-
photo
The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon by Sir Edward John Poynter.
That Queen of Sheba - butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth! She figures very heavily in Ethiopian legend. It is said she travelled all the way from Ethiopia to Israel to meet King Solomon (oh, around 3000 years ago or so!). She brought him gifts of spices, gold and precious stones.
According to the Kebra Negast (sacred Ethiopian text), King Solomon pulled a bit of a fast one on our Queen. At dinner, he served her a dish after dish of hot and spicy food, before inviting her to stay with him in his palace overnight. They were to share a room. The Queen, seeing this as a bit of a dodgy proposition, asked him to swear an oath not to take advantage of her. He accepted on the condition that she, in turn, would not take anything from his house. The Queen, slightly offended, promised she wouldn’t and soon fell asleep.
It wasn’t long before she woke up, desperately thirsty after all that spicy food. Good old King Solomon had forseen everything and had already placed an inviting, cool jug of water right between his bed and hers. Just as she reached out to take a sip, King Solomon piped up and warned her that by drinking from the jug she would be breaking her oath - water being the most valuable of possession in his house. At this stage, all the Queen of Sheba wanted was a drink of water so she relented.
And so, it seems, the King had his way…. When the Queen returned to Ethiopia she was carrying his son; Menelik, the father of a long line of Ethiopian Emperors.
