The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11
The Aerop1a,1e of King Solomon

AS the queen salaamed before Solo
mon she offered him two wreaths OF
flowers, one natural, the other artfi-
cial. and she asked him which he pre-
ferred For a moment the king was
puzzled to distinguish between the two,
but as a swarm of bees were fluttering
outside the window, he ordered the win
dow to be opened that the insects might
enter. They at once settled upon the
natural flowers and the king replied
triumphantly. Il VIII have the wreath
that the bees have chosen"
Solomon married Balkis and from
she learned to worship the true God.
He also taught her the five arts which
he invented and introduced into the
world-the making of depiliatories,
taking warm baths, piercing pearls,
diving, and the art of melting copper.
The queen gave him her realm but
he returned it to her and when she
went back to her kingdom she gave
birth to a son who is the ancestor of
the kings of Abysinia. The late df he
is really dead) King Menelk claims
direct descent from the Queen of
Sheba.
Solomon is said to have visited Bal
kis every month until the day of her
death after which he had her body
conveyed to Tadmor, OF PALMYRA which
she had founded and there buried.
Her grave had been forgotten until
tho reign of the Caliph Valid when it
was revealed by being unearthed by a
heavy freshet. 1t contained an iron
sareophagus 60 ellis long and 40 ellis
wide which bore this inscription
Here lies Balkis. queen of Sheba. wife
of the prophet Solomon son of David
She was converted to the true faith
In the thirteenth year of the reign of
solcmon she married him in the four
teenth, and died in the three-and- d-twen-
tieth year of his reign"
When the son of the Caliph opened
the sarcophagus he beheld woman
as fresh and fair as If she had been
alive and only sleeping. valid ordered
his son not to disturb the body ard
piled blocks of marble over 1t that it
might not again be molested by the
hand of man.
Solomons ring of which l have spoken,
bore the incommunicable name and
there is a strange story of its being
lost and recovered in the stomach OF a
fish 1t is too long for repetition here.
bltt most remarkable Is its analogy to
the great Hindu epic which was dis
cussed in one of my former papers. The
story so closely resembles the Indian
epic. even Solomons exile and being
recognized by his expertness at cooking
that one questions If they are not from
the same identical source
1t will be both opportune and inter-
osting to relate here the most beauti-
full legend anent the death of King
Solomon. His reign was 40 years dur
ing most of which time he prosecuted
the building of his temple, the actual
work of which was performed by the
Jinns. In talking to a new kind OF
tree which he found in his garden the
rec said to the king. Il serve for the
destruction of the temple. Make me
a staff whereon to lean Solomon
replied, None can destroy the temple
SO long as l live but he knew that
the tree presaged his approaching
death. He pulled up the tree and made
Of IT a staff and while leaning thereon
PRAYED to God that in the event of his
r death the fact might be hidden from the
Jinns until they had completed the
temple and God heard his prayer
1t was his custom to Visit the templb
Where he stood for hours leaning upon
his STAFF and standing with bowed head
dut ing which time no one man nor linn
dared approach him. While thus en-
gagged in alteration the angel OF death
came and so gently was the kings soul
,aken from him that his body remained
standing in the attitude Of prayer. For
whole year it thus stood and all who
saw Solomon deemed that he was en-
Gaged in worship, never dreaming that
he was dead In the mean time the
inns worked day and night till the
temple was completed. Now God had
ordered upon the day that Solomon 5
aodl quilted his body that little ant
which deyours wood, should come out
of the earth under the staff and gnay
the inside of the staff. The insect ate
small quantity every day and as the
staff was strong and stout it required
year before the meal of the ant was
finished. When the temple was COM
rleted the inside of the staff was gone
and ii crumbled under the weight OF
the king so that his body fell to the
tloor. Then the people and the Jinns
knew that Solomon was dead and the
Letter were freed from their bondage.
The. sages assembled and enclosed an
ant in a box with a piece Of wood fos
night and day; they noted the amount
of wood consumed in that time by the
insect and computed It with the length
and diameter of the staff
They thus ascertained that their SOW
oreign had been dead for just one year.
These legends are entertaining and
often instructive SO that their study is
well worth the while. 1t is the custom