Some Background

The lion is a quite a symbolic animal in Jewish culture. It signifies bravery, prominence, power, and wisdom. Often times an important Jewish scholar or prominent community leader would have a lion sculpted on his tomb stone. Additionally, the lion is a symbol of protection and is often sculpted at the very top of a Jewish sanctuary protecting the ten commandments.

Interestingly, the word for lion in Hebrew is aryeh, and it is a common Jewish name.  Often times the name is paired with a Yiddish word for the middle name. For example, my first name is Aryeh, and my middle name is Zalman, which is Yiddish for Solomon.

When I saw this depiction of King Solomon and a lion guarding him by his thrown, on the playing card in The Jewish Museum, I immediately thought about how it perfectly matches my name.

 

Analysis:

 

The lion pictured on the playing card is sitting upright with his front legs straightened and together. Its presence is a sign that there is a respectable person on the thrown above. However, this is no ordinary security lion. If you take a closer look, you’ll see that the lion has a pair of wings, signifying some kind of supernatural strength as well. With a little research I found that the lion depicted at the foot of King Solomon’s thrown is a lot more than a mere statue.  It is actually the first elevator mechanism illustrated in the Old Testament. As explained by Nissan Mindel on Chabad.org, on each of the six steps leading up to the king’s thrown sat a pair of golden lions facing each other. The lions would stretch out their feet and help the king onto the next step by lifting him up, and gently setting him down into the palms of the next pair of lions, until the king was seated in his gold plated, ivory thrown. (The biblical source for the lions found on King Solomon’s thrown can be found in Kings 10:20.) Additionally, the presence of the lion which can also be a symbol of wisdom, matches King Solomon’s wise looking facial expression.

 

Detailed information:

 

Artistic Play-Cards
Ze’ev Raban (Israeli, b. Poland, 1890-1970)
Duchifat Press (Jerusalem), Palestine (Israel), c. 1920
Ink on paper
Each: 2 1/4 × 1 1/2 in. (5.7 × 3.8 cm)
The Jewish Museum, New York
Gift of Dr. Harry G. Friedman, F 4561

 

(Thejewishmuseum.org)