Sheba (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: שְׁבָא‎) also known as Saba' is a biblical figure mentioned in the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...

. He is traditionally believed to be an ancient king of

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 north and Oman to the northeast an ...

. He also plays a huge role in

Arabian 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 Plate. ...

folklore as being the ancestor of the tribes of

Sabaeans The Sabaeans or Sabeans (Sabaean:, ; ar, ٱلسَّبَئِيُّوْن, ''as-Sabaʾiyyūn''; he, סְבָאִים, Səḇāʾīm) were an ancient group of South Arabians. They spoke the Sabaean language, one of the Old South Arabian languag ...

and later

Himyarites The Himyarite Kingdom ( ar, مملكة حِمْيَر, Mamlakat Ḥimyar, he, ממלכת חִמְיָר), or Himyar ( ar, حِمْيَر, ''Ḥimyar'', / 𐩹𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬) ( fl. 110 BCE–520s CE), historically referred to as the Homerit ...

who ruled Yemen until the middle of the 6th century CE.

Genealogy and family

Biblical viewpoint

Sheba is mentioned in the

as being the son of

Joktan Joktan (also written as Yoktan; ; ar, يقطان, translit=Yaqṭān) was the second of the two sons of Eber (Book of Genesis 10:25; 1 Chronicles 1:19) mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. He descends from Shem, son of Noah. In the Book of Genesis 10:2 ...

, who is in turn the son of

Eber Eber ( he, , ʿĒḇer; grc-x-biblical, Ἔβερ, Éber; ar, عٰابِر, ʿĀbir) is an ancestor of the Ishmaelites and the Israelites according to the " Table of Nations" in the Book of Genesis () and the Books of Chronicles (). Line ...

. Hence, he is a descendant of

Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5� ...

through Noah's son

Shem Shem (; he, שֵׁם ''Šēm''; ar, سَام, Sām) ''Sḗm''; Ge'ez: ሴም, ''Sēm'' was one of the sons of Noah in the book of Genesis and in the book of Chronicles, and the Quran. The children of Shem were Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, L ...

. Meanwhile, the

Generations of Noah The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or Origines Gentium, is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Genesis ), and their dispersion into many lands after the Flood, focusing on the major known societ ...

mention that Sheba (spelled here with ''

samekh Samekh (Phoenician ''sāmek'' ; Hebrew ''samekh'' , Syriac ''semkaṯ'') is the fifteenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including the Hebrew alphabet. Samekh represents a voiceless alveolar fricative . Unlike most Semitic consonants, the p ...

'' as Seba) is a son of

Jokshan Jokshan ( ar, يقشان, ''yoqšān''). According to the Bible he was a son of Abraham (Avraham) and his wife or concubine Keturah, whom he wed after the death of Sarah. Jokshan had five brothers: Zimran, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah; as well ...

, hence making him a grandson of

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the Covenant (biblical), special ...

and his spouse

Keturah Keturah ( he, קְטוּרָה, ''Qəṭūrā'', possibly meaning "incense"; ar, قطورة) was a wife (1917 Jewish Publication Society of America translation). "And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah...." and a concubine (19 ...

. There are several possible reasons for this confusing twist of genealogies. One theory is that the Sabaeans established many colonies to control the trade routes and the large number of their colonies confused the ancient

Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

, as their ethnology was less racially-based and more based on geography and politics. Another theory suggests that the Sabaeans hailed from the region of the

Levant The Levant () is an approximation, approximate historical geography, historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology an ...

and established their kingdom on the ruins of the

Minaeans The Minaean people were the inhabitants of the kingdom of Ma'in ( Minaean: ''Maʿīn''; modern Arabic ''Maʿīn'') in modern-day Yemen, dating back to the 10th century BCE-150 BCE. It was located along the strip of desert called Ṣayhad by ...

Islamic viewpoint

The Arabs believe that Sheba, known in Arabic as Saba', is the son of Yashjub, who is in turn a son of Ya'rub, the son of

Qahtan The terms Qahtanite and Qahtani ( ar, قَحْطَانِي; transliterated: Qaḥṭānī) refer to Arabs who originate from South Arabia. The term "Qahtan" is mentioned in multiple ancient Arabian inscriptions found in Yemen. Arab traditions be ...

. Some Muslim scholars including

Ibn Ishaq Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Yasār ibn Khiyār (; according to some sources, ibn Khabbār, or Kūmān, or Kūtān, ar, محمد بن إسحاق بن يسار بن خيار, or simply ibn Isḥaq, , meaning "the son of Isaac"; died 767) was an 8 ...

have brought forward that the real name of Saba' was 'Abd al-Shams ibn Yashjub. His sons are then believed to be Himyar ibn Saba' and Kahlan ibn Saba', who were the progenitors of the

and

Kahlan Kahlan ( ar, كهلان) was one of the main tribal confederations of Saba' in Ancient Yemen. They are descended from Kahlan bin Saba bin Yishjab bin Yarub bin Qahtan. Conflict with Himyar By the 2nd century BC Saba' was declining gradually and i ...

respectively. There is also a

Hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

which narrates that Saba' himself had ten sons (including the aforementioned two).

Sheba in the Islamic tradition

Sheba is believed to have been a monotheist and a wise king in Islamic tales.Tafsir al-Qasimi
by Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi, volume 8, Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyah According to the traditional account, it was revealed to Sheba through a vision in his dreams that a Prophet would be coming many years after him. Afterwards, Sheba composed a series of poems dedicating his anticipation for the coming of this Prophet, later revealed to be

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monot ...

. One of such poems was supposedly preserved:

After Qahtan a prophet will rule, pious, humble, the very best of mankind. He will be named Ahmad, and I wish I could be given a year to live after his coming, to support him and award him my aid with all fully armed warriors and all marksmen. When he appears, become his helpers, and let he who meets him pass on my greeting!

References

{{reflist * Ancient peoples Sabaeans Himyarites Book of Genesis people History of South Arabia Noach (parashah)

Genealogy and family

Biblical viewpoint

Islamic viewpoint

Sheba in the Islamic tradition

See also

References