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The Queen of Sheba,[a] named Bilqis[b] in Arabic and Makeda[c] in Geʽez, is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she brings a caravan of valuable gifts for Solomon, the fourth King of Israel and Judah. This account has undergone extensive elaborations in Judaism, Ethiopian Christianity, and Islam.[1][2] It has consequently become the subject of one of the most widespread and fertile cycles of legends in West Asia and Northeast Africa, as well as in other regions where the Abrahamic religions have had a significant impact.[3]

Modern historians and archaeologists identify Sheba as one of the South Arabian kingdoms, which existed in modern-day Yemen. However, because no trace of her has ever been found,[4][5] the Queen of Sheba's existence is disputed among historians.[6]

Narrative

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Hebrew

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Queen of Sheba and Solomon, around 1280, window now in Cologne Cathedral, Germany
The Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon by Tintoretto, around 1555

The Queen of Sheba (Hebrew: מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא, romanized: Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ,[7] in the Hebrew Bible; Koine Greek: βασίλισσα Σαβά, romanized: basílissa Sabá, in the Septuagint;[8] Syriac: ܡܠܟܬ ܫܒܐ;[9][romanization needed] Ge'ez: ንግሥተ ሳባ, romanized: Nəgśətä Saba[10]), whose name is not stated, came to Jerusalem "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.[11][12]

The use of the term ḥiddot or 'riddles' (1 Kings 10:1), an Aramaic loanword, indicates a late origin for the text.[11]

Sheba was quite well known in the classical world.[12] Sheba and Seba are differentiated at some points in the Bible, but not in indigenous inscriptions.[13]

Arabic

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Although there are still no inscriptions found from South 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][14] And in the north of Arabia, Assyrian inscriptions repeatedly mention Arab queens.[15]

The queen's visit could have been a trade mission.[12][13] A recent theory suggests that the Ophel inscription in Jerusalem was written in the Sabaic language and that the text provides evidence for trade connections between ancient South Arabia and the Kingdom of Judah during the 10th century BC.[16]

The ancient Sabaic Awwām Temple, known in folklore as Maḥram ("the Sanctuary of") Bilqīs, was excavated by archaeologists; no evidence was found relating to the Queen of Sheba.[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 god Almaqah, but the connection between the Barran Temple and Sheba has not been established archaeologically either.[17]

Bible stories of the Queen of Sheba and the ships of Ophir 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.[18]

Religious interpretations

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In Judaism

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245–246 CE Jewish mural depicting Solomon's court and one labeled "co-chair" receiving the Queen of Sheba and her maidservant from the Dura Europos Synagogue

According to Josephus (Ant. 8:165–173), the queen of Sheba was the queen of Egypt and Ethiopia, and brought to Israel the first specimens of the balsam, which grew in the Holy Land in the historian's time.[12][19] Josephus (Antiquities 2.5‒10) represents Cambyses as conquering the capital of Aethiopia, and changing its name from Seba to Meroe.[20] 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.[21][obsolete source]

The Talmud (Bava Batra 15b) says: "Whoever says malkath Sheba (I Kings X, 1) means a woman is mistaken; ... it means the kingdom (מַלְכֻת) of Sheba".[22]

A Yemenite manuscript entitled "Midrash ha-Hefez" (published by S. Schechter in Folk-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.[23] 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".[24]

The rabbis who denounce Solomon interpret 1 Kings 10:13 as meaning that Solomon had criminal intercourse with the Queen of Sheba, the offspring of which was Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the Temple (comp. Rashi ad loc.). According to others, the sin ascribed to Solomon in 1 Kings 11:7 et seq. is only figurative: it is not meant that Solomon fell into idolatry, but that he was guilty of failing to restrain his wives from idolatrous practises (Shab. 56b).[23]

Christianity

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King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, from The History of the True Cross by Piero della Francesca
The Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba, Claude Lorrain (1600‒1682), oil on canvas
Solomon and The Queen of Sheba, Giovanni De Min

The New 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).[25]

The mystical interpretation of the Song of Songs, which was felt as supplying a literal basis for the speculations of the allegorists, makes its first appearance in Origen, who wrote a voluminous commentary on the Song of Songs.Others have proposed either the marriage of Solomon with the Pharaoh's daughter, or his marriage with an Israelite woman, the Shulamite. The former was the favorite opinion of the mystical interpreters to the end of the 18th century; the latter has obtained since its introduction by Good (1803).[26]

The bride of the Canticles is assumed to have been black due to a passage in Song of Songs 1:5, which the Revised Standard Version (1952) translates as "I am very dark, but comely", as does Jerome (Latin: Nigra sum, sed formosa), while the New Revised Standard Version (1989) has "I am black and beautiful", as the Septuagint (Ancient Greek: μέλαινα εἰμί καί καλή).[27]

One legend has it that the Queen of Sheba brought Solomon the same gifts that the Magi later gave to Jesus.[28] During the Middle Ages, Christians sometimes identified the queen of Sheba with the sibyl Sabba.[29]

Ethiopian

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Solomon receiving the Queen of Sheba (detail), Chapel of the Four Living Creatures (disputed between the Copts and Ethiopians) in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Part of the head of the Queen of Sheba from the Abbey of Saint Denis - XIIth century

The most extensive version of the legend appears in the Kebra Nagast (Glory of the Kings), the Ethiopian national saga,[30] translated from Arabic in 1322.[31][32][33] Here Menelik I is the child of Solomon and Makeda (the Ethiopic name for the queen of Sheba; she is the child of the man who destroys the legendary snake-king Arwe[34]) from whom the Ethiopian dynasty claims descent to the present day.[35][36][37][38]

Based on the Gospels of Matthew (12:42) and 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 the Temple. 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 Salomon 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 (i. e. the Byzantine empire). 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", 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 the Ark 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 lead and carried by the archangel Michael. Having arrived at the Red 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 ist fame.

