Makeda, The Queen of Sheba

The meeting of King Solomon of Israel and the Queen of Sheba had significant
repercussions upon the fate of Israel and the matriarchy of Sheba (believed to be
early Ethiopia), and has inspired writers, artists and readers for centuries. This
chapter will compare several versions of the Solomon and Sheba story, including  I
Kings 10 in the Bible, and the story of Makeda, Queen of Sheba from the Ethiopian
epic, the Kebra Nagast. It will explore the character of the Queen of Sheba, and the
significance of relationship with King Solomon - both personally and politically.
 
  The Country of Sheba

The country Sheba or Saba, whose name means Host of Heaven and peace, was Abyssinia.
Located in southwest Arabia on the eastern tip of the Red Sea, Sheba occupied 483,000 square
miles of mountains, valley and deserts in the area of present day Yemen. Some historians claim
that Ethiopia, on the western end of the Red Sea, was also part of Sheba's territory. 

Sheba was a wealthy country, advanced in irrigation techniques and hydraulic power. Its people,
the Sabaeans, built dams as high as 60 feet and large earthen wells which contributed to their
thriving agriculture and beautiful gardens. Rich in gold and other precious stones, as well as
incense and exotic spices sought by neighboring kingdoms, Sheba engaged in a lucrative caravan
trade. By 1000 B.C., camels frequently traveled the 1400 miles up the "Incense Road" and along
the Red Sea to Israel. 

The spices of Sheba were highly prized. Frankincense, an offering to the gods, was heaped on
funeral pyres, and given as an antidote for poison, and as a cure for chest pains, hemmorrhoids
and paralysis. Myrrh, an ingredient in fragrant oils and cosmetics, was used in preparing bodies
for burial, for healing ear, eye and nose ailments, and inducing menstruation. Other Sabaean
spices were saffron, cummin, aloes and galbanum. 

The Sabaeans have been described as a tall and commanding people, both woolly-haired and
straight-haired. Semitic in origin, they are believed to have been descendents of the Cush of the
Bible. The sacred Ethiopian book which establishes the founder of the Ethiopian dynasty as the
son of Solomon and Sheba, suggests that the Sabaeans were black. "Ye are black of face - but if
God illumineth your hearts, nothing can injure you," priest Azariah says to the Queen and her
people in the Kebra Negast.(1)

Because of its isolation, Sheba was secure from military invasion for at least 500 years, and was
independent and at peace with its neighbors during the 11th and 10th century B.C. History
reveals that at least five kings preceded the Queen of Sheba - among them Iti'amra and Karibi-
ilu. Yet Arabian documents portray all of Arabia as matriarchal and ruled by queens for over
1000 years. In Ethiopia, the Kebra Negast refers to a law established in Sheba that only a
woman could reign, and that she must be a virgin queen. 

The earliest known Arabian temple was at Marib, capital of Sheba, and was called Mahram
Bilqus, "precincts of the Queen of Sheba." In Arab lore, this queen was named Bilqus or Balkis;
in Ethiopia, Makeda (also Magda, Maqda and Makera), meaning "Greatness." Years later, the
historian Josephus, referred to her as Nikaulis, Queen of Ethiopia and Egypt. 
 
he Queen of Sheba

Legends of the Queen of Sheba are common throughout Arabia, Persia, Ethiopia and Israel. In
Arabian tradition, Balkis ruled with the heart of a woman but the head and hands of a man.
Islamic stories portray Solomon as marrying the Queen. In contrast to the Bible,(3) they portray
her abandoning her gods and converting to the God of the Israelites.

Arabian folklore and the Qu'ran present fanciful stories of the Queen of Sheba. Many of these
tales involve magic carpets, talking birds, and teleportation - the miraculous transfer of Balkis'
throne in Sheba to Solomon's palace. One notable tale involves the hoopoe bird, who tells
Solomon about Balkis and delivers to her a demand from him - unless she visits him, he will
annihilate her people. In one story, her foot which is shaped like an ass's foot is transformed into
a human foot when she steps on Solomon's glass floor; in another story, Solomon invents a
depilatory in order to remove goathair from her legs.

Several Jewish legends which developed in post-Biblical times also present dubious accounts of
the Queen and Solomon. Although many of her challenges to Solomon are believable, others
given in the Targum Sheni, the Midrash Mishle and the Midrash Hachefez are similar to Islamic
tales, and likewise unconvincing. Here again we encounter the talking hoopoe bird; here,
Solomon threatens: "the beasts of the field are my kings, the birds my riders, the demons, spirits
and shades of the night, my legions. The demons will throttle you in your beds at night, while the
beasts slay you in the field and the birds will consume your flesh."(4). Here also, she is described
sending Solomon six thousand boys and girls all born the same hour, the same day, the same
month and same year, all of equal size and dressed in identical purple garments.(5)

More realistic portraits of the Queen of Sheba appear in the Bible and the Kebra Negast.
According to Ethiopian legend, she was born in 1020 B.C. in Ophir, and educated in Ethiopia.
Her mother was Queen Ismenie; her father, chief minister to Za Sebado, succeeded him as King.
One story describes that as a child Sheba (called Makeda) was to be sacrificed to a serpent god,
but was rescued by the stranger 'Angaboo. Later, her pet jackal bit her badly on one foot and leg,
leaving lasting scars and deformity. When her father died in 1005 B.C., Sheba became Queen at
the age of fifteen. Contradictory legends refer to her as ruling for forty years, and reigning as a
virgin queen for six years. In most accounts, she never married.

Sheba was known to be beautiful (despite her ankle and leg), intelligent, understanding,
resourceful, and adventurous. A gracious queen, she had a melodious voice and was an eloquent
speaker. Excelling in public relations and international diplomacy, she was a also competent
ruler. The historian Josephus said of her, "she was inquisitive into philosophy and on that and on
other accounts also was to be admired."(6)

Power and riches could not satisfy Sheba's soul, for she possessed an ardent hunger for truth and
wisdom. Before her visit to Solomon, she says to her people:

"I desire wisdom and my heart seeketh to find understanding. I am smitten with the love of
wisdom.... for wisdom is far better than treasure of gold and silver... It is sweeter than honey,
and it maketh one to rejoice more than wine, and it illumineth more than the sun.... It is a source
of joy for the heart, and a bright and shining light for the eyes, and a giver of speed to the feet,
and a shield for the breast, and a helmet for the head... It makes the ears to hear and hearts to
understand."
"...And as for a kingdom, it cannot stand without wisdom, and riches cannot be preserved
without wisdom.... He who heapeth up gold and silver doeth so to no profit without wisdom, but
he who heapeth up wisdom - no man can filch it from his heart... I will follow the footprints of
wisdom and she shall protect me forever. I will seek asylum with her, and she shall be unto me
power and strength."

