Shortly before his death in ancient Israel King David has a vision from God telling him that his younger son Solomon should succeed him as king. His other son Adonijah is unhappy and vows to attain the throne. Meanwhile the Egyptian Pharoah agrees to cede a Red Sea port to the Queen of Sheba is she can find a way to destroy Solomon, whose wisdom and benevolent rule is seen as a threat to more tyrannical monarchs in the region. Sheba, Pharoah, Adonijah, the leaders of the Twelve Tribes and his own God make life difficult for Solomon who is tempted by Sheba to stray.
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Her story has grown over the centuries and she appears later in Christian and Muslim folklore. In medieval Christianity she is part of the legend of the true cross. The story goes that when she visited Solomon she refused to walk on a bridge because it was made of the wood which would later be turned into the cross of Christ. Her gifts to Solomon prefigure the gifts from those other pagan royals that later visited Bethlehem. In Muslim legend she is a sun worshipper who visits the faithful Solomon. She has a deformity in her lower body which varies from having webbed feet to a donkey's hoof or just exceptionally hairy legs. Solomon heals her of these various ills (in the latter case by inventing a depilatory cream made from lime and arsenic) and she converts to the true faith.But perhaps the most significant thing about Sheba is that she was black. It's not clear where the land of Sheba was historically. It could have been the Yemen or it could have been North Africa, but traditionally it was definitely Ethiopia. To this day Ethiopian Christians claim to be descended from Menelik, the son of Solomon and Sheba, presumably conceived on that momentous visit. In the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, in the roof section owned by the Ethiopians, there is a fresco of Solomon and Sheba. Rastafarians too would see themselves as descendents of Sheba. Christians in these parts of the world have always seen her as black. She has long been associated with the bride in the Song of Solomon, where it says in chapter 1 verse 5 'I am black but comely'. W.B.Yeats wrote in his poem
'Sang Solomon to Sheba and kissed her dusky face.'
.... Solomon
Utopia Project
The Story
The day came to equitably divide the earth between the sons and grandsons of Noahh. Each one of the three sons each drew an imprinted slip from their father's lap. Shem and his sons were specially blessed black and beautiful. They received the inhabitable or middle portion of the earth. Hham and his sons were blessed black like the raven. Their inheritance was the coastlands or southern reaches of the earth. Yafet and his sons were blessed entirely white. The desert and its fields was their lot, the earth's northland regions. 1 Now Noahh's sons, in turn, assigned land allotments to their own sons. Noahh solemnized the event declaring a curse on any who would by force take that which by lot belonged to another. The land of Hham was aportioned like this. Kush got the eastern part, to his west Mitsraim, to his west Fut, to his west Kanaan and west of him the ocean. After Babel, "Hham and his sons went into the land set aside for him ... Kanaan ... did not go to the land that had fallen to him in the west by the sea, but settled in the land of Lebanon as far as the river of Egypt, between the Jordan region and the sea." 2To all the ancient authors, the land of Kush designates that area of the earth upon which shores lap the Indian Ocean; inhabited by a renowned folk with skins of rich ebon hue. Sheba, a famed empire named after a son of Kush, was situated on both shores of the Red Sea. It included portions of today's Yemen and Ethiopia. Makeda or Bilqis was the last to occupy her dynasty's throne and yet also mother to the new Solomonic dynasty, whereby her fame spread throughout the world. During her visit with Shelomo Hamelek, Maqeda Hamalka vowed to "not worship the sun, but will worship the Creator of the sun, the God of Yisrael. And that tabernacle of the God of Yisrael shall be unto me my Lady, and unto my seed after me, and unto all my kingdoms that are under my dominion." 3 Within Israelitic canon, Shelomo Hamelek gives the Queen of Sheba everything she desires. 4
Shelomo and Makeda were both much impressed with each other. So much so that when Queen Balqis' tour of state was near an end, King Solomon's heart was stirred: "A woman of such splendid beauty has come to me from the ends of the earth! What do I know? Will G_d give me seed in her?" His thoughts were the same as when he aquired his wives and concubines: "What do I know? Peradventure G_d will give me children from each one of these women. My children shall inherit the cities of the enemy, and shall destroy those who worship idols."
