to be loved instead. When the dear King Angaboo passed, Mekeda was crowned Queen of Sheba. It was the year 1005 bce, and at the age of fifteen, she was praised for her advanced understanding and resourcefulness. Her beauty was equaled only by her intelligence and diplomacy. Her people loved her with all their hearts and thus made it easy for her to quench her thirst for wisdom, especially when she struggled with venturing north to meet the wise King Solomon. She did not want to leave her people for such a long period of time in case they needed her, telling them:
"I desire wisdom and my heart seeketh to find understanding. I am
smitten with the love of wisdom.... for wisdom is far better than
treasure of gold and silver... It is sweeter than honey, and it maketh one to
rejoice more than wine, and it illumineth more than the sun.... It is a source of
joy for the heart, and a bright and shining light for the eyes, and a giver of speed
to the feet, and a shield for the breast, and a helmet for the head... It makes the
ears to hear and hearts to understand."
"...And as for a kingdom, it cannot stand without wisdom, and riches cannot be
preserved without wisdom.... He who heapeth up gold and silver doeth so to no profit
without wisdom, but he who heapeth up wisdom - no man can filch it from his
heart...I will follow the footprints of wisdom and she shall protect me forever. I
will seek asylum with her, and she shall be unto me power and strength."
"Let us seek her, and we shall find her; let us love her, and she will not withdraw
herself from us, let us pursue her, and we shall overtake her; let us ask, and we
shall receive; and let us turn our hearts to her so that we may never forget her."
With the support of the whole land, three-thousand subjects came forward to offer to escort their Queen to this far off land. This brought great joy to the Queen, as they made the sixteen-hundred mile journey by foot and camel. Nine months later they arrived in the land of Israel, to the city of Jerusalem, where dwelt Solomon (Shelomoh in Hebrew "peaceful") the Wise, son of David and Bath Sheba, King of
Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah.
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