The 1922 regnal list of Ethiopia claims that Makeda reigned from 1013 to 982 BC, with dates following the Ethiopian calendar.[39]

In the Ethiopian Book of Aksum, Makeda is described as establishing a new capital city at Azeba.[40]

Edward Ullendorff holds that Makeda is a corruption of Candace, the name or title of several Ethiopian queens from Meroe or Seba. Candace was the name of that queen of the Ethiopians whose chamberlain was converted to Christianity under the preaching of Philip the Evangelist (Acts 8:27) in 30 AD. In the 14th-century (?) Ethiopic version of the Alexander romance, Alexander the Great of Macedonia (Ethiopic Meqédon) is said to have met a queen Kandake of Nubia.[41] 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 by Josephus. He identified Solomon's visitor as a queen of Egypt and Ethiopia.

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.[42] An opinion that appears more historical is that the Falashas descend from those Jews who settled in Egypt after the first 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.[43]

Several emperors have stressed the importance of the Kebra 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.[44] Kasa states, "There is a book called Kebra 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."[45] Despite the historic importance given to the Kebra Negast, there is still doubt to whether or not the Queen sat on the throne.


Islam

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Bilqis (the queen of Sheba) reclining in a garden, facing the hoopoe, Solomon's messenger. Persian miniature (c. 1595), tinted drawing on paper
Bilqis Queen of Sheba Enthroned. From the Book of Solomon (Suleymannama) by Firdausi of Bursa made for Bayezid II (1481-1512). Chester Beatty Library
Illustration in a Hafez frontispiece depicting Queen Sheba, Walters manuscript W.631, around 1539

The Temple 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"), near Ma'rib in what is now Yemen.

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.

— Quran 27:23–24[46]

In the above verse (ayah), after scouting nearby lands, a bird known as the hud-hud (hoopoe) returns to King 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 had worshipped the sun, to submit to God. 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,[47] 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.[48] An Ifrit first offers to move her throne before King Solomon would rise from his seat.[49] 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.[50] 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).[51]

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."

— Quran 27:44[52]

The story of the Queen of Sheba in the Quran shares some similarities with the Bible and other Jewish sources.[12] Some Muslim commentators such as Al-Tabari, Al-Zamakhshari and Al-Baydawi supplement the story. Here they claim that the Queen's name is Bilqīs (Arabic: بِلْقِيْس), probably derived from Greek: παλλακίς, romanized: pallakis or the Hebraised pilegesh ("concubine"). The Quran does not name the Queen, referring to her as "a woman ruling them" (Arabic: امْرَأَةً تَمْلِكُهُمْ),[53] the nation of Sheba.[54]

According to some, he then married the Queen, while other traditions say that he gave her in marriage to a King of Hamdan.[3] According to the scholar Al-Hamdani, the Queen of Sheba was the daughter of Ilsharah Yahdib, the Sabaean king of South Arabia.[55] In another tale, she is said to be the daughter of a jinni (or peri)[56] and a human.[57] 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 the Targum Sheni. However, according to the Encyclopaedia Judaica Targum Sheni is dated to around 700[58] similarly the general consensus is to date Targum Sheni to late 7th- or early 8th century,[59] which post-dates the advent of Islam by almost 200 years. Furthermore, M. J. Berdichevsky[60] explains that this Targum is the earliest narrative articulation of Queen of Sheba in Jewish tradition.

Scholarly interpretations

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Sabaean stele: a feast and a camel driver, with an inscription in Sabaean on top

Folding of the Hebrew Bible's story

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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 the Deuteronomist (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 the Babylonian 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 the Second Book of the Paralipomenon (II Chronicles), written in the Settlement era.[61][62]

Hypotheses and archaeological evidence

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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 the Red Sea and thereby undermine the monopoly of Saba and other South Arabian kingdoms on caravan trade with Syria and Mesopotamia.[63] Assyrian sources confirm that South Arabia was engaged in international 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.[64]

There is, however, debate about the chronological plausibility of this event: Solomon lived from approximately 965 to 926 BC, while it has been argued that the first traces of the Sabean monarchy appear some 150 years later.[65] On the other hand, Peter Stein argues that archaeological and epigraphic evidence indicates that the Sabean kingdom had already emerged by the 10th century BC.[66]

The ruins of the Temple of the Sun in Maribe. Built in the 8th century BC, it existed for 1,000 years

In the 19th century, explorers I. Halevi and Glaser found in the Arabian Desert the ruins of the huge city of Marib.[67] Among the inscriptions found, scientists read the name of four South Arabian states: Minea, Hadramawt, Qataban, and Sawa. As it turned out, the residence of the kings of Sheba was the city of Marib (modern Yemen), which confirms the traditional version of the queen's origin from the south of the Arabian Peninsula. Inscriptions found in southern Arabia do not mention female rulers, but from Assyrian documents of the 8th-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.[68] 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.[69]

