Impressions of Solomon's Court

IV
Impressions of Solomon's Court

1. JERUSALEM, 968 B.C

A PHALANX of high government officials joined Solomon on the dias in their multi-colored robes, for the Israelites, were noted dye-makers, extending back to one of their ancestors, Joseph, who had been a governor-general in Egypt.
The king began by introducing his cabinet to the traveling salesmen, including the Ethiopian, Tamrin.

Solomon: High Priest Azariah, son of Zadok ... Jehoshapat, son of Ahilud, official historian in charge of the archives ... Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, commander-in-chief of the army ... Zabud, son of Nathan, my personal priest and adviser to the monarchy ... Chief of Staff Ahishar, manager of Palace Affairs ... Azariah, son of Nathan, secretary of state ... Adoniram, superintendent of public works ... special priests Zadok and Abiathar ... cabinet secretaries Elihoreph and Ahijah.

With the introductions completed, Solomon zestfully shouted: "Most honored men." A hush swept ove the usual clamorous behavior of aggressive merchants, each vying for a piece of the action, in the building of the Temple.

Solomon: This indeed is a momentous day in my kingdom's history, for we are united in building a great temple to our great God, Yahweh, who made heaven and earth.

Tamrin's eyes panned the audience, as he thought, "Who is this Yahweh, who made heaven and earth?"
He was a man of many gods, but these Israelites seemed to worship one and he, at th same time, knew this Yahweh was linked as if by an unbreakable chain to the mysterious light, which emanated from deep in the bowels of the City of David and stretched towards Mount Moriah.

Solomon: My good friend, King Hiram of Tyre, has agreed to provide us timber, cedar and cypress, for our temple. You honorable men are being asked to supply the fittings for both the temple and for my palace. The Lord, my God, has given Israel peace on every side. I have enemies from without and no internal rebellions. So I'm planning to build for the Lord, my God, just as he instructed my father that I should do. For the Lord told him, 'Your son, whom I will place on your throne, will build me the temple.' Now, please help me with this project.

Solomon then asked Adoniram to come to his side.
"Today," he began, "I have appointed the son of Abda, our minister of public works as general superintendent of our operations in Lebanon."
There was vigorous applause as Adoniram bowed slightly, with a toothy grin creasing his face for a moment.

The house of Adoniram shook with laughter than night. A celebration was in order. Even the usually straight-laced Abda joined in. Only a pregnant Sarah seemed to interospective, undoubtedly, realizing the general superintendency would mean her husband's imminent departure for the mountains.

2. SOLOMON'S COURT

WEDNESDAYS and Fridays were the designated days, probably from some ancient regulations passed down through the mists of time, to adjudicate disputes. Even in Makeda's court, Tamrin realized the practice had been honored for generations.
Again he returned to the Great Hall on The Ophel, where he'd been the previous day.
At an early hour, a crowd had gathered, both men and women, around a decorated elevated throne of cedar, which had a rich purple canopy, fringed with gold.
To the left of the throne stood the bearded priest Zabud, his face nearly hidden by a purple hood, and on the right, the High Priest, Azariah, a young man of Solomon's age, with none of the trappings of the normally grim priestly order.
The king, his tanned muscular forearms resting on the carved manes of two lions, which were integrated into the throne, was elegant in a long flowing robe of deep red with fringes of white at his neck and royal purple at the hem. In his right hand he held a shiny gold sceptre while his left hand was draped over the lion's noble head, On his brow was a single band, gem-studded crown of five points and encircling his neck was a loose chain of sapphires and gold nuggets.
Quietly, almost with a sense of reverence, the participants approached the king, bowing once, and Solomon would ask, in a low voice, "What is your pleasure?"
After listening to both sides, usually involving a land dispute, he would contemplate his decision for a few minutes, and then pass judgment.

3.

THE FAME of his wisdom was immeasurably increased when two prostitutes, with an argument, came into the Great Hall of Judgment.
"What's your pleasure?" asked Solomon.
"Sir, we live in the same house, just the two of us, and recently I had a baby," said Norah, with a red stain flushing her plump face.
Pointing to the other prostitute, Esther, a rather frail and pathetic-looking character, the beligerent streetwalker began berating her.

Norah: When it was three days old, this woman's baby was born, too, but her baby died during the night when she rolled over on it in her sleep and smothered it ... Then this whore got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while I was asleep, and laid her dead child in mine arms and took mine to sleep beside her. In the morning when I tried to feed my baby, it was dead! When it was dawn, I saw that it wasn't my son at all.
Esther (meekly interrupting): But ... it was Norah's son, and the living one is mine.
Norah (screaming): No, no, no. The dead child is yours and the living one is mine. Do you hear me? The living one is mine.
Solomon (in a calm voice): Let's get the facts straight. Both of you claim the living child, and each says the dead child belongs to the other. All right, bring me a sword.

One of the king's bodyguards, a fierce warrior named Samson handed a savage-looking weapon to the monarch.
"Now, hand the living child to Samson," he asked one of the Palace nurses. To this time, the healthy and crying infant lay on the thick carpeting at the base of the five steps leading up to the throne, alongside the still and bloated dead child.

