King Solomon was source of many legends. One, greatly overshadowed by the Ark of the Covenant, is that of another Temple relic, the gold-plated Table of the Presence. The legend tells us that the Wise King engraved upon it a mysterious code containing the secret name of God. Why secret? Because according to Judaism’s mystical branch, Kabbalah, its knowledge gives access to God’s power.
Today, the legend is gaining popularity because historians and treasure hunters alike are searching for the precious Table in Spain, where historic clues trace its trail to the city of Toledo.
I stumbled on it while researching for my novel Mary’s Apostles, and even incorporated it into the story, but couldn’t leave it there. I was curious to know if there was any rational or historical kernel of truth in it and set out to find it. To my surprise, there was.
So, stick with me as I tell you how I found Solomon’s Table and decoded its sacred secret... You won't be disappointed.
FIRST, A LITTLE BACKGROUND
Though not as popular as the Ark of the Covenant in mainstream lore, Solomon’s Table has been around for thousands of years and mentioned in a variety of Jewish, Christian and Muslim texts.
Today, the legend is gaining popularity because historians and treasure hunters alike are searching for the precious Table in Spain, where historic clues trace its trail to the city of Toledo.
I stumbled on it while researching for my novel Mary’s Apostles, and even incorporated it into the story, but couldn’t leave it there. I was curious to know if there was any rational or historical kernel of truth in it and set out to find it. To my surprise, there was.
So, stick with me as I tell you how I found Solomon’s Table and decoded its sacred secret... You won't be disappointed.
FIRST, A LITTLE BACKGROUND
Though not as popular as the Ark of the Covenant in mainstream lore, Solomon’s Table has been around for thousands of years and mentioned in a variety of Jewish, Christian and Muslim texts.
| The pervading narrative that justifies searching for the table in Spain is rooted in a historical event that occurred in the year 70 A.D. when the Roman commander Titus (later to become emperor) raided the Temple of Jerusalem and carried it away together with other Temple relics to Rome as part of the spoil. From here -in short- the trail follows the Visigoths, who, after raiding Rome in 410 A.D., take the relics with them on their westward expansion. Eventually, the table ends up in Toledo, Spain, where the Visigoths set up their capital. |  |
At this point Muslim historians take over to explain that Musa and Tariq, conquerors of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century A.D., knowing of its immense value, compete to get their hands on it first. As the story goes, Tariq succeeds, but then different tales conflict regarding its final whereabouts. Though the general consensus is that it stayed hidden somewhere in Toledo, some say Tariq took it to Damascus, others say it got lost in Jaen (a city in the south of Spain) on its way to Damascus, and then there is a miscellaneous group of hopeful treasure hunters looking for it in a variety of quaint locations sprinkled across Spain.
The problem is that all these seekers neglect one tiny but important detail: The table that Titus captured was not the one Solomon made, nor did he find it in Solomon’s Temple. The First Temple of Jerusalem was looted repeatedly over centuries until destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 A.D. The Temple that Titus plundered was the second one built by Zerubbabel in 515 A.D., though better known as Herod’s Temple, for he enlarged it and refurbished it.
It is far more likely that the future Roman emperor captured the gold-gem-rich table that Pharaoh Ptolemy II gifted to the Second Temple in a show of goodwill to replace precisely the one Solomon built, as stated in the Letters of Aristeas of the 2nd century B.C.
SOLOMON’S ORIGINAL TABLE
With all the respect due to the historical and material value of the table that may have reached Toledo, the one I’m interested in is the one Solomon built for his First Temple, the one on which he supposedly engraved God’s secret name.
Yet now we are confronted with another tiny, little detail we can’t ignore: As of today, there isn’t a single piece of evidence that Solomon ever existed. No stamp, no pottery sherd with his name, no mention in any historical register, nothing. Not even Solomon’s powerful neighbors who, well versed in writing and documenting their every move, blink and breath, mention him or his empire. Zero. Zilch. Zip. Nada.
Then, how in the world did I find the table and its sacred secret? Doing what every good detective does: I got lucky!
