The Queen of Sheba (Hebrew:מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא,romanized: Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ,[7] in theHebrew Bible;Koine Greek:βασίλισσα Σαβά,romanized: basílissa Sabá, in theSeptuagint;[8]Syriac:ܡܠܟܬ ܫܒܐ;[9][romanization needed]Ge'ez:ንግሥተ ሳባ,romanized: Nəgśətä Saba[10]), whose name is not stated, came toJerusalem "with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones" (1 Kings 10:2). "Never again came such an abundance of spices" (10:10;2 Chronicles 9:1–9) as those she gave to Solomon. She came "to prove him with hard questions", which Solomon answered to her satisfaction. They exchanged gifts, after which she returned to her land.[11][12]
Sheba was quite well known in the classical world, and its country was calledArabia Felix.[12] Around the mid-1st millennium BC, there wereSabaeans also inEthiopia andEritrea, in the area that later became the realm ofAksum.[14] There are five places in the Bible where the writer distinguishesSheba (שׁבא), i.e. the Yemenite Sabaeans, fromSeba (סבא), i.e. the African Sabaeans. InPs. 72:10 they are mentioned together: "the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts".[15] This spelling differentiation, however, may be purely factitious; the indigenous inscriptions make no such difference, and both Yemenite and African Sabaeans are there spelled in exactly the same way.[14]
Arabic
Although there are still no inscriptions found fromSouth Arabia that furnish evidence for the Queen of Sheba herself, South Arabian inscriptions do mention a South Arabian queen (mlkt,Ancient South Arabian:𐩣𐩡𐩫𐩩).[1][16] And in the north of Arabia,Assyrian inscriptions repeatedly mention Arab queens.[17] Furthermore, Sabaean tribes knew the title ofmqtwyt ("high official",Sabaean:𐩣𐩤𐩩𐩥𐩺𐩩).Makada orMakueda, the personal name of the queen in Ethiopian legend, might be interpreted as a popular rendering of the title ofmqtwyt.[18]
The queen's visit could have been atrade mission.[12][14] A recent theory suggests that theOphel inscription in Jerusalem was written in theSabaic language and that the text provides evidence for trade connections between ancient South Arabia and theKingdom of Judah during the 10th century BC.[19]
The ancient SabaicAwwām Temple, known in folklore asMaḥram ("the Sanctuary of")Bilqīs, was excavated by archaeologists, but no trace of the Queen of Sheba has been discovered in the many inscriptions found there.[12] Another Sabean temple, the Barran Temple (Arabic:معبد بران), is also known as the 'Arash Bilqis' ("Throne of Bilqis"), which like the nearby Awwam Temple was also dedicated to the godAlmaqah, but the connection between theBarran Temple and Sheba has not been established archaeologically either.[20]
Bible stories of the Queen of Sheba and the ships ofOphir served as a basis for legends about the Israelites traveling in the Queen of Sheba's entourage when she returned to her country to bring up her child by Solomon.[21]
Religious interpretations
In Judaism
245–246 CE Jewish mural depicting Solomon's court and one labeled "co-chair" receiving the Queen of Sheba and her maidservant from theDura Europos Synagogue
According toJosephus (Ant. 8:165–173), the queen of Sheba was the queen of Egypt and Ethiopia, and brought to Israel the first specimens of thebalsam, which grew in theHoly Land in the historian's time.[12][22] Josephus (Antiquities 2.5‒10) representsCambyses as conquering the capital of Aethiopia, and changing its name from Seba toMeroe.[23] Josephus affirms that the Queen of Sheba or Saba came from this region, and that it bore the name of Saba before it was known by that of Meroe. There seems also some affinity between the word Saba and the name or title of the kings of the Aethiopians,Sabaco.[24][obsolete source]
The Talmud (Bava Batra 15b) insists that it was not a woman but a kingdom of Sheba (based on varying interpretations of Hebrewmlkt) that came to Jerusalem. Baba Bathra 15b: "Whoever saysmalkath Sheba (I Kings X, 1) means a woman is mistaken; ... it means the kingdom (מַלְכֻת) of Sheba".[25] This is explained to mean that she was a woman who was not in her position because of being married to the king, but through her own merit.[26]
The most elaborate account of the queen's visit to Solomon is given in theTargum Sheni toEsther (see:Colloquy of the Queen of Sheba). Ahoopoe informed Solomon that the kingdom of Sheba was the only kingdom on earth not subject to him and that its queen was a sun worshiper. He thereupon sent it to Kitor in the land of Sheba with a letter attached to its wing commanding its queen to come to him as a subject. She thereupon sent him all the ships of the sea loaded with precious gifts and 6,000 youths of equal size, all born at the same hour and clothed in purple garments. They carried a letter declaring that she could arrive in Jerusalem within three years although the journey normally took seven years. When the queen arrived and came to Solomon's palace, thinking that the glass floor was a pool of water, she lifted the hem of her dress, uncovering her legs. Solomon informed her of her mistake and reprimanded her for her hairy legs. She asked him three (Targum Sheni to Esther 1:3) or, according to theMidrash (Prov. ii. 6;Yalḳ. ii., § 1085,Midrash ha-Hefez), more riddles to test his wisdom.[3][11][12][22]
