Spices were used in funerary preparations-both as preservatives and agents to control the odors of putrefaction. Though hundreds of years later than the time of Solomon, in the days of the early Roman empire, naturalist Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, wrote that a pound of pepper, the cheapest and most available spice, would buy forty pounds of wheat, and “a pound of the finest cinnamon oil would cost a centurion up to six years’ work.” ģ. Joseph was cast into a pit by his jealous brothers, and eventually sold to a caravan of Ishmaelite (some say Midianite) spice merchants traveling the main trade route from Gilead to Egypt-possibly one of the routes the queen intended to use. Another mention of spices is found in the Joseph narrative (Genesis 37:25). As early as Genesis 2:12 bdellium, a fragrant gum resin which is thought to be from the arid regions of western India, is mentioned. Spices and aromatic gums were quite valuable-some of them were purportedly deemed more precious than gold-and in demand. There was much at stake during this meeting of two formidable potentates.Ģ. By keeping a corner on the spice market, Arabia, and in this case, Sheba, could control the supply, charge exorbitant prices, and thus far, avoid paying duty. It was not above using disinformation as to the origin of its precious commodities (many of which came from as far away as India) nor the routes used to procure/transport them. 1 Kings 10:22-25 fills in some of the details.Īrabia was known for its dominance of the spice trade, and went to great lengths to guard its “trade” secrets. Her gifts, including an abundance of spices, were no doubt part of trade negotiations, and as such, were expected. 565), Sheba’s considerable economy was “dependent upon worldwide, overland spice trade.” Solomon’s new trade alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre, may have caused the queen concern since her merchants must travel through Israel in order to reach other distribution points. According to a note in The Women’s Study Bible (p. A primary consideration is one of commerce. Why were spices of such note in this account? Why would they have been gifts worthy of the king of Israel? There are several reasons, some going farther back into antiquity.ġ.

“.there never were any spices such as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. Suffice it to say, “she came with a very great retinue” (1 Kings 10:2).

Nor is there any way to assess how many attendants would have accompanied her, whether she was escorted by armed guards or units of her army perhaps, or how many of these pack animals were needed to carry necessities such as food, clothing and shelter (i.e., tents). There is no way to determine the weight of the jewels or the spices so as to calculate how many additional camels were needed. That means the queen could have had anywhere from nine to twenty-six camels just to carry the gold. A rough calculation yields 7,920 pounds…of gold-worth a staggering amount by today’s precious metals market! Evidently a dromedary camel can carry from 300-900 pounds (per a Goggle search). Bible scholar, Leon Wood, equates a talent (the queen gave Solomon one hundred and twenty talents of gold) to just over sixty-six pounds. When the queen departed Sheba, Scripture says she came to Jerusalem with “a very great retinue.” How many does “very great” indicate? No consulted commentary ventures any speculation, but perhaps there is a way to guesstimate.

Colloquy of the queen of sheba pdf