THE TIP OF THE STRING
My research started with Moses. Why? Well, because according to the Bible, specifically the Exodus, it was Moses -following God’s instructions- who built the first table alongside the other items for the Tabernacle that Solomon would later replicate for the Temple. Additionally, it was Moses who God revealed his name to in the first place. According to Kabbalah, the name was then handed down from High Priest to High Priest, until it reached King Solomon. Therefore, Moses seemed a good starting point to me.
The challenge was considerable. Like Solomon, there is no evidence that Moses ever existed either. All that is known with some degree of certainty is that his name Moses existed and etymologically is Egyptian. It means “born of…” or “son of…” and was enormously popular among pharaohs who used it in association with a god, like, for instance, Ramesses (Son of Ra).
The problem is that all these seekers neglect one tiny but important detail: The table that Titus captured was not the one Solomon made, nor did he find it in Solomon’s Temple. The First Temple of Jerusalem was looted repeatedly over centuries until destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 A.D. The Temple that Titus plundered was the second one built by Zerubbabel in 515 A.D., though better known as Herod’s Temple, for he enlarged it and refurbished it.
It is far more likely that the future Roman emperor captured the gold-gem-rich table that Pharaoh Ptolemy II gifted to the Second Temple in a show of goodwill to replace precisely the one Solomon built, as stated in the Letters of Aristeas of the 2nd century B.C.
SOLOMON’S ORIGINAL TABLE
With all the respect due to the historical and material value of the table that may have reached Toledo, the one I’m interested in is the one Solomon built for his First Temple, the one on which he supposedly engraved God’s secret name.
Yet now we are confronted with another tiny, little detail we can’t ignore: As of today, there isn’t a single piece of evidence that Solomon ever existed. No stamp, no pottery sherd with his name, no mention in any historical register, nothing. Not even Solomon’s powerful neighbors who, well versed in writing and documenting their every move, blink and breath, mention him or his empire. Zero. Zilch. Zip. Nada.
Then, how in the world did I find the table and its sacred secret? Doing what every good detective does: I got lucky!
THE TIP OF THE STRING
My research started with Moses. Why? Well, because according to the Bible, specifically the Exodus, it was Moses -following God’s instructions- who built the first table alongside the other items for the Tabernacle that Solomon would later replicate for the Temple. Additionally, it was Moses who God revealed his name to in the first place. According to Kabbalah, the name was then handed down from High Priest to High Priest, until it reached King Solomon. Therefore, Moses seemed a good starting point to me.
The challenge was considerable. Like Solomon, there is no evidence that Moses ever existed either. All that is known with some degree of certainty is that his name Moses existed and etymologically is Egyptian. It means “born of…” or “son of…” and was enormously popular among pharaohs who used it in association with a god, like, for instance, Ramesses (Son of Ra).
Indeed, the Exodus tells us that Moses was born in Egypt. While still a newborn, to save him from a killing, his mother places him in a basket, and then put the basket in a river. The current will carry Moses to the hands of an Egyptian princess who chooses to raise him in palace.
In Hebrew, the Exodus is known as Shemot which means “Names"
Therefore, in our search for the table, Moses, or better said his name, points us to Egypt. We will be successful quickly for without much effort we’ll discover that the name is not the only thing Moses shares with the pharaohs. The Exodus is a story that seems to have borrowed many elements from pharaonic literature. I’m not going to go into the whole list of correlations because there a plenty of essays out there you can consult, but I will share the following example since it is relevant to the subject at hand.
THE TABERNACLE
Moses, like a pharaoh, takes on the functions of moral, legal and spiritual leader of his people, and is chosen by (born of…) God to be his intermediary. To do so, he must build a temple (the prime duty of a pharaoh), the Tabernacle, where God can dwell among His people.