A Yemenite manuscript entitled "Midrash ha-Hefez" (published byS. Schechter inFolk-Lore, 1890, pp. 353 et seq.) gives nineteen riddles, most of which are found scattered through the Talmud and the Midrash, which the author of the "Midrash ha-Hefez" attributes to the Queen of Sheba.[27] Most of these riddles are simply Bible questions, some not of a very edifying character. The two that are genuine riddles are: "Without movement while living, it moves when its head is cut off", and "Produced from the ground, man produces it, while its food is the fruit of the ground". The answer to the former is, "a tree, which, when its top is removed, can be made into a moving ship"; the answer to the latter is, "a wick".[28]
The rabbis who denounce Solomon interpret1 Kings 10:13 as meaning that Solomon had criminal intercourse with the Queen of Sheba, the offspring of which wasNebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the Temple (comp.Rashi ad loc.). According to others, the sin ascribed to Solomon in1 Kings 11:7 et seq. is only figurative: it is not meant that Solomon fell intoidolatry, but that he was guilty of failing to restrain his wives from idolatrous practises (Shab. 56b).[27]
TheAlphabet of Sirach avers thatNebuchadnezzar was the fruit of the union between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.[3] In theKabbalah, the Queen of Sheba was considered one of the queens of the demons and is sometimes identified withLilith, first in theTargum of Job (1:15), and later in theZohar and the subsequent literature.
TheNew Testament mentions a "queen of the South" (Greek:βασίλισσα νότου,Latin:Regina austri), who "came from the uttermost parts of the earth", i.e. from the extremities of the then known world, to hear the wisdom of Solomon (Mt. 12:42;Lk. 11:31).[29]
The mystical interpretation of theSong of Songs, which was felt as supplying a literal basis for the speculations of the allegorists, makes its first appearance inOrigen, who wrote a voluminous commentary on the Song of Songs.[30] In his commentary, Origen identified the bride of the Song of Songs with the "queen of the South" of the Gospels (i.e., the Queen of Sheba).[31] Others have proposed either the marriage of Solomon with thePharaoh's daughter, or his marriage with an Israelite woman, theShulamite. The former was the favorite opinion of the mystical interpreters to the end of the 18th century; the latter has obtained since its introduction byGood (1803).[30]
One legend has it that the Queen of Sheba brought Solomon the same gifts that theMagi later gave toJesus.[33] During theMiddle Ages, Christians sometimes identified the queen of Sheba with thesibylSabba.[34]
Coptic
The story of Solomon and the queen was popular amongCopts, as shown by fragments of a Coptic legend preserved in a Berlin papyrus. The queen, having been subdued by deceit, gives Solomon apillar on which all earthly science is inscribed. Solomon sends one of hisdemons to fetch the pillar from Ethiopia, whence it instantly arrives. In a Coptic poem, queen Yesaba ofCush asks riddles of Solomon.[35]
The most extensive version of the legend appears in theKebra Nagast (Glory of the Kings), the Ethiopian national saga,[36] translated from Arabic in 1322.[37][38][39] HereMenelik I is the child of Solomon andMakeda (the Ethiopic name for the queen of Sheba; she is the child of the man who destroys the legendary snake-kingArwe[40]) from whom the Ethiopian dynasty claims descent to the present day. While the Abyssinian story offers much greater detail, it omits any mention of the Queen's hairy legs or any other element that might reflect on her unfavourably.[41][42]
Based on the Gospels ofMatthew (Matthew 12:42) andLuke (Luke 11:31), the "queen of the South" is claimed to be the queen of Ethiopia. In those times, King Solomon sought merchants from all over the world, in order to buy materials for the building of theTemple. Among them was Tamrin, great merchant of Queen Makeda of Ethiopia. Having returned to Ethiopia, Tamrin told the queen of the wonderful things he had seen in Jerusalem, and of Solomon's wisdom and generosity, whereupon she decided to visit Solomon. She was warmly welcomed, given a palace for dwelling, and received great gifts every day. Solomon and Makeda spoke with great wisdom, and instructed by him, she converted to Judaism. Before she left, there was a great feast in the king's palace. Makeda stayed in the palace overnight, after Solomon had sworn that he would not do her any harm, while she swore in return that she would not steal from him. As the meals had been spicy, Makeda awoke thirsty at night and went to drink some water, when Solomon appeared, reminding her of her oath. She answered: "Ignore your oath, just let me drink water."