Yemen - Territory where the queen probably came from
Ethiopia - 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 the 6th century BC the Sabaeans, having crossed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, settled near the Red Sea and occupied part of Ethiopia,[70] '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 the stela of Tiglath-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 with Abrahams grandson Sheba (Genesis 25:3, cf. also Genesis 10:7, Genesis 10:28) (the name of Sheba's brother Dedan, mentioned next to it, is associated with the oasis of El-Ula north of Medina). According to some scholars, the Kingdom of Israel first came into contact with the northern Sabaeans, and only later, perhaps through their mediation, with Saba in the south.[61][71] The historian J. A. Montgomery has suggested that in the Xth century BC the Sabeans lived in northern Arabia, although they controlled trade routes from the south.[72]

Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, which Harry St John Philby considered the origin of later legends about the Queen of Sheba

The famous Arabian explorer Harry 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 of Zenobia, the warrior queen of Palmyra (modern Tadmor, Syria), who lived in the 3rd century CE and converted to Judaism.[73] For example, it is told (by one of Mohammed's biographers) that it was in Palmyra, in the 8th century during the reign of Caliph Walid 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.[74] There are also parallels between Sheba and another eastern autocrat, the famous Semiramis, also a warrior and irrigator who lived around the same time, in the late 9th century BC, which can be traced in folklore. Thus, the 2nd-century AD writer Melito 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.[75]

In art and culture

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Medieval

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The 12th century cathedrals at Strasbourg, Chartres, Rochester and Canterbury include artistic renditions in stained glass windows and doorjamb decorations.[76] Likewise of Romanesque art, the enamel depiction of a black woman at Klosterneuburg Monastery.[77] The Queen of Sheba, standing in water before Solomon, is depicted on a window in King's College Chapel, Cambridge.[3]

Renaissance

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Florence Baptistry door, Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378‒1455), bronze relief.

The Queen of Sheba was a popular feature in the Italian Renaissance. It can be found in the doors of the Florence Baptistery by Lorenzo Ghiberti, frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli in Pisa, and in the Raphael Loggie.[11]

Piero della Francesca's frescoes in Arezzo (c. 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 analogy between the Queen's visit to Solomon and the adoration of the Magi is evident in the Triptych of the Adoration of the Magi (c. 1510) by Hieronymus Bosch.[78]

Literature

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Boccaccio's On Famous Women

Boccaccio's On Famous Women (Latin: De Mulieribus Claris) follows Josephus in calling the Queen of Sheba Nicaula. Boccaccio writes she is the Queen of Ethiopia and Egypt, and that some people say she is also the queen of Arabia. He writes that she had a palace on "a very large island" called Meroe, located in the Nile river. From there Nicaula travelled to Jerusalem to see King Solomon.[79]

O. Henry's short story The 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's The 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]

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.[80]

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 of King 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 the Temple, 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.[81]

Léopold Sédar Senghor's "Elégie pour la Reine de Saba", published in his Elégies 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 of Negritude and Eurafrique by including "Arab-Berber Africa".[82]

Rudyard Kipling's book Just So Stories includes the tale of The 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 in The Ring of Solomon, the fourth book in Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus 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?"[83]

Film

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Betty Blythe as the queen in The Queen of Sheba (1921).

Music

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Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba by Georg Friedrich Händel.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Television

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See also

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Notes

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References

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Bibliography

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Queen of Sheba

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from Grokipedia
The Queen of Sheba is a figure from ancient biblical tradition, depicted as the monarch of the prosperous kingdom of Saba in southern Arabia (modern Yemen) who undertook a renowned visit to King Solomon of Israel circa the 10th century BCE to verify reports of his exceptional wisdom. In the primary accounts preserved in 1 Kings 10:1–13 and 2 Chronicles 9:1–12, she arrived in Jerusalem with a vast caravan laden with spices, gold, and precious stones, posing riddles and questions that Solomon answered adeptly, while his opulent court and divine favor astonished her, prompting lavish gifts in exchange and praise for Yahweh's endowment of Israel's king. Although no contemporaneous inscriptions or artifacts directly attest to her personal existence or the specific journey, the kingdom of Saba is archaeologically confirmed as a major hub of incense, spice, and luxury trade across the Red Sea and Arabian routes during the early first millennium BCE, with Neo-Assyrian annals referencing Sabean queens and commerce that plausibly underpin the narrative's historical kernel. Subsequent traditions amplify her legend: Ethiopian lore in the Kebra Nagast portrays her as Makeda, consort to who bore son , founder of the , though this reflects medieval Aksumite imperial ideology rather than empirical antiquity; Islamic sources identify her as Bilqis, a discerning ruler humbled by 's prophetic ring and a bird's report in the ( 27). These elaborations, while culturally enduring, diverge from the terse biblical core, with scholarly analysis favoring Saba's Yemeni locus over Ethiopian claims due to epigraphic and material evidence of Sabean mukarribs (priest-kings) and trade dominance predating Aksumite influence. The absence of her name or regnal details in Hebrew texts underscores her role as emblematic of exotic wisdom-seekers and intercultural exchange, rather than a fully historicized biography.