"Let us seek her, and we shall find her; let us love her, and she will not withdraw herself from
us, let us pursue her, and we shall overtake her; let us ask, and we shall receive; and let us turn
our hearts to her so that we may never forget her."(7)

The Queen of Sheba Prepares for Solomon

How did the Queen of Sheba learn of King Solomon's wisdom? The leader of her trade caravans,
Tamrin, owned 73 ships and 787 camels, mules and asses, with which he journeyed as far as
India. Having also traded with Israel, he brought gold, ebony and sapphires to Solomon, for use
by his 700 carpenters and 800 masons who were building the great temple of Jerusalem. Tamrin
told Sheba about the temple, and:

"how Solomon administered just judgement, and how he spake with authority, and how he
decided rightly in all matters which he enquired into, and how he returned soft and gracious
answers, and how there was nothing false about him.... Each morning, Tamrin related to the
Queen about all the wisdom of Solomon, how he administered judgement ... and how he made
feasts, and how he taught wisdom, and how he directed his servants and all his affairs... and how
no man defrauded another... for in his wisdom he knew those who had done wrong, and he
chastised them, and made them afraid, and they did not repeat their evil deeds, but they lived in
a state of peace."

"And the Queen was struck dumb with wonder at the things that she heard... and she thought in
her heart that she would go to him; and she wept by reason of the greatness of her pleasure in
those things that Tamrin had told her.... When she pondered upon the long journey she thought
that it was too far and too difficult to undertake. But she became very wishful and most desirous
to go that she might hear his wisdom, and see his face, and embrace him, and petition his
royalty." (8)

Whereas the Ethiopians emphasize Sheba's infatuation and adoration of the unknown Solomon -
perhaps influenced by unfulfilled and sublimated sexual desire - Josephus describes her
inquisitive, skeptical and challenging attitude:

"When this queen heard of the virtue and prudence of Solomon, she had a great mind to see
him...she being desirous to be satisfied by her own experience, and not by a bare hearing (for
reports thus heard are likely enough to comply with a false opinion); she resolved to come to
him, in order to have a trial of his wisdom, while she proposed questions of very great difficulty
and entreated that he would solve their hidden meaning." (9)

Sheba's desire to encounter Solomon was ardent enough for her to embark on a 1400 mile
journey, across the desert sands of Arabia, along the coast of the Red Sea, up into Moab, and
over the Jordan River to Jerusalem. Such a journey required at least six months time each way,
since camels could rarely travel as much as 20 miles per day.
Arabian camels were tall and hardy, able to store water and fat for three weeks while living only
on desert roughage. Wearing saddles of oak padded with colorful fabric, and hung with gold
chains and crescents to win the favor of the gods, camels in a caravan were strung together by
ropes made of goat hairs. Baby camels born along the way were carried on the back of the camel
ahead to assure its mother of its wellbeing.

Sheba's caravan of 797 camels, mules and asses was laden with provisions and gifts for
Solomon. Since a camel's saddle could carry 300-600 pounds, the wealth she brought was vast -
gold, precious stones, furniture and spices. Throughout the day, she rode on an extravagant gold
palanquin, like a four-poster bed, richly cushioned, with a roof shielding her from the sun and
draperies she could close for privacy. Her handsome white camel was laden with gold and
precious stones. Most likely, she was also accompanied by an armed guard to protect her from
desert brigands, and by her devoted servants.

As Sheba prepared for her journey, she yearned deeply for the wisdom which she imparted to
Solomon. Although she already had a passion for abstract knowledge, her virgin status in a
pagan society, and and her association of wisdom with a young and handsome king most likely
fueled her youthful fervor. Yet the response of her servants reveal that she was not merely a
lovestruck adolescent, enamored with fantasies of her hero. Sheba's own devotion to wisdom
likewise inspired devotion from her people. According to the Kebra Negast, she told them:

"The honouring of wisdom is the honouring of the wise man, and the loving of wisdom is the
loving of the wise man. Love the wise man and withdraw not thyself from him... hearken to the
utterance of his mouth, so that thou mayest become like him... The whole story of him that hath
been told me is to me as the desire of my heart, and like water to the thirsty man."

Her nobles, and her slaves, and her handmaidens and her counsellors answered and said unto her,
"O our Lady, as for wisdom, it is not lacking in thee, and it is because of thy wisdom that thou
loved wisdom. And as for us, if thou goest we will go with thee, and if thou sittest down we will
sit down with thee; our death shall be with thy death, and our life with thy life." (10)

Who is Solomon?

The name of Solomon (Sol-Om-On) means Sun, as well as peace. Born to King David and
Bathsheba, Solomon grew up in a polygamous home, for David had 18 wives. Early in his 39-
year reign as king, which began in 961 B.C., he married the daughter of the Egyptian pharoah,
whose dowry included 1000 musical instruments, and 80,000 Egyptian builders. The marriage
may have been a political affair, for Solomon sought the architectural skills of the Egyptians;
legends say that personally, she disappointed him. Later, Solomon took hundreds of wives and
concubines. Many historians believe that he did not become polygamous until after his meeting
with Sheba, early in his reign.

Whatever his marital status when he met Makeda, Solomon was a handsome man, attractive to
women. With dark hair, a tanned lean body and gracious smile, he had an attentive bearing and
compelling charm. He also possessed courtly manners and a lively, youthful spirit. Bedecked in
elegant tunics of fine fabric dyed royal purple, he wore golden collars and chains, as well a
golden circlet with sea-green stones.

Israel during the time of Solomon was a unified kingdom, 30,000 square miles in area - a small
but respected power existing peacefully between Assyria and Egypt. Because Solomon was
talented in international diplomacy, he negotiated trading agreements with neighboring kings,
most notably the Phoenician king, Hiram of Tyre. As a result, his large fleet was built and
manned by Phoenicians, and capable of sailing from Esyon-Geber or Eilat on the Red Sea to
Ophir, Sheba, and India.

Solomon was (at least initially) a capable administrator, who raised the vast wealth required for
his many projects by consolidating his central government and taxing the twelve districts of his
kingdom, each which supported his court for one month each year. Later in his reign, his reliance
upon heavy taxation, forced labor and slavery led to revolt.

Although reports in I Kings of his 40,000 horse stalls and 1400 chariots may be exaggerated,
archaeologists have unearthed 450 horse stalls and 150 sheds for chariots at Megiddo alone.
Indeed, Solomon was a wealthy king who gloried in splendor and luxury. His palace boasted
vineyards, gardens, pools and singers with exotic musical instruments. Its three large pillared
halls, built of cedar and cypress, were ornamented with carved ivory, gold, and sandalwood, with
draperies of crimson and purple. Between two imposing gold lions, he sat on his great ivory
throne with golden armrests and golden embroidery.

In order to build his Palace and Temple, Solomon sent 10,000 workers a month to Lebanon to
fell and transport over land and sea the 120-foot feet high cedars of Lebanon. His great temple,
built by Phoenician craftsmen, consisted of three large rooms of richly carved cedar, cypress and
marble, with a huge bronze altar and bronze columns 40 feet high, hauled up to Jerusalem from
the Jordan valley. Although costly, the Temple was a source of national pride and unity.

