The Queen of Sheba ( he, מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא‎, Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ; ar, ملكة سبأ, Malikat Sabaʾ; gez, ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nəgśətä Saba) is a figure first mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Israelite King Solomon. This account has undergone extensive

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, Islamic, Yemenite and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

n elaborations, and it has become the subject of one of the most widespread and fertile cycles of legends in the Middle East. Modern historians identify

Sheba Sheba (; he, ''Šəḇāʾ''; ar, سبأ ''Sabaʾ''; Ge'ez: ሳባ ''Saba'') is a kingdom mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the Quran. Sheba features in Jewish, Muslim, and Christian traditions, particularly the Ethiopian Orth ...

with both the South Arabian kingdom of Saba in present-day

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

and

. The queen's existence is disputed among historians.

Narratives

Biblical

The Queen of Sheba ( he, מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא, Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ, in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

; syr, ܡܠܟܬ ܫܒܐ; gez, ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nəgśətä Saba), whose name is not stated, came to Jerusalem "with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones" (

I Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the boo ...

10:2). "Never again came such an abundance of spices" (10:10; II Chron. 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. The use of the term or 'riddles' (

10:1), an

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

loanword whose shape points to a sound shift no earlier than the sixth century B.C., indicates a late origin for the text. Since there is no mention of the fall of Babylon in 539 BC,

Martin Noth Martin Noth (3 August 1902 – 30 May 1968) was a German scholar of the Hebrew Bible who specialized in the pre-Exilic history of the Hebrews and promoted the hypothesis that the Israelite tribes in the immediate period after the settlement in Can ...

has held that the Book of Kings received a definitive redaction around 550 BC. Sheba was quite well known in the classical world, and its country was called

Arabia Felix Arabia Felix (literally: Fertile/Happy Arabia; also Ancient Greek: Εὐδαίμων Ἀραβία, ''Eudaemon Arabia'') was the Latin name previously used by geographers to describe South Arabia, or what is now Yemen. Etymology The term Arabia ...

. Around the middle of the first millennium B.C., there were Sabaeans also in

and Eritrea, in the area that later became the realm of

Aksum Axum, or Aksum (pronounced: ), is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015). It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire, a naval and trading power that ruled the whole regio ...

. There are five places in the Bible where the writer distinguishes ''Sheba'' (), i.e. the Yemenite Sabaeans, from ''Seba'' (), i.e. the African Sabaeans. In Ps. 72:10 they are mentioned together: "the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts". 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. 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: ). And in the north of Arabia, Assyrian inscriptions repeatedly mention Arab queens. Furthermore, Sabaean tribes knew the title of ''mqtwyt'' ("high official", xsa, 𐩣𐩤𐩩𐩥𐩺𐩩). ''Makada'' or ''Makueda'', the personal name of the queen in Ethiopian legend, might be interpreted as a popular rendering of the title of ''mqtwyt''. This title may be derived from Ancient Egyptian ''m'kit'' () "protectress, housewife". The queen's visit could have been a

trade mission Trade mission is an international trip by government officials and businesspeople that is organized by agencies of national or provincial governments for purpose of exploring international business opportunities. Business people who attend trade ...

. Early South Arabian trade with Mesopotamia involving wood and spices transported by camels is attested in the early ninth century B.C. and may have begun as early as the tenth. The ancient Sabaic Awwām Temple, known in folklore as ''Maḥram'' ("the Sanctuary of") ''Bilqīs'', was recently excavated by archaeologists, but no trace of the Queen of Sheba has been discovered so far in the many inscriptions found there. Another Sabean temple, the Barran Temple ( ar, معبد بران), is also known as the '' 'Arash Bilqis'' ("Throne of Bilqis"), which like the nearby Awam Temple was also dedicated to the god

Almaqah Almaqah or Almuqh ( xsa, 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠; ar, المقه; gez, አልመቀህ) was the Moon god of the ancient Yemeni kingdom of Saba'. He was also worshipped in the kingdom of Dʿmt, which later became the kingdom of Aksum in Ethiopia ...

