Queen of Sheba (19 page)

Hadad was well aware that the queen of Sheba was traveling up the old caravan route on her way to Jerusalem. He had first received a warning from Shishak, who’d advised him to stop her going further than Sela at all costs. Then there had been the gossip of traders that passed through his kingdom and finally her messengers arrived with the formal announcement.

He knew he had to be most careful in making his plans. He must not arouse the suspicion of Solomon. In fact, he must make every effort to keep Solomon from finding out that he had returned from Egypt ready
after all these years to take back his kingdom. Years before, Solomon’s father, King David, had realized how strategic this capital was and had sent his general Joab down to wipe out the rebellious tribesmen.

Joab had killed most of the men of Edom, and Hadad, a mere babe at the time, had been spirited off to Egypt by some of the palace guards. “Shishak,” Hadad speculated, “has been clever enough to play the game both ways. Solomon has the Egyptian princess, and I’m married to the sister of the queen. A queen is greater than a princess, and so I would wager Shishak is betting on my winning this struggle.”

He had received messengers from both Shishak and Rezon warning him that he must discourage the queen of Sheba from her proposed visit to Solomon. “Solomon has a reputation for being irresistible to women. The queen could be charmed against her better judgment to join with him against us.” Shishak had spelled the matter out quite graphically, leaving no doubt of Hadad’s responsibility in the matter.

“I must be about the same age as Solomon,” he thought. “It would be a brilliant means of getting even for all the treachery of his father, David, if I myself should waylay the queen. Poison her mind against Solomon. Win her confidence. Even marriage may be necessary to carry out my plans,” he gloated.

Quickly he called together his stewards and counselors. He wanted to make the most of this opportunity and it would take fast work and careful planning to stage a reception equal to the magnitude of his ambition.

In Jerusalem Solomon tried to piece together the information he had received. It was becoming quite clear that Pharaoh Shishak wasn’t the friend he had once seemed to be. Everything had changed once the news reached the pharaoh that Israel had started building ships at Ezion-Geber on the Red Sea. Now he was fast becoming a dangerous enemy, and with Tipti being the pharaoh’s eyes and ears right in Solomon’s bedchamber there was nothing he didn’t know.

“How can I get to the bottom of this?” Solomon asked his brother Nathan late one night as they visited the caged animals in the quarters behind the palace.

“It won’t be easy. Tipti knows you are suspicious.”

“It’s even worse than you suspect. Our mother has warned me that Jeroboam, my trusted confidant, friend, and main supporter among the northern tribesmen is being influenced by Tipti.”

“I wouldn’t have thought she’d go that far. How has she managed it? He’s always been so loyal.”

“It seems she’s been encouraging him. Telling him he has all the qualities of a king.”

“That’s preposterous. Hard to believe he’d listen to such a thing.”

“You remember I sent him to Egypt with her dead cat. Shishak himself sat with him and flattered him outrageously.”

For a moment the two stood watching the old lion that had been a mere cub twenty-two years before when Solomon came to power. The lion had been dozing but on hearing footsteps opened one eye rather cautiously. He heard his name called and with a great effort roused himself and walked leisurely to the door of the cage where he rather lethargically began scraping at the lintel with his paw. “See, he wants me to let him out.” Solomon was all attention as he talked softly to the lion and quietly lifted the latch. “Come, old friend,” he urged.

“One of these days you’ll let the wrong animal out,” Nathan said nervously.

The great beast nosed the door open and walked out into the courtyard. He rubbed his mane against Solomon’s leg and began a great purring rumble down deep in his throat. Solomon tousled his tawny mane, stooped down, and looked him in the eye. “There are some good things about old age,” he said turning to Nathan. “When he was a cub we were the best of friends. He followed me everyplace. Then he grew strong, fierce, and unfriendly, but now he’s back being my friend.”

“He’s lost his teeth,” Nathan said laughing. “He hasn’t changed his disposition.”

“He could still cuff me across the courtyard with one swipe of his paw,” Solomon said defensively.

“Well, what do you think has changed him then?”

Solomon stood up and let go of the lion. They watched him pad softly around in the moonlight and then nose open the door to his cage, go in, and lie down. “He’s lost interest in everything. Nothing excites him anymore. There’s no challenge worth the effort and no place he really wants to go. He’s
bored and unhappy with the way things are. His old courage is gone.”

“Are you talking about yourself or the lion?” Nathan asked cautiously.

“Both, I’m probably talking about both.” With a resounding thud Solomon let the bolt fall into place. “I’ve seen courage revive even a severely injured person, but when courage dies, what hope is there?”

Nathan didn’t answer but stood looking at his brother in the moonlight as though seeing him for the first time. Something was wrong, very wrong. Gradually words began to form and came haltingly. “Our hope, Israel’s hope, is in our God as it has always been.” The words weren’t said as a criticism but rather as a comfort—a reminder.

Solomon turned his head so Nathan couldn’t see his eyes. “The God of Israel hasn’t been speaking lately. I don’t feel His presence. He’s suddenly left me alone to manage hostile enemies, vengeful wives, and a fool for a son. It’s His fault if things go wrong.”

“You know what our father would have said, don’t you?”

Solomon turned to him with the pained look in his eyes that was beginning to be his normal expression. “No. What would he say?”