Primary Sources

Biblical Account

The Biblical account of the appears in the Hebrew Bible's and Chronicles, specifically 1 Kings 10:1–13 and its near-parallel in 2 Chronicles 9:1–12. These passages describe an unnamed ruler from who travels to during the reign of King to assess reports of his , which was renowned in connection with the name of the . The two accounts are substantially identical, with Chronicles featuring minor stylistic variations, such as additional emphasis on and courtly ascent offerings, but no substantive divergences in the core narrative. Upon hearing of Solomon's fame, the queen arrives in accompanied by a vast , including camels bearing spices, an immense quantity of , and precious stones unprecedented in . Her primary purpose is to pose "hard questions" or riddles to test the king, which he answers without error, leaving nothing concealed from him. Impressed beyond the rumors she had heard, she beholds the evidence of his in the grandeur of his , the lavish daily provisions for his table, the orderly seating and attire of his officials, the attendance of his cupbearers, and the ascending burnt offerings in the House of the Lord. The queen acknowledges that the reality surpasses prior reports, declaring Solomon's and greater than proclaimed. She blesses the Lord God of Israel for delighting in to set such a wise king over a people who continually experience divine instruction through him, deeming Solomon's servants supremely blessed. In exchange for the insights gained, she presents Solomon with 120 talents of , abundant spices, and rare precious stones. Solomon reciprocates by granting her every request, beyond the customary royal generosity, after which she departs with her servants to her homeland. The underscores Solomon's unparalleled as a divine , validated by a foreign monarch's rigorous examination.

Quranic Account

In the Quran, the story of the Queen of Sheba appears in Surah An-Naml (The Ant), verses 15–44, as part of the narrative highlighting Prophet 's (Solomon's) prophethood, wisdom, and dominion over natural and supernatural forces. , granted unique knowledge and control by , inspects his army of birds and notices the absence of the (hudhud), vowing to punish it severely unless it brings valid justification. The soon returns, reporting its discovery of a prosperous kingdom in the land of (Saba'), ruled by a woman of great authority who possesses a magnificent and leads her people in sun worship, forsaking the worship of . Sulayman dispatches a letter via the to the queen, commanding her and her people to submit to , the Lord of the worlds, without associating partners with Him. The queen, consulting her advisors who boast of their military strength, decides to send lavish gifts to Sulayman as a test of his intentions. Upon receiving the gifts, Sulayman rejects them emphatically, warning that he will soon dispatch an irresistible force against her unless she submits, emphasizing that worldly wealth cannot rival divine favor. To demonstrate his power, Sulayman orders a () to fetch her throne before her arrival, which is accomplished swiftly and then disguised to test her. When the queen arrives at 's court, she is invited to enter a floored with smooth appearing as flowing , leading her to lift her garments in caution before realizing the . Astonished by the display and recognizing Sulayman's divine signs, she acknowledges her past errors in sun worship and declares her submission to alongside Sulayman, affirming Allah as the Lord of all worlds. The account portrays her conversion as a recognition of , triggered by of Sulayman's miracles, without elaboration on romance or further personal details found in later traditions.

Legendary Expansions

Ethiopian Kebra Nagast Tradition

The , or "Glory of the Kings," is a medieval Ethiopian text composed in Ge'ez around the , drawing on earlier Coptic, , and Jewish traditions to elaborate the biblical encounter between the Queen of Sheba and . It portrays the queen, named Makeda in this account, as ruler of (referred to as "the country of the Sabaeans") who travels to after hearing of Solomon's wisdom from a named Tamrin, seeking knowledge and divine truth. In the narrative, Makeda spends six months at Solomon's court, where he hosts elaborate feasts and engages her in riddles and debates on ; she ultimately submits to his after a involving a spicy meal that tests her chastity, leading to conception of their son, Bayna-Lekem (later known as ). Menelik, raised in , journeys to at age 22, where Solomon acknowledges paternity and offers him succession, but Menelik declines, preferring his Ethiopian heritage; divine visions prompt Menelik's nobles—sons of Israelite priests and elders—to abscond with the , substituting a to avert detection, and transport it to via and the . The Ark's arrival sanctifies Axum as the "New ," with its resting place guarded in a , inaccessible to all but a single priest. This tradition served to legitimize the , restored in 1270 by , who claimed descent from as Solomon's heir, intertwining Ethiopian monarchy with biblical to assert imperial authority over Semitic and Cushitic subjects until Emperor Haile Selassie's deposition in 1974. The text's compilation reflects Zagwe-to-Solomonic political transitions, incorporating apocalyptic motifs and anti-Zagwe propaganda, though its legendary elements lack corroboration from contemporary Near Eastern records. In Habesha (Ethiopian and Eritrean) culture, Makeda remains a celebrated legendary figure symbolizing beauty, wisdom, power, and royal heritage. Her image persists in modern Ethiopian and Eritrean poetry, music, and lyrics, where she is invoked as a metaphor to praise beautiful or strong women, often associating them with her regal qualities. For example, the song "Queen of Sheba" by Rwandan artist Meddy, popular in East Africa including Ethiopia, features the line "Be my queen of sheba" to express admiration for a desirable woman.