That same night, Solomon had a dream about the sun rising over Israel, but being mistreated and despised by the Jews, the sun moved to shine over Ethiopia and Rome. Solomon gave Makeda a ring as a token of faith, and then she left. On her way home, she gave birth to a son, whom she named Baina-leḥkem (i.e. bin al-ḥakīm, "Son of the Wise Man", later called Menilek). After the boy had grown up in Ethiopia, he went to Jerusalem carrying the ring and was received with great honors. The king and the people tried in vain to persuade him to stay. Solomon gathered his nobles and announced that he would send his first-born son to Ethiopia together with their first-borns. He added that he was expecting a third son, who would marry the king of Rome's daughter and reign over Rome so that the entire world would be ruled by David's descendants. Then Baina-leḥkem was anointed king by Zadok the high priest, and he took the name David. The first-born nobles who followed him are named, and even today some Ethiopian families claim their ancestry from them. Prior to leaving, the priests' sons had stolen theArk of the Covenant, after their leader Azaryas had offered a sacrifice as commanded by one God's angel. With much wailing, the procession left Jerusalem on a wind cart led and carried by the archangel Michael. Having arrived at theRed Sea, Azaryas revealed to the people that the Ark is with them. David prayed to the Ark and the people rejoiced, singing, dancing, blowing horns and flutes, and beating drums. The Ark showed its miraculous powers during the crossing of the stormy Sea, and all arrived unscathed. When Solomon learned that the Ark had been stolen, he sent a horseman after the thieves and even gave chase himself, but neither could catch them. Solomon returned to Jerusalem and gave orders to the priests to remain silent about the theft and to place a copy of the Ark in the Temple, so that the foreign nations could not say that Israel had lost its fame.[43][44]
According to some sources, Queen Makeda was part of the dynasty founded byZa Besi Angabo in 1370 BC. The family's intended choice to rule Aksum was Makeda's brother, Prince Nourad, but his early death led to her succession to the throne. She apparently ruled the Ethiopian kingdom for more than 50 years.[45] The1922 regnal list of Ethiopia claims that Makeda reigned from 1013 to 982 BC, with dates following theEthiopian calendar.[46]
In the EthiopianBook of Aksum, Makeda is described as establishing a new capital city atAzeba.[47]
Edward Ullendorff holds thatMakeda is a corruption ofCandace, the name or title of several Ethiopian queens fromMeroe orSeba. Candace was the name of that queen of the Ethiopians whose chamberlain was converted to Christianity under the preaching ofPhilip the Evangelist (Acts 8:27) in 30 AD. In the 14th-century (?)Ethiopic version of theAlexander romance,Alexander the Great ofMacedonia (EthiopicMeqédon) is said to have met a queenKandake ofNubia.[48] The tradition that the biblical Queen of Sheba was an ingenuous ruler of Ethiopia who visited King Solomon in Jerusalem is repeated in a 1st-century account byJosephus. He identified Solomon's visitor as a queen of Egypt and Ethiopia
Historians believe that theSolomonic dynasty actually began in 1270 with the emperorYekuno Amlak, who, with the support of theEthiopian Church, overthrew theZagwe dynasty, which had ruled Ethiopia since sometime during the 10th century. The link to King Solomon provided a strong foundation for Ethiopian national unity.[49] Despite the fact that the dynasty officially ended in 1769 with EmperorIyoas, Ethiopian rulers continued to trace their connection to it, right up to the last 20th-century emperor,Haile Selassie.[42]
According to one tradition, the Ethiopian Jews (Beta Israel, "Falashas") also trace their ancestry to Menelik I, son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.[50] An opinion that appears more historical is that the Falashas descend from those Jews who settled in Egypt after thefirst exile, and who, upon the fall of the Persian domination (539–333 BC), on the borders of the Nile, penetrated into the Sudan, whence they went into the western parts of Abyssinia.[51]
Several emperors have stressed the importance of theKebra Negast. One of the first instances of this can be traced in a letter from Prince Kasa (King John IV) to Queen Victoria in 1872.[52] Kasa states, "There is a book calledKebra Nagast which contains the law of the whole of Ethiopia, and the names of the shums (governors), churches and provinces are in this book. I pray you will find out who has got this book and send it to me, for in my country my people will not obey my orders without it."[49] Despite the historic importance given to theKebra Negast, there is still doubt to whether or not the Queen sat on the throne.
