What does historicizing the racial dynamics of the history of interpretation of the Queen of Sheba do? And apart from the Bible, we have no proof she ever existed. Weba Many scholars believe that Sheba was located in southwest Arabia, in what is today the Republic of Yemen. [35], In the Ethiopian Book of Aksum, Makeda is described as establishing a new capital city at Azeba. King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba was not a common subject until the 12th century. The Queen of Sheba was somewhere in the throng, gathering information through her own means. interesting to readers, or important in the respective research area. Yes, but the Quran tells a very different story. 122r. Web"The Queen of Sheba in the Christian Tradition" with a statement that "this black African queen is relevant to a new black nationalism, black his- tory, and even black mythology taking shape in the United States at this time" (144). 10: 795. The Kebra Nagast, a 14th-century Ethiopian Christian epic, connects the Queen of Sheba with the founding of Ethiopia itself. 9:19, 12) describes how when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she went to Jerusalem with a great train of camels, bearing spices, gold, and precious stones, "to prove him with hard questions," all of which Solomon answered to her 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). The remains of the palace of the queen of Sheba, dating back to the 10th century BC were discovered under the ruins of another building built by a later Christian king. [3] In the Kabbalah, the Queen of Sheba was considered one of the queens of the demons and is sometimes identified with Lilith, first in the Targum of Job (1:15), and later in the Zohar and the subsequent literature. (Later Muslim religious commentators refer to her as Balqis.). Thus, if she really existed, she might Visit our dedicated information section to learn more about MDPI. Kimberly Anne Coles and Dorothy Kim write in a forthcoming volume: Race is a strategy. 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". 2021. Martensson, Ulrika. 6. A wealthy kingdom, in all probability located in SW Arabia. It was especially known for its gold, perfumes, and incense. (1Ki 10:1, 2; Isa 60:6; Instead, he said he would go home and have his people follow Solomons religion. 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 (27:2244). 8:165173), 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. 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. WebSheba (/ i b /; Hebrew: ; Arabic: Saba; Ge'ez: 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 Orthodox Tewahedo tradition. Over the years, Aksum became a major religious centre and an important place of Christian-Ethiopian pilgrimage. There seems also some affinity between the word Saba and the name or title of the kings of the Aethiopians, Sabaco. Drawing on the accounts in Kings, Chronicles, and later midrashim, the articles author asserts that the Queen of Sheba, most famous for her visit to Solomons court at the height of his rule, was Black, Jewish, and wiser than Solomon. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12100795, Stinchcomb J. This WebQueen Elizabeth II in an open carriage with Prince Philip London, England - June 13, 2015: Queen Elizabeth II in an open carriage with Prince Philip for trooping the colour 2015 to mark the Queens official birthday, London, UK queen of sheba stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images "[38] Despite the historic importance given to the Kebra Negast, there is still doubt to whether or not the Queen sat on the throne. Rudyard Kipling's book Just So Stories includes the tale of "The Butterfly That Stamped". The references never articulate the geographic proximity (or lack thereof) of Sheba, nor is it associated with anything beyond material wealth, whether in the form of the wealth of the Queen of Sheba of Kings and Chronicles, the gold of the tribute mentioned in Psalms, or the raiders described in Job. 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. [10][12] Early South Arabian trade with Mesopotamia involving wood and spices transported by camels is attested in the early ninth century B.C. 500. The, The account of the relationship between the Queen of Sheba and Solomon in, The Ethiopic text does not describe the physical appearance of the Queen of Sheba in terms of her Blackness, nor does it concern itself with her ancestors. [43] 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. This article will contribute to this line of scholarship by historicizing the racialization of the Queen of Shebathat is to say, by tracing the history of reception of the character that lays between the characteristically laconic scriptural sources and the positive identification of the Queen of Sheba with Blackness in modern thought. King Solomon, the king of the Israelites, had a great reputation in the ancient world as the wisest of all kings. Arrogates first stakes victory was a record-setting performance in the Travers. In. I found that she and her people bow to the sun instead of God. Incorrect password. This research received no external funding. 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 birth of Menelik I is the beginning of the Solomonic dynasty in Ethiopia, according to the text, and in this we can clearly see an interest in reproduction and social status within Ethiopia. 