Islamic Elaborations on Bilqis

In Islamic tradition, the unnamed queen of the Quranic account is identified as Bilqis in exegetical literature and prophetic narratives, with her kingdom associated with Saba' in southern Arabia. This nomenclature appears in tafsirs such as those by and , though its etymological origins remain debated among scholars, potentially deriving from pre-Islamic or foreign linguistic adaptations without direct Quranic attestation. Exegetes elaborate on the Quranic narrative in Surah an-Naml (27:20-44) by detailing Bilqis's consultative governance and intellectual acumen. Upon receiving Solomon's letter demanding submission to God, she convenes her advisors, who advocate military response, but she opts for diplomacy, dispatching lavish gifts of gold and jewels to test his intentions. Solomon rejects the tribute, attributing it to her sun worship, and commands the transportation of her throne—described in some tafsirs as crafted from gold, jewels, and rare woods—via the knowledgeable jinn Asif ibn Barkhiya rather than the ifrit who proposed a slower feat. Further embellishments in works like Ibn Kathir's portray Bilqis arriving at 's court amid displays of divine favor, including control over winds and birds, which underscore his prophethood. The pivotal glass-floored palace, simulating a pool of water, prompts her to lift her skirts, revealing her shins and affirming the illusion; this leads to her immediate recognition of monotheism's truth, declaring, "My Lord, indeed, I have wronged myself, and I submit with Solomon to , Lord of the worlds" ( 27:44). Post-Quranic folklore, including some Shi'a hadiths, introduces supernatural elements, such as claims of Bilqis's partial jinn heritage from her mother, explaining her aversion to the watery floor to conceal unusual features like hairy legs—a motif absent from the Quran but echoed in rabbinical parallels. These additions, while vivid, stem from anecdotal traditions rather than prophetic hadith chains of highest authenticity, serving didactic purposes on wisdom and submission over polytheism. Bilqis's story is often invoked as an exemplar of rational inquiry yielding faith, contrasting with hadiths critiquing female rulership post-Islam, as her era predates such norms.

Religious Significance

In Judaism

In Jewish scripture, the is depicted in the as a ruler from who visits in to test his renowned with difficult riddles, arriving with a large caravan bearing spices, gold, and precious stones. According to 1 Kings 10:1-13, answers all her questions satisfactorily, conducts her through his palace and temple, and impresses her to the extent that she praises for placing on the throne and declares his wisdom surpasses reports. She presents lavish gifts, including 120 talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones, and receives in return whatever she desires from 's household. A parallel account in 2 Chronicles 9:1-12 emphasizes her astonishment at 's wisdom, servants, and opulent provisions, reinforcing her recognition of divine favor upon . Rabbinic literature expands on the biblical narrative through midrashic interpretations, portraying the Queen as engaging Solomon in intellectual challenges to verify his sagacity. Midrashic sources describe her devising scenarios, such as a carpet of glass over water to mimic dry land, which Solomon discerns through observation of her cautious steps, and posing riddles tied to natural phenomena or ethical dilemmas, all of which he resolves. For instance, Midrash Mishlei attributes riddles to her concerning themes like the shamir worm used in temple construction and comparisons between natural elements, interpreting her queries as probes into Solomon's Torah knowledge. These aggadot highlight Solomon's superiority and the Queen's admiration, without naming her or attributing supernatural traits. Talmudic references to the Queen remain limited, with Targum Sheni to providing an elaborate retelling that supplements the biblical visit with additional dialogues and tests, though later medieval midrashim introduce legendary elements like hairy legs symbolizing demonic heritage, which scholars debate as applying to her or another figure. In these traditions, her encounter underscores themes of divine wisdom's universality and acknowledgment of Israelite monarchy's legitimacy, as evidenced by her explicit praise of over local deities. Jewish views the episode not as romance—despite midrashic hints at intimacy in some interpretations—but as validation of Solomon's rule and monotheism's appeal.

In Christianity

In the New Testament, Jesus identifies the Queen of Sheba as the "Queen of the South," declaring that she will rise at the final to condemn his generation for rejecting him, as she had journeyed from distant lands to hear 's wisdom, yet "a greater than is here." This reference, found in Matthew 12:42 and paralleled in Luke 11:31, portrays her as a exemplar of earnest pursuit of truth and divine insight, willing to undertake a arduous upon hearing reports of 's God-given wisdom. Christian interpreters have viewed her story as illustrating the universal draw of God's , with her testing of through riddles and subsequent praise—"There is no one so wise and understanding as you are"—affirming the authenticity of divine when confronted directly. Her acknowledgment that 's prosperity stemmed from underscores themes of recognition and humility before God's sovereignty, serving as a rebuke to those who dismiss greater spiritual truths. In theological reflection, some traditions see typological parallels, with the queen representing Gentiles drawn to Christ, whom foreshadows as the ultimate source of . Though not canonized as a saint or assigned a liturgical feast in , her narrative has influenced homiletic and devotional literature, emphasizing faith's response to evidence of God's works. In Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, she receives elevated reverence tied to national origins, distinct from the biblical core but integrated into ecclesial identity.

