew mentions Solomon, but Luke does not. Jesus mentions Solomon twice. The first reference is the famous simile of Matthew 6:28-29 and Luke 12:27, in which Jesus compares the lilies of the field with "Solomon in his glory". In the second reference Jesus alludes to the Queen of Sheba's visit to the court of David (Matthew 12:42, Luke 11:31). Saint Stephen, in his testimony before the Sanhedrin, mentions Solomon's construction of the Temple (Acts 7:47).

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Solomon is commemorated as a saint, with the title of "Righteous Prophet and King". His feast day is celebrated on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (two Sundays before the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Lord).

The staunchly Catholic King Philip II of Spain sought to model himself after King Solomon. Statues of King David and Solomon stand on either side of the entrance to the basilica of El Escorial, Philip's palace, and Solomon is also depicted in a great fresco at the center of El Escorial's library. Philip identified the warrior-king David with his own father Charles V, and himself sought to emulate the thoughtful and logical character which he perceived in Solomon. Moreover, Escorial's structure was inspired by that of Solomon's Temple.^[44]

Islam

Main article Islamic view of Solomon

See also Biblical narratives and the Qur'an

Solomon also appears in the Qur'an, where he is called سليمان in Arabic, which is transliterated in English variously as Sulayman, Suleiman, Sulaimaan etc. The Qur'an refers to Sulayman as the son of David (Arabic: Dawud, Dawood, or Dawoud), a prophet and a great ruler imparted by God with tremendous wisdom, favor, and special powers (like his father). The Qur'an states that Sulayman ruled not only people, but also hosts of Jinn, was able to understand the language of the birds and ants, and to see some of the hidden glory in the world that was not accessible to most other human beings. Ruling a large kingdom that extended south into Yemen, via Queen of Sheba who accepted Solomon's prophethood and religion. He was famed throughout the lands for his wisdom and fair judgments. In particular, the Qur'an denies that Solomon ever turned away from God.

And they followed what the Shayatin(devils) chanted of sorcery in the reign of Sulaiman, and Sulaiman was not an unbeliever, but the Shayatin(devils) disbelieved, they teach people sorcery and such things that came down to the two angels at Babel, Harut and Marut, yet they(the two Angels) taught no person until they had said to them, "Surely, we are only a trial, therefore do not be a disbeliever." So they learn from them(the two Angels) that by which they might cause a separation between a man and his wife; and they cannot hurt with it any one except with Allah's permission, and they learned what harmed them and did not profit them, and certainly they know that he who bought it should have no share of good in the hereafter and evil was the price for which they sold their souls, had they but known this. (Holy Quran, chapter 2.102)

Solomon is said to have been given control over various things, such as the wind, and transportation. Thus the Qur'an says,

And to Solomon (We subjected) the wind, its morning (stride from sunrise till midnoon) was a month's (journey), and its afternoon (stride from the midday decline of the sun to sunset) was a month's (journey i.e. in one day he could travel two months' journey). And We caused a fount of (molten) brass to flow for him, and there were jinn that worked in front of him, by the Leave of his Lord, And whosoever of them turned aside from Our Command, We shall cause him to taste of the torment of the blazing Fire. Quran 34:12

And before Sulayman were marshaled his hosts,- of Jinns and men and birds, and they were all kept in order and ranks. Quran 27:17

And Solomon, accordingly grateful of God, says:

"O ye people! We have been taught the speech of birds, and on us has been bestowed from everything: this is indeed the Grace manifest (from God)." Quran 27:16

According to the Qur'an, the death of Solomon held a lesson to be learned:

Then, when We decreed (Solomon's) death, nothing showed them his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his staff: so when he fell down, the Jinns saw plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in the humiliating Penalty (of their Task). Quran 34:14

According to Muslim tradition, when Solomon died he was standing watching the work of his Jinn, while leaning on his cane. There he silently died, but did not fall. He remained in this position, and the Jinn, thinking he was still alive watching them work, kept working. But termites were eating the cane, so that the body of Solomon fell after forty days. Thereafter, the Jinn (along with all humans) regretted that they did not know more than God had allotted them to know.

Fictional accounts and legends

One Thousand and One Nights

Main article One Thousand and One Nights

A well-known story in the One Thousand and One Nights describes a genie who had displeased King Solomon and was punished by being locked in a bottle and thrown into the sea. Since the bottle was sealed with Solomon's seal, the genie was helpless to free himself, until freed many centuries later by a fisherman who discovered the bottle.

