King Solomon, the queen of sheba, the djinn and rastafai

Okay, here’s a great story, you’re going to love this one. Most of the religions in the world have pretty mysterious origins that some would describe as occult or supernatural. So, I’m sure you won’t mind another one. I mean, have you ever heard of a religion being founded without some form of mystical origins?

Didn’t think so.

Well allow me to talk about King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, and some would say the most foolish. Son of King David and Bathsheba. Now I’ve always loved the tale of Bathsheba, who by all accounts was a stunner. For those who aren’t familiar with her tale, David spotted her bathing on the roof of her apartment, and that was it for him. He was over there in a New York heartbeat. And taking into account that David would have had his pick any of the cream of Israel’s female crop, Bathsheba must have been an absolute knockout to precipitate the crisis that followed his infidelity with her, for before you know it Bathsheba’s pregnant.

Well now, David’s in a bit of a tiz-woz because she’s actually married to one of his soldiers, Uriah the Hittite, so he’s obviously got to get rid of him. He sends him off to war with instructions to his generals that when the action hots up, they’re all to leave old Uriah stranded, which they do. Uriah was a bit of a numbskull and when he was told to hold the fort on his own while they all legged it off to safety, he’s up for it.   

Not for long, of course, because before you know it, the enemy are all on him, ‘Uriah, ye bastid, tak' 'at ye twat, an' 'at, ye Sasanach heathen. Kick his heed in! Chop ay his heed!’ and it doesn’t take long before it’s the end for old Uriah.

David gets beautiful Bathsheba, who gives birth to Solomon. Bathsheba, by the way, is one of only five women listed in the ancestry of Jesus Christ, spanning the Bible from Genesis to Matthew. These are Tamar, who pretended to be a prostitute, Rahab, who really was a prostitute, Ruth, who was a stalwart of virtue in a time of bloodshed and strife, Bathsheba, 4^th great-grandmother of Jesus, and Mary, of course, a sinner in need of a saviour

But back to Solomon, son of David and Bathsheba, and fourth king of Israel and Judea. His crowning accomplishment was the building of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, but his reign is shrouded in an abundant number of mystical legends which feature him conferring with demons, performing illusions and wizardry, and even being imprisoned by a demonic spell. Legend tells us that Solomon had Angelic Servants knows as Djinn, or Djinni (Genie), who were supernatural creatures in pre-Islamic Arabian mythology. The Djinn were born out of ‘smokeless and scorching fire,’ and are mentioned frequently in the Quran, in particular the 72^nd chapter.

King Solomon ordered the Djinn to find him 500 of the most beautiful women in the world for his harem, and they weren’t to return until they had the full 500.

So the Djinn headed off to Europe and even though it took them a while to find 500 tasty birds amongst all the copper and tin miner’s women they finally captured the correct number, and were just about to head back when they learned that Solomon had died. Not knowing what else to do with the women, the Djinn married them themselves and settled in the mountains. They had many beautiful children, and those children bore more children, and their offspring came to be known as Kurds.

Now you might wonder where I’m going with this, but it’s really fascinating, because if we put aside the hatred, intolerance and bigotry this was a truly magical and enchanting era. You see how even Arabic Genies are very like ours. Ours live in a bottle or a lamp and by rubbing the lamp we allow the Genie to escape, for which he grants us three wishes – the biggest castle, the most beautiful princess and an unlimited amount of gold are usually favourites. Unlike the blue-skinned, muscular Genies westerners are familiar with through Disney films, the Arabic Djinni are often invisible, although they have the power to shape-shift to just about any form they like, even human. Many people still believe they are with us today, although mostly living in deserts, mountains and caves.

Don’t knock it because even Western soldiers have reported seeing them on night exercises.

The Djinni are notoriously difficult to control and even when granting favours have been known to have a trickster nature. One of the only people said to be able to control them was King Solomon, and it’s reported that this was by use of a gold ring given to him by God through the archangel Michael. Legend states that the ring was inscribed with a pentacle and had a living force of its own. Legend states that through the magic of the ring Solomon set the Djinni to building the Holy Temple of Jerusalem and even the actual city of Jerusalem.

Which makes you wonder if it wasn’t Egyptian Djinni who built the pyramids, doesn’t it?  

One story tells of a Djinni who stole the ring and reigned over Solomon’s kingdom until God made the Djinni throw the ring into the sea, from where Solomon retrieved it. As a punishment Solomon imprisoned the Djinni in a bottle.

Djinni can even possess humans for a variety of reasons, sometimes just because they’ve got a crush on them. And whatever your own beliefs tell you, the joining of humans and Djinni in marriage is still practiced in some parts of the world, in fact the Queen of Sheba was rumoured - by both the Jews and the Arabs - to be part Djinn. Remember that, because I’m going somewhere with this.

In the Bible she’s assumed to be Ethiopian – even though Sheba refers to the South Arabian kingdom of Yemen, but Ethiopia is just across the Red Sea from Yemen and the two countries share deep historical ties.

As to her looks, various revisions of the Songs of Solomon describe her as ‘Very dark, but comely,’ or ‘Black and beautiful.’

Legend says that the Queen of Sheba brought to Solomon the very same gifts which the Magi later brought to Christ. However, even though there is no mention in the Bible of any relationship between the two of them, the Quran discusses a child she had by him. And the Ethiopian holy book, the Kebra Nagast, discusses how Solomon seduced her. The Ethiopians believe Menelik I, the legendary first Emperor of Ethiopia's Solomonic dynasty, to be their offspring. Even the Luhya people of Kenya claim her as one of their own. They claim she was a noblewoman known as Oloye Bilikisu Sungbo, and certainly that name is very close to the Jewish and Arabic name for her, which was Bilqīs.

You want my opinion? I’m with the Ethiopians on this one. Ethiopia is held by many to be the Biblical Promised Land, and they view Sheba as the mother of their nation and, because the kings of the land are directly descended from her, they have divine right to rule.

Emperor Haile Selassie incorporated the legend of the Queen of Sheba into Ethiopia's 1955 Constitution, which stated that the Imperial Dignity of Ethiopia descends from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

And as Rastafarians revere Haile Selassie as the returned messiah - and he’s certainly a defining figure in both Ethiopian and African history – it’s possible that the routes of Rastafarianism are deep-seated in a queen who was part Genie!

Trip on that!

Copyright © Karl Wiggins