In Islam

In the Quran, the Queen of Sheba appears in Surah An-Naml (27:20–44) as a ruler of a sun-worshiping people who encounters the Prophet (Solomon) and ultimately submits to , declaring, "My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, and I submit with Sulayman to , Lord of the worlds" ( 27:44). This narrative highlights her as a figure of rational discernment, consulting advisors before responding to Sulayman's invitation and recognizing divine truth through empirical signs, such as the transported and the glass pavement test mimicking water. The story's theological significance lies in demonstrating the universality of monotheistic guidance beyond Israelite prophets, portraying Bilqis—named in later traditions—as a non-prophetess who voluntarily abandons for (divine unity) after witnessing Sulayman's God-given authority over , winds, and knowledge. It underscores the futility of material power and , as her kingdom's and sun worship prove inferior to submission to the Creator, teaching that true sovereignty belongs to alone. Islamic , including , praises her wisdom and leadership, depicting her as intelligent and consultative rather than tyrannical, with her conversion exemplifying humility before truth over ego-driven rule. In Shi'a traditions, the account reinforces themes of prophetic miracles and the rejection of shirk (associating partners with God), positioning her people’s shift to as a reward for her pivotal recognition of reality. While some later narrations introduce legendary elements like jinn heritage, core Quranic emphasis remains on her as a model of empowered female agency aligned with divine will, free from patriarchal diminishment.

Historical and Archaeological Analysis

Debate on Historicity

The of the Queen of Sheba remains unproven due to the absence of contemporary inscriptions, records, or artifacts explicitly naming her or documenting a visit to during the reign of , circa 970–931 BCE. Biblical and Quranic accounts, the primary sources, describe her as ruler of bearing gifts of spices, , and precious stones, but these narratives lack corroboration from South Arabian epigraphy, where thousands of Sabaean texts detail rulers and events yet omit any such figure or journey. Scholars note that while the Kingdom of Saba existed in what is now from approximately 1000–800 BCE, centered on trade in and , no direct link ties a specific queen to Israelite interactions in the BCE. Arguments favoring a historical basis emphasize the plausibility within known geopolitical and economic contexts. Neo-Assyrian records from the 8th–7th centuries BCE confirm female rulers in Arabian kingdoms, including Saba, where mukarribs (kings) and queens coexisted, suggesting queenship was not anomalous. Archaeological evidence of 10th-century BCE trade networks—evidenced by Levantine pottery in Yemen and South Arabian goods like incense in Israel—supports diplomatic exchanges that could underpin the story's core, such as a queen's envoy assessing Solomon's prosperity amid burgeoning spice routes. A 2023 analysis of a Jerusalem potsherd inscription from the 10th century BCE, bearing the name "Elishama" and a possible Sheban reference, hints at administrative ties to distant trade partners, though not conclusively to a royal visit. Counterarguments highlight the narrative's legendary embellishments, including riddles testing and elements like a bird in Islamic traditions, which align more with folkloric motifs than verifiable . Critical scholars often view the account as a composite or etiological tale, possibly retrojected to glorify Solomon's reign or explain cultural exchanges, given the biblical text's composition centuries later, around the 6th–5th centuries BCE. Ethiopian claims of her rule there, amplified in the , lack supporting archaeology, with no 10th-century BCE queenly records in Aksum or D'mt regions predating known rulers. The debate reflects broader challenges in verifying Iron Age individuals without epigraphic attestation; while absence of evidence does not preclude existence—especially for peripheral figures in oral traditions—empirical standards demand corroboration beyond scriptural sources, leading most historians to classify her as legendary with potential historical inspirations from real Sabean queens and .

Identification of Sheba's Location

The ancient kingdom of is most commonly identified by historians and archaeologists with the Sabaean kingdom centered in what is now , in the southwestern . This identification stems from epigraphic evidence, including inscriptions dating from the BCE onward, which document a prosperous known for its control over trade routes and hydraulic engineering feats like the . The biblical description of Sheba as a source of , spices, and precious stones aligns with archaeological findings of South Arabian exports, such as and , which were staples of the region's economy from at least the BCE. Excavations at sites like , the presumed capital, have uncovered temples, palaces, and monumental inscriptions attesting to Sabaean rulers and military campaigns contemporaneous with the biblical era of King Solomon around 950 BCE. A recently deciphered inscription on a from this period mentions and royal administration, providing indirect corroboration for a structured kingdom capable of the diplomatic and economic interactions described in 1 Kings 10. Scholarly consensus, drawn from textual and material evidence, places Sheba's core territory in the Wadi Hadhramaut and surrounding oases, rather than across the , due to the absence of comparable early inscriptions or monumental architecture in ancient matching the timeline. Alternative identifications linking Sheba to Ethiopia arise primarily from medieval traditions, such as the 14th-century Kebra Nagast, which retrojects the queen's realm to the Horn of Africa to legitimize Solomonic dynasties, but lack support from pre-Christian archaeological records. While Ethiopian highlands show Neolithic activity, no evidence exists for a centralized kingdom there before the rise of Aksum in the 1st century CE, centuries after the purported events. This Ethiopian association, though culturally enduring, reflects legendary expansion rather than historical geography, as confirmed by comparative linguistics tying Sabaic to South Semitic languages indigenous to Arabia. Some hypotheses propose a dual realm spanning Yemen and Ethiopia via trade colonies, but these remain speculative without direct attestation.