Solomon's commitment to building the Temple reflected not only his love of magnificent
architecture, but also his piety. Early in his reign, he dedicated himself to God. When God asked
him what he most wanted, instead of choosing riches or power, he said, "Give thy servant
therefore an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and evil."
(11) Pleased at his request, God rewarded him not only with wisdom, but also honor and wealth.
"So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And all the earth
sought the presence to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart."(12)

Over 3000 proverbs have been attributed to Solomon, as well as 1005 psalms, the book of
Ecclesiastes and in the Christian Apocrypha, The Wisdom of Solomon. In this book, Solomon
speaks of wisdom in a voice reminiscent of Makeda:

"When I reflected in my mind

That in kinship with wisdom there is immortality,
And in her friendship there is pure delight...
I went about seeking how to win her for myself.
I loved her and sought after her from my youth up,
And I undertook to make her my bride,
And I fell in love with her beauty....
So I decided to bring her to live with me,
Knowing that she would give me good counsel,
And encouragement in cares and grief.....
If the possession of wealth is to be desired in life,
What is richer than wisdom, which operates everything?
She understands the tricks of language and the solving of riddles;
She knows the meaning of signs and portents,
And the outcomes of seasons and periods.
Wisdom is bright and unfading,
And she is easily seen by those who love her,
And found by those who search for her." (13)

Solomon's wisdom was not only political and theological; he was also an expert on natural
history. A gardener, he planted olive, spice and nut trees as well as vineyards; he admired and
studied spiders, locusts and harvesting ants. According to the Bible, "he could talk about plants
from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing on the wall; and he could talk of animals and
birds and reptiles and fish." (14)

A Meeting of Minds

Although an Ethiopian tale portrays the Queen of Sheba and her prime minister dressed in man's
clothes as they meet Solomon, most accounts describe her arriving bejewelled and draped in
dazzling robes. Immediately, Solomon gave her a luxurious apartment in a palace next to his, and
provided her with fruits, rose trees, silks, linens, tapestries, and 11 bewitching garments for each
day of her visit. Daily, he sent her (and her 350 servants) 45 sacks of flour, 10 oxen, 5 bulls, 50
sheep (in addition to goats, deer, cows, gazelles, and chicken), wine, honey, fried locusts, rich
sweets, and 25 singing men and women.

A gracious host, Solomon showed Sheba his gardens of rare flowers ornamented with pools and
fountains, and the architectural splendors of his government buildings, temple and palace. She
was awed by his work on the temple, by his great lion-throne and sandalwood staircase, and by
his enormous brass basin carried by the twelve brass bulls which symbolized the twelve months
of the year. She sought astronomical knowledge, for which he was known; Solomon had
developed a new calendar which added an extra month every nineteen years.

Although impressed by Solomon's wealth, Sheba was more interested in his wisdom. Some
scholars suggest that her visit was also economically and politically motivated, "the conclusion
of a trade agreement governing both land and sea routes, rather than a meeting of mutual
admiration."(15) But she came, according to the Kebra Negast, to learn from him, and
according to the Old Testament, "to prove him with hard questions." (16)

What were these "hard questions?" Theologians throughout the ages have speculated on their
nature, believing them to pertain to: peace and war, the meaning of life, evil, secrets of death and
immortality, the relationship between spirit and body, sexuality, male/female differences, the
role of women, the reliability of paternity as a basis for an economic system, the cycles of the
moon and tides, and the name and nature of God. Whatever the questions, most sources refer to
lengthy discussions occurring between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

According to Josephus, "upon the king's kind reception of her, he both showed a great desire to
please her, and easily comprehending in his mind the meaning of the curious questions she
propounded to him, he resolved them." (17) Not only did Sheba ask Solomon philosophical
questions; she also tested him with riddles. The Targum Sheni, Midrash Mischle, and Midrash
Hachefez describe twenty two of her riddles:

"What is it? An enclosure with ten doors; when one is open, nine are shut, and when nine are
open, one is shut," Sheba asked Solomon. Solomon answered, "The enclosure is the womb, and
the ten doors are the ten orifices of man, namely his eyes, his ears, his nostrils, his mouth, the
apertures for discharge of excreta and urine, and the navel. When the child is still in its mother's
womb, the navel is open, but all the other apertures are shut, but when the child issues from the
womb the navel is closed and the other orifices are open." (18)

In another riddle pertaining to the body, Sheba posed to Solomon, "Seven leave and nine enter;
two pour out the draught and only one drinks." How did Solomon respond? "Seven are the days
of woman's menstruation, nine the months of her pregnancy; her two breasts nourish the child,
and one drinks." (19)

Other riddles concerned with common objects and materials. At one point, Sheba asked, "What
when alive does not move, yet when its head cut off, moves?" Solomon's answer: "the timber
used to build a ship." (20) Another riddle she proposed was: "It is many- headed. In a storm at
sea it goes above us all, it raises a loud and bitter wailing and moaning; it bends its head like a
reed, is the glory of the rich and the shame of the poor, it honors the dead and dishonors the
living; it is a delight to the birds, but a sorrow to the fishes. What is it?" Solomon replied, "Flax,
for it makes sails for ships that moan in the storm. It provides fine linen for the rich and rags for
the poor, a burial shroud for the dead, and a rope for hanging the living. As seed it nourishes the
birds, and as a net it traps the fish." (21)
 

Some of Sheba's questions were related to Old Testament wisdom. For example, "The dead
lived, the grave moved, and the dead prayed. What is it?" The answer: "The dead that lived and
prayed was Jonah; the fish, the moving grave." (22) In one theological riddle, she asked: "What
is the ugliest thing in the world, and what is the most beautiful? What is the most certain, and
what is the most uncertain?" Solomon replied, "The ugliest thing...is the faithful turning
unfaithful; the most beautiful is the repentant sinner. The most certain is death; the most
uncertain, one's share in the World to Come." (23)

In addition to riddles which required a verbal answer, Sheba tested Solomon's ingenuity in
action. Dressing five boys and girls identically, she asked him to detect their sex. When he
handed them bowls of water for them to wash their hands, the girls, unlike the boys, rolled up
their sleeves. Sheba also brought Solomon two flowers alike in appearance, but one was real
while the other was artificial; he distinguished them by noting how bees swarmed to the flower
with the genuine fragrance. Then, giving him a large emerald with a curved hole in the middle,
she asked him to draw a thread through it; he sent for a silkworm, which crawled through the
hole drawing with it a silken thread.

The Midrash Hachefez reports still another test of Solomon's cleverness. Sheba presented
Solomon with the sawn trunk of a cedar tree, the ends cut off so that they looked the same; she
asked Solomon which end had been the root, and which the branches. Solomon ordered the tree
stump to be placed in water. When one end sank while the other floated, he said to her, "The part
which sank was the root, and that which floated on the surface was the end containing the
branches."

According to the Kebra Negast, the questions and tests were mutual; Solomon also challenged
Sheba. Yet existing legends describe only a few of the artful strategies he used to outwit her.
Determined to discover if the stories of her deformed foot were true, he arranged for a stream of
water to flow onto the glass beside his throne (in the Quran, he had running water with fish
swimming about it under clear glass), so that Sheba would lift her skirts as she approached him.
When she did so, he noted the hair on her legs, and told her, "Thy beauty is the beauty of a
woman, but they hair is masculine; hair is an ornament to a man, but it disfigures a woman." He
then invented a depilatory in order to acquaint her with his conceptions of womanhood.(24)

During Sheba's six month visit with Solomon, she conversed with him daily. The Kebra Negast
informs us that "the Queen used to go to Solomon and return continually, and hearken unto his
wisdom, and keep it in her heart. And Solomon used to go and visit her, and answer all the
questions which she put to him... and he informed her concerning every matter that she wished
to enquire about." (25) Frequently, they roamed Jerusalem together, as she questioned him and
watched him at work. 

