Solomon

According to 1 Kings, Solomon succeeds his father David, becomes famous for his wisdom and wealth, and builds the First Temple in Jerusalem, with two great olive-wood cherubim in its inner room. The Queen of Sheba visits to test him with hard questions. Many scholars accept that a historical Solomon probably reigned in the 10th century BCE, but consider the Bible's picture of his empire's splendor an exaggeration; no remains of his temple or palace have been securely identified.

Solomon became the great magician of later tradition. In the Testament of Solomon, a Greek text from the early centuries CE, he receives a ring from heaven, binds demons, makes each confess which angel can defeat it, and sets them to work on the Temple. The Seal of Solomon, drawn as a pentagram or hexagram, became a standard magical sign.

The Quran calls him Sulayman and says the wind and jinn served him (Surah 34). In Surah 27, a man with knowledge of the Book brings the Queen of Sheba's throne to him in the blink of an eye. Ethiopia's Kebra Nagast makes him the father of Menelik I.