, but the connection between the

Barran Temple Barran Temple ( ar, معبد بران) is a Sabaean temple near Marib, Yemen; also known as "Throne of Bilqis", it was dedicated to the god al-Maqah. Background The temple is located to the west of the Temple of Awwam, also dedicated to the go ...

and Sheba has not been established archaeologically either. Bible stories of the Queen of Sheba and the ships of

Ophir Ophir (; ) is a port or region mentioned in the Bible, famous for its wealth. King Solomon received a shipment from Ophir every three years (1 Kings 10:22) which consisted of gold, silver, sandalwood, pearls, ivory, apes, and peacocks. ...

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.

Christian

Christian scriptures mention a "queen of the South" (, ), 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). 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 Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theo ...

, who wrote a voluminous commentary on the Song of Songs. 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, who is assumed to have been Ethiopian). Others have proposed either the marriage of Solomon with

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

's daughter, or his marriage with an Israelite woman, the

Shulamite A Shulamite (or Shulammite) is a person from Shulem. The Hebrew Bible identifies as a Shulamite the swarthy, female protagonist in the Song of Songs (in the King James Version and in other Bibles called the Song of Solomon or the Canticle of Ca ...

. 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 In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

(1803). 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 Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...

(

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''Nigra sum, sed formosa''), while the

New Revised Standard Version The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches.Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

( grc, μέλαινα εἰμί καί καλή). One legend has it that the Queen of Sheba brought Solomon the same gifts that the

Magi Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin '' magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius t ...

later gave to Christ. During the Middle Ages, Christians sometimes identified the queen of Sheba with the

sibyl The sibyls (, singular ) were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece. The sibyls prophesied at holy sites. A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he described local tradi ...

''Sabba''.

Coptic

The story of Solomon and the queen was popular among Copts, as shown by fragments of a Coptic legend preserved in a Berlin papyrus. The queen, having been subdued by deceit, gives Solomon a pillar on which all earthly science is inscribed. Solomon sends one of his demons to fetch the pillar from Ethiopia, whence it instantly arrives. In a Coptic poem, queen Yesaba of Cush asks riddles of Solomon.

Ethiopian

The most extensive version of the legend appears in the ''

Kebra Nagast The Kebra Nagast, var. Kebra Negast ( gez, ክብረ ነገሥት, ), or The Glory of the Kings, is a 14th-century national epic from Ethiopia, written in Ge'ez by Nebure Id Ishaq of Axum, by the office of Abuna Abba Giyorgis and at the command ...

'' (Glory of the Kings), the Ethiopian national saga, translated from Arabic in 1322. Here

Menelik I Menelik I ( Ge'ez: ምኒልክ) was the claimed first Emperor of Ethiopia. According to Kebra Nagast, a 14th-century national epic, in the 10th century BC he is said to have inaugurated the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia, so named because Meneli ...

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 Arwe, also known as Wainaba, in Ethiopian mythology, is a serpent-king who rules for four hundred years before being destroyed by the founder of the Solomonic dynasty. His story comes in a number of versions, all of which have him as a tyrannical ...

) 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. 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 A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

. 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 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 led and carried by the archangel Michael. Having arrived at the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

, 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. According to some sources, Queen Makeda was part of the dynasty founded by Za 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. The official chronicle of the Ethiopian monarchy from 1922 claims that Makeda reigned from 1013 to 982 B.C., with dates following the Ethiopian calendar. In the Ethiopian Book of Aksum, Makeda is described as establishing a new capital city at Azeba.

Edward Ullendorff Edward Ullendorff (1920–2011) was a British scholar and historian. He was a prominent figure in Ethiopian Studies and also contributed work on the Semitic languages. Biography Born on 25 January 1920 in Zurich, Switzerland, Ullendorff was e ...

holds that ''Makeda'' is a corruption of

Candace Kandake, kadake or kentake ( Meroitic: 𐦲𐦷𐦲𐦡 ''kdke''),Kirsty Rowan"Revising the Sound Value of Meroitic D: A Phonological Approach,"''Beitrage zur Sudanforschung'' 10 (2009). often Latinised as Candace ( grc, Κανδάκη, ''Kandak� ...