Islam
Bilqis (the queen of Sheba) reclining in a garden, facing the hoopoe, Solomon's messenger.Persian miniature (c. 1595), tinted drawing on paperBilqis Queen of Sheba Enthroned. From the Book of Solomon (Suleymannama) byFirdausi of Bursa made forBayezid II (1481-1512).Chester Beatty LibraryIllustration in aHafez frontispiece depicting Queen Sheba, Walters manuscript W.631, around 1539
TheTemple of Awwam or "Mahram Bilqis" ("Sanctuary of the Queen of Sheba") is a Sabaean temple dedicated to the principal deity of Saba, Almaqah (frequently called "Lord of ʾAwwām"), nearMa'rib in what is nowYemen.
I found [there] a woman ruling them, and she has been given of all things, and she has a great throne. I found that she and her people bow to the sun instead of God. Satan has made their deeds seem right to them and has turned them away from the right path, so they cannot find their way.
In the above verse (ayah), after scouting nearby lands, a bird known as thehud-hud (hoopoe) returns toKing Solomon relating that the land of Sheba is ruled by a queen. In a letter, Solomon invites the Queen of Sheba, who like her followers hadworshipped the sun, to submit toGod. She expresses that the letter is noble and asks her chief advisers what action should be taken. They respond by mentioning that her kingdom is known for its might and inclination towards war, however that the command rests solely with her. In an act suggesting the diplomatic qualities of her leadership,[54] she responds not with brute force, but by sending her ambassadors to present a gift to King Solomon. He refuses the gift, declaring that God gives far superior gifts and that the ambassadors are the ones only delighted by the gift. King Solomon instructs the ambassadors to return to the Queen with a stern message that if he travels to her, he will bring a contingent that she cannot defeat. The Queen then makes plans to visit him at his palace. Before she arrives, King Solomon asks several of his chiefs who will bring him the Queen of Sheba's throne before they come to him in complete submission.[55] AnIfrit first offers to move her throne before King Solomon would rise from his seat.[56] However, a man with knowledge of the Scripture instead has her throne moved to King Solomon's palace in the blink of an eye, at which King Solomon exclaims his gratitude towards God as King Solomon assumes this is God's test to see if King Solomon is grateful or ungrateful.[57] King Solomon disguises her throne to test her awareness of her own throne, asking her if it seems familiar. She answers that during her journey to him, her court had informed her of King Solomon's prophethood, and since then she and her subjects had made the intention to submit to God. King Solomon then explains that God is the only god that she should worship, not to be included alongside other false gods that she used to worship. Later the Queen of Sheba is requested to enter a palatial hall. Upon first view she mistakes the hall for a lake and raises her skirt to not wet her clothes. King Solomon informs her that is not water rather it is smooth slabs of glass. Recognizing that it was a marvel of construction which she had not seen the likes of before, she declares that in the past she had harmed her own soul but now submits, with King Solomon, to God (27:22–44).[58]
She was told, "Enter the palace." But when she saw it, she thought it was a body of water and uncovered her shins [to wade through]. He said, "Indeed, it is a palace [whose floor is] made smooth with glass." She said, "My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, and I submit with Solomon to God, Lord of the worlds."
