WINGED WORDS WINDSDAY
Compiled by Rob Chappell (@RHCLambengolmo)
Vol. 2, No. 5: November 30, 2022
King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
Map of the ancient Near East,
showing the probable location of Punt, the Egyptian name for the Queen of
Sheba’s homeland. (Image Credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
Introduction
The Queen of Sheba is one of the
most mysterious – yet also one of the most celebrated – people to walk across
the stage of the ancient Near East. Two parallel accounts of her visit to
Jerusalem are given in 1 Kings 10 and 2 Chronicles
9. Remembered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims under many names (e.g., Bilqis,
Makeda, Nicaula, etc.) as a just and wise monarch, she is especially revered by
Christians in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, who regard her as King Solomon’s
favorite wife and the foremother of the Solomonic Dynasty of Ethiopian kings.
This dynasty was the world’s longest-ruling royal house until the last emperor
of Ethiopia was de-throned and exiled by the country’s then-Communist regime in
1974. (The royal family continues to live in exile to this day.)
The Queen of Sheba in the Hebrew Scriptures
The Song of Solomon,
also known as the book of Canticles, is one of the most
mysterious books in the Hebrew Bible. Compiled sometime after the Babylonian
Exile, perhaps in the 5th century BCE, but based on much earlier materials
(both oral and written), the book (on the surface level) appears to tell the
story of a royal bridegroom (King Solomon) who courts a young maiden (the
“Shulamite”) and eventually weds her. The individual poems in the book may have
originated as a ritual drama that was performed for the royal court in
Jerusalem.
The book’s romantic subject
matter caused its canonicity to be disputed for a few centuries, but it was
eventually recognized as sacred Scripture by Jewish rabbis and Church Fathers
alike. The interplay between a literal and an allegorical interpretation of the
book has been with us for almost 2000 years, as saints, scholars, and scribes
have puzzled over the book’s meaning and written elaborate commentaries on it.
What has impressed many
interpreters in recent decades is that the bridegroom and the bride are
portrayed as equal partners in the text – and that the bride has more lines to
speak than the bridegroom! Another item that has been noticed by scholars is that
the bridegroom (Solomon) and the bride (the “Shulamite”) derive their names
from the same Hebrew root – “peace” (shalom). This means that the
compiler of the book wanted to portray Solomon and the Shulamite (Sulamith in
Hebrew) as equal partners. It is therefore highly plausible that the best
candidate for Solomon’s equal partner would be the Queen of Sheba, both in
terms of her royal status and her wisdom.
King Solomon’s Wedding
Song of Songs 3:6-11 (JPS 1917 Translation)
Who is this
that cometh up out of the wilderness
Like pillars
of smoke,
Perfumed
with myrrh and frankincense,
With all
powders of the merchant?
Behold, it
is the litter of Solomon;
Threescore
mighty men are about it,
Of the
mighty men of Israel.
They all
handle the sword,
And are
expert in war;
Every man
hath his sword upon his thigh,
Because of
dread in the night.
King Solomon
made himself a palanquin
Of the wood
of Lebanon.
He made the
pillars thereof of silver,
The top
thereof of gold,
The seat of
it of purple,
The inside thereof
being inlaid with love,
From the
daughters of Jerusalem.
Go forth, O
ye daughters of Zion,
And gaze
upon king Solomon,
Even upon
the crown wherewith his mother hath crowned him in the day of his espousals,
And in the
day of the gladness of his heart.