Once, observing a laborer wearing ragged garments, sweating, carrying a stone on his head and a
jug of water around his neck, Solomon mused:

"Look at this man. Wherein am I superior to this man? In what am I better than this man?
Wherein shall I glory over this man? For I am a man and dust and ashes, who tomorrow will
become worms and corruption, and yet at this moment I appear like one who will never die. As is
his death, so is my death, and as is his life, so is my life.

Then what is the use of us, the children of men, if we do not exercise kindness and love upon
earth? Are we not all nothingness, mere grass of the field, which withereth in its season and is
burnt in the fire? On the earth we wear costly apparel... we provide ourselves with sweet
scents... but even whilst we are alive we are dead in sin and in transgressions. Blessed is the
man who knoweth wisdom, compassion and the fear of God." (26)

Whether Sheba was an adoring adolescent in search of a wise hero, or a confident, powerful
young woman who journeyed to Jerusalem to challenge Solomon, she was impressed with his
wisdom, compassion, justice and wealth. I Kings tells us:

"And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had
built, and the food of his table, and the attendance of his ministers...she said to the King, `It was
a true report that I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed
not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; thou hast wisdom and prosperity
exceeding the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men...that stand continually before thee, and
that hear thy wisdom.'" (27)

Josephus also states that she was surprised to learn that the flattering reports she had heard about
Solomon were true, "that she was amazed at the wisdom of Solomon.... She was in the greatest
admiration imaginable, insomuch that she was not able to contain the surprise she was in, but
openly confessed how wonderfully she was affected." (28)

A Greater Union

The sketchy portraits that we have of Sheba hint at her expression of emotional openness, and
intellectual curiosity with Solomon. Even the brief account of her in I Kings, that "she
communed with him of all that was in her heart...there was not anything hid from the king which
he told her not" (29), suggests that her encounters with Solomon were not only intellectual
discussions, but also open and heartfelt dialogues. The Kebra Negast is considerably more
effusive:
"And he visited her and was gratified, and she visited him and was gratified... And she marvelled
in her heart, and was utterly astonished in her mind, and she recognized how wise he was in
understanding, and pleasant in graciousness, and commanding in stature. And she observed the
subtlety of his voice, and the discreet utterances of his lips, and that he gave his commands with
dignity, and that his replies were made quietly and with the fear of God." (30)

When she expressed her admiration and joy to Solomon directly, he answered with humility, and
likewise expressed his admiration for her. The Kebra Negast reports her saying to him:

"O how greatly have pleased me thy answering, and the sweetness of thy voice, and the beauty of
thy going, and the graciousness of thy words. Thy voice maketh the heart to rejoice...and giveth
goodwill to the lips, and strength to the gait. I look upon thee and I see that thy wisdom is
inexhaustible, and that it is like a lamp in the darkness, and like a pomegranate in the garden,
and like a pearl in the sea, and like the Morning Star among the stars, and like the light of the
moon in the mist, and like a glorious dawn and sunrise in the heavens."

And King Solomon answered and said unto her, "Wisdom and understanding spring from thee
thyself. As for me, I only possess them in the measure in which the God of Israel hath given them
to me because I asked and entreated them from Him. And thou, although thou dost not know the
God of Israel, thou hast this wisdom which thou hast made to grow in thine heart."

...And moreover, Solomon marvelled concerning the Queen, for she was vigorous in strength,
and beautiful of form, and undefiled in virginity; and she had reigned for six years in her own
country, and notwithstanding her gracious attraction and her splendid form, had preserved her
body pure." (31)

Were Solomon and Sheba lovers? Did Sheba lose her virginity to the King? The Bible does not
say so directly. However, the Hebrew verb bw', which means "to come", is used to describe
Sheba's approach to Solomon; this particular word also means coitus, and frequently in the Bible
refers to entering a house for the purpose of sexual relations. The statement that "King Solomon
gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked" (32) (as well as Josephus'
explanation, "for there was nothing that she desired which he denied her" (33) might also imply
that he not only fulfilled her intellectual and material passions; he also fulfilled her sexual
passion.

Ethiopian and Arabian accounts explicitly refer to sexual relations between Solomon and Sheba.
The Kebra Negast describes that "he pondered in his heart, `A woman of such splendid beauty
hath come to me from the ends of the earth! What do I know? Will God give me seed in
her?'"(34) He desired her, and she likewise may have desired him, but because she sought to
retain her virginity in order to reign as queen, she refused him. After six months together, when
Sheba contemplated leaving, he begged her to stay, and asked her to marry him. But she
declined, most likely because she was committed to her own people, and was also unwilling to
be a wife to a polygamous man, in a society where women had few rights.

Ingenious Solomon was not to be deterred by her refusal. He tricked her into choosing to give
herself to him sexually. An Arabic account tells us:

"And Solomon loved women passionately, and... when her visits to him multiplied, he longed for
her greatly and entreated her to yield herself to him. But she would not surrender herself to him,
and she said unto him, `I came to thee a maiden, a virgin; shall I go back despoiled of my
virginity, and suffer disgrace in my kingdom?'

And Solomon said unto her, "I will only take thee to myself in lawful marriage - I am the King,
and thou shalt be the Queen...Strike a covenant with me that I am only to take thee to wife of
thine own free will - this shall be the condition between us: when thou shalt come to me by night
as I am lying on the cushions of my bed, thou shalt become my wife." And behold she struck this
covenant with him, determining within herself that she would preserve her virginity from him."
(35)

He then arranged a great feast for her, beautifying his tent with purple hangings, carpets, marbles
and precious stones, and burning aromatic powers and incense. "Follow me now and seat thyself
in my splendour in the tent,'" he told her, "and I will complete thy instruction, for thou has loved
wisdom, and she shall dwell with thee until thine end and for ever." (36) When she agreed, he
rejoiced. He prepared meats which would make her thirsty, fish cooked with pepper, and drinks
containing vinegar. Then they dined and conversed until late in the night, when he suggested that
she sleep there near him, rather than return to her apartment.

The Kebra Negast describes an agreement which Solomon then made with Sheba (in contrast to
the Arabic text in which he promises not approach her sexually unless she approaches him first).
Here, he swears that he will not "take her by force" as long as she does not "take by force"
anything of his:

"And she said unto him, `Swear to me by thy God, the God of Israel, that thou wilt not take me by
force. For if I, who according to the law of men am maiden, be seduced, I should travel on my
journey back in sorrow, and affliction and tribulation.'

And Solomon answered and said unto her, `I swear unto thee that I will not take thee by force,
but thou must swear unto me that thou wilt not take by force anything that is in my house.' And
the Queen laughed and said unto him, `Being a wise man, why dost thou speak as a fool? Shall I
steal anything, or shall I carry out of the house of the King that which the King hath not given
me? Do not imagine that I have come hither through love of riches. Moreoever, my own kingdom
is as wealthy as thine, and there is nothing which I wish for that I lack. Assuredly I have only
come in quest of thy wisdom.'

