Multiple Talmudic sources recount a narrative about the miraculous origins of Rome, connecting it to Solomon's marriage to Pharaoh's daughter. The story describes how a reed planted in the ocean grew into a great city, appearing in several tractates with variations on the account.
יָרַד גַּבְרִיאֵל וְנָעַץ קָנֶה בַּיָּם וְהֶעֱלָה שִׂירְטוֹן
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What the sources say
The story of Gabriel implanting a reed in the sea at the moment of Shlomo's marriage to Pharaoh's daughter, from which a sandbar rose and on which Rome was built, appears in at least two Talmudic locations: Sanhedrin 21b states it explicitly in the name of Rabbi Yitzchak — 'Gabriel descended and implanted a pole in the sea, and it gradually raised up a sandbar, and on it the great city of Rome was built' — and Shabbat 56b records the identical tradition, concluding that this was the founding of the great city of Rome.
A third Talmudic locus, Pesachim 118b, echoes the same imagery in a different context: the Holy One tells Gabriel to 'rebuke the wild beast of the reeds [kaneh],' a phrase the Gemara there reads as alluding to Rome, whose origins are tied to that very reed (kaneh) implanted in the sea.
Rashi on Sanhedrin 21b is available to illuminate the Sanhedrin passage, though the passage he comments on there concerns details of kingship and the crown rather than the reed narrative itself, so the primary sources for the story's multiple locations remain Sanhedrin 21b and Shabbat 56b.
שבת נ״ו ב
Shabbat 56b
This passage is another locus where the Sages discuss Shlomo’s marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter and its disastrous consequences, including the Rome tradition.
בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁנָּשָׂא שְׁלֹמֹה אֶת בַּת פַּרְעֹה יָרַד גַּבְרִיאֵל וְנָעַץ קָנֶה בַּיָּם וְעָלָה בּוֹ שִׂירְטוֹן, וְעָלָיו נִבְנָה כְּרַךְ גָּדוֹל [שֶׁל רוֹמִי].
And that was the inauguration of Italy of Greece.
פסחים קי״ח ב — ד"ה נָשְׂאָה מַלְכוּת
Pesachim 118b:14
This sugya includes the Rome-origins story in the context of Shlomo’s marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter and the broader theme of foreign domination emerging from that sin.
נָשְׂאָה מַלְכוּת (רוֹמִי) הָרְשָׁעָה קַל וָחוֹמֶר בְּעַצְמָהּ: וּמָה הַלָּלוּ שֶׁאֵין אֲחֵיהֶן כָּךְ, אָנוּ שֶׁאָנוּ אֲחֵיהֶן — לֹא כׇּל שֶׁכֵּן?! אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְגַבְרִיאֵל: ״גְּעַר חַיַּת קָנֶה״ — גְּעוֹר חַיָּה וּקְנֵה לְךָ עֵדָה.
After that, the wicked kingdom of Rome will draw an a fortiori inference with regard to itself: Just as the gifts of these, who are not their brothers, were accepted in this manner, we, the descendants of Edom, who are their brothers, all the more so is it not clear that our gifts will be accepted? The Holy One, Blessed be He, will say to Gabriel: “Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds [kaneh], the multitude of [adat] the bulls” (Psalms 68:31). Rebuke the beast and acquire [keneh] the congregation [eda] of Israel. The nation of Rome, which enslaved Israel in its current exile, is less worthy than the other two nations.
recovered from “Midrash Rabbah, Devarim 1:25”
סנהדרין כ״א ב — ד"ה אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק
Sanhedrin 21b:15
The passage discusses the biblical restrictions on a king's accumulation of horses, silver, and gold, with rabbinic interpretations explaining that these prohibitions allow only what is necessary for his chariot, horses, and provisions.
אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁנָּשָׂא שְׁלֹמֹה אֶת בַּת פַּרְעֹה, יָרַד גַּבְרִיאֵל וְנָעַץ קָנֶה בַּיָּם, וְהֶעֱלָה שִׂירְטוֹן, וְעָלָיו נִבְנָה כְּרַךְ גָּדוֹל שֶׁבְּרוֹמִי.
Rabbi Yitzḥak says: When Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter, the angel Gabriel descended from Heaven and implanted a pole in the sea. And it gradually raised up a sandbar [sirton] around it, creating new, dry land, and on it the great city of Rome was built. This shows that the beginning of the Jewish people’s downfall to Rome came with Solomon’s marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter.
Bereshit Rabbah 13:9
Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua brought seawater from the ocean to Rome, where they demonstrated to Hadrian that ocean water absorbs fresh water by pouring it into a vessel and having the water consume the added fresh water.
כָּל הַנְּחָלִים הֹלְכִים אֶל הַיָּם וגו' (קהלת א, ז), מַעֲשֶׂה בְּרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר וְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ שֶׁהָיוּ מַפְרִישִׁין לַיָּם הַגָּדוֹל, וְנִכְנְסָה סְפִינָתָן לַיָּם לְמָקוֹם שֶׁאֵין הַמַּיִם מְהַלְּכִין, אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר לְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לֹא בָּאנוּ לְכָאן אֶלָּא לְנִסָּיוֹן, מִלְּאוּ מִשָּׁם חָבִית מָלֵא מַיִם כֵּיוָן שֶׁעָלוּ לְרוֹמִי אָמַר לָהֶם אַדְרִיָנוּס שְׁחִיק עֲצָמוֹת, מֵי אוֹקְיָנוֹס מָה הִנּוּן, אָמְרוּ לוֹ מַיִם בּוֹלְעִין מַיִם. אָמַר לָהֶן הָבוּ לִי מִנְּהוֹן, יַהֲבוּן לֵיהּ מְלוֹא לְקִינְיָאתָה, וַהֲווֹ יָהֲבִין בְּגַוָּה מַיִם וְהִיא בָּלְעָה לְהוֹן.
רש"י על סנהדרין כ״א ב — ד"ה על הייחוד - דאשת איש ועל
Rashi on Sanhedrin 21b:1
Rashi explains the Gemara’s Rome-origin story, clarifying the image of the reed planted in the sea and the connection to Shlomo’s marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter.
על הייחוד - דאשת איש ועל הפנויה: שבקש להולמו ולא הולמתו - שתשב בראשו כתר מלכות ולא הולמתו לפי שהיה שרביט של זהב בתוך חללה מדופן לדופן ואינה מתיישבת בראשו אלא למי שיש לו חריץ בראשו והיא עדות לבית דוד שכל הראוי למלכות הולמתו ומי שאינו ראוי למלכות אינו הולמתו: מאי רבותיה - דחמשים איש לבן מלך:
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