The story of the Queen of Sheba in theQuran shares some similarities with the Bible and other Jewish sources.[12] Some Muslim commentators such asAl-Tabari,Al-Zamakhshari andAl-Baydawi supplement the story. Here they claim that the Queen's name isBilqīs (Arabic:بِلْقِيْس), probably derived fromGreek:παλλακίς,romanized: pallakis or the Hebraisedpilegesh ("concubine"). The Quran does not name the Queen, referring to her as "a woman ruling them" (Arabic:امْرَأَةً تَمْلِكُهُمْ),[60] the nation of Sheba.[61]
According to some, he then married the Queen, while other traditions say that he gave her in marriage to a King ofHamdan.[3] According to the scholarAl-Hamdani, the Queen of Sheba was the daughter ofIlsharah Yahdib, theSabaean king of South Arabia.[18] In another tale, she is said to be the daughter of ajinni (or peri)[62] and a human.[63] According to E. Ullendorff, the Quran and its commentators have preserved the earliest literary reflection of her complete legend, which among scholars complements the narrative that is derived from a Jewish tradition,[3] this assuming to be theTargum Sheni. However, according to the Encyclopaedia Judaica Targum Sheni is dated to around 700[64] similarly the general consensus is to date Targum Sheni to late 7th- or early 8th century,[65] which post-dates the advent of Islam by almost 200 years. Furthermore, M. J. Berdichevsky[66] explains that this Targum is the earliest narrative articulation of Queen of Sheba in Jewish tradition.
Scholarly interpretations
Sabaean stele: a feast and a camel driver, with an inscription in Sabaean on top
Folding of the Hebrew Bible's story
The dating of the story of the Queen of Sheba is not well established. A significant number of biblical philologists[which?] believe that an early version of the story of the Queen of Sheba existed before the composition of the Deuteronomistic history (c. 640–609 BCE) and was revised and placed therein by an anonymous redactor labelled theDeuteronomist (Dtr) by textual scholars. However, many scholars[which?] believe that the account from the Third Book of Kings in its present form was compiled during the so-called Second Deuteronomic Revision (Dtr2), produced during theBabylonian Captivity (c. 550 BCE). The purpose of the story seems to be to glorify the figure of King Solomon, who is portrayed as a ruler who enjoyed authority and captured the imagination of other rulers. Such an exaltation is dissonant with the general critical tone of the Deuteronomic history towards King Solomon. Later, this account was also placed in theSecond Book of the Paralipomenon (II Chronicles), written in theSettlement era.[67][68]
Hypotheses and archaeological evidence
Researchers have noted that the Queen of Sheba's visit to Jerusalem could conceivably have been a trade mission related to the Israelite king's efforts to settle on the shores of theRed Sea and thereby undermine the monopoly of Saba and other South Arabian kingdoms on caravan trade withSyria andMesopotamia.[69] Assyrian sources confirm that South Arabia was engaged ininternational trade as early as 890 BC, so the arrival in Jerusalem in Solomon's time of a trading mission from a South Arabian kingdom is plausible.[70]
There is, however, debate about the chronological plausibility of this event: Solomon lived from approximately965 to926 BC, while it has been argued that the first traces of the Sabean monarchy appear some 150 years later.[71] On the other hand,Peter Stein argues that archaeological and epigraphic evidence indicates that the Sabean kingdom had already emerged by the10th century BC.[72]
The ruins of the Temple of the Sun inMaribe. Built in the8th century BC, it existed for 1,000 years
In the 19th century, explorers I. Halevi and Glaser found in theArabian Desert the ruins of the huge city ofMarib.[73] Among the inscriptions found, scientists read the name of four South Arabian states:Minea,Hadramawt,Qataban, andSawa. As it turned out, the residence of the kings of Sheba was the city of Marib (modernYemen), which confirms the traditional version of the queen's origin from the south of theArabian Peninsula. Inscriptions found in southern Arabia do not mention female rulers, but fromAssyrian documents of the8th-7th century BC, Arabian queens in the more northern regions of Arabia are known. In the 1950s Wendell Philips excavated the temple of the goddess Balqis at Marib.[74] In 2005, American archaeologists discovered in Sana'a the ruins of a temple near the palace of the biblical Queen of Sheba in Marib (north of Sana'a). According to the American researcher Madeleine Phillips, they found columns, numerous drawings and objects dating back three millennia.[75]
Yemen - Territory where the queen probably came fromEthiopia - The country where her son may have ruled
Researchers attribute the origin of the legend about the son of the Queen of Sheba in Ethiopia to the fact that apparently in the6th century BC the Sabaeans, having crossed theBab el-Mandeb Strait, settled near theRed Sea and occupied part of Ethiopia,[76] 'capturing' the memory of its ruler with her and transplanting it to new soil. One of the provinces of Ethiopia bears the name Shewa (Shawa, modern.Shoa).