Angels and magic

Main article Rabbinical literature

According to the Rabbinical literature, on account of his modest request for wisdom only, Solomon was rewarded with riches and an unprecedentedly glorious realm, which extended over the upper world inhabited by the angels and over the whole of the terrestrial globe with all its inhabitants, including all the beasts, fowl, and reptiles, as well as the demons and spirits. His control over the demons, spirits, and animals augmented his splendor, the demons bringing him precious stones, besides water from distant countries to irrigate his exotic plants. The beasts and fowl of their own accord entered the kitchen of Solomon's palace, so that they might be used as food for him, and extravagant meals for him were prepared daily by each of his 700 wives and 300 concubines, with the thought that perhaps the king would feast that day in her house.

Seal of Solomon

Main article Seal of Solomon

A magic ring called the "Seal of Solomon" were supposedly given to Solomon, and gave him power over demons. The magical symbol said to have been on the Seal of Solomon which made it work is now better known as the Star of David. Asmodeus, king of demons, was one day, according to the classical Rabbis, captured by Benaiah using the ring, and was forced to remain in Solomon's service. In one tale, Asmodeus brought a man with two heads from under the earth to show Solomon; the man, unable to return, married a woman from Jerusalem and had seven sons, six of whom resembled the mother, while one resembled the father in having two heads. After their father's death, the son with two heads claimed two shares of the inheritance, arguing that he was two men; Solomon, owing to his huge wisdom, decided that the son with two heads was only one man. The Seal of Solomon, in some legends known as the Ring of Aandaleeb, was a highly sought after symbol of power. In several legends, different groups or individuals attempted to steal it or attain it in some manner.

Solomon and Asmodeus

Main article Asmodeus

One legend concerning Asmodeus goes on to state that Solomon one day asked Asmodeus what could make demons powerful over man, and Asmodeus asked to be freed and given the ring so that he could demonstrate; Solomon agreed but Asmodeus threw the ring into the sea and it was swallowed by a fish. Asmodeus then swallowed the king, stood up fully with one wing touching heaven and the other earth, and spat out Solomon to a distance of 400 miles. The Rabbis claim this was a divine punishment for Solomon having failed to follow three divine commands, and Solomon was forced to wander from city to city, until he eventually arrived in an Ammonite city where he was forced to work in the king's kitchens. Solomon gained a chance to prepare a meal for the Ammonite king, which the king found so impressive that the previous cook was sacked and Solomon put in his place; the king's daughter, Naamah, subsequently fell in love with Solomon, but the family (thinking Solomon a commoner) disapproved, so the king decided to kill them both by sending them into the desert. Solomon and the king’s daughter wandered the desert until they reached a coastal city, where they bought a fish to eat, which just happened to be the one which had swallowed the magic ring. Solomon was then able to regain his throne and expel Asmodeus. (The element of a ring thrown into the sea and found back in a fish's belly earlier appeared in Herodotus' account of Polycrates of Samos).

In another familiar version of the legend of the Seal of Solomon, Asmodeus disguises himself. In some myths, he's disguised as King Solomon himself, while in more frequently heard versions he's disguised as a falcon, calling himself Gavyn (Gavinn or Gavin), one of King Solomon’s trusted friends. The concealed Asmodeus tells travelers who have ventured up to King Solomon's grand lofty palace that the Seal of Solomon was thrown into the sea. He then convinces them to plunge in and attempt to retrieve it, for if they do they would take the throne as king.

Artifacts

Other magical items attributed to Solomon are his key and his Table. The latter was said to be held in Toledo, Spain during Visigoth rule and was part of the loot taken by Tarik ibn Ziyad during the Umayyad Conquest of Iberia, according to Ibn Abd-el-Hakem's History of the Conquest of Spain. The former appears in the title of the Lesser Key of Solomon, a grimoire whose framing tale is Solomon capturing demons using his ring, and forcing them to explain themselves to him.

Other forms of Solomon legend describe Solomon as having had a flying carpet that was 60 miles square, and could travel so fast that it could get from Damascus to Medina within a day. One day, due to Solomon exhibiting pride, the wind shook the carpet and caused 40,000 men to fall from it; Solomon on being told by the wind why this had happened, felt ashamed. Another day Solomon was flying over an ant-infested valley and overheard an ant warning its fellow ants to hide lest Solomon destroy them; Solomon desired to ask the ant a question, but was told it was not becoming for the interrogator to be above and the interrogated below. Solomon then lifted the ant above the valley, but the ant said it was not fitting that Solomon should sit on a throne while the ant remained on the ground, so Solomon placed the ant upon his hand, and asked it whether there was any one in the world greater than he. The ant replied that she was much greater as otherwise God would not have sent him there to place it upon his hand; this offended Solomon and he threw the ant down reminding it who he was, but the ant told him that it knew Solomon was created from a corrupted drop, causing Solomon to feel ashamed.