... And she said unto him, `Swear to me that thou wilt not take me by force thy, and I on my part
will swear not to take by force thy possessions'; and he swore to her and made her swear." (37)

In both accounts, Sheba slept in Solomon's tent, and awakened in the middle of the night thirsty
and craving water, but only able find a water in a jar by Solomon's bed. Solomon had, of course,
asked his servants to hide all other sources of water. Believing him to be asleep, she reached
across his bed for water, but he opened his eyes, seized her hand and said:

"`Why hast thou broken the oath that thou hast sworn that thou wouldn't not take by force
anything that is in my house?' And she answered and said unto him in fear, `Is the oath broken
by my drinking water?....Be free from thy oath, only let me drink water.' And he permitted her to
drink water, and after she had drunk water...they slept together" (38)
In the Arabic text, Solomon reminded her of the agreement they had made if she came to him by
night. She then "remembered the covenant that existed between him and her. And she gave
herself into his embrace willingly."(39)

Sheba may have been Solomon's lover, but she did not become his wife or remain with him
much longer. After she had visited him for six months, she chose to return to her own country.
Before she left, she gave Solomon 120 talents of gold (10 million dollars), precious stones and
spices in great abundance, and highly prized sandalwood for his temple. In the Biblical story,
"Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked...besides that which
Solomon gave her of his royal bounty." (40) Likewise, Josephus states, "Solomon also repaid her
with many good things...bestowing upon her what she chose of her own inclination, for there
was nothing that she desired which he denied her; and as he was very generous and liberal in
his own temper, so did he show the greatness of his soul in bestowing on her what she herself
desired of him." (41)

Unlike the Bible and Josephus, the Kebra Negast provides details of Solomon's gifts - beautiful
apparel, 6000 camels, wagons laden with luxurious goods, and vessels for travel over desert, air,
and sea. Because she was now pregnant with his child, he also gave her a ring, for he hoped that
she would bear him a son, who might in time visit Jerusalem and prove his identity to Solomon.

The Aftermath: Solomon's Later Years

The visit of the Queen of Sheba was the culminating point of Solomon's life. After she left, he
continued to write and speak words of wisdom, but he and Israel deteriorated. We might
speculate that this deterioration was triggered not only by his increasing preoccupation with
building a glorious palace and temple, but also by Sheba's return to her country. Never again
would Solomon encounter or love a woman he could call her equal.

After she left, Solomon took 700 wives and 300 concubines, many who were foreign women
who eventually "turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the
Lord his God." (42)  Although God had commanded that he and the Israelites reject idolatry and
the gods of other nations, Solomon built pagan temples for his many wives. In the region south
of the Mount of Olives, referred to as the Hall of Shames, he constructed shrines to Ashtoreth,
goddess of the Sidonians; Chemosh, goddess of Moab; and Milcom and Molech, goddesses of
the Ammonites. He also honored Astarte, who was worshipped by many cultures, including the
Sabaeans.

Although Solomon was known for his internationalism and his openmindedness to foreign
cultures and their beliefs, his religious tolerance contributed to his downfall. Not only did he
anger God; he also failed to unify his people, who needed their monotheistic practices in order to
maintain religious identity and national pride.

The completion of his luxurious Temple became more important to Solomon than the practice of
his religion. Then his luxurious Palace - built for personal rather than collective use - took
precedence over the Temple. Finally, his writing and preaching of wisdom became increasingly
divorced from experience.

Solomon no longer lived by the humane principles for which he had become respected and
honored. Some historians even view him as a tyrant who became devoted to his own glory, and
whose greed and extravagance led him to build his kingdom on injustice, oppression and misery.
(43)

Solomon drew tax lines across the old tribal borders, alienating tribal elders. For his costly
architectural projects, he taxed mercilessly, forcing those who could not pay into slavery, and
seizing their lands. Many starved and died. Raising a levy of 30,000 men for forced labor from
Hebrews and non-Hebrews of his northern kingdoms, rather than his own people of Judah,
Solomon divided his country. His people, including his own sons, became increasingly resentful,
and began to revolt.

After his death, the northern kingdoms of Israel stopped tolerating the forced labor and high
taxes which had fed Judah, and refused to accept Solomon's son Rehoboam as king. Civil war
resulted; ten northern tribes set up their own kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam, leaving only the
kingdoms of Judah and Benjamin to Rehoboam. Such internal strife only made the Israelites
weak, and vulnerable to invasion. Eventually, the Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians
conquered them, and carried them off into exile. While the Queen of Sheba's visit was a time of
glory, it marked the beginning of the end for Solomon and all of Israel.
 
 

The Aftermath: Sheba and Her Son

Sheba's life after Solomon was more fortunate. Upon returning home, she gave birth to a son,
whom she named Ibn al-Hakim, "son of the wise man." Some Jewish, Islamic and Persian
sources state that this child was Nebuchadnezzar (44); Ethiopians believe him to be David II (the
name given him by Solomon), who later called himself Menelek, and who was the first king of
the Ethiopian dynasty.

The Kebra Negast states that when Menelek was 12 years old, he began asking his mother about
his father, and that when he was 22, he traveled to Jerusalem, bearing the ring which Solomon
had given Makeda. Because Menelek's facial features, eyes, legs and gait were similar to his
father's, Solomon recognized him instantly. Rejoicing in his firstborn male heir, he wanted
Menelek to be his successor, but Menelek refused. Although he remained for a time to study the
laws of the Hebrews, Menelek, like his mother, chose to return to Sheba. Solomon was deeply
grieved at his departure, and also dreamed of laying with Makeda, experiencing once again the
glory that they had known together.

No existing Jewish or Christian documents refer to Sheba giving up her reign as queen, or
insisting that only kings descending from Solomon should rule, or converting to Islam. Indeed, in
the Bible, she offered respect to the Hebrew god, but returned to her own country and customs.
The Kebra Negast presents a different picture. Written to establish the Solomonic kings as the
basis of the Ethiopian dynasty, and Islam as the national religion, it emphasizes her decree that
"there shall be no more queens in Ethiopia, but only a man." Here she is portrayed telling
Solomon, "Henceforward a man who is of thy seed shall reign, and a woman shall nevermore
reign; only seed of thine shall reign and his seed after him." (45)

Here too, she is described writing Solomon a letter, requesting that he send her a fringe from the
holy Arc of the Covenant, so that the Sabaeans might reverence it. When Solomon demanded
that his counselors send their eldest sons to Sheba to spread the religion of the Israelites, his
counselors rebelled and arranged for the theft of the Arc, which was then secretly transported to
Sheba.

"From this moment I will not worship the sun, but will worship the Creator of the sun, the God
of Israel," Sheba had told Solomon. Now, she declared that her people "shall not worship the
sun and the magnificence of the heavens, or the mountains and the forests, or the stones and
three trees of the wilderness, or the abysses and that which is in the waters... or feathered fowl
which fly...and they shall not pay adoration unto them." (46)  Not only did she forbid pagan
worship, but she also declared the Hebrew god the national god.
 

After her visit to Solomon, Sheba continued to earn respect from her people for the wisdom she
had gained and continued to gain, as a result of her commitment to learning, spiritual
development, and benevolent leadership. She was also revered for her kindness to her people,
and her capacity to live by her philosophical and religious principles. In her prayers to her new
god, she said:

"Grant unto me that I may follow Wisdom, and may not become a castaway; grant that I may
make her a foundation for me, and may never be overthrown; grant that I may stand upon her as
firmly as a pillar and may not topple over; grant that I may become vigorous through her, and
not suffer from exhaustion; grant that I may grasp her firmly, and may not slide; grant that I
may dwell in her in peace....

