King Solomon Seals & Amulets

King Solomon was ancient Israel's third and greatest king. The third son of King David and his wife Bathsheba, Solomon was born approximately in the year 990 BCE and died around 928 BCE. He came to the throne following his older brother Adonijah declaring himself as king, which was against his father's wishes. Solomon had many opponents to deal with during his first months on the throne but finally was able to overcome his opponents and wound up ruling the Throne of Israel for 40 years.

From early on, King Solomon was known for his wisdom and ability to engage in a number of building feats and territorial expansion that saw his empire spread east as far as the Tigress river. One of his earliest feats of diplomacy involved the story of two women who both claimed the same baby as theirs. Solomon told the women they would each accept half a dead child, and while the first woman consented out of jealousy, the second woman said she would rather lose the baby than see it cut in half. Upon hearing their answers, King Solomon awarded the baby to the second woman, who had hereby shown true motherly care. To this day, the tale demonstrates the king's great wisdom.

King Solomon was also a writer of poems and songs. Three biblical works, The Song of Songs, the Book of Proverbs, and the Book of Ecclesiastics may all have been written by this great man. Perhaps Solomon's greatest feat was the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, as instructed by God. Solomon enlisted the assistance of King Hiram of Tyre who sent Solomon the cedar wood and other materials used in the construction of the inner parts of the Temple including the "innermost chamber" that became known as the Holy of Holies. Hiram also loaned his chief building architect, Hiram Abiff, who had been one of the founders of the fraternal society known as Ancient Freemasonry - versions of it carry on to this day.

Solomon had a love for fine horses as well as beautiful possessions, including women. It is said that he had as many as 14,000 horses, 1,000 wives, and at least half that many concubines. He often cemented relations with other kingdoms by marrying one of the foreign king's daughters. The story of King Solomon's love affair with the Queen of Sheba is one of the more well known romantic tales; and she is said to have inspired him to write the Song of Songs. Sheba, an Ethiopian, is said to be the ancestor of the Ethiopian Empire; and that country's last emperor, Hailee Salassie I, was known as the Lion of Judah.

Solomon brought many exotic animals and plants from afar and these adorned his personal palaces in Jerusalem, Megiddo, and other locations. Much of the copper his kingdom used -- in order to make both decorative objects and weapons of war -- came from mines in the Timna Valley of the Arava desert, located in the vicinity of the modern city of Eilat. These mines are said to be the legendary King Solomon's Mines, although more mines may had been located in the Sinai Peninsula and even in Africa.

Although his long reign was largely tranquil, he began to cause dissent among his own people due to the use of slave labor in his building projects and by personal favoritism in appointments to government offices. His preference for those of his own tribe of Judah and that of the tribe of Benjamin caused many problems during his later years. He also levied heavy taxation upon the people to finance his projects.

Upon his death, his empire was broken up and the Kingdom of Israel became engaged in civil war during the reign of his son, Rehoboam I. This resulted in the formation of both a northern and southern kingdom -- both being eventually overthrown years later by the Assyrian and Babylonian armies, respectively.

In the time of King Solomon there lived a young shepherd by the name of Barzilai. He was a dreamer who spend long hours listening to the murmur of the brook and gazing into the blue of the sky where he saw the glory and splendor of higher spheres. He dreamed of strange adventures as his eyes followed silvery clouds to the distant horizon. Most of all Barzilai enjoyed the song of the birds. His father, who was poor and blind, could not afford to send him to school or hire a teacher to teach him the Holy Scriptures. Barzilai thus knew little more than what his parents taught him and had no hope of knowing more. Yet G-d guides the fate of man, and no earthly eye can foresee what the future holds.

The birds in the trees sensed Barzilai's thirst for knowledge, and their songs made up for what the young shepherd lacked in education. They told him of the miracles of the Creation, and they taught him to understand the working and the powers of nature, which G-d had created in His infinite wisdom. Soon Barzalai was able to understand the song every creature sings in honor of the Creator; and he too joined in with his praise of G-d who had given him life to enjoy the beauty of this wondrous world.

One day Barzilai was driving his sheep through unfamiliar pastures, when sweet music such as he had never before heard reached his ears. He followed the sounds and came to a little hill. There, beneath a tree, sat an old shepherd who was playing a harp with the ease and enchantment of a true master. Barzilai stood beside him for a long time, listening spellbound. When the old shepherd finished playing, Barzilai fell down at his feet and begged him to teach him his art, for he too would love to express his feelings to the melody of a harp. The wise man saw the sincerity and genuine desire of the youngster, and agreed to teach him to play. Every day Barzilai returned to the same spot, and while his flock grazed peacefully in the meadow, the old man taught him how to produce soft melodies using fingers on the harp strings. Barzilai was an excellent student and quickly acquired the skill of playing the harp. Once he had mastered the art, it was easy for him to create any musical mood he desired. He had only to listen to the sighing of the wind, to the rustle of the leaves in the trees, to the howling of the storm, and to the leaves in the trees, to the howling of the storm, and to the silver bell sound of the waterfalls. He found the richest music in the harmonies created by the universe about him.

The old man was astonished by the ease with which Barzilai learned the complicated technique of playing the harp. Yet his astonishment grew to admiration when he heard Barzilai's melodies that flowed in an unceasing stream of beautiful harmony. Undoubtedly, here was a born artist whom G-d had given the heart and the skill to create the most beautiful and profound music ever heard. He was a generous old man who understood the great joy that comes from giving. One afternoon, when Barzilai wanted to return the harp to its owner after he had taken pleasure in its melodies, the old shepherd told him: "Son, I have lived my years to their fullest. Take my harp, and scale the heights of music that are barred from me. In your hands it will bring happiness and fulfillment. With me it would rot in the grave."