Angels

Angels also help out Solomon in building the Temple; though not by choice. The edifice was, according to rabbinical legend, throughout miraculously constructed, the large, heavy stones rising to and settling in their respective places of themselves. The general opinion of the Rabbis is that Solomon hewed the stones by means of a shamir, a mythical worm whose mere touch cleft rocks. According to Midrash Tehillim, the shamir was brought from paradise by Solomon's eagle; but most of the rabbis state that Solomon was informed of the worm's haunts by Asmodeus. The shamir had been entrusted by the prince of the sea to the mountain cock alone, and the cock had sworn to guard it well, but Solomon's men found the bird's nest, and covered it with glass. When the bird returned, it used the shamir to break the glass, whereupon the men scared the bird, causing it to drop the worm, which the men could then bring to Solomon.

Solomon in the Kabbalah

Early adherents of the Kabbalah portray Solomon as having sailed through the air on a throne of light placed on an eagle, which brought him near the heavenly gates as well as to the dark mountains behind which the fallen angels Uzza and Azzael were chained; the eagle would rest on the chains, and Solomon, using the magic ring, would compel the two angels to reveal every mystery he desired to know. Solomon is also portrayed as forcing demons to take Solomon's friends, including Hiram, on day return trips to hell.

The palace without entrance

According to one legend, while traveling magically, Solomon noticed a magnificent palace to which there appeared to be no entrance. He ordered the demons to climb to the roof and see if they could discover any living being within the building but the demons only found an eagle, which said that it was 700 years old, but that it had never seen an entrance. An elder brother of the eagle, 900 years old, was then found, but it also did not know the entrance. The eldest brother of these two birds, which was 1,300 years old, then declared it had been informed by its father that the door was on the west side, but that it had become hidden by sand drifted by the wind. Having discovered the entrance, Solomon found an idol inside that had in its mouth a silver tablet saying in Greek (a language not thought by modern scholars to have existed 1000 years before the time of Solomon) that the statue was of Shaddad, the son of 'Ad, and that it had reigned over a million cities, rode on a million horses, had under it a million vassals, and slew a million warriors, yet it could not resist the angel of death.

Throne

Solomon at his throne, painting by Andreas Brugger, 1777

Solomon's throne is described at length in Targum Sheni, which is compiled from three different sources, and in two later Midrash. According to these, there were on the steps of the throne twelve golden lions, each facing a golden eagle. There were six steps to the throne, on which animals, all of gold, were arranged in the following order: on the first step a lion opposite an ox; on the second, a wolf opposite a sheep; on the third, a tiger opposite a camel; on the fourth, an eagle opposite a peacock, on the fifth, a cat opposite a cock; on the sixth, a sparrow-hawk opposite a dove. On the top of the throne was a dove holding a sparrow-hawk in its claws, symbolizing the dominion of Israel over the Gentiles. The first midrash claims that six steps were constructed because Solomon foresaw that six kings would sit on the throne, namely, Solomon, Rehoboam, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, and Josiah. There was also on the top of the throne a golden candelabrum, on the seven branches of the one side of which were engraved the names of the seven patriarchs Adam, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Job, and on the seven of the other the names of Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses, Aaron, Eldad, Medad, and, in addition, Hur (another version has Haggai). Above the candelabrum was a golden jar filled with olive-oil and beneath it a golden basin which supplied the jar with oil and on which the names of Nadab, Abihu, and Eli and his two sons were engraved. Over the throne, twenty-four vines were fixed to cast a shadow on the king's head.

By a mechanical contrivance the throne followed Solomon wherever he wished to go. Supposedly, due to another mechanical trick, when the king reached the first step, the ox stretched forth its leg, on which Solomon leaned, a similar action taking place in the case of the animals on each of the six steps. From the sixth step the eagles raised the king and placed him in his seat, near which a golden serpent lay coiled. When the king was seated the large eagle placed the crown on his head, the serpent uncoiled itself, and the lions and eagles moved upward to form a shade over him. The dove then descended, took the scroll of the Law from the Ark, and placed it on Solomon's knees. When the king sat, surrounded by the Sanhedrin, to judge the people, the wheels began to turn, and the beasts and fowls began to utter their respective cries, which frightened those who had intended to bear false testimony. Moreover, while Solomon was ascending the throne, the lions scattered all kinds of fragrant spices. After Solomon's death, Pharaoh Shishak, when taking away the treasures of the Temple (I Kings xiv. 26), carried off the throne, which remained in Egypt till Sennacherib conquered that country. After Sennacherib's fall Hezekiah gained possession of it, but when Josiah was slain by Pharaoh Necho, the latter took it away. However, according to rabbinical accounts, Necho did not know how the mechanism worked and so accidentally struck himself with one of the lions causing him to become lame; Nebuchadnezzar, into whose possession the throne subsequently came, shared a similar fate. The throne then passed to the Persians, who their king Darius was the first to sit successfully on Solomon's throne since his death, and after that the throne passed into the possession of the Greeks and Ahasuerus.