, 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 Philip the Evangelist ( el, Φίλιππος, ''Philippos'') appears several times in the Acts of the Apostles. He was one of the Seven chosen to care for the poor of the Christian community in Jerusalem (). He preached and reportedly perfo ...

(

Acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

8:27) in 30 A.D. In the 14th century (?) Ethiopic version of the Alexander romance,

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

of Macedonia (Ethiopic ''Meqédon'') is said to have met a queen ''Kandake'' of

Nubi The Nubi language (also called Ki-Nubi, ar, كي-نوبي, kī-nūbī) is a Sudanese Arabic-based creole language spoken in Uganda around Bombo, and in Kenya around Kibera, by the Ugandan Nubians, many of whom are descendants of Emin Pasha' ...

a. Historians believe that the

Solomonic dynasty The Solomonic dynasty, also known as the House of Solomon, was the ruling dynasty of the Ethiopian Empire formed in the thirteenth century. Its members claim lineal descent from the biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Tradition asserts ...

actually began in 1270 with the emperor

Yekuno Amlak Yekuno Amlak ( Ge’ez: ይኩኖ አምላክ); throne name Tasfa Iyasus (ተስፋ ኢየሱስ; died 19 June 1285) was Emperor of Ethiopia, and the founder of the Solomonic dynasty, which lasted until 1974. He was a ruler from Bete Amhara (i ...

, who, with the support of the

Ethiopian Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...

, overthrew the

Zagwe dynasty The Zagwe dynasty ( Ge'ez: ዛጔ ሥርወ መንግሥት) was an Agaw medieval dynasty that ruled the northern parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, after the historical name of the Lasta province. Centered at Lalibela, it ruled large parts of the t ...

, which had ruled Ethiopia since sometime during the 10th century. The link to King Solomon provided a strong foundation for Ethiopian national unity. "Ethiopians see their country as God's chosen country, the final resting place that he chose for the Ark – and Sheba and her son were the means by which it came there". Despite the fact that the dynasty officially ended in 1769 with Emperor Iyoas, Ethiopian rulers continued to trace their connection to it, right up to the last 20th-century emperor,

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of 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. 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 B.C.) on the borders of the Nile, penetrated into the Sudan, whence they went into the western parts of Abyssinia. 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. 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." Despite the historic importance given to the ''Kebra Negast'', there is still doubt to whether or not the Queen sat on the throne.

Jewish

According to

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

( 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 Balsam is the resinous exudate (or sap) which forms on certain kinds of trees and shrubs. Balsam (from Latin balsamum "gum of the balsam tree", ultimately from Semitic, Aramaic ''busma'', Arabic ''balsam'' and Hebrew ''basam'', "spice", "perfume ...

, which grew in the Holy Land in the historian's time. Josephus (Antiquities 2.5‒2.10) represents

Cambyses Cambyses may refer to: * Cambyses I, King of Anshan 600 to 559 BCE * Cambyses II, King of Persia 530 to 522 BCE * Cambyses, ancient name of the Iori river in the South Caucasus * ''Cambyses'', a tragedy (published 1569) by Thomas Preston (writer) ...

as conquering the capital of Aethiopia, and changing its name from Seba to Meroe. 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. The Talmud (

Bava Batra Bava Batra (also Baba Batra; Talmudic Aramaic: בָּבָא בַּתְרָא "The Last Gate") is the third of the three Talmudic tractates in the Talmud in the order Nezikin; it deals with a person's responsibilities and rights as the owner of pr ...

