Valley of the ants is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Jewish legend about Solomon that is retold in the Jewish Encyclopedia and in Quran 27:18-19.

Talmud

In the

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

, as retold in the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Encyclopedia, Solomon rides on a

magic carpet A magic carpet, also called a flying carpet, is a legendary carpet and common trope in fantasy fiction. It is typically used as a form of transportation and can quickly or instantaneously carry its users to their destination. In literature One o ...

over a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

ants Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Creta ...

that speak to him. This legend is based on the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' wealth Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...

wisdom Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowle ...

, and dominion over all creatures. The legend may also be based on the Book of Proverbs, which

rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonia ...

traditionally ascribes to Solomon, mentioning ants as exemplars of

morality Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of co ...

. Of all the legends about Solomon's dominion over all creatures, the valley of the ants is the best known one among Jews.

Islam

The Quran mentions Solomon. The Jewish legend as compared to the one in the Quran are different except for the warning given by the

queen ant A queen ant (formally known as a gyne) is an adult, reproducing female ant in an ant colony; generally she will be the mother of all the other ants in that colony. Some female ants, such as the ''Cataglyphis'', do not need to mate to produce offs ...

, which is almost identical in both retellings regardless of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

of verse (''

āyah An Ayah ( ar, آية, ʾĀyah, ; ) is a "verse" in the Quran, one of the statements of varying length that make up the chapters (''surah'') of the Quran and are marked by a number. In the Quranic context the word means "evidence," "sign" or ...

'') eighteen.Quran Dot Com: Surah 27:18 English translations
/ref>

External links

Jewish Encyclopedia on Ants in Jewish Literature

The Oklahomon: King Solomon and the Ant, a retelling of the legend

References

{{Reflist, 2 Jewish folklore Naml Solomon Insects in religion