Flavius Josephus (37-100 CE): Jewish Antiquities 8.6.5-6
(Published 93 CE)
There was then a woman
[Nicaula], Queen of Egypt and Ethiopia; she was inquisitive into philosophy,
and one that on other accounts also was to be admired. When this Queen heard of
the virtue and prudence of Solomon, she had a great mind to see him; and the
reports that went every day abroad induced her to come to him, she being
desirous to be satisfied by her own experience, and not by a bare hearing (for
reports thus heard are likely enough to comply with a false opinion, while they
wholly depend on the credit of the relators); so she resolved to come to him,
and that especially in order to have a trial of his wisdom, while she proposed
questions of very great difficulty, and entreated that he would solve their
hidden meaning. Accordingly she came to Jerusalem with great splendor and rich furniture;
for she brought with her camels laden with gold, with several sorts of sweet
spices, and with precious stones. Now, upon the King's kind reception of her,
he both showed a great desire to please her, and easily comprehending in his
mind the meaning of the curious questions she propounded to him, he resolved
them sooner than anybody could have expected. So she was amazed at the wisdom
of Solomon, and discovered that it was more excellent upon trial than what she
had heard by report beforehand; and especially she was surprised at the
fineness and largeness of his royal palace, and not less so at the good order
of the apartments, for she observed that the king had therein shown great
wisdom; but she was beyond measure astonished at the house which was called the
Forest of Lebanon, as also at the magnificence of his daily table, and the
circumstances of its preparation and ministration, with the apparel of his
servants that waited, and the skillful and decent management of their
attendance: nor was she less affected with those daily sacrifices which were
offered to God, and the careful management which the priests and Levites used
about them. When she saw this done every day, she was in the greatest
admiration imaginable, insomuch that she was not able to contain the surprise
she was in, but openly confessed how wonderfully she was affected; for she
proceeded to discourse with the King, and thereby owned that she was overcome
with admiration at the things before related; and said, “All things indeed, O King,
that came to our knowledge by report, came with uncertainty as to our belief of
them; but as to those good things that to you appertain, both such as you
yourself possess, I mean wisdom and prudence, and the happiness you have from
your kingdom, certainly the same that came to us was no falsity; it was not
only a true report, but it related your happiness after a much lower manner
than I now see it to be before my eyes. For as for the report, it only
attempted to persuade our hearing, but did not so make known the dignity of the
things themselves as does the sight of them, and being present among them. I
indeed, who did not believe what was reported, by reason of the multitude and
grandeur of the things I inquired about, do see them to be much more numerous
than they were reported to be. Accordingly I esteem the Hebrew people, as well
as your servants and friends, to be happy, who enjoy your presence and hear
your wisdom every day continually. One would therefore bless God, who has so
loved this country, and those that inhabit therein, as to make you King over
them.”
Now when the Queen had thus
demonstrated in words how deeply the king had affected her, her disposition was
known by certain presents, for she gave him twenty talents of gold, and an
immense quantity of spices and precious stones. (They say also that we possess
the root of that balsam which our country still bears by this woman's gift.)
Solomon also repaid her with many good things, and principally by bestowing
upon her what she chose of her own inclination, for there was nothing that she
desired which he denied her; and as he was very generous and liberal in his own
temper, so did he show the greatness of his soul in bestowing on her what she
herself desired of him. So when this Queen of Ethiopia had obtained what we
have already given an account of, and had again communicated to the King what
she brought with her, she returned to her own kingdom.
The Visit of the Queen of Sheba
to King Solomon, painted in 1890 by Sir Edward John Poynter. (Image Credit:
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The Queen of Sheba in the Kebra Nagast (Glory of Kings)
Editor’s Note: The Kebra
Nagast is a ginormous compendium of legends and lore (117 chapters
long!) that was compiled in several stages between the 6th and 12th centuries
CE in Ethiopia. It tells the story of the founding of the Solomonic Dynasty in
the 10th century BCE, which was descended from Menelik I, the first Ethiopian
King – the son of King Solomon and Makeda, the Queen of Sheba. According to the
Kebra Nagast, Solomon and Makeda were married during her visit to
Jerusalem, and the offspring of this marriage was Menelik, who was born to
Queen Makeda during her return journey home. When he reached the age of 22,
Makeda sent Menelik to Jerusalem to meet his father, King Solomon. Menelik was
anointed King of Ethiopia by the High Priest in the Jerusalem Temple and was
given the throne name David II, because he closely resembled his grandfather,
King David of Israel, in appearance and manners. Solomon sent the firstborn
children of the Israelite nobility back to Ethiopia with Menelik, which is the
origin of the Falashas (the Ethiopian Jewish community).
Here are two chapters from the Kebra
Nagast, translated by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge (1857-1934), which tell of
the leave-taking of Makeda from Solomon and how she raised and educated her son
in Ethiopia.
Chapter 31: Concerning the Sign Which Solomon Gave the Queen
And the Queen rejoiced, and she
went forth in order to depart, and the King set her on her way with great pomp
and ceremony. And Solomon took her aside so that they might be alone together,
and he took off the ring that was upon his little finger, and he gave it to the
Queen, and said unto her, “Take [this] so that you may not forget me. And if it
happens that I obtain seed from you, this ring shall be unto it a sign; and if
it be a man child, he shall come to me; and the peace of God be with you!
Whilst I was sleeping with you, I saw many visions in a dream, [and it seemed]
as if a sun had risen upon Israel, but it snatched itself away and flew off and
lighted up the country of Ethiopia; peradventure that country shall be blessed
through you; God knows. And as for you, observe what I have told you, so that
you may worship God with all your heart and perform his will. For he punishes
those who are arrogant, and he shows compassion upon those who are humble, and
he removes the thrones of the mighty, and he makes to be honored those who are
needy. For death and life are from him, and riches and poverty are bestowed by
his will. For everything is his, and none can oppose his command and his
judgment in the heavens, or in the earth, or in the sea, or in the abysses. And
may God be with you! Go in peace.” And they separated from each other.
