Reconsidering the Testament of Solomon

The Testament of Solomon (TSol) as translated in modern editions comes from a body of Greek sources which integrate the tale of Solomon's construction of the Jerusalem Temple aided by demons with an encyclopedic collection of recipes for use in dealing with the demons in question. While the title suggests a relatively fixed text, the situation is in fact far more complex. This study argues that the text (or texts) in fullest form, as represented in late medieval manuscripts, is actually quite a late development in this tradition's history, and that most of the elements which eventually come together under the title TSol (and the like) circulated independently during the late antique period.