The viewpoint according to which the birthplace of the Queen of Sheba or her prototype was not South Arabia but North Arabia is also quite widespread. Among other North Arabian tribes, the Sabaeans are mentioned on thestela ofTiglath-Pileser III. These northern Sabeans can be associated in a number of ways with the Sabeans (Sabeans) mentioned in the book of Job (Job 1:15), the Sheba of the book of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 27:22), and withAbrahams grandson Sheba (Genesis 25:3, cf. alsoGenesis 10:7,Genesis 10:28) (the name of Sheba's brother Dedan, mentioned next to it, is associated with the oasis ofEl-Ula north ofMedina). According to some scholars, theKingdom of Israel first came into contact with the northern Sabaeans, and only later, perhaps through their mediation, with Saba in the south.[67][77] The historian J. A. Montgomery has suggested that in theXth century BC the Sabeans lived in northern Arabia, although they controlled trade routes from the south.[78]
Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, whichHarry St John Philby considered the origin of later legends about the Queen of Sheba
The famous Arabian explorerHarry St John Philby also believed that the Queen of Sheba did not originate from Southern Arabia, but from Northern Arabia, and that the legends about her at some point blended with the stories ofZenobia, the warrior queen ofPalmyra (modernTadmor, Syria), who lived in the3rd century CE and converted to Judaism.[79] For example, it is told (by one ofMohammed's biographers) that it was in Palmyra, in the8th century during the reign of CaliphWalid I, that a sarcophagus was found with the inscription: 'Here is buried the pious Bilqis, the consort of Solomon...'. Jewish Kabbalistic tradition also considers Tadmor to be the burial place of the Queen, an evil deviless, and the city is considered an ominous haven for demons.[80] There are also parallels between Sheba and another eastern autocrat, the famousSemiramis, also a warrior and irrigator who lived around the same time, in the late9th century BC, which can be traced in folklore. Thus, the 2nd-century AD writerMelito of Sardis retells a Syrian legend in which the father of Semiramis is called Hadhad. In addition, the Hebrew legend made the queen the mother of Nebuchadnezzar and Semiramis his wife.[81]
Boccaccio'sOn Famous Women (Latin:De Mulieribus Claris) follows Josephus in calling the Queen of ShebaNicaula. Boccaccio writes she is the Queen ofEthiopia andEgypt, and that some people say she is also the queen ofArabia. He writes that she had a palace on "a very large island" calledMeroe, located in theNile river. From there Nicaula travelled toJerusalem to seeKing Solomon.[85]
O. Henry's short storyThe Gift of the Magi contains the following description to convey the preciousness of the protagonist Della Dillingham Young's hair: "Had the queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and gifts."
Christine de Pizan'sThe Book of the City of Ladies continues the convention of calling the Queen of Sheba "Nicaula". The author praises the Queen for secular and religious wisdom and lists her besides Christian and Hebrew prophetesses as first on a list of dignified female pagans.[citation needed]
Gérard de Nerval's autobiographical novel,Voyage to the Orient (1851), details his travels through the Middle East with much artistic license. He recapitulates at length a tale told in a Turkish cafe ofKing Soliman's love of Balkis, the Queen of Saba, but she, in turn, is destined to love Adoniram (Hiram Abif), Soliman's chief craftsman of theTemple, owing to both her and Adoniram's divine genealogy. Soliman grows jealous of Adoniram, and when he learns of three craftsmen who wish to sabotage his work and later kill him, Soliman willfully ignores warnings of these plots. Adoniram is murdered and Balkis flees Soliman's kingdom.[87]
Léopold Sédar Senghor's "Elégie pour la Reine de Saba", published in hisElégies majeures in 1976, uses the Queen of Sheba in a love poem and for a political message. In the 1970s, he used the Queen of Sheba fable to widen his view ofNegritude andEurafrique by including "Arab-Berber Africa".[88]
Rudyard Kipling's bookJust So Stories includes the tale ofThe Butterfly that Stamped. Therein, Kipling identifies Balkis, "Queen that was of Sheba and Sable and the Rivers of the Gold of the South" as best, and perhaps only, beloved of the 1000 wives of Suleiman-bin-Daoud, King Solomon. She is explicitly ascribed great wisdom ("Balkis, almost as wise as the Most Wise Suleiman-bin-Daoud"); nevertheless, Kipling perhaps implies in her a greater wisdom than her husband, in that she is able to gently manipulate him, the afrits and djinns he commands, the other quarrelsome 999 wives of Suleimin-bin-Daoud, the butterfly of the title and the butterfly's wife, thus bringing harmony and happiness for all.
