Queen Of Sheba Article Index for
Queen Of
Articles about
Queen Of Sheba
Website Links For
Queen
 

Information About

Queen Of Sheba





BIBLICAL ACCOUNT


According to the 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 was apparently quite well off herself, as she brought 4.5 tons of gold (more than 4,000 kilograms) with her to give to Solomon (1 Kings 10:10).

The Queen of Sheba appears as the "Queen of the South" in indicates that she and the Ninevites will judge the Jew s 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."


LATER 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.

The Queen of Sheba is sometimes identified with Lilith .


QUR'ANIC ACCOUNT


This is story is from (27:23) to (27:44), chapter 27.

The Qur'an never mentioned the Queen of Sheba by name, though 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 (spirit).


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 Northwest 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 has been uncovered so far.


ETHIOPIAN ACCOUNT


The Imperial family of Ethiopia claims its origin directly from the offspring of 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. It is speculated that the ancient communities that evolved into the modern Ethiopian state were formed by the migration across the Red Sea of Semitic southern Arabians who intermarried with local non-Semitic peoples. Indeed, the ancient Ethiopian kingdom of Axum ruled much of Southern Arabia including Yemen until the rise of Islam in the 7th century, and both the indigenous languages of Southern Arabia and the Amharic and Tigrean languages of Ethiopia are South Semitic languages. Evidence of ancient Southern Arabian communities in modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea are widespread and include archeological artifacts and ancient Sabaean inscriptions in the old South Arabian Alphabet .


RENAISSANCE DEPICTIONS


Boccaccio 's " On Famous Women " (Lat. ''De Mulieribus Claris'') follows Josephus in calling her Nicaula, and Christine De Pizan 's '' The Book Of The City Of Ladies '' continues the convention.


THE QUEEN OF SHEBA IN POPULAR CULTURE



Operas



Movies



Books


  • Small role in American Gods (2002), written by Neil Gaiman .

  • Queen of Sheba and Biblical Scholarship", written by Dr Bernard Leeman, Queensland Academic Press 2005, ISBN 0975802208

  • Sheba: Through the Desert in Search of the Legendary Queen (2001), written by Nicholas Clapp



SEE ALSO



EXTERNAL LINKS