Sheba

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For other uses, see Sheba (disambiguation).
The Middle East through the eyes of the ancient Israelites, reconstructed according to the documentary hypothesis
The Middle East through the eyes of the ancient Israelites, reconstructed according to the documentary hypothesis

Sheba (Hebrew: שבא, Sh'va; Arabic: سبأ, Saba; Ge'ez, Amharic and Tigrinya: ሳባ, Saba) was a southern kingdom mentioned in the Jewish scriptures (Old Testament) and the Qur'an. The actual location of the historical kingdom is disputed between southern Arabia and eastern Africa; the kingdom may have been situated in either present-day Ethiopia or present-day Yemen.

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[edit] Biblical tradition

Sheba is mentioned several times in the Bible. For instance, in the Table of Nations (Genesis 10:7), Sheba, along with Dedan, is listed as a descendant of Noah's son Ham (as sons of Raamah son of Cush). In Genesis 25:3, Sheba and Dedan are listed as names of sons of Jokshan, son of Abraham. Another Sheba is listed in the Table of Nations (Genesis 10:28) as a son of Joktan, another descendant of Noah's son Shem.

In Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, the last of these three Shebas (Joktan's son) is considered the primary ancestor of the original Semitic component in their ethnogenesis, while Sabtah and Sabtecah, sons of Cush, are considered the ancestors of the Cushitic element.

Josephus describes a place called Saba as a walled, royal city of Ethiopia, which Cambyses afterwards named Meroe. He says "it was both encompassed by the Nile quite round, and the other rivers, Astapus and Astaboras" offering protection from both foreign armies and river floods. According to Josephus it was the conquering of Saba that brought great fame to a young Egyptian Prince, simultaneously exposing his personal background as a slave child named Moses. (Antiquities of the Jews II.10).

The Kitab al-Magall (considered part of Clementine literature) and the Cave of Treasures mention a tradition that after being founded by the children of Saba (son of Joktan), there was a succession of sixty female rulers up until the time of Solomon. The Biblical tradition of the "Queen of Sheba" (named Makeda in Ethiopian tradition and Bilqis in Islamic tradition) makes its first appearance in world literature in 1 Kings 10, describing her as travelling to Jerusalem to behold the fame of King Solomon.

Owing to the connection with the Queen of Sheba, the location has thus become closely linked with national prestige, as various royal houses have claimed descent from the Queen of Sheba and Solomon. The most vigorous claimant has been Ethiopia and Eritrea, where Sheba was traditionally linked with the ancient Axumite Kingdom.

[edit] Islamic origins

The Qur'anic Queen of Sheba, Bilqis, was a ruler who visited Solomon after receiving a letter from him inviting her to submit to God. The letter read, "In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, and Most Merciful: be you not exalted against me, but come to me as Muslims (true believers who submit with full submission)" (27:30-31 Quran). After visiting with King Solomon the Queen of Sheba said, "My Lord! Verily, I have wronged myself, and I submit (in Islam), together with Sulayman, to Allah, the Lord of the Alamin (mankind, jinns, and all that exists)" (27:20-44 Quran).

[edit] Archeological considerations

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Evidence is mounting of a region in northern Tigray and Eritrea which called itself Saba. As yet, most scholars would call it Ethiopian Saba, and indicate that it supports the assumption that Sabean culture existed both in Ethiopia and Yemen, without one colonizing the other.

Linguistic evidence points to a close historical relationship between the two sides of the Red Sea, as South Semitic languages are found only in two places: southern Arabia (modern Yemen and Oman), and the Horn of Africa (modern Eritrea and Ethiopia).

Some scholars tend to think a link to the Sabaeans of southern Arabia, who inhabited the same region, is probable. However, others such as Ethiopisant Donald Levine argued in Wax and Gold in favor of one Ethiopian tradition that "Sheba is Shewa!"

Ruins in many other countries, including Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, and Iran, have been credited as being Sheba, but with only minimal evidence. There has even been a suggestion of a link between the name "Sheba" and that of Zanzibar.

According to Marco Polo, Saba is the location of the tombs of the three Magi.

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