That day the palace servants busily prepared a festal banquet in honor of the Queen of Sheba. The menu consisted of highly seasoned meats, peppered fish and drinks mingled with spices. The place where she sat to eat was spread over with purpled tapestries. Fine oriental carpets lay under her feet. All around were decorations of moschus and marble and precious stones. The air wafted aromatic scents of myrhh, cassia and frankincense among other costly essences. After several courses and the meals' end the administrators, counsellors, nobles and officers began to absent themselves. Makeda attempted to retire to her own quarters. Solomon wouldn't hear of her departing at so late an hour. Wasn't his residence as comfortable as the one he had arranged for her? Makeda was the virgin queen of Ethiopia, her throne pending on that condition. Shlomo swore to take nothing from her by force on terms that she would take nothing of his by force.
Makeda awoke because of extreme thirst that night. All water founts accessable to the public were shut off! The queen's lady in waiting was sent to Solomon's chambers to procure water. She handed the cup to Makeda. Immediately Shlomo who was only half asleep grasped Balqis by the hand saying: "Why have you broke your promise?" Afraid, Balqis answered: "All my desire is for this water." Shlomo replied: "As you see, nothing is more valuable than water. Release me from my vow and be released from yours and I will give you all that you desire." 5 This is the end of what the hoopoe bird began, that the II Alphabeta of Ben Sira, 21b, records the marriage of Solomon and the queen of Sh*ba.
Nikaule returns to Sheba pregnant with a son from Solomon she will name Beyn Lekhem or Menelik. Her lady in waiting is pregnat too with Menelik's brother Zage. Upon attaining the age of manhood the two brothers make their way to Israel and adventure. In time they must leave and return home.
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As Menelik ben Hhakhiym was to rule Ethiopia as a Judaic kingdom, twenty, first born Levite colonist accompanied him. A replica heikal with other trappings/vestures went along with the entourage. Some hold the opinion that the original Ark of the Covenant and not a copy was removed to Yeha and later Axum, Ethiopia where today it is still maintained in secret by the successors of those Israelite colonist who have apostasized to Christianity. Others suppose the ark never left Jerusalem and Yermiyahu Hanavi of Yoshiyahu Hamelek hid it in some cave about the city or even on Mt. Nebo. Mekilta Bahodesh 11, 73a, tells us, "On the day upon which the one (altar) was built (that of Shelomo), the other (that of Moshe) was hidden."
So by the year 2952 (809 BCE), 70 years after the kingdom of Judah's establishment and 12 years before the kingdom of Israel cecedes from the united monarchy, Malka Bilqis' conversion laid the foundation of a "Jewish state" on both the Arabian Peninsula and Horn of Afrika shores of the Bab el Mandeb. The subjects who converted were taught the Judaism of the Solomonic era by the Levites and Israelites who returned to Sheba with Menyelek I. The religion of the serpent Arwe Waynaba, which Makeda's father Angabo suppressed, continued to be practiced by the common population. The Kushites also remained devoted to the ancestral cult of Hham (Amon, Mahrem) which all Hhamites professed out of reverence for their progenitor.
http://www.fortunecity.com/millenium/zebedee/67/kwsh1.htm#fn4
The country Sheba or Saba, whose name means Host of Heaven and peace, was Abyssinia. Located in southwest Arabia on the eastern tip of the Red Sea, Sheba occupied 483,000 square miles of mountains, valley and deserts in the area of present day Yemen. Some historians claim that Ethiopia, on the western end of the Red Sea, was also part of Sheba's territory.Sheba was a wealthy country, advanced in irrigation techniques and hydraulic power. Its people, the Sabaeans, built dams as high as 60 feet and large earthen wells which contributed to their thriving agriculture and beautiful gardens. Rich in gold and other precious stones, as well as incense and exotic spices sought by neighboring kingdoms, Sheba engaged in a lucrative caravan trade. By 1000 B.C., camels frequently traveled the 1400 miles up the "Incense Road" and along the Red Sea to Israel.
