Sheba

For other uses, see Sheba (disambiguation).
See also: Sabaeans
A Sabaean priestess, who intercedes with the sun goddess on behalf of the donor. Probably 1st century AD

Sheba (/ˈʃiːbə/; Ge'ez: ሳባ, Saba, Arabic: سبأ, Sabaʾ, South Arabian , Hebrew: שבא, Šəḇā) was a kingdom mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament) and the Qur'an. Sheba features in Ethiopian, Hebrew and Qur'anic traditions. Among other things it was the home of the biblical "Queen of Sheba" (named Makeda in Ethiopian tradition and Bilqīs in Arabic tradition).

The view that the biblical kingdom of Sheba was the ancient Semitic civilization of Saba in Southern Arabia is controversial. Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman write that "the Sabaean kingdom began to flourish only from the eighth century BCE onward" and that the story of Solomon and Sheba is "an anachronistic seventh-century set piece meant to legitimize the participation of Judah in the lucrative Arabian trade."[1]The British Museum states that there is no archaeological evidence for such a queen but that the kingdom described as hers was Saba, "the oldest and most important of the South Arabian kingdoms" [2] Kenneth Kitchen dates the kingdom to between 1200 BCE until 275 CE with its capital Marib.[3] The Kingdom fell after a long but sporadic civil war between several Yemenite dynasties claiming kingship,[4][5] resulting in the rise of the late Himyarite Kingdom.

Biblical tradition

The two names Sheba (spelled in Hebrew with shin) and Seba (spelled with samekh) are mentioned several times in the Bible with different genealogy. For instance, in the Table of Nations[6] Seba, along with Dedan, is listed as a descendant of Noah's son Ham (as sons of Raamah, son of Cush). Later on in Genesis,[7] Sheba and Dedan are listed as names of sons of Jokshan, son of Abraham Another Sheba is listed in the Table of Nations[8] as a son of Joktan. Another descendant of Noah's son Shem.

There are several possible reasons for this confusion. One theory is that the Sabaean established many colonies to control the trade routes and the variety of their caravan stations confused the ancient Israelites, as their ethnology was based on geographical and political grounds and not necessarily racial.[9] Another theory suggests that the Sabaean hailed from Southern Levant and established their kingdom on the ruins of the Minaean Kingdom.[10] It remains a theory however and cannot be confirmed.

The most famous claim to fame for the Biblical land of Sheba was the story[11] of the Queen of Sheba, who travelled to Jerusalem to question King Solomon, arriving in a large caravan with precious stones, spices and gold. The apocryphal Christian Arabic text Kitāb al-Magall ("Book of the Rolls", Kitāb al-Magāll.[12] considered part of Clementine literature) and the Syriac 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 Jewish-Roman historian 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.[13]

Qur'anic tradition

In the Qur'an, Sheba is mentioned by name at 27:22 in a section that speaks of the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon Qur'an 27:20-44.[14][15] The Qur'an mentions this ancient community along with other communities that were destroyed by God.[16] Muslim scholars, including Ibn Kathir, related that the People of Sheba were Arabs from South Arabia.[17]

Ethiopian tradition

In Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, the Sheba (Saba in Ethiopic) who was Joktan's son is considered the primary ancestor of the original Semitic component in their ethnogenesis, while Sabtah and Sabtechah, sons of Cush, are considered the ancestors of the Cushitic element. Traditional Yemenite genealogies also mention Saba son of Qahtan (Joktan), however they claim Sabaean descent not from him, but from yet another Saba not mentioned in scripture, who was said to be a grandson of Yarab and a great-grandson of Qahtan.

In the medieval Ethiopian cultural work called the Kebra Nagast, Sheba was located in Ethiopia.[18] Some scholars therefore point to a region in the northern Tigray and Eritrea which was once called Saba (later called Meroe), as a possible link with the biblical Sheba.[19] Other scholars link Sheba with Shewa (also written as Shoa, the province where modern Addis Ababa is located) in Ethiopia.[20]

Speculation on location

The location of the kingdom mentioned in the Bible was long disputed.[21] Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman suggest that the kingdom was located in southern Arabia.[22]

Owing to the connection with the Queen of Sheba, the location has become closely linked with national prestige, and various royal houses claimed descent from the Queen of Sheba and Solomon. According to the medieval Ethiopian work Kebra Nagast, Sheba was located in Ethiopia. Ruins in many other countries, including Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia 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 (Shan Sheba); and even a massive earthen monument of the Yoruba people in Nigeria known as Sungbo's Eredo is held by tribal tradition to have been built in honour of the powerful queen Oloye Bilikis Sungbo, who is often equated with the Bilqis of Arabic legend.[23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Israel Finkelstein, Neil Asher Silberman,David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition p. 171
  2. ↑ "The kingdoms of ancient South Arabia". Britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
  3. ↑ Kenneth A. Kitchen : The World of Ancient Arabia Series. Documentation for Ancient Arabia. Part I. Chronological Framework and Historical Sources p.110
  4. ↑ D. H. Muller, 1891; Mordtmann, Himyarische Inschriften, 1893 p. 53
  5. ↑ Javad Ali,The articulate in the history of Arabs before Islam Volume 2 p. 420
  6. ↑ Genesis 10:7.
  7. ↑ Genesis 25:3.
  8. ↑ Genesis 10:28
  9. ↑ Javad Ali,The articulate in the history of Arabs before Islam Volume 7 p. 421
  10. ↑ HOMMEL, Südarabische Chrestomathie (Munich, 1892) p. 64
  11. ↑ 1 Kings 10
  12. ↑ http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/aa/aa2.htm Kitab al-Magall
  13. ↑ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews II.10
  14. ↑ The Qur'an. A New Translation by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem Oxford University Press. ad loc.
  15. ↑ Brannon M. Wheeler (2002). Prophets in the Quran: An Introduction to the Quran and Muslim Exegesis. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 166. ISBN 0-8264-4956-5.
  16. ↑ Qur'an 50:14
  17. ↑ Brannon M. Wheeler. "People of the Well". A-Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism.
  18. ↑ Edward Ullendorff, Ethiopia and the Bible (Oxford: University Press for the British Academy, 1968), p. 75
  19. ↑ The Quest for the Ark of the Covenant: The True History of the Tablets of Moses, by Stuart Munro-Hay
  20. ↑ Donald N. Levine, Wax and Gold: Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopia Culture (Chicago: University Press, 1972)
  21. ↑ The Queen Of Sheba By Michael Wood BBC News
  22. ↑ Israel Finkelstein, Neil Asher Silberman,David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition p. 167
  23. ↑ Nigeria News, 4 June 1999, "Archaeologists find clues to Queen of Sheba in Nigeria"

Bibliography

External links

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