“Why, I’m sure he’d say again as he said so often, ‘God is our helper in time of trouble.’ However, we both know, a man may ruin his chances by his own foolishness, then blame it on the Lord.”

Solomon suddenly relaxed and almost smiled. “He also used to remind us that when a person is gloomy, everything seems to go wrong; but when he’s cheerful, everything seems right.”

“Perhaps even now help is on its way.”

“What’s on its way here is more trouble. Badget tells me, and one of her messengers announced, that the queen of Sheba has already left and is on her way here for a visit. I can’t help but suspect there is some trick involved.”

“There may be a blessing.”

“I doubt it, but I did need your encouragement.”

“That’s what brothers are for,” Nathan reminded him, “to help in time of need.” With a renewed feeling of closeness the two walked out to the waiting counselors and scribes. There was no time to discuss further the queen’s visit. Nathan turned the possibilities over in his mind. It was strange. The trip was long and hard, no one went to that much trouble without some very good reason. Impulsively he had told his brother it could be a blessing on its way and he hoped with all his heart that it was true.

W
ord spread quickly in Jerusalem. Almost at once everyone was talking about the visit of the queen of Sheba. To each person it meant something different. To the merchants it meant more sales, to the weavers and dyers who supplied the court with their gowns and robes there would be long hours at the looms and the dye vats, to the goldsmiths a challenge to create the ultimate in gifts and ornamentation. All Jerusalem was stimulated into a regular hive of activity.

No group or coterie was more energized than Solomon’s harem of wives, and among that group no one was more interested than his Egyptian princess, Tipti.

Tipti had given up all thought for the time being of moving to Gezer. Instead she had called Jeroboam, Solomon’s chief builder, and had ordered him to have her palace totally redecorated. There were two reasons for doing this: one was that she wanted to have the most elaborate quarters as befitted her rank, and the other was that she wanted to have an excuse to see more of Jeroboam.

Jeroboam was handsome, perceptive, and always flattering. He caught on quickly to the dress and manners of a courtier. He had learned to prefer nothing but the best. Though he was a building supervisor, he dressed like one of the princes. His hair and beard were shaped and perfumed, his short tunic impeccably white due to the care given it by his widowed mother. She first wove it of the finest linen and then had it regularly whitened by the fullers down in the valley. His outer garment was seamless and decorated with long fringes while his sandals were carefully tooled by Jerusalem’s most renowned leather craftsman.

With all this he wasn’t a man dawdling his time away in parties and celebrations. He had worked hard and had the strong, muscular build that went with his trade.

Tipti had watched him with interest and slowly began to develop a
plan that would bring her the status she needed and the power. She had not been able to have a child, and so she had been constantly reminded that one day Rehoboam, the son of her loathed rival Naamah, would inherit the throne from his father. Lately she had developed almost a hatred for the thin, scholarly, self-righteous prince.

Rehoboam had none of the charm of his father. He was blunt and always critical of anyone who was not a part of his own entourage or that of Naamah. The two of them together were formidable, and Tipti had been well aware of the many barbs thrown her way by this archenemy and her son.

Tipti was a clever woman. She decided not to appeal to Solomon but to take matters into her own hands, form her own defense and battle strategy. From the moment she first noticed Jeroboam, he became a vital factor in her plans.

She had seen him from the roof of the old palace soon after she had come to Jerusalem. She had gone to the roof often with her maidens for fresh air and to view the progress of Solomon’s extensive building program. Bored and listless, she had noticed that one of the builders walked with such majesty and spoke with such authority that it was hard to believe he was not one of the princes.

She had sent one of her men who spoke Hebrew to inquire about him and found that he was from the north. He had no real family ties, only a very devoted widowed mother. This suited her plans exactly, and the next time she saw Solomon, she announced that she had found the Israelite to build her palace.

It was at a time when Solomon could deny her nothing, and so he had ordered the young Jeroboam to temporarily leave the building of the Millo platforms and instead take charge of building the palace for the princess.

Solomon had actually been pleased that she had chosen one of his own workmen to build her palace. He had been worried at first that she would insist on bringing large numbers of workmen from Egypt. Building in Egypt was so different. There were no large quantities of pliable rock there and the weather was mild and pleasant with almost no rain. The palaces in Egypt consisted more of pillared walks and pleasant garden grottoes. Of course, this wasn’t possible in the crowded little city of Jerusalem.

Jeroboam had been flattered and inspired by the attention of the
princess. He was quick to learn and observe everything, from the way her servants conducted the schedule of her day to the many imported treasures and artifacts from Egypt. He couldn’t imagine why she had chosen him. He soon realized it wasn’t for a romantic dalliance. Neither was it because he was able to manage his workmen so efficiently. There was more to it. He sensed much more.

When her cat had been killed and he had been chosen to take it to Egypt, a whole new world had opened to him. There he saw life lived for pleasure and time spent in endless frivolity. Everyone seemed effortlessly beautiful; even the air was perfumed with mysterious, intoxicating scents. For the first time in his life he had experienced the pure pleasure of having servants wait on him and the heady authority of being someone the pharaoh was entertaining.

Since he had returned his whole relationship to Tipti had deepened. She was always teaching him niceties. She let him taste the rich food she took for granted and insisted on his spending some time with her each day just to talk.