Sheba

QUEEN OF SHEBA AND BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP 71
its underside. The bird was a hoopoe, which is linked in several stories to
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The accounts of Solomon and Sheba in
the Old Testament, Josephus, and the Kebra Nagast do not engage in
magical fantasies. In contrast, Jewish and Islamic traditions link Solomon
to supernatural powers, stating that he had the power to control spirits and
animals. The hoopoe is given prominence in these stories. It reports to
Solomon about the Queen of Sheba and carries his letter to her.
A Targum is a Jewish adaptation in Aramaic of a sacred text. The Old
Testament book of Esther concerns events during the Israelites’ exile in
Babylon, but the Targum Sheni (second Aramaic translation) of the book of
Esther has additional material that deals with the Queen of Sheba’s visit to
Solomon. Bluntly stated, Solomon threatened her with war unless she
acknowledged him as overlord:
All the kings of the East and West, and the North and South, come to
pay me homage. If you would come to do likewise, I will honor you
more than any kingly guest of mine, but if you refuse and do not appear
before me to pay homage, I shall send out against you generals,
contingents, and riders.
The Yemenite account (ca. A.D. 1702) of the Queen of Sheba
mentioned earlier appears to be taken from long-established folklore.
According to that tradition Solomon had recently conquered an island
kingdom, hanged its ruler, and abducted his daughter:
When the Queen of Sheba’s court heard all that and all the stories of
[Solomon’s] power and bravery as well as the full account of Solomon’s
greatness, they were overcome with awe of him and their hearts were
filled with utter dismay. It were as though those hearts melted and
turned to water. And so, she said, “I shall go to him and hear directly his
wisdom and see the wonderful and awesome things that he alone among
humans can accomplish.”
The Islamic Qur’an of the seventh century A.D. also tells of a threat.
Solomon gives the order:
Take this writing of mine and deliver it to them (Shebans); then
withdraw, and see what they reply. [The Queen of Sheba] said, “O peers,
there has been delivered to me a noble writing. It is from Solomon; it
runs, “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate; do not act
proudly against me, but come to me in humble submission.”