15b) insists that it was not a woman but a kingdom of Sheba (based on varying interpretations of Hebrew ''mlkt'') that came to Jerusalem. Baba Bathra 15b: "Whoever says ''malkath Sheba'' (I Kings X, 1) means a woman is mistaken; ... it means the kingdom (מַלְכֻת) of Sheba". 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. The most elaborate account of the queen's visit to Solomon is given in the

Targum Sheni The ''Targum Sheni'' (''"Second Targum"'') is an Aramaic translation (''targum'') and elaboration of the Book of Esther, that embellishes the Biblical account with considerable new apocryphal material, not on the face of it directly related to the ...

Esther Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...

(see: Colloquy of the Queen of Sheba). A

hoopoe Hoopoes () are colourful birds found across Africa, Asia, and Europe, notable for their distinctive "crown" of feathers. Three living and one extinct species are recognized, though for many years all of the extant species were lumped as a single ...

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 (

to Esther 1:3) or, according to the

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

( Prov. ii. 6; Yalḳ. ii., § 1085, Midrash ha-Hefez), more riddles to test his wisdom. A Yemenite manuscript entitled "Midrash ha-Hefez" (published by

S. Schechter Solomon Schechter ( he, שניאור זלמן הכהן שכטר‎; 7 December 1847 – 19 November 1915) was a Moldavian-born British-American rabbi, academic scholar and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the ...

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. 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". The rabbis who denounce Solomon interpret I 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 Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

ad loc.). According to others, the sin ascribed to Solomon in I 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). The

Alphabet of Sirach An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllab ...

avers that Nebuchadnezzar was the fruit of the union between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. In the

Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The defin ...

, the Queen of Sheba was considered one of the queens of the demons and is sometimes identified with

Lilith Lilith ( ; he, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian and Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Ed ...

, first in the Targum of Job (1:15), and later in the Zohar and the subsequent literature. A Jewish and Arab myth maintains that the Queen was actually a

jinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...

, half human and half demon. In Ashkenazi folklore, the figure merged with the popular image of Helen of Troy or the Frau Venus of German mythology. Ashkenazi incantations commonly depict the Queen of Sheba as a seductive dancer. Until recent generations, she was popularly pictured as a snatcher of children and a demonic witch.

Islamic

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

a muslim country. Bilqis Queen of Sheba Enthroned (CBL T 406

Hafiz - Left Side of a Double-page Illustrated Frontispiece Depicting Queen Sheba (Bilqis) Enthroned - Walters W6313A - Full Page

In the above verse ('' ayah''), after scouting nearby lands, a bird known as the ''hud-hud'' (

) 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 In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

. 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, 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. An '' Ifrit'' first offers to move her throne before King Solomon would rise from his seat. However, a jinn 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. 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). The story of the Queen of Sheba in the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

shares some similarities with the Bible and other Jewish sources. Some Muslim commentators such as Al-Tabari,

Al-Zamakhshari Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Umar al-Zamakhshari (; 1074 –1143) was a medieval Muslim scholar of Iranian peoples, Iranian descent. He travelled to Mecca, Makkah and settled there for five years and has been known since then as Jar Allah ‘God's Ne ...

and

Al-Baydawi Qadi Baydawi (also known as Naṣir ad-Din al-Bayḍawi, also spelled Baidawi, Bayzawi and Beyzavi; d. June 1319, Tabriz) was a Persian jurist, theologian, and Quran commentator. He lived during the post- Seljuk and early Mongol era. Many commen ...

supplement the story. Here they claim that the Queen's name is ''Bilqīs'' (), probably derived from el, παλλακίς, pallakis or the Hebraised ''pilegesh'' ("concubine"). The Quran does not name the Queen, referring to her as "a woman ruling them" (), the nation of Sheba. According to some, he then married the Queen, while other traditions say that he gave her in marriage to a King of Hamdan. According to the scholar Al-Hamdani, the Queen of Sheba was the daughter of Ilsharah Yahdib, the Sabaean king of South Arabia. In another tale, she is said to be the daughter of a

jinni Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...

