beyond death’s door and where the world itself came from. But he
was not a man of one book; this King Solomon was also a great
voluptuary, indulging in pleasures and diversions that could briefly
pull heaven down to touch the earth. As a result of this, it was said,
that he had hundreds of queens, spread across his lands like
wildflowers.
Royalty herself, Sheba had no interest in becoming one of his
conquests, even though his legendary charm did intrigue her. What
she desired, what she felt her people lacked, was this wisdom he was
held to hold. She wanted to learn the secrets of this king—what did
he know about the world beyond the visible? Surely there was more
than what stretched out before her palace window, magnificent as it
was.
The queen set out to visit Solomon’s far country, traveling with
an enormous entourage over considerable distance for several
months. Arriving to much fanfare, she was fêted lavishly by the
famous monarch. She saw at once that she had been right to come.
His temple was resplendent with riches and the landscape boasted a
certain bold and arid majesty. Solomon as well was a sight to
behold—tall and gracious with a beard full as she had ever seen. They
exchanged gifts, as was the custom, and sat down to an enormous
feast.
For seven days Solomon lavished her and her astonished
entourage with the fruits of his kingdom, and during the mild
afternoons he nourished the queen with the fruits of his mind. As
they sat together in his gardens, he provided her with the secrets that
she had come so far to receive. He taught her about the first man and
woman, how they ate a forbidden fruit and were cast out of paradise
by the Lord of Hosts. He explained to her how their descendants
were wicked and were almost entirely swept from the earth by a great
flood; how the following generation became so wealthy that they
tried to fashion buildings reaching to the heavens themselves, and
how they too were punished. Sheba discovered that the history of
mankind had been one of continual disobedience and punishment, in
which everyone repeatedly tried to take advantage of the creator’s
benevolence. She learned how he penalized the wicked by destroying
their lifestyles, or more often, their lives.
The queen was an eager and perceptive student. She noted that a
recurrent theme in almost all his lessons was that the characters were
marked by a grave tendency to dissemble. Lies and trickery colored
ABYSSINIA
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