Barzilai was deeply moved by the generosity of his kind teacher. He thanked the old shepherd from the depths of his heart, and took leave from the man who had given his life new meaning. No treasure was ever better cared for than the harp in the hands of Barzilai. As soon as he reached his home, he made a wooden box and padded it with soft sheep's-wool. It held the harp when he was not playing it, and it stood right beside the heap of straw that served him as a bed. Every morning when the young shepherd opened his eyes, he looked anxiously for the harp to make sure that it was still there.

One day he was in the pasture as usual, and his fingers played upon the strings of his beloved instrument. Even the birds who had introduced him to the world of song, and who had taught him understanding of universal harmony, stopped to listen to his interpretation of their teachings. Wild animals stopped in their warpaths; and so did their fleeing prey. For all alike were enchanted by the soothing melodies of Barzilai's harp.

Not only animals and birds listened to the young shepherd on the fateful afternoon. A man dressed in simple white robes, a jeweled headpiece upon his head, was walking across the fields immersed in thought. He too was searching for harmony. For this lonely wanderer, King Solomon, had the gift of understanding the language of every creature, the lowest as well as the highest. And he, too, was able to weave the various strains and patterns into one great symphony of tribute to the Almighty. Suddenly he stopped. Was it possible? he wondered. King David, his father, had been dead for may years, and his precious harp had not sounded since its great master's death. As far as King Solomon knew, his father had been the only one able to bring to life the melodies and tunes which filled the air at every moment. Yet he was not mistaken. The sound of the harp was real, and it had a certain quality that was more vigorous and youthful than the playing of his father as he remembered it.

Hurriedly King Solomon crossed the large meadow that separated him from the unknown harpist. Barzilai stood beneath a tree, surrounded by a flock of grazing sheep. His father, King David, must have looked like this in his younger years, the king mused.

When the young shepherd finished his music, King Solomon walked over to him and asked his name. Barzilai realized that the man who stood before him so majestically was no common person. Very courteously he told the stranger that he was a simple shepherd by the name of Barzilai, who knew not how to read or write. He said his parents were old and poor, and his father blind.

"Who taught you to play the harp like this?" Solomon asked. Barzilai told the king of his chance meeting with the old harpist. "Did he teach you the melodies you just played?" asked the king further, curious to know the origin of the rich music, "No, your honor," retorted the shepherd modestly. "The birds in the trees, the waterfalls and brooks; the wisps in the winds, they all sing their songs. I try to catch their tunes; yet I can never really get close to the beauty and harmony that make them soar to heaven." King Solomon was deeply moved by the words of the young shepherd. "I am your king," he said to Barzilai, "Solomon, the son of David. Since my father's death I have not heard a harp played like yours. Pray, come with me to Jerusalem and play for me whenever I call on you. I shall reward you handsomely."

Barzilai had heard of King Solomon but had never dreamed he would personally cross the path of this illustrious king of whom the world spoke with such admiration and reverence. Without hesitation he replied: "Far be it from me, O King, that I should ask for a reward. If your honor feels that my simple playing can help you carry the heavy burden of this country and its people, I will consider it an honor to follow you wherever you want me to go. Only one request I have to make. My old parents depend on my poor earnings. I shall go whither you command, as long as they may come with me."

Next day King Solomon returned to the village where Barzilai lived with his parents, and he himself brought them to Jerusalem in his royal coach. He gave them a small house in the middle of his beautiful royal park. Surrounded by the most exquisite plants and the most exotic and melodious singers of the bird world, Barzilai played his harp to the honor of G-d, and for the pleasure of his king. The fame of King Solomon's harpist spread far and wide.

One day, King Hiram of Tyre came to pay a visit to his friend, the king of Judea. During his stay he heard of Barzilai and wonderful playing. "Don't boast of your shepherd harpist until you have heard Maran, my own court musician. He is truly a master of instrument, and the magic of his skilled fingers will beat anything your harpist can produce." King Solomon's courtiers then asked their master for permission to arrange a contest between the two musicians, as Hiram of Tyre had suggested. After some thought King Solomon finally agreed, although it was very much against his own feeling. "If Maran does not make your shepherd look like a beginner, he shall be yours," promised Hiram, sure of his musician's superiority. Then sent for his artist to come to Jerusalem.

Maran, a proud and rich man who had spent all his life studying music, felt slighted at the suggestion that he should be matched against a simple shepherd. Yet his king had commanded, and he had no choice but to obey. Soon after his arrival in Jerusalem, he visited the house in the park where Barzilai and his parents lived in quiet happiness. The shepherd was not at home. He lay at the edge of the beautiful, blue lake and watched the royal swans make circles in the rippling waves. Suddenly Barzilai heard the unmistakable sound of a harp. He jumped up and listened carefully. Surely this was his beloved instrument but it sounded different, hard and obstinate, as if forced to play. In his own hands, it was a willing tool ready to respond to any mood and touch of his fingers. Something was wrong. Without further hesitation he ran all the way home to his little house. There he found Maran strumming his harp. "Please, sir," he gasped, short of breath from the run, "do not touch this instrument so rudely. This in not the proper way to handle a harp!"

"Who are you to teach Maran, the master of all instruments, how to pluck these simple strings! As far as I know there is no man alive who is superior to me in this skill." "That may be true," replied Barzilai humbly. "I am completely ignorant of any fine art. Yet I know how to bring forth the music that is sto