(or peri) and a human. 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, this assuming to be the

. However, according to the Encyclopaedia Judaica Targum Sheni is dated to around 700 similarly the general consensus is to date Targum Sheni to late 7th- or early 8th century, which post-dates the advent of Islam by almost 200 years. Furthermore, M. J. Berdichevsky explains that this Targum is the earliest narrative articulation of Queen of Sheba in Jewish tradition.

Yoruba

The

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

Ijebu clan of

Ijebu-Ode Ijebu-Ode is a town in Ogun State, South Western geopolitical zone in Nigeria, close to the A121 highway. The city is located 110 km by road north-east of Lagos; it is within of the Atlantic Ocean in the eastern part of Ogun State and p ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, claim that she was a wealthy, childless

noblewoman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteri ...

of theirs known as ''

Oloye Oba means ″ruler″ in the Yoruba and Bini languages of West Africa. Kings in Yorubaland, a region which is in the modern republics of Benin, Nigeria and Togo, make use of it as a pre-nominal honorific. Examples of Yoruba bearers include Oba ...

Bilikisu Sungbo''. They also assert that a medieval system of walls and ditches, known as the Eredo and built sometime around the 10th century CE, was dedicated to her. After excavations in 1999 the archaeologist Patrick Darling was quoted as saying, "I don't want to overplay the Sheba theory, but it cannot be discounted ... The local people believe it and that's what is important ... The most cogent argument against it at the moment is the dating."

In art

Medieval

The treatment of Solomon in literature, art, and music also involves the sub-themes of the Queen of Sheba and the Shulammite of the Song of Songs. King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba was not a common subject until the 12th century. In Christian iconography Solomon represented Jesus, and Sheba represented the gentile Church; hence Sheba's meeting with Solomon bearing rich gifts foreshadowed the

adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...

. On the other hand, Sheba enthroned represented the coronation of the virgin. Sculptures of the Queen of Sheba are found on great

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

cathedrals such as Chartres,

Rheims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

, and Wells. The 12th century cathedrals at Strasbourg, Chartres,

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

include artistic renditions in stained glass windows and doorjamb decorations.Byrd, Vickie, editor; Queen of Sheba: Legend and Reality, ( Santa Ana, California: The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2004), p. 17. Likewise of Romanesque art, the enamel depiction of a black woman at

Klosterneuburg Monastery Klosterneuburg Abbey or Monastery (german: Stift Klosterneuburg) is a twelfth-century Augustinian monastery of the Roman Catholic Church located in the town of Klosterneuburg in Lower Austria. Overlooking the Danube, just north of the Vienna city ...

. The Queen of Sheba, standing in water before Solomon, is depicted on a window in

King's College Chapel, Cambridge King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bu ...

Renaissance

The reception of the queen was a popular subject during the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

. It appears in the bronze doors to the

Florence Baptistery The Florence Baptistery, also known as the Baptistery of Saint John ( it, Battistero di San Giovanni), is a religious building in Florence, Italy, and has the status of a minor basilica. The octagonal baptistery stands in both the Piazza del D ...

Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptister ...

, in frescoes by

Benozzo Gozzoli Benozzo Gozzoli (4 October 1497) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. A pupil of Fra Angelico, Gozzoli is best known for a series of murals in the Magi Chapel of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, depicting festive, vibrant processions ...

( Campo Santo, Pisa) and in the Raphael Loggie (

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

). Examples of Venetian art are by

Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed wit ...

(

Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

) and Veronese (

Pinacotheca A pinacotheca (Latin borrowing from grc, πινακοθήκη, pinakothēkē = grc, πίναξ, pinax, (painted) board, tablet, label=none + grc, θήκη, thēkē, box, chest, label=none) was a picture gallery in either ancient Greece or anc ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

). In the 17th century, Claude Lorrain painted ''

The Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba ''Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba'' is an oil painting by Claude Lorrain (born Claude Gellée, traditionally known as Claude), in the National Gallery, London, signed and dated 1648. The large oil-on-canvas painting was commiss ...

'' (

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca (, also , ; – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca i ...