The spices of Sheba were highly prized. Frankincense, an offering to the gods, was heaped on funeral pyres, and given as an antidote for poison, and as a cure for chest pains, hemmorrhoids and paralysis. Myrrh, an ingredient in fragrant oils and cosmetics, was used in preparing bodies for burial, for healing ear, eye and nose ailments, and inducing menstruation. Other Sabaean spices were saffron, cummin, aloes and galbanum.
The Sabaeans have been described as a tall and commanding people, both woolly-haired and straight-haired. Semitic in origin, they are believed to have been descendents of the Cush of the Bible. The sacred Ethiopian book which establishes the founder of the Ethiopian dynasty as the son of Solomon and Sheba, suggests that the Sabaeans were black. "Ye are black of face - but if God illumineth your hearts, nothing can injure you," priest Azariah says to the Queen and her people in the 'Kebra Negast'.
Because of its isolation, Sheba was secure from military invasion for at least 500 years, and was independent and at peace with its neighbors during the 11th and 10th century B.C. History reveals that at least five kings preceded the Queen of Sheba - among them Iti'amra and Karibi-ilu. Yet Arabian documents portray all of Arabia as matriarchal and ruled by queens for over 1000 years. In Ethiopia, the 'Kebra Negast' refers to a law established in Sheba that only a woman could reign, and that she must be a virgin queen.
Numerous legends refer to the female-centered clans, matriarchal practices, and matrilineal inheritance of ancient Arabia and surrounding countries. In Assyria, the head of a family was called the 'shebu', and was originally a female, or matriarch. In other mideastern lands, polyandry was sanctioned - a woman could marry several husbands, who left their own families to live with hers; she could also initiate divorce by turning her tent to face east for three nights in a row. Before the onset of patriarchy, women may have experienced superior - or at least equal - rights with men.
Since Sheba was a center of astronomical wisdom and the Queen or King was chief astronomer/ astrologer, religious life involved worship of the Sun and Moon. Shams was the Sun god.
The Great Goddess who dwelt in the sacred black aniconic stone was given the title Shayba by the Arabic-Aramaen people. Shayba represented the Moon in its threefold aspect - waxing, (maiden), full (pregnant mother), and waning (old wise woman or crone). But the primary Sabaean Moon god was Ilmukah or Ilumguh, identified with the god Sin of Assyro-Babylonian mythology. Sin was portrayed as an old man with an azure beard, the color of lapis lazuli, and a turbaned head. Wearing a crown shaped like a full moon, Sin rode a crescent moon-boat from which he navigated the night sky.
Also called 'He-Whose-Deep-Heart-No-God-Can-Penetrate', he dispersed evil and darkness, and inspired his believers with dreams and prophecies.
A Moon goddess worshipped by the Sabaeans was Astarte, or Ashtart, whom they called Astar, which means womb. The giver and destroyer of life, Astar was Queen of Heaven and Mother of all Deities. Arriving from heaven as a ball of fire, and accompanied by a lioness, she was pictured with horns, and a disc of the sun above her forehead.
The earliest known Arabian temple was at Marib, capital of Sheba, and was called Mahram Bilqus, 'precincts of the Queen of Sheba.'
In Arab lore, this queen was named Bilqus or Balkis; in Ethiopia, Makeda (also Magda, Maqda and Makera), meaning 'Greatness'. Years later, the historian Josephus, referred to her as Nikaulis, Queen of Ethiopia and Egypt.
Legends of the Queen of Sheba are common throughout Arabia, Persia, Ethiopia and Israel. In Arabian tradition, Balkis ruled with the heart of a woman but the head and hands of a man. Islamic stories portray Solomon as marrying the Queen. In contrast to the Bible, they portray her abandoning her gods and converting to the God of the Israelites.
Arabian folklore and the Qu'ran present fanciful stories of the Queen of Sheba. Many of these tales involve magic carpets, talking birds, and teleportation - the miraculous transfer of Balkis' throne in Sheba to Solomon's palace.