THE TABERNACLE
Moses, like a pharaoh, takes on the functions of moral, legal and spiritual leader of his people, and is chosen by (born of…) God to be his intermediary. To do so, he must build a temple (the prime duty of a pharaoh), the Tabernacle, where God can dwell among His people.
| The layout and furnishing of the Tabernacle was quite common for its time. From Egypt to Mesopotamia and beyond, temples were considered the dwelling of their particular god and were designed with a holy area and another even holier, the Holy of Hollies, to which only the High Priest could access. Also, like the Tabernacle, most temples had arks or portable shrines (for the annual parades), offering tables, incense for rituals, and lamps to see, since sacred spaces, due to their intrinsic nature, had no windows. |  |
But let’s narrow in a little further. In Egypt the portable residence of the pharaoh on the battle field was a tent designed as a temple, and was represented as such on reliefs with his throne inside to exalt the pharaoh’s godly nature.
Take a close look at the picture on the left. It shows a cutout of the tent of Ramesses II during the Battle of Kadesh (in Canaan). In it you can see his throne represented by his cartouche flanked on both sides by God Horus’s stretched out wings. The similarities of this iconography with those of the Ark of the Covenant on the right are uncanny. The Ark, according to the Bible, functioned as a chest for the tablets of the Ten Commandments and as a throne for the Presence of God, upon which were two cherubim with extended wings towards the center.
To finish, a couple more pictures, one of a portable shrine and the other of an ark or chest, both Egyptian, comparable in purpose and style to the Ark of the Covenant.
To finish, a couple more pictures, one of a portable shrine and the other of an ark or chest, both Egyptian, comparable in purpose and style to the Ark of the Covenant.
Now back to Solomon and his table…
THE TABLE OF THE PRESENCE
At first, one would think that there is nothing particular about an offering table. It is what it is, a table placed in a temple to hold the offerings to the gods. In the case of Judaism, the table that God instructed Moses to build was called the Table of the Showbread or Bread of the Presence. On it, two piles of six breads were placed to represent the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
What caught my attention about this whole table thing was: Why would Solomon choose a mere piece of furniture like a table to engrave something as precious as the access to infinite power? To me, an elaborate golden plaque or a jewelry box with a coded, puzzle lock made more sense as the container of such an extraordinary content. In trying to make sense of this oddity is when I struck gold!
To understand it, we must turn back to Egypt.
Please bear in mind that ancient Egypt was around for over 3,000 years (let that sink in) with all its changes, up-and-downs, and evolution. So the extreme summary I will attempt here below with regards to their religion is so succinct it is almost grotesque but necessary in the name of brevity.
THE TABLE OF THE PRESENCE
At first, one would think that there is nothing particular about an offering table. It is what it is, a table placed in a temple to hold the offerings to the gods. In the case of Judaism, the table that God instructed Moses to build was called the Table of the Showbread or Bread of the Presence. On it, two piles of six breads were placed to represent the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
What caught my attention about this whole table thing was: Why would Solomon choose a mere piece of furniture like a table to engrave something as precious as the access to infinite power? To me, an elaborate golden plaque or a jewelry box with a coded, puzzle lock made more sense as the container of such an extraordinary content. In trying to make sense of this oddity is when I struck gold!
To understand it, we must turn back to Egypt.
Please bear in mind that ancient Egypt was around for over 3,000 years (let that sink in) with all its changes, up-and-downs, and evolution. So the extreme summary I will attempt here below with regards to their religion is so succinct it is almost grotesque but necessary in the name of brevity.
| On the shores of the Nile 5,000 years ago, villages were relatively isolated, each with their own traditions and god. In order to unite them seamlessly under one kingdom, their gods were accommodated in one pantheon, though the god or goddess of the predominant cities naturally rose above the rest. The city of Memphis (nearby Cairo), was the first capital of the United Kingdom of Egypt and remained important as a trade and craft center throughout the three millennia. Therefore, its patron god, Ptah, gained prominence early on and maintained it throughout. According to Memphite Theology, in the beginning there was only chaos. From within that chaos emerged the god creator Ptah who in his heart thought creation and with his mouth brought it to be, using the Divine Word. Creation is thus order and harmony -peace- in opposition to chaos. Consequently, the first and most important duty of a pharaoh, as the intermediary, is to be the custodian of the universal order. To preserve it, he must build earthly dwellings for the gods where they can be worshiped and appeased or satisfied with offerings. Ptah’s importance was such that his temple’s name, Hut-ka-Ptah (Temple of the Presence of Ptah) in Greek eventually became the name of Egypt. |  |
Since Ptah was the Creator, he was the patron of artisans, architects and builders, and therefore would have been the patron of the enslaved Hebrew builders
With regards to the offerings, these were varied, from meats and beer to fruits and wine. But the original, most simple and, ultimately, most symbolic offering was a bread on a mat, because in its inception breads were placed on mats at the feet of the gods. That is how the hieroglyph for offering table, (htp) came about. (In Egyptian writing, as with the Hebrew, vowels were not used. Htp is pronounced hotep.) The offering table could be represented simply with this ideogram or, for grammatical and aesthetic reasons, it was often accompanied by the hieroglyphs for the letters t and p. Coincidentally, or not, t is represented by a bread and p by a mat. The ending result is a redundant hieroglyph.
