Queen of Sheba
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The Queen of Sheba, referred to in the Bible, the Qur'an, and Ethiopic history, was the ruler of Sheba, which modern archeology places in present-day Yemen.
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Biblical account
According to the Bible, the (unnamed) queen of the land of Sheba heard of the great wisdom of King Solomon of Israel and journeyed there with gifts of spices, gold and precious stones, as recorded in First Kings 10.1-13 (largely copied in 2 Chronicles 9.1-12). The queen was awed by Solomon's wisdom and wealth, and pronounced a blessing on Solomon's God. Solomon reciprocated with gifts and "everything she desired," whereupon the queen returned to her country.
The Queen of Sheba appears as the "Queen of the South" in Matthew 12.42 and Luke 11:31, where Jesus indicates that she and the Ninevites will judge the Jews who rejected Jesus. The implication is apparently that righteous gentiles will judge unrighteous Jews.
The Song of Solomon/Song of Songs contain some references which have been at various times interpreted as referring to love between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Thus, the female lover at 1.5 declares "I am black, but comely." Modern biblical scholarship is dismissive of such an early date for the songs, and the passage is not otherwise supportive, the "blackness" being later ascribed to hard labor outdoors.
Qur'anic account
The Qur'an never mentioned the Queen of Sheba by name, though Arab sources name her Bilqis. The story is similar to the one in the Bible. The Qur'anic narrative has Solomon getting news of a kingdom ruled by a queen, and worshipping the sun. He sends a message threatening an invasion. After some gifts are exchanged, the queen arrives at his court, and accepts monotheism and worshipping God alone. See also Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an.
In Islamic legends, Yasir Yan'am was the husband of Balqis or Balkis, the Queen of Sheba. Balqis was the sister of Shams, the Sun. Her father was al-Hadhad, who rescued her mother, a jinn.
Jewish legends
The Jewish historian Josephus (Antiquities 8.6.2ff) emphasizes her love for learning. He gives her the name "Nikaule," evidently conjecturing a connection with the Nitocris of Herodotus (2.100).
Later Jewish legend fleshed out many of the narrative details. Solomon's gift of "whatever she desired" was made concrete in a sexual relationship, and great efforts were expended in compiling lists of the riddles by which the Queen of Sheba had tested Solomon's wisdom. Another tradition related that when the queen met Solomon he was sitting in a glass house. Thinking he was in water, the queen raised her dress, exposing her hairy legs. Solomon's displeasure became an aetiological story for the origin of depilatories.
Ethiopian account
The Imperial family of Ethiopia claims its origin directly from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who is named Makeda in the Ethiopian account. The Ethiopian epic history of kings, the Kebra Negast is supposed to record the history of Makeda and her descendants. King Solomon is said in this account to have seduced the Queen, and sired a son by her, who would eventually become Menelik I, the first Emperor of Ethiopia. Ancient communities that evolved into the modern Ethiopian state were formed by the migration of southern Arabians across the Red Sea and intermarrying with local peoples. Indeed the ancient Ethiopian kingdom of Axum ruled much of Southern Arabia including Yemen until the rise of Islam, and the Amharic and Tigrean languages of Ethiopia are Semitic languages. Evidence of ancient Southern Arabian communities in modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea are widespread, including artifacts, and ancient Sabenean inscriptions. Nothing specific to Makeda has been unearthed so far, but a large bathing pool near Axum and the ruins of an ancient palace are often associated with her by locals (although the palace is thought to be of a much later construction). The posibility that the Southern Arabian and Ethiopian versions of the Queen of Sheba being one and the same is not beyond the realm of possibility.
Renaissance depictions
Boccaccio's "On Famous Women" (Lat. De Mulieribus Claris) follows Josephus in calling her Nicaula, and Christine de Pizan's Book of the City of Ladies continues the convention.
Modern Arab view
Some modern Arab academics have placed the Queen of Sheba not in Yemen, as older Arab sources did, but rather as a ruler of a trading colony in North west Arabia, established by South Arabian kingdoms. Modern archeological finds do indeed confirm the fact that such colonies existed, with south Arabian script and artifacts, although nothing specific to Bilqis have been uncovered so far.
The Queen of Sheba in popular culture
Operas
- George Frideric Handel, Solomon (1749)
- Charles Gounod, Reine de Saba (1862)
- Karl Goldmark, Die Königin von Saba (1875)
Movies
- The Queen of Sheba (1921), starring Betty Blythe
- Solomon and Sheba (1959), starring Yul Brynner and Gina Lollobrigida
- The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man (1963), directed by Ron Rice
- Solomon and Sheba (1995), starring Halle Berry
See also
External links
- The Queen Of Sheba (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/sheba_01.shtml) by Michael Wood and the BBC.
- Jewish Encyclopedia (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=566&letter=S) with information on Jewish and Muslim legends
- The Queen of Sheba (http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/sheba), web directory with thumbnail galleries
- Makeda, Queen of Sheba (http://www.windweaver.com/sheba/Sheba2.htm) by Torrey Philemon.de:Königin von Saba
he:שבא nl:Koningin van Sheba nds:Makeda ja:シバの女王 zh:示巴女王 fr:Reine de Saba sv:Drottningen_av_Saba