Sheba was an adoring adolescent in search of a wise hero, or a confident, powerful young woman who journeyed to Jerusalem to challenge Solomon, she was impressed with his wisdom, compassion, justice and wealth.
King Solomon, was supposedly the wisest man who ever lived, ruled not only over men and women, but also over the beasts, birds, demons, spirits and all the specters of the night. He could speak all their languages.
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The name of Solomon (Sol-Om-On) means Sun, as well as peace. Born to King David and Bathsheba, Solomon grew up in a polygamous home, for David had 18 wives. Early in his 39-year reign as king, which began in 961 B.C., he married the daughter of the Egyptian pharoah, whose dowry included 1000 musical instruments, and 80,000 Egyptian builders.
The marriage may have been a political affair, for Solomon sought the architectural skills of the Egyptians; legends say that personally, she disappointed him. Later, Solomon took hundreds of wives and concubines. Many historians believe that he did not become polygamous until after his meeting with Sheba, early in his reign.
Whatever his marital status when he met Makeda, Solomon was a handsome man, attractive to women. With dark hair, a tanned lean body and gracious smile, he had an attentive bearing and compelling charm. He also possessed courtly manners and a lively, youthful spirit. Bedecked in elegant tunics of fine fabric dyed royal purple, he wore golden collars and chains, as well a golden circlet with sea-green stones.
Israel during the time of Solomon was a unified kingdom, 30,000 square miles in area - a small but respected power existing peacefully between Assyria and Egypt. Because Solomon was talented in international diplomacy, he negotiated trading agreements with neighboring kings, most notably the Phoenician king, Hiram of Tyre. As a result, his large fleet was built and manned by Phoenicians, and capable of sailing from Esyon-Geber or Eilat on the Red Sea to Ophir, Sheba, and India.
Solomon was (at least initially) a capable administrator, who raised the vast wealth required for his many projects by consolidating his central government and taxing the twelve districts of his kingdom, each which supported his court for one month each year. Later in his reign, his reliance upon heavy taxation, forced labor and slavery led to revolt.
Although reports in I Kings of his 40,000 horse stalls and 1400 chariots may be exaggerated, archaeologists have unearthed 450 horse stalls and 150 sheds for chariots at Megiddo alone. Indeed, Solomon was a wealthy king who gloried in splendor and luxury. His palace boasted vineyards, gardens, pools and singers with exotic musical instruments. Its three large pillared halls, built of cedar and cypress, were ornamented with carved ivory, gold, and sandalwood, with draperies of crimson and purple. Between two imposing gold lions, he sat on his great ivory throne with golden armrests and golden embroidery.
In order to build his Palace and Temple, Solomon sent 10,000 workers a month to Lebanon to fell and transport over land and sea the 120-foot feet high cedars of Lebanon. His great temple, built by Phoenician craftsmen, consisted of three large rooms of richly carved cedar, cypress and marble, with a huge bronze altar and bronze columns 40 feet high, hauled up to Jerusalem from the Jordan valley. Although costly, the Temple was a source of national pride and unity.
Solomon's commitment to building the Temple reflected not only his love of magnificent architecture, but also his piety. Early in his reign, he dedicated himself to God.
One night he invited all the birds to sing to his noble guests. All came except the hoopoe. Angry, the king ordered a search, and when the hoopoe was found and rebuked, the bird explained that he was not guilty of disrespect. On the contrary, for the last three months he had hardly tasted any food or water, flying all over the world to discover if any place existed which was not yet subject to Solomon.
Finally he found the land of Sheba, ruled by a beautiful and wise woman called Queen Balkys, where they have not heard the name of Solomon. The lush land in the middle of the desert boasted gold, silver, and great gems, and one of the most valuable treasures of the royal line was the throne, intricately carved of precious woods and inlaid with ivory and gold. The inhabitants of Sheba did not know the meaning of war, said the hoopoe. Solomon could easily conquer the land and take all its fabulous riches.
But that was not the king's wish. Instead, he wrote a letter and tied it to the wing of the hoopoe. The letter invited the queen to come and pay tribute to King Solomon, like the rest of the kings and queens of the world. If she would consent to do so, he would treat her with honor and bestow gifts upon her country. If she would refuse, her land would be attacked and destroyed in the name of the one true God who gave Solomon his supremacy.
