Wisdom's Daughter: A Novel of Solomon and Sheba Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Acknowledgments

  Players in the Queen’s Game

  Preface

  Epigraph

  Prologue: Baalit Sings

  PART ONE - The Queen of the south

  Abishag

  Bilqis

  Abishag

  Boaz

  Bilqis

  Rahbarin

  Bilqis

  Abishag

  Rahbarin

  Hodaiah

  Nikaulis

  Bilqis

  PART TWO - The World’s Wisdom

  Abishag

  Baalit Sings

  Solomon

  Ahishar

  Ahijah

  Solomon

  Zadok

  Abishag

  Baalit Sings

  Naamah

  Melasadne

  Ruth

  Abishag

  Zadok

  Solomon

  Nefret

  Benaiah

  PART THREE - Sow the Wind

  Abishag

  Baalit Sings

  Helike

  Baalit Sings

  Rehoboam

  Baalit Sings

  Abishag

  Makeda

  Baalit Sings

  PART FOUR - Better Than Rubies

  Abishag

  Solomon

  Benaiah

  Baalit Sings

  Solomon

  Abishag

  Bilqis

  Khurrami

  Solomon

  Nikaulis

  Benaiah

  Baalit Sings

  Bilqis

  Abishag

  Baalit Sings

  Bilqis

  Baalit Sings

  Ahijah

  Helike

  Abishag

  Bilqis

  Solomon

  Baalit Sings

  Bilqis

  PART FIVE - Pomegranate Seed

  Abishag

  Baalit Sings

  Bilqis

  Baalit Sings

  Abishag

  Nikaulis

  Benaiah

  Baalit Sings

  Bilqis

  Solomon

  Abishag

  Amyntor

  Bilqis

  Baalit Sings

  Abishag

  Baalit Sings

  Abishag

  Baalit Sings

  Solomon

  Bilqis

  Solomon

  PART SIX - A Bed of Spices

  Abishag

  Rahbarin

  Baalit Sings

  Keshet

  Benaiah

  Nikaulis

  Benaiah

  Bilqis

  Abishag

  Bilqis

  Solomon

  Abishag

  Bilqis

  Baalit Sings

  Naamah

  Solomon

  Rehoboam

  Baalit Sings

  PART SEVEN - Seeking Fire

  Abishag

  Baalit Sings

  Abishag

  Solomon

  Rehoboam

  Ahijah

  Zadok

  Ahijah

  Baalit Sings

  Abishag

  Baalit

  Helike

  Baalit Sings

  Benaiah

  Nikaulis

  Baalit Sings

  Ahijah

  Baalit Sings

  Bilqis

  Abishag

  Baalit Sings

  Solomon

  Baalit Sings

  Ahijah

  Abishag

  Baalit Sings

  Helike

  Bilqis

  Nikaulis

  Abishag

  Bilqis

  Abishag

  Solomon

  Makeda

  Solomon

  Nefret

  Solomon

  L’envoi: Morning Rising

  Afterword

  About the Author

  ALSO BY INDIA EDGHILL

  reading group guide

  Copyright Page

  Dedicated to Bonnie S. Wilford

  May 19, 1949—March 10, 2003

  “She worketh willingly with her hands …

  let her own works praise her in the gates.”

  Acknowledgments

  My grateful thanks to those who read this book in its first and second drafts and provided their comments and opinions: Dawn Cox, Joanna Daneman, Rebecca East, Melissa Galyon, Haley Elizabeth Garwood, Roberta Gellis, Nicole Jordan, Michael Kourtoulou, Alida Liberman, Annie Liberman, Cass Liberman, James Macdonald, Tamara Myers, Andre Norton, Laura Pilkington, Niloufer Reifler, Virginia Saunders, Dora Schisler, Bonnie Wenk Stallone, Ron and Jenny Stone.

  Special thanks go to Nichole Argyres, for hand-holding and desserts above and beyond the call of duty; Matthew Balducci, for great marketing; Danny Baror, for making my books truly international; Susan M. S. Brown, for knowing what to do about semicolons and too many cloaks; Ellen Bushyhead, for truly insightful questions; David Cain, for the gorgeous family trees and map; Tanya Farrell, for great PR; Anna Ghosh, for being the absolutely perfect agent; Diane Higgins, for helping me see what my book was really about; Nicole Jordan, who lit hope and inspiration for me to use as a candle against a great darkness; Cheryl Kamm, for insightful comments; Shari Manfredi of Merriweather’s, for blending the Queen of Sheba’s perfume; Brenda Martell, for Lady Leeorenda’s support of the Dutchess County SPCA; Karen O. Miller of H&R Block, for handling a taxing task for me every year; Myra Morales, for the title; Debbie Oster-houdt and Lisa Wallace at Copy-A-Second on Main Street; Susan Polikoff, for “timely” assistance; Cheryl Mamaril, for coordinating production, flawlessly; Susan Walsh, for superb interior design; Henry Yee, for his artistic touch.