Solomon (firmly): Samson, take this sword and divide the living child in two and give half to each of the women.
Esther (weakly moaning): No, no, sir. Give Norah the child. Don't kill him.
Norah (contempuously): All right, it will be neither yours now mine. Divide it between us.
Solomon (in a voice as forceful as a grip): Stop! Give the child to Esther, who wants him toi live, for she's the mother.

4.

WISDOM WASN'T always a trait of Solomon's, for he made some extremely unwise choices, marrying foreign women, including Egyptian harlots, which was against the commands of Yahweh, and they introduced him to magical rites and demonic spirits of sorcery.
However, he could have maintained his purity, particularly after a dream he had after ascending to his father David's throne.
The Israelites continued to sacrifice offerings and offer incense at hilltop altars. One of the most famous was Gibeon, where Moses' Tabernacle, transported from the wilderness, had once stood. In front of the site, a bronze altar made by Bezalel, Moses' assistant who had physically constructed the golden container for the Law, was still intact.
It was there that Solomon and a wide array of army officers, judges, political and religious leaders assembled and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings.
That night, the Lord appeared to him in a vision, in a flowing white robe and surrounded by a pure light, telling him to ask for anything he wanted, and it would be given to him.
Rubbing his eyes, even in the dream state because of the brightness of the light, he began talking to the entity.

Solomon (hesistantly): You were wonderfully kind to my father David because he obeyed your commands and you continued your kindness to him by giving him a son to succeed him ... O Lord, my God, now you've made me king instead of my father David, but I'm as a little child who doesn't know his way around. And here I am among your chosen people, a nation so great that there are almost too many people to count ... Give me an understanding mind so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between what's right and what's wrong. For who by himself is able to carry out such a heavy responsibility?

Solomon knew the Being was pleased with such a request.

Entity: Because you've asked for wisdom in governing My people, and haven't asked for a long life or riches for yourself, or the defeat of your enemies -- yes, I'll give you what you asked for. I'll give you a wiser mind than anyone else has ever had or ever will have. And I'll also give you what you didn't ask for -- riches and honor. And I'll also give you what you didn't ask for -- riches and honor. And no one in all the world will be as rich and famous as you for the rest of your life. And I will give you a long life if you follow me and obey My laws as your father did.

The condition to the promise was to haunt Solomon as he grew old.
Then the young king woke up, with sweat covering his body, and realized it had been a dream, but the spirit's words echoed in his ears, for when he returned to the City of David, he humbly went into the Tent of the Tabernacle and stood before the hallowed Ark where he sacrificed burnt offerings.
This was followed by a great banquet for his cabinet ministers.

5.

IN THE early period of his monarchy, Solomon built a huge force of 1,400 chariots and recruited 12,000 cavalry to guard the cities where the chariots were garaged, though some, of course, were stationed at Jerusalem near the king.
During his reign, silver and gold were as plentiful in Jerusalem as rocks on the road. And expensive cedar lumber was used like common sycamore.
Solomon sent horsetraders to Egypt to buy entire stables at wholesale prices, complete with chariots and steeds. Many of these were then resold to the kings of the Hittites and Syria.

Solomon then decided that it was time to build a temple for Yahweh, to house the Ark, and a palace for himself.
Besides the Sidonian lumberjacks. King Hiram of Tyre also sent his most famous craftsman. Huramabi, the son of a Jewish woman from Dan in Israel, and a father from Tyre.
Huramabi was a skillful goldsmith and silversmith, who also did exquisite work with brass and iron. He was noted for his stonework, carpentry and weaving. Besides all these skills, he was an engraver and an inventor.
After setting up the work force, Solomon took a census of all the foreigners in the country, just as his father, David had done and found there were 153,600 of them. He classified 70,000 as common laborers, 80,000 as loggers and 3,600 as foremen.

6.

SOLOMON SEEMED to be searching for a face in the Friday morning throng.
He motioned to Samson, no relation to the legendary strongman, but just as imposing, with a slight movement of the head, his fine black hair glistening in the illumination provided by the hundreds of thousands of chips of ivory imbedded in the ceiling.
The muscular bodyguard sliced through the rabble with the confident strides of an athlete until he stood in front of Tamrin.
The Ethiopian was startled and, fearfully, thought he had done something unpardonable. He could feel the sword off his hand and his foot.
"My lord wishes to speak with you," said Samson, firmly. "Follow me."
In front of the king, the Chief Merchant bowed, realizing he was alone in a sea of unfriendly faces, for Adoniram was in his office on The Ophel, busily preparing for the journey to Lebanon to the north.

Solomon: Mr. Ambassador, I want to thank you for bringing me honor by your presence here today. I also want to tell you of my gratitude for your friendship with my minister of public works and his family and for complying in supplying out needs in our building projects. Your country of Ethiopia is greatly honored to have a man of your abilities ... Mr. Ambassador, my kingdom also wishes to extend our hands of friendship to your queen, Makeda, and an invitation to her and her entourage to be our guests in the near future ... It would also give me great pleasure if you would accompany Adoniram to Lebanon, for you have been there before, and then call on my court on your return. Until then, I bid you Godspeed.