All the queen's counselors were against it, as they have never heard of Solomon or his power. But she decided to take the trip and avert the wrath of God. Immediately she sent King Solomon a delegation of six thousand youths and maidens, all born the same year, month, day and hour. They were all of the same stature and all wore purple garments. And to the hoopoe she gave a letter promising the king that even though the trip from Sheba to Jerusalem usually took seven years, she would hasten to arrive in three years.
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When she finally arrived, the queen was received with great honor and led to King Solomonšs throne room. To her amazement, she saw that her own throne stood next to the King's!
One Ethiopian tale portrays Sheba and her prime minister dressed in man's clothes as they meet Solomon, but most accounts describe her arriving bejewelled and draped in dazzling robes.
Smiling, the King told her that he thought she would be more comfortable sitting on her own throne while visiting, so he sent a few of his demon slaves to bring it over the night before her arrival. Queen Balkys was impressed with the magic, but she knew that wisdom mattered much more, and wanted to find out if the king's wisdom matched his reputation. Therefore, she requested the right to pose three riddles to the king as a test. The king agreed, explaining to the queen that God's wisdom, not his own, gave him his power.
The first riddle was: "What is the ugliest thing in the world, and what the most beautiful? What the most certain, and what the most uncertain?"
The king answered: "The ugliest thing in the world is the faithful turning unfaithful; the most beautiful, the repentant sinner. The most certain thing in the world is death; the most uncertain, onešs share in the World to Come."
The second riddles was: "What is it that in a storm at sea goes ahead of all; is the cause of praise for the wealthy; of shame to the poor; honors the dead and saddens living; is a joy to birds and a grief to fish?" The king answered: "Flax. When woven into cloth it makes a sail for the ship, fine clothes for the rich, rags for the poor, shrouds for the dead. The birds delight in its seed; but the fish are caught in the nets made of it."
The third riddle was: "What land is that which has but once seen the sun?"
The king answered: "The land upon which, after the creation, the waters were gathered."
In addition to riddles which required a verbal answer, Sheba tested Solomon's ingenuity in action. Dressing five boys and girls identically, she asked him to detect their sex. When he handed them bowls of water for them to wash their hands, the girls, unlike the boys, rolled up their sleeves. Sheba also brought Solomon two flowers alike in appearance, but one was real while the other was artificial; he distinguished them by noting how bees swarmed to the flower with the genuine fragrance. Then, giving him a large emerald with a curved hole in the middle, she asked him to draw a thread through it; he sent for a silkworm, which crawled through the hole drawing with it a silken thread.
The Midrash Hachefez reports still another test of Solomon's cleverness. Sheba presented Solomon with the sawn trunk of a cedar tree, the ends cut off so that they looked the same; she asked Solomon which end had been the root, and which the branches. Solomon ordered the tree stump to be placed in water. When one end sank while the other floated, he said to her, "The part which sank was the root, and that which floated on the surface was the end containing the branches."
According to the Kebra Negast, the questions and tests were mutual; Solomon also challenged Sheba. Yet existing legends describe only a few of the artful strategies he used to outwit her. Determined to discover if the stories of her deformed foot were true, he arranged for a stream of water to flow onto the glass beside his throne (in the Qu'ran, he had running water with fish swimming about it under clear glass), so that Sheba would lift her skirts as she approached him. When she did so, he noted the hair on her legs, and told her, "Thy beauty is the beauty of a woman, but they hair is masculine; hair is an ornament to a man, but it disfigures a woman." He then invented a depilatory in order to acquaint her with his conceptions of womanhood.
During Sheba's six month visit with Solomon, she conversed with him daily. The Kebra Negast informs us that "the Queen used to go to Solomon and return continually, and hearken unto his wisdom, and keep it in her heart. And Solomon used to go and visit her, and answer all the questions which she put to him... and he informed her concerning every matter that she wished to enquire about." Frequently, they roamed Jerusalem together, as she questioned him and watched him at work.