The Queen of Sheba appears as a character inThe Ring of Solomon, the fourth book inJonathan Stroud'sBartimaeus Sequence. She is portrayed as a vain woman who, fearing Solomon's great power, sends the captain of her royal guard to assassinate him, setting the events of the book in motion.
In modern popular culture, she is often invoked as a sarcastic retort to a person with an inflated sense of entitlement, as in "Who do you think you are, the Queen of Sheba?"[89]
^Hubbard, David Allen (1956).The Literary Sources of the "Kebra Nagast". St Andrews. p. 358.
^Belcher, Wendy Laura (2010-01-01). "From Sheba They Come: Medieval Ethiopian Myth, US Newspapers, and a Modern American Narrative".Callaloo.33 (1):239–257.doi:10.1353/cal.0.0607.JSTOR40732813.S2CID161432588.
^Munro-Hay, Stuart (2006-10-31).The Quest for the Ark of the Covenant: The True History of the Tablets of Moses (New ed.). I.B.Tauris.ISBN9781845112486.
^Munro-Hay, Stuart (2004). "Abu al-Faraj and Abu al-ʽIzz".Annales d'Ethiopie.20 (1):23–28.doi:10.3406/ethio.2004.1067.
^abWillie F. Page; R. Hunt Davis, Jr., eds. (2005), "Solomonic dynasty",Encyclopedia of African History and Culture, vol. 2 (revised ed.), Facts on File, p. 206
^Willie F. Page; R. Hunt Davis, Jr., eds. (2005), "Makeda, Queen (queen of Sheba)",Encyclopedia of African History and Culture, vol. 1 (revised ed.), Facts on File, pp. 158–159
^Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall Rosenöl. Erstes und zweytes Fläschchen: Sagen und Kunden des Morgenlandes aus arabischen, persischen und türkischen Quellen gesammelt BoD – Books on Demand 9783861994862 p. 103 (German)
^"Targum Sheni", Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1997.It seems that the most acceptable view is that which places its composition at the end of the seventh or the beginning of the eighth century, a view that is strengthened by its relationship to the Pirkei de-R. Eliezer
^Alinda Damsma. "DIE TARGUME ZU ESTHER".Das Buch Esther. August 2013 Internationale Jüdisch-Christliche Bibelwoche: 6.Targum Scheni :Jetzt können wir unsere Aufmerksamkeit kurz der zweiten Haupttradition der Esther Targume zuwenden, die als Targum Scheni bekannt ist. Dieses Werk stammt vom Ende des 7. oder Anfang des 8. Jahrhunderts. /// Translation: This work (Targum Sheni) dates to the end of the 7th or beginning of the 8th century
^Berdichevsky, Micah J.Mimekor Yisrael: Selected Classical Jewish Folktales. pp. 24–27.The present text, a translation of a story that occurs in Targum Sheni of the Book Esther, dates from the seventh to early eighth century and is the earliest narrative articulation of the Queen of Sheba in Jewish tradition
^Men A. , ArchpriestIsagogyArchived 2008-01-01 at theWayback Machine // (§ 30. Solomon. The temple of Jerusalem (3 Kings 1-11; 2 Chr 1-9). Book of Paralipomenon. book of Proverbs).
^Andre Lemaire,The United Monarchy: Saul, David and Solomon //Ancient Israel, Washington, 1988, p. 105
^Stein, Peter (2017). "Sabäer in Juda, Juden in Saba. Sprach- und Kulturkontakt zwischen Südarabien und Palästina in der Antike". In Hübner, Ulrich; Niehr, Herbert (eds.).Sprachen in Palästina im 2. und 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr. Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins (in German). Vol. 43. Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 113 n. 71.ISBN978-3-447-10780-8.
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