's frescoes in Arezzo (c. 1466) on the ''

Legend of the True Cross ''The History of the True Cross'' or ''The Legend of the True Cross'' is a sequence of frescoes painted by Piero della Francesca in the Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo. It is his largest work, and generally considered one of his finest, ...

'' 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 Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/ Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on o ...

Literature

Boccaccio's ''

On Famous Women ''De Mulieribus Claris'' or ''De Claris Mulieribus'' (Latin for "Concerning Famous Women") is a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in Latin prose in 1361–1362. ...

'' ( la, De Mulieribus Claris) follows Josephus in calling the Queen of Sheba ''Nicaula''. Boccaccio goes on to explain that not only was she the Queen of

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, but also the queen of

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

. She also is related to have had a grand palace on "a very large island" called Meroe, located someplace near the Nile river, "practically on the other side of the world". From there Nicaula crossed the deserts of Arabia, through Ethiopia and Egypt and up the coast of the

, to come to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

to see "the great King Solomon". O. Henry's short story "

The Gift of the Magi "The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by O. Henry first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimental ...

" contains the following description to convey the preciousness of the female protagonist'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 ''The Book of the City of Ladies'' or ''Le Livre de la Cité des Dames'' (finished by 1405), is perhaps Christine de Pizan's most famous literary work, and it is her second work of lengthy prose. Pizan uses the vernacular French language to compo ...

'' 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. Christopher Marlowe's '' Doctor Faustus'' refers to the Queen of Sheba as ''Saba'', when

Mephistopheles Mephistopheles (, ), also known as Mephisto, is a demon featured in German folklore. He originally appeared in literature as the demon in the Faust legend, and he has since appeared in other works as a stock character (see: Mephistopheles i ...

is trying to persuade

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...

us of the wisdom of the women with whom he supposedly shall be presented every morning.

Gérard de Nerval Gérard de Nerval (; 22 May 1808 – 26 January 1855) was the pen name of the French writer, poet, and translator Gérard Labrunie, a major figure of French romanticism, best known for his novellas and poems, especially the collection '' Les ...

'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 Hiram Abiff (also Hiram Abif or the Widow's son) is the central character of an allegory presented to all candidates during the third degree in Freemasonry. Hiram is presented as the chief architect of King Solomon's Temple. He is murdered insi ...

), Soliman's chief craftsman of the

, 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.

Léopold Sédar Senghor Léopold Sédar Senghor (; ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist who was the first president of Senegal (1960–80). Ideologically an African socialist, he was the major theoretician o ...

'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". 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 Jonathan Anthony Stroud (born 27 October 1970) is a British writer of fantasy fiction, best known for the ''Bartimaeus'' young adult sequence and '' Lockwood & Co.'' children's series. His books are typically set in an alternate history London ...

Bartimaeus Sequence The ''Bartimaeus Sequence'' is a series of young adult novels of alternate history, fantasy and magic. It was written by British writer Jonathan Stroud and consists of a trilogy published from 2003 to 2005 and a prequel novel published in 2010 ...

. 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?"

Film

* Played by Gabrielle Robinne in ''La reine de Saba'' (1913) * Played by Betty Blythe in ''

The Queen of Sheba The Queen of Sheba ( he, מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא‎, Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ; ar, ملكة سبأ, Malikat Sabaʾ; gez, ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nəgśətä Saba) is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she bring ...

'' (1921) * Played by France Dhélia in ''Le berceau de dieu'' (1926) * Played by Dorothy Page in ''King Solomon of Broadway'' (1935) * Played by

Leonora Ruffo Leonora Ruffo (13 January 1935 – 25 May 2007) was an Italian film actress. Career Born in Rome as Bruna Bovi, the daughter of Angelo Bovi, basketball coach of Ginnastica Roma, Italian Championship pluri-winner, Ruffo failed to obtain the main ...

in ''

'' (1952) * Played by

Gina Lollobrigida Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida (born 4 July 1927) is an Italian actress, photojournalist, and politician. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s, a period in which she was an international sex symbol. As o ...

in ''

Solomon and Sheba ''Solomon and Sheba'' is a 1959 American epic historical romance film directed by King Vidor, shot in Technirama (color by Technicolor), and distributed by United Artists. The film dramatizes events described in The Bible—the tenth chapter of ...