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. In those times, King Solomon sought merchants from all over the world, in order to buy materials for the building of the Temple. from the extremities of the then known world, to hear the wisdom of Solomon (Mt. So by having Sheba visit Solomon, Josephus made him seem connected to wealthy and exotic places. The Queen of Sheba also appears in the Quran. When he is 4 years old she sends him to Solomon, but the boy is abducted by the jealous Adonijah, who marches on Solomon but is repulsed by the queen's armies. She said, "My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, and I submit with Solomon to God, Lord of the worlds. The queen, having been subdued by deceit, gives Solomon a pillar on which all earthly science is inscribed. Thisarticle originally appeared on The Jewish Experience, Brandeis Universitys website devoted to Jewish issues. Ph.D. dissertation, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, UK. Reed, Justin. [66] Likewise of Romanesque art, the enamel depiction of a black woman at Klosterneuburg Monastery. on the borders of the Nile, penetrated into the Sudan, whence they went into the western parts of Abyssinia.[40]. We are not exactly sure where Sheba even is. The 2022 G2 Zabeel Mile winner Real World spearheads a four-strong Godolphin squad for the G1 Jebel Hatta. Bienkowski, Piotr, and Alan Millard. home to over 100 Black businesses before it was destroyed in a 1921 race riot. 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. Solomon gives her gifts, and then she goes back on her way. Erstes und zweytes Flschchen: Sagen und Kunden des Morgenlandes aus arabischen, persischen und trkischen Quellen gesammelt BoD Books on Demand 9783861994862 p. 103 (German), Byrd, Vickie, editor; Queen of Sheba: Legend and Reality, (. Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Department of Classical Studies, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USA, (This article belongs to the Special Issue, The Queen of Sheba, best known for visiting Solomon at the height of his rule, is commonly understood to be one of the most famous Black queens of the Bible. 2012. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12100795, Subscribe to receive issue release notifications and newsletters from MDPI journals, You can make submissions to other journals. 353 et seq.) Disclaimer/Publishers Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely On her way home, she gave birth to a son, whom she named Baina-lekem (i.e. 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. Subscribe to the monthly newsletter. But, did the Queen of Sheba exist? It says that Solomon had troops made up of both humans and animals and that one day, as he reviewed his army, he saw that a hoopoe, a type of bird, was missing. It is assumed she.had dark skin. Skin color is not an especially useful index of racial thought. Black Jewish queen you probably didnt learn about in Hebrew school, Police fire stun grenades toward protesters against judicial overhaul in Tel Aviv, Roads, trains blocked as thousands march in day of disruption against overhaul, Knesset committee okays bill sharply limiting judicial review; opposition: Putsch, Daily Briefing Mar. Kaplan, Arielle. As Junior notes, the identification of certain groups with certain physical characteristics, especially skin tone, shifts over time in culturally contingent ways. Global Consequences of Mistranslation: The Adoption of the Black but Forumulation in Europe, 14401600. This is not to say that those who understand or represent the Queen of Sheba as Black are aware of every earlier iteration, but rather that the existence of multiple overlapping-but-distinct discourses of the race of the Queen of Sheba acts as the ground upon which later iterations of the character are built. In this final thematic section, I will depart slightly from Hengs framework, which has proved so useful thus far. There is some evidence that more caution is warranted before fully endorsing such a position. [54] 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. In a letter, Solomon invites the Queen of Sheba, who like her followers had worshipped the sun, to submit to God. She was warmly welcomed, given a palace for dwelling, and received great gifts every day. Who 500. She was sired by Persian Gulf out of the Buen Ojo mare Ojala. The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages, Routledge Handbook of People and Places of Ancient Western Asia, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Kitb al-ikll min Ahbr al-Yaman wa-Ansb Himyar 1, Trkh al-abar: Trkh al-Rusul wa-al-Mulk, A Heritage of Holy Wood: The Legend of the True Cross in Text and Image, The Throne of Adulis: Red Sea Wars on the Eve of Islam, The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia: The Near East from the Early Ronze Age to the Fall of the Persian Empire, Aksumite Christianity: The Sources and Their Limitations, Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins on Beyond Church Fathers: North Africa in the First Millennium, The Origenist Controversy: The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate, A Cultural History of Race in the Renaissance and Early Modern Age, Juifs et Chrtiens En Arabie aux Ve et VIe Sicles, The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Aksum and Nubia: Warfare, Commerce, and Political Fictions in Ancient Northeast Africa, Noahs Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery, The Invention of Race in the Euorpean Middle Ages, Demonizing the Queen of Sheba: Boundaries