Through her I have dived down into the great sea and have seized her depths a pearl whereby I
am rich. I went down like the great iron anchor whereby men anchor ships for the night on the
high seas, and I received a lamp which lighteth me, and I came up by the ropes of the boat of
understanding. I went to sleep in the depths of the sea, and not being overwhelmed with the
water I dreamed a dream.

And it seemed to me that there was a star in my womb, and I marvelled thereat, and I laid hold
upon it and made it strong in the splendour of the sun; I laid hold upon it, and I will never let it
go. I went in through the doors of the treasury of wisdom and I drew for myself the waters of
understanding. I went into the blaze of the flame of the sun, and it lighted me with the splendor
thereof, and I made of it a shield for myself, and I saved myself by confidence therein, and not
myself only but all those who travel in the footprints of wisdom, and not myself only but...my
country." (47)

from LA SIBYLLA DEL ORIENTE

a play by Caleron de Barca
  Sheba and Solomon
seem to be as one;
of genius and beauty
she's a divine prodigy
and he a human miracle
of glory and wisdom,
so that in upholding
glory and prudence
the twain seem as one.
 
from THE LOVER 
OF THE QUEEN OF SHEBA
a dramatic dialogue in verse 
by Arthur Symons

SHEBA
"She, the one whiteness of the earth,
For whom the ardent valley grows
A flame, an odour, and the rose
Finds in the world but wisdom worth
The trouble of the soul's repose."

SOLOMON
"When thou are I, and I am thou,
Time is no more...Beloved, come
Into the garden dim with spice;
Let us forget that we are wise,
And wisdom, though it be the sum
Of all but love, is love's disguise."

from Handel's Oratorio: SOLOMON

But to hear fair truth distilling
In expression choice and thrilling
From that tongue so soft and killing
That my soul does most delight...
And now, illustrious prince, receive
Such tribute as my realm can give.

from ON WOMAN 
by William Butler Yeats

Though pedantry denies,

It's plain the Bible means
That Solomon grew wise
While talking with his queens,
Yet never could, although
They say he counted grass,
Count all the praises due
When Sheba was his lass

from SOLOMON AND SHEBA 

by William Butler Yeats

Sang Solomon to Sheba,

And kissed her dusky face,
"All day long from mid-day
We have talked in the one place.
All day long from shadowless noon
We have gone round and round
In the narrow theme of love..."

Sang Solomon to Sheba,

And kissed her Arab eyes,
"There's not a man or woman
Born under the skies
Dare match in learning with us two."

from SOLOMON AND THE WITCH

by William Butler Yeats

And thus declared that Arab lady:

"Last night, where under the wild moon
On grassy mattress I had laid me,
Within my arms great Solomon,
I suddenly cried out in a strange tongue.

Maybe the bride-bed brings despair

For each an imagined image brings
And finds an imagined image there;
Yet the world ends when these two things
Though several, are a single light,
When oil and wick are burned in one;
Therefore a blessed moon last night
Gave Sheba to her Solomon."...

Maybe an image is too strong

Or maybe is not strong enough.
The night has fallen; not a sound
In the forbidden sacred grove
Unless a petal hit the ground,
Nor any human sight within it
But the crushed grass where we have lain;
And the moon is wilder every minute.
Oh Solomon! let us try again.

Sources:
Calderon de Barca: LA SIBYLLA DEL ORIENTE, quoted in Watson in Pritchard, p.135.

Symons, Arthur, THE LOVER OF THE QUEEN OF SHEBA quoted in Watson in Pritchard,
143-44.

Handel's Oratorio: SOLOMON quoted in Watson, Paul F., "The Queen of Sheba in Christian
Tradition,"  quoted in Pritchard, James B., editor, SOLOMON AND SHEBA, Phaidon
Publishers, London, 1974, p.134.

Yeats, William Butler, POEMS OF WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, edited by Richard Finneran,
MacMillan, New York, 1968. "Solomon and Sheba," "On Woman," "Solomon and the Witch".
The Queen of Shebah (Hebrew: ‫מלכת שבא‬, Malkat Shva; Ge'ez: ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nigiste Saba
(Nəgəstä Saba); Arabic: ‫ملكة سبأ‬, Malikat Sabaʾ) was a monarch of the ancient kingdom of Sheba
and is referred to in Habeshan history, the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur'an.
There is no evidence of her existence outside the texts of these four sources.[1] She is widely
assumed to have been a queen regnant, although there is no historical proof of this; in fact, she
may have been a queen consort.[1] The location of her historical kingdom is believed to be in
Yemen or Ethiopia.[2]

hide1 Diverse references2 Hebrew biblical account3 Qur'anic Account4 Ethiopian account5
Possible Egyptian derivation6 Nubia - another possible location7 Christian interpretations8
Medieval depictions9 Renaissance depictions10 Modern Arab academic view11 Recent
archaeological discoveries12 See also13 Footnotes14 Primary sources15 Secondary sources16
Bibliography

[edit] Diverse references

Known to the Ethiopian people as Makeda or Maqueda (ማክዳ mākidā),[3] this queen has been
called a variety of names by different peoples in different times. To King Solomon of Israel she
was the Queen of Sheba. In Islamic tradition she was called Balqis or Balkis by the Arabians,
who say she came from the city of Sheba, also called Mareb, in Yemen or Arabia Felix. The
Roman historian Josephus calls her Nicaule. She is thought to have been born on January 5,
sometime in the 10th century BC.

In the Hebrew Bible, a tradition of the history of nations is preserved in Genesis 10. In Genesis
10:7 there is a reference to Sheba, the son of Raamah, the son of Cush, the son of Ham, son of
Noah. In Genesis 10:26-29 there is a reference to another person named Sheba, listed along with
Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Ophir, Havilah,
and Jobab as the descendants of Joktan, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Arphaxad,
the descendant of Shem, another son of Noah.

Aharoni, Avi-Yonah, Rainey, and Safrai placed the Semitic Sheba in Southern Arabia in
geographic proximity to the location of the tribes descended from their ancestor, Joktan. In
addition to Sheba, Hazarmaveth and Ophir were identified. Semitic Havilah was located in
Eastern Africa, modern day Ethiopia. Semitic Havilah (Beresh't 10:29) is to be distinguished
from Cushite Havilah (Beresh't 10:7), the descendant of Cush, descendant of Ham; both
locations for Havilah are thought by these scholars to have been located in present day Ethiopia.
[4]

Hebrew biblical account

Claude Lorrain, The Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba

According to the Hebrew 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, precious
stones, and beautiful wood and to test him with questions, as recorded in First Kings 10:1-13
(largely copied in 2 Chronicles 9:1–12).

It is related further that the queen was awed by Solomon's great wisdom and wealth, and
pronounced a blessing on Solomon's God. Solomon reciprocated with gifts and "everything she
desired." Solomon offered to give her everything his kingdom had to offer except the "royal
bounty." Therefore, according to the Bible, "she turned and went to her country, she and her
servants." The queen apparently was quite rich, however, as she brought four and a half tons of
gold with her to give to Solomon (1 Kings 10:10).

In the biblical passages which refer explicitly to the Queen of Sheba there is no hint of love or
sexual attraction between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The two are depicted merely as
fellow monarchs engaged in the affairs of state.