Over time the mat was replaced with an elaborate stone table, symbolically carved to look like a mat, sometimes elevated as if an altar. And on its surface, symbolic images of bread and other offerings were engraved.
I chose the left image because coincidently the bread is laid out in two piles of six breads as the Jewish table required.
The table’s symbolic value as appeaser of the gods resulted in the word hotep expanding its meaning to signify “to be satisfied”, “to be in peace”, or simply “peace”, and as such was incorporated into the names of pharaohs and high ranking officers, like Amenhotep (Amun is satisfied) or Imhotep (he who comes in peace).
In conclusion, it turns out that the offering table is not a mere functional piece of furniture, but rather a central and sacred element of great transcendental and symbolic value, on which, indeed, images were engraved. The legend of Solomon’s Table, thus far, stands to scrutiny.
That’s well and all, but did Solomon’s Table exist and what is that about God’s secret name?
THE SHEM HASHEMAFORASH
To understand God’s secret name we are going to enter the esoteric world of Jewish Kabbalah, source of the legend of Solomon’s Table.
According to Jewish tradition, Hebrew is a sacred language for its words contain the essence of the concept they describe. This is so because God created the world using the Divine Word (Sound familiar?), that is, God said: “May there be light,” and since the word light carries the vital energy of light, light was. Us mere mortals do not have this power… unless, it would seem, we acquire it through study. Kabbalah sages spend their lives studying the Torah with hopes of reaching its highest level of esoteric knowledge. The illuminating process consists in climbing through four levels of word interpretation: literal, metaphorical, combination of relevant words or even rearranging the order of their letters, until reaching their most intimate comprehension or vital power.
The problem is that if this power is at the reach of any dedicated sage, the wrong person with the same dedication could ultimately have access to the essence and power of God by simply knowing His name. It was therefore decided to limit its knowledge solely to the High Priest.
Ancient Egyptians believed the same thing. It’s more, they were so afraid of an enemy doing black magic with their name (akin to voodoo), that their real name was kept secret and only revealed upon death to be recognized by the gods. Also, Egyptians, too, thought their writing was sacred, and this is precisely the reason why the Greeks named it hieroglyphs, because in Greek it means exactly that, sacred writing. Over time, the word hieroglyph came to signify also “hidden, mysterious or esoteric idea” (probably because we forgot how to read them until Champollion came along), and it is with this latter meaning that Kabbalah used it, though applied to Hebrew, to describe how Solomon engraved God’s name on the table.
Per historian Eslava Galan:
The table’s symbolic value as appeaser of the gods resulted in the word hotep expanding its meaning to signify “to be satisfied”, “to be in peace”, or simply “peace”, and as such was incorporated into the names of pharaohs and high ranking officers, like Amenhotep (Amun is satisfied) or Imhotep (he who comes in peace).
In conclusion, it turns out that the offering table is not a mere functional piece of furniture, but rather a central and sacred element of great transcendental and symbolic value, on which, indeed, images were engraved. The legend of Solomon’s Table, thus far, stands to scrutiny.
That’s well and all, but did Solomon’s Table exist and what is that about God’s secret name?
THE SHEM HASHEMAFORASH
To understand God’s secret name we are going to enter the esoteric world of Jewish Kabbalah, source of the legend of Solomon’s Table.
