Editing Solomon (section)

==Legends==
===''One Thousand and One Nights''===

A well-known story in the collection ''[[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 he was freed many centuries later by a fisherman who discovered the bottle.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bartleby.com/16/201.html|title=Nights 3-9. The Story of the Fisherman. 1909-14. Stories from the Thousand and One Nights. The Harvard Classics|website=www.bartleby.com|date=30 September 2022 }}</ref> In other stories from the ''One Thousand and One Nights'', protagonists who had to leave their homeland and travel to the unknown places of the world saw signs which proved that Solomon had already been there. Sometimes, protagonists discovered words of Solomon that were intended to help those who were lost and had unluckily reached those forbidden and deserted places.

===Angels and magic===

According to [[Rabbinic literature]], on account of his modest request for wisdom only, Solomon was rewarded with riches and an unprecedented 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|Seal of Solomon}}
The [[Seal of Solomon]] is the legendary [[Seal (emblem)|signet ring]] attributed to Solomon in medieval mystical traditions, from which it developed in parallel within [[Jewish mysticism]], [[Sufism|Islamic mysticism]] and [[Western esotericism|Western occultism]]. It is the predecessor to the [[Star of David]], the contemporary cultural and religious symbol of the [[Jews|Jewish people]]. It was often depicted in the shape of either a [[pentagram]] or a [[hexagram]]. In religious lore, the ring is described as having given Solomon the power to command the [[supernatural]] and also the ability to speak with animals. Due to the proverbial wisdom of Solomon, it came to be seen as an [[amulet]] or [[talisman]], or a symbol or character in [[Medieval European magic|medieval magic]] and [[Renaissance magic]], [[occult]]ism, and [[alchemy]].

====Solomon and Asmodeus====

One legend concerning [[Asmodeus]] (see: [[s:Translation:The Story of King Solomon and Ashmedai|The Story of King Solomon and Ashmedai]]) 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's having failed to follow three divine commands, and Solomon was forced to wander from city to city, until he eventually arrived in an [[Ammonites (people)|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 (wife of Solomon)|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Legends_of_the_Jews.4.5.129?with=all&lang=bi|title= Legends of the Jews|website=[[Sefaria]]}}</ref> The element of a ring thrown into the sea and found back in a fish's belly also appeared in [[Herodotus]]' account of [[Polycrates]], the [[tyrant]] of [[Samos]] (c. 538–522 BCE).

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. 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.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

====Artifacts====

Other magical items attributed to Solomon are [[key of Solomon|his key]] and his Table. The latter was said to be held in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] in [[Visigothic Spain]] and was part of the loot taken by [[Tariq ibn Ziyad]] during the [[Muslim conquest of Spain]] according to [[ibn Abd al-Hakam]]'s ''History of the Conquest of Spain''. The former appears in the title of ''[[The Lesser Key of Solomon]]'', a Christian [[grimoire]] whose [[frame story|framing story]] is Solomon capturing demons using his ring, and forcing them to explain themselves to him.

In ''The Book of Deadly Names'', purportedly translated from Arabic manuscripts found hidden in a building in Spain, the "King of the Jinn" Fiqiṭush brings 72 jinn before King Solomon to confess their corruptions and places of residence. Fiqitush tells King Solomon the recipes for curing such corruptions as each evil jinn confesses.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

====Angels====

Angels also helped Solomon in building the Temple, though not by choice. The edifice was, according to rabbinical legend, miraculously constructed throughout, the large heavy stones rising and settling in their respective places of themselves. The general opinion of the Rabbis is that Solomon hewed the stones by means of a ''[[Solomon's Shamir|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 rooster alone, and the rooster 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.

====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 ''Azzazel'' 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.

====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 they found only 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 [[death (personification)|angel of death]].<ref name=JE />

===Throne===
{{main|Throne of Solomon}}
[[File:Wurzach Pfarrkirche Decke Westteil.jpg|thumb|''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 of Judah|Manasseh]], [[Amon of Judah|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.<ref name=JE />

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 various 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 until [[Sennacherib]] conquered that country. After Sennacherib's fall Hezekiah gained possession of it, but when Josiah was slain by Pharaoh [[Necho II|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, whose king [[Darius I of Persia|Darius]] was the first to sit successfully on Solomon's throne after his death; subsequently the throne came into the possession of the Greeks and [[Ahasuerus]].<ref name=JE />