Convinced of the King's wisdom, Queen Balkys offered to pay a yearly tribute and swear her loyalty. The king graciously refused all tribute, and requested to have her loyalty and friendship only. He promised to visit often when the queen returned to her home, because he had a great eagle that could magically take him to Sheba in one night. In addition, he offered her gifts which were even more valuable than those she brought him. The friendship between the two royal houses was assured, and both nations were happy.
Immediately, Solomon gave hera luxurious apartment in a palace next to his, and provided her with fruits, rose trees, silks, linens, tapestries, and 11 bewitching garments for each day of her visit. Daily, he sent her (and her 350 servants) 45 sacks of flour, 10 oxen, 5 bulls, 50 sheep (in addition to goats, deer, cows, gazelles, and chicken), wine, honey, fried locusts, rich sweets, and 25 singing men and women.
A gracious host, Solomon showed Sheba his gardens of rare flowers ornamented with pools and fountains, and the architectural splendors of his government buildings, temple and palace. She was awed by his work on the temple, by his great lion-throne and sandalwood staircase, and by his enormous brass basin carried by the twelve brass bulls which symbolized the twelve months of the year. She sought astronomical knowledge, for which he was known; Solomon had developed a new calendar which added an extra month every nineteen years.
Though there were economic and trade agreements - their open and heartfelt dialogues developed into more than just friendship and mutual admiration.
Were Solomon and Sheba lovers? Did Sheba lose her virginity to the King? The Bible does not say so directly. However, the Hebrew verb bw', which means "to come", is used to describe Sheba's approach to Solomon; this particular word also means coitus, and frequently in the Bible refers to entering a house for the purpose of sexual relations. The statement that "King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked" (as well as Josephus' explanation, "for there was nothing that she desired which he denied her" might also imply that he not only fulfilled her intellectual and material passions; he also fulfilled her sexual passion.
Ethiopian and Arabian accounts explicitly refer to sexual relations between Solomon and Sheba. The Kebra Negast describes that "he pondered in his heart, `A woman of such splendid beauty hath come to me from the ends of the earth! What do I know? Will God give me seed in her?'" He desired her, and she likewise may have desired him, but because she sought to retain her virginity in order to reign as queen, she refused him. After six months together, when Sheba contemplated leaving, he begged her to stay, and asked her to marry him. But she declined, most likely because she was committed to her own people, and was also unwilling to be a wife to a polygamous man, in a society where women had few rights.
Sheba may have been Solomon's lover, but she did not become his wife or remain with him much longer. After she had visited him for six months, she chose to return to her own country. Before she left, she gave Solomon 120 talents of gold (10 million dollars), precious stones and spices in great abundance, and highly prized sandalwood for his temple.
In the Biblical story, "Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked...besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty." Likewise, Josephus states, "Solomon also repaid her with many good things...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."
Unlike the Bible and Josephus, the Kebra Negast provides details of Solomon's gifts - beautiful apparel, 6000 camels, wagons laden with luxurious goods, and vessels for travel over desert, air, and sea. Because she was now pregnant with his child, he also gave her a ring, for he hoped that she would bear him a son, who might in time visit Jerusalem and prove his identity to Solomon.
The visit of the Queen of Sheba was the culminating point of Solomon's life. After she left, he continued to write and speak words of wisdom, but he and Israel deteriorated. We might speculate that this deterioration was triggered not only by his increasing preoccupation with building a glorious palace and temple, but also by Sheba's return to her country. Never again would Solomon encounter or love a woman he could call her equal.
After she left, Solomon supposedly took 700 wives and 300 concubines, many who were foreign women who eventually "turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God."
Although God had commanded that he and the Israelites reject idolatry and the gods of other nations, Solomon built pagan temples for his many wives. In the region south of the Mount of Olives, referred to as the Hal of Shames, he constructed shrines to Ashtoreth, goddess of the Sidonians; Chemosh, goddess of Moab; and Milcom and Molech, goddesses of the Ammonites. He also honored Astarte, who was worshipped by many cultures, including the Sabaeans.