Archaeological Evidence and Trade Networks

Archaeological excavations in modern have uncovered extensive remains of the , including temples, dams, and inscriptions dating from the BCE onward, confirming the existence of a sophisticated South Arabian centered at sites like Ma'rib and Sirwah. These findings include monumental structures such as the Barran temple complex and hydraulic engineering feats like the Ma'rib Dam, which supported agriculture and trade in and , key commodities associated with in ancient texts. Inscriptions in the script document royal activities, tribal alliances, and economic endeavors, though the earliest dated examples postdate the putative era of (c. 970–930 BCE) by a century or more. A pivotal discovery linking Sabaean influence to the Levant is a 10th-century BCE inscription in found on a large storage jar () during excavations in 's City of David, specifically the area. Deciphered in 2023 by epigrapher Daniel Vainstub, the script reads as a name or formula akin to dedicatory markers from , suggesting the vessel's origin in the Sabaean realm and its transport to via trade routes. Paleographic analysis dates the inscription to the late 10th century BCE, aligning with the biblical timeline for Solomon's reign and indicating direct commercial or diplomatic exchanges between and Judah. This artifact provides the earliest material evidence of Sabaean presence in the northern , supporting the plausibility of extensive trade networks described in 1 Kings 10. The Sabaean economy thrived on the , a network of overland caravan paths from through the to Gaza and the Mediterranean, facilitating exports of aromatics, , and to , the , and beyond. Domestication of the dromedary camel around the 10th century BCE enabled efficient long-distance transport, correlating with increased archaeological traces of like residues in Judean sites and South Arabian motifs in Levantine artifacts. Neo-Assyrian annals from the 8th–7th centuries BCE reference Saba (Šbʾ) as a distant land of queens and spices, attesting to ongoing Arabian-Levantine commerce that likely predated these records. While no inscriptions or artifacts directly corroborate a specific royal visit akin to the Queen of Sheba's, the and broader trade infrastructure evince cultural and economic interconnections sufficient to underpin the biblical narrative's context, without proving its historicity. Claims of Ethiopian origins for lack comparable 10th-century BCE archaeological support, with Aksumite development emerging later under South Arabian influence.

Scholarly Hypotheses on Narrative Origins

Scholars have proposed several hypotheses regarding the origins of the Queen of Sheba narrative, primarily drawing from the account in 1 Kings 10:1–13 and its parallel in 2 Chronicles 9:1–12, which describe her journey from Sheba to test Solomon's wisdom with riddles, bearing gifts of gold, spices, and precious stones. One hypothesis posits a historical kernel rooted in diplomatic or commercial relations between the early Israelite kingdom and South Arabian polities around the 10th century BCE, when trade networks for incense, gold, and spices linked the Levant to regions like Saba (modern Yemen). This view, advanced by archaeologist James Sauer, suggests the visit aimed to secure distribution channels for Sabaean incense, evidenced by biblical mentions of camels laden with spices and Assyrian records from the 8th century BCE documenting tribute from Arab queens, such as Samsi of the Arabs, indicating female rulers were not anomalous in the region. An etiological interpretation holds that the story emerged to explain the origins of exotic in Jerusalem's temple economy, attributing Solomon's wealth to Sheba's as a causal mechanism for Judah's prosperity amid established Red Sea trade routes dating to at least the 15th century BCE. Proponents cite Sabean inscriptions and biblical references to shipments (1 Kings 9:26–28), arguing the narrative retroactively justifies the presence of and in cultic practices, though direct epigraphic evidence for a specific queen's visit remains absent. Conservative biblical archaeologists, such as those affiliated with the Associates for Biblical Research, emphasize this as preserving authentic court annals, countering minimalist dismissals that attribute the to later invention due to anachronistic details like the scale of trade. In contrast, form-critical and redactional analyses classify the episode as a literary " report" or exemplar within Near Eastern tale genres, composed or finalized during the Persian period (538–350 BCE) to glorify Solomon's reign retrospectively. Scholars like Emanuelle Pastore argue it functions as a microcosm ("") of the Davidic , emphasizing Yahweh's sovereignty through foreign acclaim, tailored for post-exilic to reinforce ethnic and theological identity amid Persian rule, rather than reflecting 10th-century events. This perspective highlights structural parallels to other biblical motifs but has been critiqued for presupposing a low chronology that downplays archaeological corroboration of early trade, potentially influenced by broader academic skepticism toward the historicity of the United Monarchy. Linguistic and onomastic studies offer ancillary insights, with Ernst Knauf proposing that "" derives from Semitic roots linking to earlier Cushite migrations (Genesis 10:7), suggesting the narrative amalgamated oral traditions about South Arabian-Sabaean interactions into Israelite lore by the monarchy's late phase. No single hypothesis commands consensus, as —such as temple remains and caravan routes—supports trade realism but not a verbatim event, underscoring the narrative's likely hybrid of historical reminiscence, theological didacticism, and legendary embellishment.