According to Jewish tradition, Hebrew is a sacred language for its words contain the essence of the concept they describe. This is so because God created the world using the Divine Word (Sound familiar?), that is, God said: “May there be light,” and since the word light carries the vital energy of light, light was. Us mere mortals do not have this power… unless, it would seem, we acquire it through study. Kabbalah sages spend their lives studying the Torah with hopes of reaching its highest level of esoteric knowledge. The illuminating process consists in climbing through four levels of word interpretation: literal, metaphorical, combination of relevant words or even rearranging the order of their letters, until reaching their most intimate comprehension or vital power.
The problem is that if this power is at the reach of any dedicated sage, the wrong person with the same dedication could ultimately have access to the essence and power of God by simply knowing His name. It was therefore decided to limit its knowledge solely to the High Priest.
Ancient Egyptians believed the same thing. It’s more, they were so afraid of an enemy doing black magic with their name (akin to voodoo), that their real name was kept secret and only revealed upon death to be recognized by the gods. Also, Egyptians, too, thought their writing was sacred, and this is precisely the reason why the Greeks named it hieroglyphs, because in Greek it means exactly that, sacred writing. Over time, the word hieroglyph came to signify also “hidden, mysterious or esoteric idea” (probably because we forgot how to read them until Champollion came along), and it is with this latter meaning that Kabbalah used it, though applied to Hebrew, to describe how Solomon engraved God’s name on the table.
Per historian Eslava Galan:
“Solomon entrusted it [God’s Name] to the hieroglyphic form of a sacred alphabet which, though it avoids writing the name, contains the necessary clues for its deduction.
Now hold on to something, for we approach the eureka moment. It was around this point when I had a silly thought that no one else seems to have had. In seeing that the elements of our Jewish legend sink their roots in Egypt, rather than interpreting hieroglyph from the Jewish esoteric point of view, why not do it returning to the Egyptian literal interpretation? The result was: Bingo!
LET’S DO MAGIC
LET’S DO MAGIC
As I said, bingo! The offering table’s hieroglyph is in reverse a god’s name, but not just any god, the God of Creation, the one who created the world using the Divine Word.
Now, let’s make believe we are Kabbalah sages and climb the four levels of understanding to reach the ultimate essence of God’s name… and his power!
Now, let’s make believe we are Kabbalah sages and climb the four levels of understanding to reach the ultimate essence of God’s name… and his power!
- Literal Interpretation: Ptah, the Creator God’s name. The god who, according to Memphite Theology, created himself and then the rest of the gods and creation. The first to Be after he said “I am”. Sound familiar? Exodus 3:14: “I am” is what God answers when Moses asks the burning bush what His name is. In Hebrew it is the bases for YHWH.
- Metaphoric: By association, ptah is also used as several verbs: to create (since Ptah is the Creator and thus created), to engrave (in the sense of engraving the Divine Word), and to occupy the throne (due to his presence in the temple).
- Combining the letters in his name: If you remember, I explained previously that the table’s hieroglyph is redundant. It is made up of an ideogram of a bread on a mat, and then accompanied by a bread and a mat which are the logograms for t and p. Well, since the letters p and t are in Ptah, God’s name in turn contains the offering table too. The fact that Ptah and Hotep contain each other, is of profound transcendental significance, because Ptah created order -peace- while at the same time containing in his name the sacred element -Hotep- that conserves it, which in turn happens to mean peace as well. It all ties in.
- More combinations. The letters p and t also form the word pt (pet), meaning sky, heaven, or God’s Realm.
We could keep doing this until completing the Book of Genesis, but at the end, God’s secret name illuminates us with a message as humbling as it is beautiful, and perhaps the fragile memory of time had the Jewish sages forget that the real danger resided in prohibiting its knowledge.
God’s hidden name is Ptah.
Ptah means “to create” and contains “peace”.
And there lays his divine power: To Create Peace.
Now it is ours.
Ptah means “to create” and contains “peace”.
And there lays his divine power: To Create Peace.
Now it is ours.
Where does this leave Solomon? That too is a fascinating story, and I tell you all about it in Part 2 of Solomon’s Table Decoded… By the way, did you know Solomon means 'peaceful', and that Jerusalem means 'The City of Peace'?
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