whole town rose up in revolt, and rushed furiously to the palace, determined on the death of the tyrant.
"Then Balkis cut off the head of the king, and showed it to the excited multitude from a window. A cry of joy rang through Sheba. The palace gates were thrown open, and Balkis was unanimously elected queen in the room of the murdered tyrant.
"From that hour she has governed Sheba with prudence, and has made the country prosperous. She sits to hear suits, and gives judgment on a throne of gold, robed in splendour. All prospers under her wise administration: but, alas! like her predecessors, she too is a worshipper of the sun."
When Solomon heard the story of the peewit, he wrote a letter and sealed it with his ring, gave it to the bird, and bade him carry it immediately to the Queen of Sheba.
The peewit flew like an arrow, and on the morrow appeared before Balkis, and gave her the missive. The queen broke the seal and read: "Solomon, son of David, and servant of the Most High God, to Balkis, queen of Sheba, sendeth greeting. In the name of the merciful and gracious God, peace be to those who walk in His ways. Do what I bid thee: submit immediately to my sceptre."[1]
The queen, startled at the abrupt and peremptory command, read the letter to her council, and asked their advice.
They urged her to follow her own devices, and promised to agree to whatever she thought fit. She then said: "You know what disasters follow on war. The letter of Solomon is threat-
- ↑ This is the letter according to Rabbinic authors: "Greeting to thee and to thine; from me, King Solomon. It is known to thee that the holy, ever-blessed God has made me lord and king over the wild beasts and birds of heaven, and over the devils, and spirits, and ghosts of the night, and that all kings, from the rising to the down-setting of the sun, come and greet me. If thou also wilt come and salute me, then will I show thee great honour above all the kings that lie prostrate before me. But if thou wilt not come, and wilt not salute me, then will I send kings, and soldiers, and horsemen against thee. And if thou sayest in thine heart, 'Hath King Solomon kings, and soldiers, and horsemen?' then know that the wild beasts are his kings, and soldiers, and horsemen. And if thou sayest, 'What, then, are his horsemen?' know that the birds of heaven are his horsemen. His army are ghosts, and devils, and spectres of the night; and they shall torment and slay you at night in your beds, and the wild beasts will rend you in the fields, and the birds will tear the flesh off you." This letter, the Jews say, was sent to the Queen of Sheba by a moorcock. (Targum Scheni Esther, fol. 401, 440.)