The biblical text, Song of Solomon (Song of Songs), contains some references, which at various
times, have been interpreted as referring to love between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The
young woman of the Song of Songs, however, continues to deny the romantic advances of her
suitor, whom many commentators identify as King Solomon. In any case, there is little to
identify this speaker in the text with the rich and powerful foreign queen depicted in the Book of
Kings. The woman of the text of the song clearly does regard "The Daughters of Jerusalem" as
her peer group.[citation needed]

[edit] Qur'anic Account

The Queen of Sheba, Bilqis, shown reclining in a garden - tinted drawing on paper c. 1595

The Qur'an, the central religious text of Islam, mentions the Queen by name in the 34th Chapter
of the Holy Book. Arab sources name her Balqis or Bilqis. The Qur'anic narrative, from sura 27
(An-Naml),[5] has Solomon getting reports from the Hoopoe bird about the kingdom of Saba
(Sheba), ruled by a queen whose people worship the sun instead of God. Solomon sends a letter
inviting her to visit him and submit fully to the One God, Allah, Lord of the Worlds according to
the Islamic text. The Queen of Sheba is unsure whether to accept his invitation and does not wish
to behave as a king would: 'entering a country, despoiling it and making the most honorable of
its people its lowest'. So she decides to send Solomon gifts and await his response. He then sends
back a response warning her and her people about the power he has. Queen Sheba sends him
back gifts. Solomon is unimpressed by the Queen's gifts, stating that the gifts he has received
from God are far greater in value.

Upon discovering that the Queen is coming to meet him, Solomon asked his people if anyone
can bring the throne of the Queen before she arrives. A jinn under the control of Solomon
proposed that he will bring it before Solomon rises from his seat. One who had knowledge of the
"Book" proposed to bring him the throne of Bilqis 'in the twinkling of an eye' and accomplished
that immediately.[6] The queen arrives at his court, is shown her throne and asked: does your
throne look like this? She replied: (It is) as though it were it. When she enters his crystal palace
she accepts Abrahamic monotheism and the worship of God alone.

[edit] Ethiopian account

An Ethiopian fresco of the Queen of Sheba travelling to Solomon.

The imperial family of Ethiopia claims its origin directly from the offspring of the Queen of
Sheba by King Solomon.[7] The Queen of Sheba (ንግሥተ ሣብአ nigiśta Śab'a), is named Makeda
(ማክዳ) in the Ethiopian account.

The etymology of her name is uncertain, but there are two principal opinions about its Ethiopian
source. One group, which includes the British scholar Edward Ullendorff, holds that it is a
corruption of "Candace", the Ethiopian queen mentioned in the New Testament Acts; the other
group connects the name with Macedonia, and relates this story to the later Ethiopian legends
about Alexander the Great and the era of 330 BCE.

The Italian scholar Carlo Conti Rossini, however, was unconvinced by either of these theories
and, in 1954 stated that he believed the matter unresolved.[8]

An ancient compilation of Ethiopian legends, Kebra Negast ('the Glory of Kings'), is dated to
seven hundred years ago and relates a history of Makeda and her descendants. In this account
King Solomon is said to have seduced the Queen of Sheba and sired her son, Menelik I, who
would become the first Emperor of Ethiopia.
The narrative given in the Kebra Negast - which has no parallel in the Hebrew Biblical story - is
that King Solomon invited the Queen of Sheba to a banquet, serving spicy food to induce her
thirst, and inviting her to stay in his palace overnight. The Queen asked him to swear that he
would not take her by force. He accepted upon the condition that she, in turn, would not take
anything from his house by force. The Queen assured that she would not, slightly offended by
the implication that she, a rich and powerful monarch, would engage in stealing. However, as she
woke up in the middle of the night, she was very thirsty. Just as she reached for a jar of water
placed close to her bed, King Solomon appeared, warning her that she was breaking her oath,
water being the most valuable of all material possessions. Thus, while quenching her thirst, she
set the king free from his promise and they spent the night together.

Other Ethiopian accounts make her the daughter of a king named Agabo or Agabos, in some
legends said to have become king after slaying the mythological serpent Arwe; in others, to have
been the 28th ruler of the Agazyan tribe. In either event, he is said to have extended his Empire
to both sides of the Red Sea.[citation needed]

The tradition that the Biblical Queen of Sheba was a ruler of Ethiopia who visited King Solomon
in Jerusalem, in ancient Israel, is supported by the first century CE. Roman (of Jewish origin)
historian Flavius Josephus, who identified Solomon’s visitor as a "Queen of Egypt and
Ethiopia".[9]

While there are no known traditions of matriarchal rule in Yemen during the early first
millennium BC, the earliest inscriptions of the rulers of Dʿmt in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea
mention queens of very high status, possibly equal to their kings.[10]

[edit] Possible Egyptian derivation

Josephus says in his Antiquity of the Jews, book 8 chapter 6, that it was the "queen of Egypt and
Ethiopia" who visited King Solomon. Queen of the South (biblical reference) is made by Jesus in
Matthew 12:42 and Luke 11:31. Daniel 11:5 and 8 identify the South as Egypt. There also have
been claims that the ancient Egyptian name Hatshepsut translates as "Queen of Sheba".[11]
Hatshepsut was a pharaoh of Egypt, born c. 1508 and died 1458 BC, who revived active trade
with neighboring kingdoms and created a flourishing and prosperous economy for her eighteenth
dynasty kingdom. Solar deities are most closely associated with her dynasty, the one founded by
her grandfather and credited to the patron deity of Thebes, Amun. She is recorded as going on a
famous journey to the land of Punt, though no one knows for sure where Punt is.

Sheba may be derived from the ancient Egyptian word for star. The Kingdom of Kush was also
located in southern Egypt. According to the eleventh century geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi, the
star-worshippers of Harran in Turkey and those from Yemen, went on special pilgrimages to the
pyramids of Giza. The "Queen of Sheba" may have referred to the title of the Kandake when
acting as the chief astronomer or high priestess of a star-venerating religion that was centered in
Africa, with satellite centers in Arabia, Asia, and Europe.

The "star-worshippers" also studied or venerated the sun and moon. The roots of star veneration
or star study date back to well before 5000 B.C. Evidence for a level of sophistication and
knowledge of astronomy has been found at several archaeological sites in Africa, including the
complex at Nabta Playa in southern Egypt. The structure at Nabta is almost 7,000 years old, and
is the oldest astronomical complex in the world.
Other astronomical sites in Africa include: Namoratunga II, near Lake Turkana, in Kenya, which
was in use around 300 BC; the Senegambian stone circles; and the Bouar megaliths in what is
now the Central African Republic.[citation needed]

[edit] Nubia - another possible location

The tradition of the Candaces is well documented in Nubia, where the rule of its many queens
recedes into prehistoric times and there the title Kentakes is a term used to describe the long
tradition of leadership in Nubia by warrior queens.[citation needed] Nubia was south of Ancient Egypt,
also divided by the Nile River and bordered by the Red Sea and, it is another candidate for the
location of Sheba and the famous queen. The history of Nubia provides examples of a tradition
and a wealthy kingdom that could be the original kingdom of the Queen of Sheba. The
economics of the culture was based upon trade. David Jones, in Women Warriors: a History,
relates that in 332 BC Alexander the Great attempted to lead his army into Nubia. At its border,
he was confronted by the brilliant military formations devised by their warrior queen, Candace of
Meroë. She led her army on the opposite side of the border from atop an elephant. Alexander
withdrew and redirected his forces to enter Egypt instead.[12] It should be noted that this story is
thought by scholars to be legendary, and Alexander appears never to have attacked Nubia.[13][14]
That was the beginning of the Greek rule of Egypt that would last for three hundred years until
the Roman occupation in 30 BC.

