Sunday, June 12, 2022

King Solomon

 King Solomon has been featuring in the 1,001 Nights for the last few days.  (We are up to to Night 571 as of today, thanks f'r asking.) I didn't realise he was such a significant figure in Islam (as well as Christianity and Judaism) and in, what would you call it?, Middle Eastern culture (?) in general.

In fact, it has dawned in me, that all I know about him at all is that he demonstrated how wise he was by proposing to cut a baby in half, and summat about the Queen of Sheba. With respect to the latter, that Solomon and the Queen of Sheba are often found together in the same sentence is the limit of my knowledge.

How is this to be rectified? Let's see. "Nearly all evidence for Solomon’s life and reign comes from the Bible (especially the first 11 chapters of the First Book of Kings and the first nine chapters of the Second Book of Chronicles). " Reading that will be a start then. 

"The biblical Book of Proverbs contains collections of aphorisms and other wise teachings attributed to him. Like his father, Solomon was also revered as a poet. The biblical Song of Solomon is attributed to him." Ditto.

Also there is an "In Our Time" from the Melvster. It is ten years old, but I think we can overlook that as he is supposed to have reigned in the early 10th century BCE.

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