Chapter 32: How the Queen Brought Forth and Came to Her Own
Country
And the Queen departed and came
into the country of [Nubia] nine months and five days after she had separated
from King Solomon. And the pains of childbirth laid hold upon her, and she
brought forth a man child, and she gave it to the nurse with great pride and
delight. And she tarried until the days of her purification were ended, and
then she came to her own country with great pomp and ceremony. And her officers
who had remained there brought gifts to their mistress, and made obeisance to
her, and did homage to her, and all the borders of the country rejoiced at her
coming. Those who were nobles among them she arrayed in splendid apparel, and
to some she gave gold and silver, and hyacinthine and purple robes; and she
gave them all manner of things that could be desired. And she ordered her
kingdom aright, and none disobeyed her command; for she loved wisdom, and God
strength-ened her kingdom.
And the child grew, and she
called his name [Menelik]. And the child reached the age of twelve years, and
he asked his friends among the boys who were being educated with him, and said
unto them, “Who is my father?”
And they said unto him, “Solomon
the King.”
And he went to the Queen his
mother, and said unto her, “O Queen, make me to know who is my father.”
And the Queen spoke unto him
angrily, wishing to frighten him so that he might not desire to go [to his
father], saying, “Why do you ask me about your father? I am your father and
your mother; seek not to know any more.” And the boy went forth from her
presence and sat down. And a second time, and a third time he asked her, and he
importuned her to tell him. One day, however, she told him, saying, “His
country is far away, and the road thither is very difficult; would you not
rather be here?” And the youth [Menelik] was handsome, and his whole body and
his members, and the bearing of his shoulders resembled those of King Solomon
his father, and his eyes, and his legs, and his whole gait resembled those of
Solomon the King.
And when he was two and twenty
years old, he was skilled in the whole art of war and of horsemanship, and in
the hunting and trapping of wild beasts, and in everything that young men are
wont to learn. And he said unto the Queen, “I will go and look upon the face of
my father, and I will come back here by the will of God, the Lord of Israel.”
The Queen of Sheba in Classic Children’s Literature
The Queen of Sheba has been a
popular subject for artists and authors from all the Abrahamic religions; she
has even made her way into children’s literature, most notably in Rudyard
Kipling’s Just So story, “The Butterfly That Stamped.” Excerpts
from the beginning and end of this tale appear below.
Excerpts from the Just So Story, “The Butterfly That
Stamped” (1902) by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
This, O my Best Beloved, is a
story – a new and a wonderful story – a story quite different from the other
stories – a story about The Most Wise Sovereign Suleiman-bin-Daoud – Solomon
the Son of David.
There are three hundred and
fifty-five stories about Suleiman- bin-Daoud; but this is not one of them. It is
not the story of the Lap-wing who found the Water; or the Hoopoe who shaded
Suleiman-bin-Daoud from the heat. It is not the story of the Glass Pavement, or
the Ruby with the Crooked Hole, or the Gold Bars of Balkis. It is the story of
the Butterfly that Stamped.
Now attend all over again and
listen!
Suleiman-bin-Daoud was wise. He
understood what the beasts said, what the birds said, what the fishes said, and
what the insects said. He understood what the rocks said deep under the earth
when they bowed in towards each other and groaned; and he understood what the
trees said when they rustled in the middle of the morning. He understood
everything, from the bishop on the bench to the hyssop on the wall, and Balkis,
his Head Queen, the Most Beautiful Queen Balkis, was nearly as wise as he was.
* * *
There was
never a Queen like Balkis,
From here to
the wide world’s end;
But Balkis
tailed to a butterfly
As you would
talk to a friend.
There was
never a King like Solomon,
Not since
the world began;
But Solomon
talked to a butterfly
As a man
would talk to a man.
She was
Queen of Sabaea –
And he was
Asia’s Lord –
But they
both of them talked to butterflies
When they
took their walks abroad!
The Queen of Sheba in Contemporary Fiction
·
King
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba by Blu Greenberg and Linda Tarry (Pitspopany Press, 1997)
·
Makeda:
Queen of Sheba by Ronald
Harrill (Harrill Enterprises, 2012)
·
The
Legend of Sheba: Rise of a Queen by Tosca Lee (Howard Books, 2014)
·
Makeda:
The Queen of Sheba
by Marlon McKenney (Conscious Culture Publishing, 2021)
·
Solomon’s
Angels by Doreen
Virtue (Hay House, 2008)
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