Sheba

QUEEN OF SHEBA AND BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP 9
been from a Jebusite (Canaanite tribe) priestly family (see DNA evidence
pp. 180-181) and was awarded the post for helping Solomon defeat rivals
for the kingship. If the House of Zadok were composed of converts, they
certainly embraced the new faith with great fervor. Despite this, they
seemingly disappeared during the later part of Solomon’s reign. When they
reappeared 300 years later the Zadokites were still fierce adherents of the
uncompromising monotheist legalistic element in Israelite theology that
would eventually marginalize other Israelite religious schools of thought.
However, the northern kingdom endured forced labor, and both
kingdoms high taxation to pay for the public works program. The situation
was partly ameliorated by Solomon’s tolerance of some aspects of their
former religions. Jebusite beliefs, such as the idea of God as the Creator of
the world, were absorbed into the Israelite religion. The temple became the
national symbol of the kingdom, consolidating the move from the worship
of the Unknown God from a cult to a national religion. In addition,
Solomon strengthened his influence through his famed wisdom as a judge
and his numerous dynastic marriages (700 wives and 300 concubines,
according to 1 Kings). However, the zenith of the Israelite state was very
short lived, and the kingdom split after Solomon’s death. It appears the
Israelite religion, associated with Judaean military success and state
building, had little appeal in the northern kingdom of Israel.
Solomon died around 920 B.C.E. The kingdom then split into its
earlier original components: Israel in the north; and Judah in the south,
based on Jerusalem. Israel contained ten of the twelve tribes and was the
homeland of the Samaritans, who probably shared the Israelite historical
experience until the occupation of Canaan; but they may have had a
different ethnic origin. Some historians believe that some of the Promised
Land’s population were Hebrew before Joshua’s arrival. The Hebrew word
for Samaritan and black African is the same – Kushi - and the Samaritans’
word for themselves – Bet Israel – is that used by remnant Black Jews in
India and in Ethiopia. The kingdom of Judah to the south was the home of
the tribe of the same name and part of the tribe of Benjamin. The people of
Judah also referred to the Samaritans as “people of the land”, which could
have a class connotation. Racist attitudes may also have played a part. Did
Solomon decree that the ten northern tribes (Bet Israel) be forced into labor
because they were black and considered of low status? Recent genetic
research has revealed that there was a large African influx into the eastern
Mediterranean region in the years of Dynastic Egypt. This explains the high