In Medieval Jewish, Islamic and Christian legends, the Seal of Solomon was a magical signet ring said to have been possessed by King Solomon (or Sulayman in the Islamic version), which variously gave him the power to command demons (or jinni), or to speak with animals. In one of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, an evil djinn is described as being imprisoned in a copper bottle for 1,800 years by a lead seal stamped by the ring. Other, later books (Pseudomonarchia Daemonum) manage to fit far more demons in the bottle.

In some versions of the story, the ring was made of brass and iron, carved with the Name of God, and set with four jewels. In later versions the ring simply bore the symbol now called the Star of David, often within a circle, usually with the two triangles interlaced rather than intersecting. Often the gaps are filled with dots or other symbols. Other versions have it as a pentacle or other more complicated figures. Works on demonology typically depict the pattern of the seal as being two concentric circles, with a number of mystical sigils between the inner and outer circles, and various more-or-less complex geometric shapes within the inner circle.

In one Arabic story [1] it is claimed that the demon Sakhr deceived one of Solomon's wives into giving him the ring. Sakhr then ruled in his stead for forty days (or years, in some versions) while Solomon wandered the country in poverty. However eventually Sakhr threw the ring into the sea, where it was swallowed by a fish, caught by a fisherman, and served to Solomon! In punishment Sakhr was made to build a great mosque for Solomon.

However the earliest of such stories is dated to more than a thousand years after the time of Solomon, and the story of the fish, in particular, bears a strong resemblance to Herodotus' tale of Polycrates.

See also

• King Solomon's Ring
• Goetia
• The Lesser Key of Solomon
• Key of Solomon
• Testament of Solomon

External links

• Jewish Encyclopaedia article
• The Book of One Thousand and One Nights from Project Gutenberg (2.91 MB); see e.g. "THE STORY OF THE FISHERMAN."
• Various representations from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.