  Thanks are also due those who don’t know me but who provided much needed inspiration: Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Brian Blessed, Susan Hampshire, Cherie Lunghi, Keith Michell, Sam Neill, and Kate Winslet. My thanks as well to Kayhan Kalhor and Shujaat Husain Khan for Moon Rise over the Silk Road. And then there are those who have gone before us and will never know how much they inspired me: Anthony Hope, Margaret Irwin, Ava Gardner, and Stewart Granger.

  My eternal gratitude belongs to my grandmother Mary Kravetz Wenk and to her son James Henry Wenk, my father, who taught me their own love of reading and of history, and whose beloved books keep me company now that they are no longer here; to my mother, Gloria Edghill Wenk, who gave her favorite books into my hands and has never demanded them back; and above all, to my sister Rosemary, without whose endless support, patience, and ability to make me think things through—not to mention her vital comment about the original Woodstock, her ability to tune out endless repeats of Moon Rise over the Silk Road, and her sapient observation about rubies—I could not have told Bilqis and Baalit’s story.

  Anything you liked in Wisdom’s Daughter is due to them. Anything you didn’t like is entirely my fault.

  Players in the Queen’s Game

  (Names in italics are of people who died before the tale of Wisdom’s Daughter begins.)

  IN SHEBA

  Allit, Queen Bilqis’s daughter

  Baalit, Allit’s daughter

  Bilqis, Queen of Sheba

  Boaz, an emissary from King Solomon’s court

  Hawlyat, head of the Sheban Cloth Traders’ Guild

  Hodaiah, captain of King Solomon’s merchant fleet

  Irsiya, Queen Bilqis’s handmaiden

  Jotham, King Solomon’s brother and his emissary to Sheba

  Khurrami, Queen Bilqis’s handmaide
n

  Mubalilat, Queen Bilqis’s vizier

  Nikaulis, Amazon captain of the queen’s guard

  Rahbarin, Sahjahira’s son

  Sahjahira, Queen Bilqis’s younger half-sister

  Shakarib, master of the court, Queen Bilqis’s chief steward

  Tamrin, the chief eunuch, Irsiya’s brother

  Uhhayat, the royal chamberlain

  IN JERUSALEM

  Abiathar, high priest during King David’s reign

  Abishag, King Solomon’s first wife and first love, Princess Baalit’s mother

  Absalom, Solomon’s older half-brother

  Adonijah, Solomon’s older half-brother

  Ahijah, the new great prophet

  Ahishar, the palace steward

  Amnon, Solomon’s older half-brother

  Amyntor, a visitor from Caphtor

  Athaniel, Ishvaalit’s brother

  Baalit, daughter of King Solomon and Queen Abishag

  Bathsheba, King Solomon’s mother

  Benaiah, the king’s general, commander of the army

  Chadara, overseer of the women’s palace

  Citrajoyti, King Solomon’s wife from India

  Dacxuri, King Solomon’s wife from Colchis

  Dathan, servant of Elihoreph, the scribe

  David, King of Israel and Judah, King Solomon’s father

  David, King Solomon and Queen Makeda’s son

  Dvorah, one of King Solomon’s Hebrew wives

  Elihoreph, the chief scribe

  Gamaliel, head groom of King Solomon’s horse farm

  Gilade, one of King Solomon’s concubines

  Helike, King Solomon’s wife from Troy

  Ishvaalit, Princess Baalit’s friend

  Jeroboam, superintendent of the Forced Levy

  Joab, King David’s war-chief

  Keshet, Princess Baalit’s handmaiden

  Lahad, Prince Rehoboam’s friend

  Leeorenda, one of King Solomon’s concubines

  Makeda, King Solomon’s wife from Cush

  Melasadne, King Solomon’s wife from Melite

  Michal, King David’s queen, King Solomon’s foster-mother

  Miri, a palace slave

  Naamah, King Solomon’s wife from Ammon, Prince Rehoboam’s mother

  Nefret-meryt-hotep, King Solomon’s wife from Egypt

  Nimrah, Princess Baalit’s handmaiden

  Oreb, Prince Rehoboam’s friend

  Pelaliah, Prince Rehoboam’s friend

  Rehoboam, King Solomon and Queen Naamah’s son, the crown prince

  Reuben, a stable boy

  Rivkah, Princess Baalit’s maid, once Queen Abishag’s servant

  Ruth, one of King Solomon’s minor wives, once known as Surraphel

  Tamar, King Solomon’s older half-sister

  Tobiah, King Solomon’s servant

  Yahalom, gem carver and seal ring merchant

  Zadok, the high priest of the Temple

  Zhurleen, Queen Michal’s friend, Queen Abishag’s mother, Princess Baalit’s grandmother