Strabo also describes a similar clash with the Romans, in which the Roman army was defeated
by Nubian archers under the leadership of another queen of Nubia. This queen was described as
"one-eyed", being blind in one eye or represented only in profile.[15] The strategic formations
used by this second queen are well documented in Strabo's description of her victory.

Old Kingdom Egyptian accounts of trade missions first mentioned Nubia in 2300 BC. Egyptians
imported gold, incense, ebony, ivory, and exotic animals from tropical Africa through Nubia.
Aswan, right above the First Cataract, marked the southern limit of Egyptian control. As trade
between Egypt and Nubia increased, so did wealth and stability.[citation needed]

By the sixth dynasty of Egypt, Nubia was divided into a series of small kingdoms. Scholars
debate whether these peoples, who flourished from c. 2240 BC to c. 2150 BC, were the result of
another internal evolution, wars, or invaders. The Sahara Desert was becoming too arid to
support human beings. During the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (c. 2040–1640 BC), Egypt began
expanding into Nubia to gain more control over the trade routes in Northern Nubia and direct
access to trade with southern Nubia. They erected a chain of forts down the Nile below the
Second Cataract in the river. These garrisons seemed to have had peaceful relations with the
local Nubian people, but little interaction during the period.[citation needed]

A contemporaneous, but distinct, culture was the Pan Grave culture, so called because of their
shallow graves. Shallow graves produced mummies naturally. The Pan Graves are associated
with the eastern bank of the Nile, but the Pan Graves and western groups definitely interacted.
The Kingdom of Kerma arose as the first kingdom to unify much of the region. It was named for
its presumed capital at Kerma, one of the earliest urban centers in tropical Africa. By 1750 BC,
the rulers of Kerma were powerful enough to organize the labor for monumental walls and
structures of mud brick. They created rich tombs with possessions for the afterlife and large
human sacrifices. The craftsmen were skilled in metalworking and the quality of their pottery
surpassed that of Egypt. Excavated sites at Kerma yielded large tombs and a palace-like structure
('Deffufa'), alluding to the early stability in the region.[citation needed]
The early tradition of astronomical observations in Nubia is reflected by the presence of
megaliths discovered at Nabta Playa that are examples of what may be the world's first
Archaeoastronomy devices, predating Stonehenge by at least 1000 years.[16] According to one
authority, the complexity observed at Nabta Playa, likely formed the basis for the structure of
both the Neolithic society at Nabta and the Old Kingdom of Egypt.[17] Hence the long tradition of
studying the stars and the sun such as the references in the Old Testament, and the knowledge of
new phenomena provoking the travel of the Magi.

[edit] Christian interpretations

The Queen of Sheba is believed to be the Queen of the South referenced in Matthew 12:42 and
Luke 11:31 in the New Testament, where Jesus indicates that she and the Ninevites will judge
the generation of Jesus' contemporaries who rejected him.

Christian interpretations of the scriptures mentioning the Queen of Sheba in the Hebrew Bible,
the Old Testament, typically have emphasized both the historical and metaphorical values in the
story. The account of the Queen of Sheba is thereby interpreted by Christians as being both a
metaphor and an analogy: the Queen's visit to Solomon has been compared to the metaphorical
marriage of the Church to Christ where Solomon is the anointed one or the messiah and Sheba
represents a Gentile population submitting to the messiah; the Queen of Sheba's chastity has also
been depicted as a foreshadowing of the Virgin Mary; and the three gifts that she brought (gold,
spices, and stones) have been seen as analogous to the gifts of the Magi (gold, frankincense, and
myrrh). The latter is emphasized as being consistent with a passage from Isaiah 60:6; And they
from Sheba shall come: they shall bring forth gold and incense; and they shall show forth the
praises of the Lord.[18] This last connection is interpreted[who?] as relating to the Magi, the learned
astronomers of Sheba who saw a new star and set off on a journey to find a new ruler connected
to the new star, that led them to Bethlehem.

[edit] Medieval depictions

Art in the Middle Ages depicting the visit of the Queen of Sheba includes the Portal of the
Mother of God at the 13th century Amiens Cathedral, which is included as an analogy as part of
a larger depiction of the gifts of the Magi.[19] The 12th century cathedrals at Strasbourg, Chartres,
Rochester and Canterbury include artistic renditions in such elements as stained glass windows
and door jamb decorations.[18]

[edit] Renaissance depictions

Renaissance relief of the Queen of Sheba meeting Solomon - gate of Florence Baptistry

Boccaccio's On Famous Women (Latin: De Mulieribus Claris) follows Josephus in calling the
Queen of Sheba, Nicaula. Boccaccio goes on to explain that not only was she the Queen of
Ethiopia and Egypt, but also the queen of Arabia. She also is related to have had a grand palace
on "a very large island" called Meroe, located someplace near the Nile river, "practically on the
other side of the world." From there Nicaula crossed the deserts of Arabia, through Ethiopia and
Egypt, and up the coast of the Red Sea, to come to Jerusalem to see "the great King Solomon".[20]

Christine de Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies continues the convention of calling the Queen
of Sheba, Nicaula. Piero della Francesca's frescoes in Arezzo (ca 1466) on the Legend of the
True Cross, contain two panels on the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. The legend links
the beams of Solomon's palace (adored by Queen of Sheba) to the wood of the crucifixion. The
Renaissance continuation of the metaphorical view of the Queen of Sheba as an analogy to the
gifts of the Magi also is clearly evident in the Triptych of the Adoration of the Magi (c. 1510), by
Hieronymus Bosch. Bosch chooses to depict a scene of the Queen of Sheba and Solomon in an
ornately decorated collar worn by one of the Magi.[21]

Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus refers to the Queen of Sheba as Saba, when
Mephistopheles is trying to persuade Faustus of the wisdom of the women with whom he
supposedly shall be presented every morning.[22]

[edit] Modern Arab academic view

Some modern Arab academics have placed the Queen of Sheba as a ruler of a trading colony in
Northwest Arabia, established by South Arabian kingdoms[citation needed]. Modern archaeological
finds do confirm the fact that such colonies existed with South Arabian script and artifacts,
although nothing specific to Balqis or Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba, has been uncovered.

[edit] Recent archaeological discoveries

The Bar'an temple in Ma'rib - built in the eighth century BC and functioning for nearly 1000
years

Recent archaeological discoveries in Mareb, Yemen support the view that the Queen of Sheba
ruled over southern Arabia, with evidence suggesting that the area was the capital of the
Kingdom of Sheba.

A team of researchers funded by the American Foundation for the Study of Man (AFSM) and led
by University of Calgary archaeology professor, Dr. Bill Glanzman, has been working to "unlock
the secrets of a 3,000-year-old temple in Yemen." "We have an enormous job ahead of us," said
Glanzman in 2007. "Our first task is to wrest the sanctuary from the desert sands, documenting
our findings as we go. We're trying to determine how the temple was associated with the Queen
of Sheba, how the sanctuary was used throughout history, and how it came to play such an
important role in Arab folklore."[23]