Queen of Sheba
The Queen of Sheba is a prominent figure in both Jewish and Islamic traditions, believed to have ruled the ancient kingdom of Saba in southwestern Arabia, likely located in present-day Yemen. She is famously known for her visit to King Solomon, where she tested his wisdom with challenging questions and brought lavish gifts, including gold and spices, symbolizing trade relations between the regions. In Islamic tradition, she is referred to as Bilqīs and is featured in the Qur'an, while in Ethiopian lore, she is known as Makeda, who is said to have traveled from her capital in Axum to Jerusalem and had a son, Menelik I, with Solomon, establishing a royal dynasty in Ethiopia. The narratives surrounding the Queen of Sheba highlight her as a figure of intelligence and wealth, leading to interpretations that suggest she may represent a composite of multiple powerful queens from the region’s history. Archaeological evidence and historical texts indicate the significance of trade routes in the southern Red Sea, linking these ancient civilizations and contributing to shared cultural narratives. Her story illustrates the rich tapestry of interactions and influences among the peoples of Arabia and Africa during antiquity.
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Queen of Sheba
Related civilizations: Ethiopia (Abyssinia), Israel, Egypt, Assyria, Persia.
Celebrated for visiting King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba symbolizes ancient trading ties along the Red Sea and the deserts of Arabia before Islam.
Life
The tradition of the Queen of Sheba spans a long period of time. In both Jewish and Islamic history, the Queen of Sheba ruled the kingdom of Saba՚ in southwestern Arabia. In the Bible, Genesis, Psalms, Job, and the books of the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Joel, all mention the kingdom of Sheba, which was probably in Yemen, with its capital at Marib. In 1 Kings 10:1-13 and 2 Chronicles 9:1-12, the Queen of Sheba visits King Solomon to test his wisdom, arriving at the head of a camel caravan bearing gold, jewels, and spices—suggesting trade between ancient Israel and Arabia. She converts to Solomon’s faith. In the New Testament, she is the Queen of the South (Matthew 12:42 and Luke 11:31). She is Bilqīs in the Islamic tradition, the subject of many legends. In the Qur՚n, she appears in two Suras: al Naml (the ant) 27 and Saba՚ (Sheba) 34. During Solomon’s rule in Israel (c. 900 b.c.e.), his navy ensured southern trade through the Red Sea. The name Sheba is Hebrew for the Arabic name Saba՚.
Across the narrow Red Sea in Africa, the Queen of Sheba appears in Ethiopia as Makeda. In this version, she leaves her capital at Axum to travel north to Jerusalem, where she conceives King Solomon’s son, Menelik I, who founded the royal dynasty of Ethiopia. Born after Makeda’s return to Africa, Menelik’s descendants ruled Ethiopia as the Lions of Judah.
Whether she was from Yemen or Ethiopia, both countries were widely known as sources of frankincense, myrrh, and gold. In Yemen, high mountains shielded Marib, where a great dam irrigated crops, and merchants transported goods through the kingdom of Saba՚. Carvings depicting trade expeditions of the Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut (r. c. 1502-1482 b.c.e.) to the south, Assyrian records (c. 700 b.c.e.), and later Babylonian and Persian records all attest extensive foreign trade with South Arabia and East Africa and to their rule by queens.
Later writers supplied detailed information about the southern Red Sea. The Periplus Maris Erythraei (also known as Periplus, first century c.e.; Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, 1980) was a guide for shipping by an anonymous Greek ship captain. Pliny the Elder wrote about the area in 60 c.e.King Ezana converted to Christianity in 350 c.e., linking Ethiopia with the Byzantine Empire against the Sāsānian Persians. After the prophet Muḥammad’s death (632 c.e.), the Persian governor of Yemen converted to Islam, cutting off international trade and causing the region to be neglected by the rest of the world.
Influence
Archaeological and historical records clarify the interaction of people in the southern Red Sea as one of shared history and ideas. References to the Queen of Sheba are among these shared aspects of history; the names Bilqīs and Makeda indicate a type of ruler who appears frequently. The stories in the Old Testament and in the Qur՚n depicting the Queen of Sheba as a clever and rich woman probably indicate that more than one wise and wealthy queen ruled Yemen and Ethiopia.
Bibliography
Clapp, Nicholas. Sheba: The Quest for the Legendary Queen. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Daum, Werner, ed. Yemen: Three Thousand Years of Art and Civilization in Arabia Felix. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1988.
François, Jean François. Arabia Felix from the Time of the Queen of Sheba: Eighth Century b.c. to First Century a.d. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 2000.
Heldman, Marilyn, and Stuart Munro-Hay. African Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethiopia. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1993.
Lassner, Jacob. Demonizing the Queen of Sheba: Boundaries of Gender and Culture in Postbiblical Judaism and Medieval Islam. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.