  SOME OF PRINCESS BAALIT’S OTHER

  HALF-BROTHERS (KING SOLOMON’S SONS

  BY VARIOUS WIVES AND CONCUBINES)

  Abner

  Caleb

  Eliakim

  Eliazar

  Ishbaal

  Jerioth

  Joab

  Jonathan

  Mesach

  Samuel

  Saul

  SOME OF KING SOLOMON’S OTHER

  WIVES AND CONCUBINES

  Aiysha

  Arinike

  Arishat

  Halit

  Jecoliah

  Marah

  Naomi

  Nilufer

  Paziah

  Rahab

  Ulbanu

  Xenodice

  Yeshara

  Preface

  Once there was and once there was not a great and wise king …

  The story of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba is found in I Kings 10: 1—13:

  [I] And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.

  [2] And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

  [3] And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.

  [4] And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built,

  [5] And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.

  [6] And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.

  [7] Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.

  [8] Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.

  [9] Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.

  [10] And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. [II] And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones.

  [12] And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king’s house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.

  [13] And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

  This is repeated almost word for word in II Chronicles 9: 1—12. That’s it; that is the entire tale as it’s told in the Bible. The great love story of Solomon and Sheba comes not from the Bible, but from three thousand years of romantic folklore—for who can resist the story that should be there and isn’t? The wisest king in all the world and the richest queen under the sky meet and then …

  … and then we invent our own stories for them. Here is yet another. So I will start this one as Mark Twain started another story long ago …

  “I will set down a tale … It may be history, it may be only a legend, a tradition. It may have happened, it may not have happened: but it could have happened … .”

  For this is wisdom; to love, to live

  To take what fate, or the gods, may give.

  To ask no question, to make no prayer,

  To kiss the lips and caress the hair.

  Speed passion’s ebb as you greet its flow

  To have—to hold—and—in time—let go!

  —Laurence Hope

  Prologue: Baalit Sings

  SOLOMON WAS A GREAT KING, A MAN OF WISDOM AND POWER; Bilqis was a djinn’s daughter, a creature of sand and fire. So a harper would begin this tale; it is tradition, after all. And so shall I begin my own song to tell the tale of my father and the woman who became more to me than my own mother—for when one has broken every rule and violated every commandment, only tradition can redeem that tale, make it sweet to swallow.

  Sing it so, if you choose: a golden king and a queen from the land beyond morning, well met in a contest of wits and wills. She tried him with hard questions; he answered each with ease. Whereupon the lady bowed before his wisdom, praised his greatness, and then retreated to her faraway kingdom, laden down with priceless gifts freely given by the all-knowing king.

  Whatsoever she
desired, sing the harpers now. King Solomon granted all the great queen’s heart desired—

  But not freely. No, what Solomon the Wise granted unto the foreign queen from the south, her heart’s desire, was given unwilling, forfeit to a king’s honor. The harpers do not sing of that; hard Truth is no man’s daughter.

  So I shall sing their song in my own words, and in theirs, trusting their tale to the winds of time. I, who in my turn shall be Queen of the Spice Lands, Queen of the South—I will sing for you the tale of Solomon the Wise, and Bilqis, Queen of the Morning.

  PART ONE

  The Queen of the south

  Abishag

  I am no more than memory’s echo, but my name is still spoken and so my voice whispers to the living, carried upon the winds of time. For many tales still are told of Abishag the Shunammite, and not all of them to my credit. But this much I can call my heart’s truth: I never schemed to become queen. The plots I aided, the intrigues I carried out, all were done to one end only: that Prince Solomon should wear the crown when King David died. That goal I worked towards always, after I was brought to King David’s court.

  For that—and to win Solomon for myself, to turn his heart to me and to me alone. What was a king, or a crown, compared to that prize?

  And I was granted my heart’s twin desires, for all the good either did me. For I was denied the one thing that would have paid for all the rest, have redeemed all the deeds that put Solomon on the throne and a queen’s crown upon my head: Solomon’s son, a prince to be king hereafter. That prize, I was not to win.

  But in the end, it did not matter.

  Bilqis

  Her land of dreams and spices lay beyond the morning; its very name meant “sunrise.” Spices and dreams, twin jewels in Sheba’s crown—a crown that had smoothly passed from mother to daughter, from aunt to niece, from sister to sister, in a chain of life unbroken for a thousand years.

  Until now.

  The ancient treasure rested in a casket created for the circle of gold and gems so long ago that the images carved into the ebon wood had all but vanished, worn smooth by generations of reverent hands. The court’s high clerk could recite the details of the design as clearly as if it were new-carved. Upon the ancient wood, Ilat, goddess-mother of Sheba, bestowed the gift of spices upon Almaiyat-Quqnus, Sheba’s first queen, herself born of sun and fire.