SOLOMON'S PORCH
813
SOMA
"Pools of Solomon." (Prom a photograph.)
former tunnelling the hill, and the latter passing near the surface by way of Bethlehem (see Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem, Notes, p. 80 sq.). See Pool.
SOLOMON'S PORCH, a name given in Scripture to two very different structures in Jerusalem : (o) The "porch of judgment" attached to the palace (1 Kings vii, 7), for which see Palace ; and (6) " Solomon's Porch," or portico (oroa SoXo/jwi'oc), the outer eastern corridor of the Temple (John x, 23 ; Acts iii, 11 ; v, 12), for which see Temple.
SOLOMON'S PSALTER. See Psalter of Solo- mon.
SOLOMON'S SERVANTS (nfb^ -rnlnS ; Sept. viol 'AfSSrjffBXixa, Ezra ii, 58 ; viol SovXiov SaXoijitwi', ver. 56; Neh. vii, 57, 60; Yu\g. filii servorttm Salomo- nis). The descendants (" sons") of persons thus named appear in the lists of the exiles who returned from the captivity. They occupy all but the lowest places in those lists, and their position indicates some connection with the services of the Temple. First come the priests, then Levites, then Nethinim, then " the children of Sol- omon's servants." In the Greek of 1 Esdr. v, 33, 35, the order is the same, but instead of Nethinim we meet with hpoSovXoi, " servants" or " ministers" of the Tem- ple. In the absence of any definite statement as to their office, we are left to conjecture and inference. (1.) The name, as well as the order, implies inferiority, even to the Nethinim. They are the descendants of the slaves of Solomon. The servitude of the Nethinim, "(/iven to the Lord," was softened by the idea of dedi- cation. (2.) The starting-point of their history is proba- bly to be found in 1 Kings v, 13, 14 ; ix, 20, 21 ; 2 Chron. viii, 7, 8. Canaanites, who hatl been living till then with a certain measure of freedom, were reduced by Solomon to the helot state, and compelled to labor in the king's stone-quarries, and in building his palaces and cities. To some extent, indeed, the change had been effected under David, but it appears to have been then connect- ed specially with the Temple, and the servitude under his successor was at once harder and more extended (1 Cliron. xxii, 2). (8.) The last passage throws some light on their special office. The Nethinim, as in the case of the Gibeonites, were appointed to be hewers of wood (Josh, ix, 23), and this was enough for the ser- vices of the tabernacle. For the construction and re- pairs of the Temple another kind of labor was required, and the new slaves were set to the work of hewing and squaring shmes (1 Kings v, 17, 18). Their descendants appear to have formed a distinct order, probably inherit-
ing the same functions and the same skill. The prom- inence which the erection of a new Temple on their re- turn from Babylon would give to their work accounts for the special mention of tliem in the lists of Ezra and Nehemiah. Like the Nethinim, they were in the posi- tion of proselytes, outwardly conforming to the Jewish ritual, though belonging to the hated race, and, even in their names, bearing traces of their origin (Ezra ii, 55- 58). Like them, too, the great mass must either have perished, or given up their position, or remained at Babylon. The 392 of Ezra ii, 55 (Nethinim included) must have been but a small fragment of the descendants of the 160,000 employed by Solomon (1 Kings v, 15). — Smith. See Nethinim.
SOLOMON'S SONG. See Canticles.
SOLOMON, WISDOM OF. See Wisdom, Book of.
Solomon ben-Gabirol. See Ibn-Gebirol.
Solomon ben-Isaac. See Rashi.
Solotaja Baba (the golden woman), a deity of the Slavic mythology, who was worshipped in the extreme east of European Russia, and whose image was covered with gold. The nomads and hunters of the steppes offered her beasts taken from their herds, or the skins of animals taken in the chase. The hollow statue of the goddess was occupied by the priest who was se- lected to pronounce her. oracles; and the opportunity so afforded was largely used to persuade the assembled shepherds to make more liberal offerings. The blood of the sacrifices was used to smear the eyes and mouth of the goddess, and what remained of the animal be- came the property of her servants. — Vollmer, Wurterh. d. Mythol. s. v.
Solus (nlone^, a term used in old English registers to designate an unmarried man.
Soluta (free), a term sometimes used in old Eng- lish registers to designate a spinster.
Soma, in Hindu mythology, the moon; also termed Chandra, was (H an entire dynasty of Hindu kings who bore the title " children of the moon ;" (2) the moon-plant (Asclepias acida), from which a milky juice was extracted, that, when mixed with barley and fer- mented, formed an intoxicating drink much used in the , ancient Vedic worship. This plant was held sacred and worshipped by the Hindus of the Vai<lic period. The hymns comprising one whole section of the Rig- Veda are addressed to the Soma, and its deification is still more prominent in the Siima-Veda. As early as , the liitj-Veda, the Soma sacrifice is called amrita (\m- i mortal), and, in a secondary sense, the liquor which
SOMASCIIIAXS
874
SOMMEU
tomtnunicates immortality. It was the more impor- tant part of the ancient daily offering amonj,' the Hin- dus. The plants were gathered on the hills by moon- light, and hrought home in carts drawn by rams: the stalks are lirnist'd with stones and placed with the juice in a strainer of goat's hair, and furtlicr squeezed by the priest's ten lingers, ornamented l)y rings of flattened pold. Lastly, the juice, mixed with barley and clari- fied butter, ferments, and is then drawn otl" in a scoop for the gods, and in a ladle for the jiriests. They tinally gay to Indra (its discoverer), " Tliy inebriety is most intense, m-vertheless thy acts are most beneticent.'' See Ganhier. Fnilhs of the U'orlil, s. v.; Butler, Land of the IV«/'(. (ilossary ; VoUmer, WOrterb.d. Mylhol.s.w