'' (1959) * Played by Winifred Bryan in ''

Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man ''The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man'' is a 1963 American experimental film directed by Ron Rice. It stars Winifred Bryan as the Queen of Sheba and Taylor Mead as the Atom Man. Featured players are Ron Rice, Julian Beck, Judith Malina, Jack ...

'' (1963) * Played by

Anya Phillips Anya Phillips (1955 – June 19, 1981) was an American fashion designer and the co-founder of legendary New York nightclub the Mudd Club along with Steve Maas and Diego Cortez. Phillips had an influence on the fashion, sound and look of the New York ...

in ''Rome '78'' (1978) * Played by Halle Berry in '' Solomon & Sheba'' (1995) * Played by

Vivica A. Fox Vivica Anjanetta Fox (born July 30, 1964) is an American actress, producer, and television host. Fox began her career on ''Soul Train'' (19821983). She eventually continued her career with roles on the daytime television soap operas ''Days of O ...

in ''

Solomon (film) ''Solomon'' is a 1997 television miniseries for RAI that retells the Bible's story of Solomon.''The Ancient World in the Cinema'' Jon Solomon - 2001 0300083378 p173 "in Italy, RAI's Solomon (1997), starring Ben Cross as Solomon and Max von Sydow ...

'' (1997) * Played by Aamito Lagum in ''

Three Thousand Years of Longing ''Three Thousand Years of Longing'' is a 2022 fantasy romantic drama film directed and produced by George Miller. Written by Miller and Augusta Gore, it is based on the short story "The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye" by A. S. Byatt and star ...

'' (2022)

Music

* '' Solomon'' (composed in 1748; first performed in 1749), oratorio by George Frideric Handel; the "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" from this work is often performed as a concert piece *'' La reine de Saba'' (1862), opera by

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

*'' Die Königin von Saba'' (1875), opera by

Karl Goldmark Karl Goldmark (born Károly Goldmark, Keszthely, 18 May 1830 – Vienna, 2 January 1915) was a Hungarian-born Viennese composer.Peter Revers, Michael Cherlin, Halina Filipowicz, Richard L. Rudolph The Great Tradition and Its Legacy 2004; , p. ...

* ''La Reine de Scheba'' (1926), opera by

Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn (; 9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – '' mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born in Caracas ...

* ''Belkis, Regina di Saba'' (1931), ballet by Ottorino Respighi * ''Solomon and Balkis'' (1942), opera by Randall Thompson * ''The Queen of Sheba'' (1953), cantata for women's voices by

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (3 April 1895 – 16 March 1968) was an Italian composer, pianist and writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the twentieth century with almost one hundred compositions for that instrument. In ...

* "Black Beauty" (1970), song by

Focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

* “Leila, the Queen of Sheba” (1981), song by Dolly Dots * “The Original Queen of Sheba” (1991), song by Great White *Machine Gun (1993), by

Slowdive Slowdive is a British rock band that formed in Reading, Berkshire, in 1989. The band consists of Rachel Goswell on vocals and guitar, Neil Halstead on vocals and guitar, Christian Savill on guitar, Nick Chaplin on bass and Simon Scott on d ...

Aïcha "Aïcha" (; ; ar, عائشة, Latn, ar, ʿāʾisha, ; arq, عايشة) is a song written by French singer-songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman, performed by Algerian raï artist Khaled. In 1996, the song was released as a single containing two ...

" (1996), by Khaled * "Makeda" (1998), French R&B by Chadian duo

Les Nubians Les Nubians is a French musical duo, composed of sisters Hélène and Célia Faussart from Paris, France. In 1985, the sisters moved with their parents to Chad. Seven years later, they returned to Bordeaux, France, and began singing a cappella, p ...