Tamrin was overwhelmed, but all he could mumble was "thank you, my lord."

7. GREAT SIDON RIDGE, MAY, 968 B.C.E.

RIDGE UPON ridge of greens and blacks swept away into the unknown distances like billows of a vast sea; and between them lay the valleys and waterways, glad with the rippling May song of running waters, the sweet scent of early flowering time. and the joyous voice of all mating creatures.
Just under the Great Sidon Ridge lay the paradise, a meadow-like sweep of plain that reached down into the edge of the River, with dark tapestries of cedar and cypress dotting it like islets in an ocean of verdant green.
In the edge of this clump of timber, flat on his back lay Tamrin, his nostrils savoring the sweet smell of wood, and looking into the twinkling night skies. He sadly thought of having to leave this mesmerizing region and his friend, Adoniram.
The camps were scattered among the towering trees, some 10,000 Israelites and an equal number of Sidonians, for Solomon had ordered that he'd pay Hiram's lumberjacks whatever wages he asked because no one in Israel could cut timber like the Sidonians of Phoenicia.
The logs were hauled by oxen to the Mediterranean, and then loaded on to rafts and floated down the coastline, from where they were transported inland to a staging area just outside the walls of the City of David. In return for the lumber, Solomon annually sent Hiram 125,000 bushels of wheat for his household and 96 gallons of pure olive oil among other contractural arrangements, which Elihoreph and Ahijah had worked out with the Phoenician budget director.

8.

TAMRIN STARED into the heavens and suddenly an intense light caused him to shrink from its immenseness. It descended until its foreshadowing halo illuminated the expanse about him.
Drawing the Ethiopian into its vortex, he began to hear soft and melodious music, like the voice of many waters, filling the dome, where he now stood.
Before him, bathed in a shaft of pure brilliance was a raised altar of ivory and atop it a gold container, which radiated both warmth and love. Its radiation seemed to penetrate into the trader's soul, assessing his thougts and his emotions.
Tamrin blinked his eyes.
The dream had passed and he shook himself, suddenly realizing the evening coolness and he moved to his tent for a night of restless sleep and haunting thoughts.

9. JERUSALEM, JUNE, 968 B.C.E.

THE CITY of Jerusalem appeared to wear a cloak of vigorous anticipation of Solomn's massive work project.
Tamrin heard that the king had conscripted 70,000 additional laborers to the 30,000 woodcutters from Lebanon, 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country and 3,300 foremen. Outside in the Kidron Valley, the stonecutters quarried and shaped huge blocks of stone for the temple's foundation.
In the next two weeks of June, Tamrin immersed himself in Solomon's wisdom while staying in one of luxurous guests rooms of King David's Old Palace, and each day and night he felt surrounded by the mysterious light, which glowed from the Lower City.
He now knew where this light came from; it was from the gold container, they called the Ark of the Covenant, that he had envisioned as he stared into the night sky in the mountains of Lebanon.

Tamrin also knew deep within himself, he must return to Ethiopia, not only for business reasons, but because Makeda would be waiting, hoepfully, with patience.
He had developed friendships over the past number of months, which would have a lasting effect on his memory, and, with tears in his eyes, Adoniram, on a 30-day leave from the mountains, and Sarah, now very large with child, bid him goodbye. Even Benjamin and baby Naomi sensed the melancholy as did Abda, the chief shochet and family patriarch.

Their business completed in May, the Ethiopian caravan of camels and 150 men had left for the Arabian Saba, leaving only Tamrin and his aide-de-camp, Gizaw, and an Israelite officer, Geber, son of Uri -- to escort them through the conquered Edomite territory to Ezion-geber, the main entry point on the Gulf of Akaba.
A ship of Commander Adray would take Tamrin and Gizaw to the Ethiopian port of Adulis, from where the two would be escorted overland to Debre Makeda.
Ezion-gener was just one of the seemingly countless entry points throughout Solomon's kingdom which extended from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and down to the Egyptian borders. Conquered peoples west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza, sent taxes to the king and merchants along the Frankinse Trail, all the way to th Indias, who wanted to ply their trade through the Mediterranean, had to pay travel tolls to Solomon and his coffers continued to swell, just as the Being had promised him in a dream at Gibeon.

10.

ON THE day of his departure in June, the heavens were gloomy and rain enveloped the City in a vast shroud. Even Solomon's appearance was downcast.
Bowing low before him, the Ethiopian then embraced the monarch and in an almost whisper, he said: "I don't want to go, but I have to return home." Tamrin stuttered, seemingly searching for the proper words, for he was torn between the passion for this new land and its people and his sense of duty as Chief Merchant and Ambassador of Ethiopia. "You know, Solomon, I'd stay here as one of the very least of your servants, but ..."
"That's all right, I do understand," interrupted the king. Tears flooded their eyes and after embracing, Solomon took his great chain of sapphires and gold nuggets and placed it around the ambassador's neck.