Kebra Nagast

Concerning T&mrin, the Merchant the preaching of word, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon." 1 And the Queen of the South of whom He spake was " the Queen of Ethiopia. And in the words ends of " the earth [He maketh allusion] to the delicacy of the constitution of women, and the long distance of the journey, and the burning heat of the sun, and the hunger on the way, and the thirst for water. And this Queen of the South was very beautiful in face, and her stature was superb, and her understanding and intelligence, which God had given her, were of such high character that she went to Jerusalem to hear the wisdom of Solomon now this was done by the command of God and it was His good pleasure. And moreover, she was exceedingly rich, for God had given her My ; and riches, and gold, and silver, and splendid apparel, and camels, and slaves, and trading men (or, And they carried on her business and merchants). trafficked for her by sea and by land, and in India, and in 'Aswan (Syene). glory, 22. CONCERNING TAMR!N, THE MERCHANT And there was a certain wise man, the leader of a merchant's caravan, whose name was Tamrin, and he used to load five hundred and twenty camels, and he possessed about three and seventy ships. Now at that time King Solomon wished to build the House of God, and he sent out messages among all the merchants in the east and in the west, and in the north and in the south, bidding the merchants come and take gold and silver from him, so that he might take from them whatsoever was necessary for the work. And certain men reported to him concerning this rich Ethiopian merchant, and Solomon sent to him a message and told him to bring whatsoever he wished from the country of Arabia, red gold, and black wood that could 1 B Matthew xii, 42 ; Luke xi, 31. I7