Cultural Depictions and Legacy

In Art and Literature

The Queen of Sheba appears in expanded narratives within religious literature beyond the Hebrew Bible's account in 1 Kings 10 and 2 Chronicles 9. In the Ethiopian , a 14th-century Ge'ez text, she is named Makeda and portrayed as visiting , who impregnates her during her stay in , leading to the birth of their son ; Menelik later retrieves the to , establishing the Solomonic lineage claimed by Ethiopian emperors until 1974. In Islamic sources, identified as Bilqis, her story in 27:20–44 describes a bird informing of her sun-worshipping kingdom; summons her court, transports her throne via , and converts her after she mistakes his crystal pavement for water, submitting to . Later tafsirs and , such as in , elaborate on her wisdom and the supernatural elements of her encounter. Artistic depictions of the Queen of Sheba emerge in late antique murals, such as the 3rd-century showing her reception by , emphasizing themes of wisdom and exotic tribute. Medieval European sculpture and , like the 12th-century portal at Saint-Denis Abbey featuring her head, integrated her into Christian symbolizing the Church's triumph over . Renaissance painters frequently illustrated her visit to as an for virtuous rule and intellectual exchange. Jacopo Tintoretto's circa 1545 oil Solomon and the Queen of portrays the monarchs in a dynamic architectural setting, highlighting opulence and mutual respect. Similarly, Piero della Francesca's fresco cycle in the (circa 1452–1466) details her prophecy of the cross's sanctity, linking her to Christian typology. Lavinia Fontana's 16th-century The Visit of the Queen of to King depicts the queen in elaborate attire, underscoring female agency in biblical narrative. Islamic art, including Safavid Persian miniatures, represents Bilqis enthroned or in dialogue with , often in illuminated manuscripts emphasizing her conversion and the throne's translocation. These portrayals across traditions consistently draw from scriptural motifs of testing through riddles and exchanging vast spices, , and , with 120 talents of noted in the biblical text.

In Music, Film, and Modern Media

The Queen of Sheba has appeared in various cinematic adaptations, often emphasizing her visit to and romantic or dramatic elements. A 1921 silent titled The Queen of Sheba, directed by J. Gordon Edwards and produced by Fox Film Corporation, starred as the Queen and as King , depicting an ill-fated romance amid political intrigue. In 1952, the Italian The Queen of Sheba (La regina di Saba), directed by Pietro Francisci, featured Leonora Ruffo as the Queen, who falls in love with 's son while on a mission, leading to conflict. The 1959 Hollywood epic , directed by , cast as the Queen opposite as , portraying her as a seductive rival queen plotting against before her conversion. A 1995 television movie Solomon & Sheba, directed by Robert M. Young, starred as the Queen undertaking a secret journey to , highlighting themes of wisdom and alliance. In music, the Queen of Sheba is prominently featured in George Frideric Handel's 1749 oratorio Solomon, where the sinfonia "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" opens Act III, depicting her ceremonial entrance with lively oboes and strings evoking pomp and exoticism. This instrumental piece has become one of Handel's most performed works, frequently arranged for orchestras, chamber ensembles, and even weddings, and incorporated into soundtracks such as the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral. In contemporary East African popular music and in Habesha (Ethiopian and Eritrean) culture more broadly, the Queen of Sheba—known as Makeda—serves as a metaphor for beauty, wisdom, power, and desirability, often invoked in modern poetry, music, and lyrics to praise beautiful or strong women. For example, in the song "Queen of Sheba" by Rwandan artist Meddy, popular in East Africa including Ethiopia and Eritrea, the lyrics include "Be my queen of sheba" addressing an admired and desirable woman. In modern media, the Queen of Sheba, often syncretized as Bilquis, appears in the 2017 television adaptation of Neil Gaiman's , portrayed by as an ancient fertility goddess surviving into contemporary times through seductive encounters, drawing on her legendary allure and Ethiopian-Islamic traditions. Her figure also inspires , such as Tosca Lee's 2022 novel , which explores her as Makeda, ruler of ancient Saba, navigating power and faith. These portrayals frequently emphasize her as a symbol of exotic and , though interpretations vary by cultural lens without direct archaeological corroboration.

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  58. https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/arabia-or-africa-where-is-the-land-of-sheba/
  59. https://madainproject.com/kingdom_of_sheba
  60. https://www.sci.news/archaeology/sabaean-inscription-11797.html
  61. https://armstronginstitute.org/901-discovered-a-connection-between-solomons-jerusalem-and-south-arabia
  62. https://www.ncregister.com/blog/archaeology-solomon-queen-of-sheba
  63. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+10%3A1-13&version=NIV
  64. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/7/865
  65. https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/queen-sheba-0013158
  66. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-queen-sheba-connects-art-three-major-religions
  67. https://www.wikiart.org/en/tintoretto/solomon-and-the-queen-of-sheba
  68. https://www.nationalgallery.ie/art-and-artists/highlights-collection/visit-queen-sheba-king-solomon-lavinia-fontana-1552-1614
  69. https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/499794/the-queen-of-sheba
  70. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045078/
  71. https://www.facebook.com/groups/288641313082364/posts/358156739464154/
  72. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114490/
  73. https://www.yourclassical.org/episode/2024/03/17/composers-datebook-george-frederic-handel
  74. https://open.spotify.com/track/4qrjqiCmMzROF9shfqQ27h
  75. https://open.spotify.com/track/6QIOxTdoi8Nyl2DeSSWIr7
  76. https://nerdist.com/article/american-gods-history-primer-bilquis-a-k-a-queen-of-sheba/
  77. https://www.lifeisstory.com/fiction/the-legend-of-sheba-tosca-lee/
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