Contemporary fiction

Literature

• King Solomon is the subject of the Afrikaans poem 'Salomo O Salomo'
• In The Divine Comedy the spirit of Solomon appears to Dante Alighieri in the Heaven of the Sun with other exemplars of inspired wisdom.
• In Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Die Physiker, the physicist Möbius claims that Solomon appears to him and dictates the "theory of all possible inventions" (based on Unified Field Theory).
• Sir H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines tells of a group of adventurers, led by Allan Quatermain, searching for the missing brother of one of the party, who had disappeared while looking for the lost gold mines of Solomon in an unexplored region of Africa.
• In Neal Stephenson's three-volume The Baroque Cycle, 17th century alchemists like Isaac Newton believe that Solomon created a kind of "heavier" gold with mystical properties and that it was cached in the Solomon Islands where it was accidentally discovered by the crew of a wayward Spanish galleon.
  In the third volume of The Baroque Cycle, The System of the World, a mysterious member of the entourage of Czar Peter I of Russia, named "Solomon Kohan" appears in early 18th century London. The czar, traveling incognito to purchase English-made ships for his navy, explains that he added him to his court after the Sack of Azov, where Kohan had been a guest of the Pasha. Solomon Kohan is later revealed as one of the extremely long-lived "Wise" (like Enoch Root), and compares a courtyard full of inventors' workstations to "an operation I used to have in Jerusalem a long time ago," denominating either facility as "a temple."
• Isaac Rosenberg, the famous 20th century Jewish poet, references Solomon in a great number of his early poems.
• Solomon's Angels: A Novel (2008), by Doreen Virtue, is a historically researched, novelized biography of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, focusing on metaphysical aspects.
• Charles Williams speaks about the Stone of Suleiman in his novel Many Dimensions (1931).
• King Solomon is depicted as a very powerful magician in The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud.
• Solomon Kane is given The Staff of Solomon by his shaman friend N'longa, and uses it throughout his various adventures.

Theater

• King Solomon and Shalmai the Shoemaker - An Israeli musical by Sami Gurniman,^[45] presenting a Jewish folk story about King Solomon and a shoemaker that looks exactly like him.
• Solomon is a featured character in a one-act play by playwright John Guare, entitled The General of Hot Desire.
• King Solomon is featured in a two-act play by Swiss playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt, entitled Die Physiker.
• The Solomon Song is found in the Brecht/Weill musical The Threepenny Opera and in Brecht's play Mother Courage and Her Children.

Film

• The Kingdom of Solomon (2009) - Iranian production directed by Shahriar Bahrani
• Solomon (1997) - TV drama, starring Ben Cross^[46]
• Solomon (1995) - Episode of the Animated Stories of the Bible series^[47]
• Solomon and Sheba (1959) - Epic film directed by King Vidor, starring Yul Brynner
• There have been at least 3 English language versions filmed of the Allan Quatermain story, "King Solomon's Mines", written by Sir Henry Rider Haggard. "King Solomon's Mines" is also a famous Walt Disney comic story featuring the character Uncle Scrooge, written and drawn by Carl Barks. The diamond mines of King Solomon are also sought after in the book and in the movie Congo written by Michael Crichton.

Music

• Händel composed an oratorio entitled Solomon in 1748. The story follows the basic Biblical plot.
• Ernest Bloch composed a Hebraic Rhapsody for cello and orchestra entitled Schelomo, based on King Solomon.

See also

• Goetia
• Solomon and Marcolf
• Solomonic column
• This too shall pass
• The Judgement of Salomon (Giorgione)

References

• Dever, William G. (2003). Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From?. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8028-0975-8. 
• Finkelstein, Israel; Neil Asher Silberman (2006). David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition. Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-4362-5. 
• Finkelstein, Israel; Neil Asher Silberman (2002). The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0684869131. 
• Thomas E. Levy & Thomas Higham (eds.), ed. The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. London ; Oakville, CT.: Equinox Publishing (UK). ISBN 978-1845530563. OCLC 60453952. 
• Dever, William G.. What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It?: What Archaeology Can Tell Us about the Reality of Ancient Israel. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans Pub.. ISBN 978-0802847942. OCLC 45487499. 
• Kitchen, Kenneth A.. On the reliability of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-4960-1. 

Notes

External links

• A collection of King Solomon links on the web
• Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1905)
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Solomon entry by Gabriel Oussani (1913)
• Solomon at the Internet Movie Database Animated depiction of the life of Solomon
• Solomon at the Internet Movie Database Artistic movie about the rise and the reign of King Solomon
• Wars of King Solomon The Wars of King Solomon: Summaries and Studies: www.warsofisrael.com