Although Solomon was known for his internationalism and his openmindedness to foreign cultures and their beliefs, his religious tolerance contributed to his downfall. Not only did he anger God; he also failed to unify his people, who needed their monotheistic practices in order to maintain religious identity and national pride.
The completion of his luxurious Temple became more important to Solomon than the practice of his religion. Then his luxurious Palace - built for personal rather than collective use - took precedence over the Temple. Finally, his writing and preaching of wisdom became increasingly divorced from experience.
Solomon no longer lived by the humane principles for which he had become respected and honored. Some historians even view him as a tyrant who became devoted to his own glory, and whose greed and extravagance led him to build his kingdom on injustice, oppression and misery.
Solomon drew tax lines across the old tribal borders, alienating tribal elders. For his costly architectural projects, he taxed mercilessly, forcing those who could not pay into slavery, and seizing their lands. Many starved and died. Raising a levy of 30,000 men for forced labor from Hebrews and non-Hebrews of his northern kingdoms, rather than his own people of Judah, Solomon divided his country. His people, including his own sons, became increasingly resentful, and began to revolt.
After his death, the northern kingdoms of Israel stopped tolerating the forced labor and high taxes which had fed Judah, and refused to accept Solomon's son Rehoboam as king. Civil war resulted; ten northern tribes set up their own kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam, leaving only the kingdoms of Judah and Benjamin to Rehoboam. Such internal strife only made the Israelites weak, and vulnerable to invasion. Eventually, the Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians conquered them, and carried them off into exile. While the Queen of Sheba's visit was a time of glory, it marked the beginning of the end for Solomon and all of Israel.
Sheba's life after Solomon was more fortunate. Upon returning home, she gave birth to a son, whom she named Ibn al-Hakim, "son of the wise man." Some Jewish, Islamic and Persian sources state that this child was Nebuchadnezzar (44); Ethiopians believe him to be David II (the name given him by Solomon), who later called himself Menelek, and who was the first king of the Ethiopian dynasty.
The Kebra Negast states that when Menelek was 12 years old, he began asking his mother about his father, and that when he was 22, he traveled to Jerusalem, bearing the ring which Solomon had given Makeda. Because Menelek's facial features, eyes, legs and gait were similar to his father's, Solomon recognized him instantly.
Rejoicing in his firstborn male heir, he wanted Menelek to be his successor, but Menelek refused. Although he remained for a time to study the laws of the Hebrews, Menelek, like his mother, chose to return to Sheba. Solomon was deeply grieved at his departure, and also dreamed of laying with Makeda, experiencing once again the glory that they had known together.
No existing Jewish or Christian documents refer to Sheba giving up her reign as queen, or insisting that only kings descending from Solomon should rule, or converting to Islam. Indeed, in the Bible, she offered respect to the Hebrew god, but returned to her own country and customs.
The Kebra Negast presents a different picture. Written to establish the Solomonic kings as the basis of the Ethiopian dynasty, and Islam as the national religion, it emphasizes her decree that "there shall be no more queens in Ethiopia, but only a man." Here she is portrayed telling Solomon, "Henceforward a man who is of thy seed shall reign, and a woman shall nevermore reign; only seed of thine shall reign and his seed after him."
She is described writing Solomon a letter, requesting that he send her a fringe from the holy Arc of the Covenant, so that the Sabaeans might reverence it. When Solomon demanded that his counselors send their eldest sons to Sheba to spread the religion of the Israelites, his counselors rebelled and arranged for the theft of the Arc, which was then secretly transported to Sheba.