* "Balqis" (2000), song by

Siti Nurhaliza Dato' Sri Hajah Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin ( Jawi: سيتي نورهاليزا بنت تارودين ; IPA: ; born 11 January 1979) is a Malaysian singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman with more than 300 local and international awards. ...

Television

* Played by Halle Berry in '' Solomon & Sheba'' (1995) * Played by

in '' Solomon'' (1997) * Played by

Andrulla Blanchette Andrulla Blanchette (born Androulla Veronica Blanchette; 29 July 1966) is an English professional female bodybuilder. Bodybuilding career Amateur career Blanchette decided to start lifting weights only to help her out in her judo, but realised ...

in ''

Lexx ''Lexx'' (also known as ''LEXX: The Dark Zone Stories'' and ''Tales from a Parallel Universe'') is a science fiction television series created by Lex Gigeroff and brothers Paul Donovan (writer), Paul and Michael Donovan (producer), Michael Dono ...

'', Season 4, Episode 21: "Viva Lexx Vegas" (2002) * Played by Amani Zain in ''Queen of Sheba: Behind the Myth'' (2002) *Played by Yetide Badaki in '' American Gods'' as Bilquis

References

Bibliography

* Thaʿlabī, ''Qiṣaṣ'' ̣(1356 A.H.), 262–4 * Kisāʾī, ''Qiṣaṣ'' (1356 A.H.), 285–92 * G. Weil, ''The Bible, the Koran, and the Talmud ...'' (1846) * G. Rosch, ''Die Königin von Saba als Königin Bilqis'' (Jahrb. f. Prot. Theol., 1880) 524‒72 * M. Grünbaum, ''Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sagenkunde'' (1893) 211‒21 * E. Littmann, ''The legend of the Queen of Sheba in the tradition of Axum'' (1904) * L. Ginzberg, ''Legends of the Jews'', 3 (1911), 411; 4 (1913), 143–9; (1928), 288–91 * H. Speyer, ''Die biblischen Erzählungen im Qoran'' (1931, repr. 1961), 390–9 * E. Budge, ''The Queen of Sheba and her only son Menyelek'' (1932) * J. Ryckmans, ''L'Institution monarchique en Arabie méridionale avant l'Islam'' (1951) * E. Ullendorff, ''Candace (Acts VIII, 27) and the Queen of Sheba'' (New Testament Studies, 1955, 53‒6) * E. Ullendorff, ''Hebraic-Jewish elements in Abyssinian (monophysite) Christianity'' (JSS, 1956, 216‒56) * D. Hubbard, ''The literary sources of the Kebra Nagast'' (St. Andrews University Ph. D. thesis, 1956, 278‒308) * ''La Persécution des chrétiens himyarites au sixième siècle'' (1956) * Bulletin of American Schools of Oriental Research 143 (1956) 6–10; 145 (1957) 25–30; 151 (1958) 9–16 * A. Jamme, ''La Paléographique sud-arabe de J. Pirenne'' (1957) * R. Bowen, F. Albright (eds.), ''Archaeological Discoveries in South Arabia'' (1958) * ''Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible'' (1963) 2067–70 * T. Tamrat, ''Church and State in Ethiopia'' (1972) 1270–1527 * W. Daum (ed.), ''Die Königin von Saba: Kunst, Legende und Archäologie zwischen Morgenland und Abendland'' (1988) * J. Lassner, ''Demonizing the Queen of Sheba: Boundaries of Gender and Culture in Postbiblical Judaism and Medieval Islam'' (1993) * M. Brooks (ed.), ''Kebra Nagast (The Glory of Kings)'' (1998) * J. Breton, ''Arabia Felix from the Time of the Queen of Sheba: Eighth Century B.C. to First Century A.D.'' (1999) * D. Crummey, ''Land and Society in the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia: From the Thirteenth to the Twentieth Century'' (2000) * A. Gunther (ed.), ''Caravan Kingdoms: Yemen and the Ancient Incense Trade'' (2005)

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