of Gender and Culture in Postbiblical Judaism ina dMedieval Islam, Memory in a Time of Prose: Studies in Epistemology, Hebrew Scribalism, and the Biblical Past, Religion, Ethnicity, and Xenophobia in the Bible, The African Journal of Gender and Religion, Ancient South Arabia: From the Queen of Sheba to the Advent of Islam, Insights from African American Interpretaion, International Journal of Ethiopian Studies, African Americans and the Bible: Sacred Texts and Social Textures, Help us to further improve by taking part in this short 5 minute survey, Called by Beauty: Paul Ricoeurs (Late) Liturgical Turn, The Creation of Adam and the Biblical Origins of Race in. Josephus was a general who fought in the Jewish revolts against the ancient Romans and was then captured and taken to Rome. Rashi ad loc.). An illustration of the Queen of Sheba from Konrad Kyeser's "Bellifortis" ("Strong in War"), a military treatise from Germany circa 1405. Paper should be a substantial original Article that involves several techniques or approaches, provides an outlook for Queen of Sheba and Solomon, around 1280, window now in, King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, from. A Jewish and Arab myth maintains that the Queen was actually a jinn, half human and half demon. Who is the Queen of Sheba? Please let us know what you think of our products and services. [46], The most elaborate account of the queen's visit to Solomon is given in the Targum Sheni to Esther (see: Colloquy of the Queen of Sheba). [21] 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). Sadlers work on the Cushites, and his persuasive argument that we do not see evidence of racial thought towards this group, as well as Juniors discussion of the process by which Hagar came to be associated with Blackness, together open up space for us to consider diachronically how race became such a significant feature to popular understanding of the Queen of Sheba, in what Margo Hendricks has called a structuring process of race-making visible in some premodern materials. "Never again came such an abundance of spices" (10:10; II Chron. Lawrence Goodman is the editor of The Jewish Experience and a staff member at Brandeis University's Office of Communications. 10th century BCE)known also as Bilqis and as Makedafigures prominently in Judaic, Islamic, and Ethiopian traditions. 2003. 2020. According to the Kebra Nagast, when Menelik came of age, he decided he wanted to meet his father. They exchanged gifts, after which she returned to her land. [39] 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 (539333 B.C.) In. The Quran does not name the Queen, referring to her as "a woman ruling them" (Arabic: ),[58] the nation of Sheba.[59]. She is the mother of Menelik. But when she saw it, she thought it was a body of water and uncovered her shins [to wade through]. 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. [67] The Queen of Sheba, standing in water before Solomon, is depicted on a window in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. Belcher, Wendy. 2005. Editors Choice articles are based on recommendations by the scientific editors of MDPI journals from around the world. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. 2004. articles published under an open access Creative Common CC BY license, any part of the article may be reused without In some texts, shes just a mirror for Solomon, without much substance of her own, but in the Kebra Nagast, shes a fully fleshed out, complex hero. WebThis Ethiopian queen traveled to Jerusalem to meet King Solomon and test his wisdom. [69], O. Henry's short story "The Gift of the Magi" 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. Biblical and first-millennium sources on the Queen of Sheba will be explored under three thematic foci: geographic origins, skin color, and lineage. [31], 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. As noted at the opening of this section, at least one biblical writer portrayed Sheba as a location distinct from Saba, as Psalm 72:10 refers to kings of Sheba and Saba ( ) as two poetically parallel but separate locations. 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. Her visit appears in religious texts sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, however, her name was never mentioned. The preceding argument is based not on all or even most references to the Queen of Sheba in Jewish, Muslim, and Christian history, but rather on the most important elements of our remaining evidence. Please try again or choose an option below. It appears in the bronze doors to the Florence Baptistery by Lorenzo Ghiberti, in frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli (Campo Santo, Pisa) and in the Raphael Loggie (Vatican). She expresses that the letter is noble and asks her chief advisers what action should be taken. [23], One legend has it that the Queen of Sheba brought Solomon the same gifts that the Magi later gave to Christ. Yes, its a rare text from the ancient period where we get someone saying that the Queen of Sheba is one of us, rather than one of them. [61] 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. When she lifts her clothes to keep them dry, he tells her shes mistaken. [41] 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. The queen and Solomon have a son who founds a dynasty that would rule Ethiopia until its last descendant, Haile Selassie, died in 1975. Where is Tulsa, Oklahoma? The aim is to provide a snapshot of some of the Stinchcomb, Jillian. "Race, Racism, and the Hebrew Bible: The Case of the Queen of Sheba" Religions 12, no. Heng writes that, particularly in medieval European literature, there is a distinction between hermeneutic blackness in which exegetical considerations are paramount and often explicitly foregrounded, and physiognomic blackness linked to the characterization of black Africans in phenomena that extended beyond immediate theological exegesis. In an act suggesting the diplomatic qualities of her leadership,[52] she responds not with brute force, but by sending her ambassadors to present a gift to King Solomon. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [9] Since there is no mention of the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, Martin Noth has held that the Book of Kings received a definitive redaction around 550 BC. She apparently ruled the Ethiopian kingdom for more than 50 years. In the Bible, the Queen of Sheba is a rare non-Israelite woman who is not defined by her marital or sexual relationship with an Israelite man but rather by her desire When the bird came back, it said it had been in this land where they worship the sun and the ruler is a woman. The Literary Sources of the Kebra Nagast. [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. ), is a Caster-class Servant summoned by ), also called Caster of Midrash (, Midorshu no Kyasut? Religions. In the middle of the night, she woke up desperately thirsty and poured herself a glass of water. The human race. To my mind, all discussions of the different races of humans are invalid. We are all part of one race. If we were not, it would n [20], 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. That makes her really exciting for people to think about, especially in the modern period when were so hungry for models of powerful, self-assured women. Six months earlier, the BBC had published a video titled Why is the Queen of Sheba portrayed as white? which included an interview with Jess Hagan, the writer of the award-winning play Queens of Sheba, who suggested that depictions of the Queen of Sheba that suggest she is not Blacksuch as the European oil painting shown in the videorequire an explanation, not least because, in Hagans view, the Queen of Sheba is an icon of Black femininity. The queen's existence is disputed among historians. On his return to Song of Songs caused a lot of trouble for Origen because its a pretty steamy love poem, and he didnt like the idea of God being interested in sex. Why do you think the Bible doesnt mention her skin color? https://www.mdpi.com/openaccess. She answered: "Ignore your oath, just let me drink water." WebDie Knigin von Saba (The Queen of Sheba) is an opera in four acts by Karl Goldmark.The German libretto by Hermann Salomon Mosenthal sets a love triangle into the context of the Queen of Sheba's visit to the court of King Solomon, recorded in First Kings 10:113 (largely copied in 2 Chronicles 9:112).The plot centres on a love triangle not found in the Bible 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. and may have begun as early as the tenth. The woman visits Solomon in his palace, in a room which is made from glass tiles that she mistakes for water. She looks around at his house, sees how wonderful it is, and offers praise. Indeed, many Ethiopians understand themselves to be Habesha rather than Black. [68], Boccaccio's On Famous Women (Latin: De Mulieribus Claris) follows Josephus in calling the Queen of Sheba Nicaula. The asnid of Ibn Abbs. WebThe Queen of Sheba is perhaps the most famous woman in history, having been depicted for two thousand years in three great world traditionsIslam, Judaism, and Christianity. A somewhat nebulous figure, the Queen of Sheba (fl. This is not always the case, as characters such as Saul, David, and Absalom are described as beautiful, with some attention to their bodies; Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, however, are not given this treatment within the context of Kings or Chronicles. 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. [3], Modern historians identify Sheba with both the South Arabian kingdom of Saba in present-day Yemen and Ethiopia. [25], The story of Solomon and the queen was popular among Copts, as shown by fragments of a Coptic legend preserved in a Berlin papyrus. 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. A most elaborate account, however, is given in Targum Sheni to Esther, which can be supplemented by details found in the Alphabet of Ben Sira and Josephus (Ant. WebAnswer (1 of 10): The son of Queen Azeb (Makeda) and King Solomon is Menelik I, the legendary first king of the Ethiopian nation. WebThe Queen of Sheba. WebIn the Aggadah Talmudic references to the queen of Sheba are sparse. The Queen of Sheba Roberta Kells Dorr 3.80 102 ratings14 reviews Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba, is a woman as modern as her story is ancient. [10] Another Sabean temple, the Barran Temple (Arabic: ), is also known as the 'Arash Bilqis ("Throne of Bilqis"), which like the nearby Awam Temple was also dedicated to the god Almaqah, but the connection between the Barran Temple and Sheba has not been established archaeologically either. One of the first instances of this can be traced in a letter from Prince Kasa (King John IV) to Queen Victoria in 1872. It is not the goal of this paper to suggest that the Queen of Sheba is not Black.
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