After her visit to Solomon, Sheba continued to earn respect from her people for the wisdom she had gained and continued to gain, as a result of her commitment to learning, spiritual development, and benevolent leadership. She was also revered for her kindness to her people, and her capacity to live by her philosophical and religious principles. I
http://www.crystalinks.com/queenofsheba.html
II. TARGUM of Esther
At another time, when the heart of Solomon was gladdened with wine, he gave orders for the beasts of the land, the birds of the air, the creeping things of the earth, the demons from above and the Genii, to be brought, that they might dance around him, in order that all the kings waiting upon him might behold his grandeur. And all the royal scribes summoned by their names before him; in fact, all were there except the captives and prisoners and those in charge of them. Just then the Red-cock, enjoying itself, could not be found; and King Solomon said that they should seize and bring it by force, and indeed he sought to kill it. But just then the cock appeared in presence of the King, and said: O Lord, King of the earth! having applied thine ear, listen to my words. It is hardly three months since I made a firm resolution within me that I would not eat a crumb of bread, nor drink a drop of water until I had seen the whole world, and over it make my flight, saying to myself, I must know the city and the kingdom which is not subject to thee, my Lord King. Then I found the fortified city Qitor in the Eastern lands, and around it are stones of gold and silver in the streets plentiful as rubbish, and trees planted from the beginning of the world, and rivers to water it, flowing out of the garden of Eden. Many men are there wearing garlands from the garden close by. They shoot arrows, but cannot use the bow. They are ruled by a woman, called Queen of Sheba. Now if it please my Lord King, thy servant, having bound up my girdle, will set out for the fort Qitor in Sheba; and having "bound their Kings with chains and their Nobles with links of iron," will bring them into thy presence. The proposal pleased the King, and the scribes prepared a dispatch, which was placed under the bird's wing, and away it flew high up in the sky. It grew strong surrounded by a crowd of birds, and reached the Fort of Sheba. By chance the Queen of Sheba was out in the morning worshipping the sea; and the air being darkened by the multitude of birds, she became so alarmed as to rend her clothes in trouble and distress. Just then the Cock alighted by her, and she seeing the letter under its wing opened and read it as follows: "King Solomon sendeth to thee his salaam, and saith, The high and holy One hath set me over the beasts of the field, etc.; and the kings of the four Quarters send to ask after my welfare. Now if it please thee to come and ask after my welfare, I will set thee high above them all. But if it please thee not, I will send kings and armies against thee; - the beasts of the field are my people, the birds of the air my riders, the demons and genii thine enemies, -- to imprison you, to slay and to feed upon you." When the Queen of Sheba heard it, she again rent her garments, and sending for her Nobles asked their advice. They knew not Solomon, but advised her to send vessels by the sea, full of beautiful ornaments and gems, together with 6000 boys and girls in purple garments, who had all been born at the same moment; also to send a letter promising to visit him by the end of the year. It was a journey of seven years but she promised to come in three. When at last she came, Solomon sent a messenger shining in brilliant attire, like the morning dawn, to meet her. As they came together, she stepped from her carriage. "Why dost thou thus?" he asked. "Art thou not Solomon?" she said. "Nay, I am but a servant that standeth in his presence." The queen at once addressed a parable to her followers in compliment to him, and then was led by him to the Court. Solomon hearing she had come, arose and sat down in the Palace of glass. When the Queen of Sheba saw it, she thought that the glass floor was water, and so in crossing over lifted up her garments. When Solomon seeing the hair about her legs, cried out to her: Thy beauty is the beauty of women, but thy hair is as the hair of men; hair is good in man, but in wonian It is not becoming. On this she said: My Lord, I have three enigmas to put to thee. If thou canst answer them, I shall know that thou art a wise man: but if not thou art like all around thee. When he had answered all three, she replied, astonished: Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath placed thee on the throne that thou mightest rule with right and justice. And she gave to Solomon much gold and silver; and he to her whatsoever she desired.In the Jewish statement, we see that the Queen put several enigmas for Solomon to solve; and though this Is not mentioned in the Koran, it is In the Moslem traditions. And so with the story of her legs; for in the Aiaish al Majalis we find the following: - When the Queen was about to enter the Palace, she fancied the glass floor to be a sheet of water, and so she uncovered her legs, that is, to pass over to Solomon; and lo her legs and felt were covered with hair; which when Solomon saw, he turned his sight from her, and called out, The floor is plain glass.
http://answering-islam.org.uk/Index/S/solomon.html
There is indeed so much as we find in the First Book of Kings, 10: 1-11 (also see 2 Chronicles 9 1-9) which is as follows:-And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the I,ord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice. And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. I Kings 10:1-11
