Queen of Sheba

The Queen of Sheba, referred to in the Bible books of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, the Qur'an, and Ethiopian history, was the ruler of Sheba, an ancient kingdom which modern archeology speculates was located in present-day Ethiopia or Yemen . Unnamed in the biblical text, she is called Makeda in the Ethiopian tradition, and in Islamic tradition her name is Bilqis. Alternative names given for her have been Nikaule or Nicaula.

Later Jewish legends

The Jewish historian Josephus (Antiquities 8.6.2ff) emphasizes her love for learning. He gives her the name "Nikaule," evidently conjecturing a connection with the Nitocris of Herodotus (2.100).

Related Topics:
Josephus - Nitocris - Herodotus

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Later Jewish legend fleshed out many of the narrative details. Solomon's gift of "whatever she desired" was made concrete in a sexual relationship, and great efforts were expended in compiling lists of the riddles by which the Queen of Sheba had tested Solomon's wisdom. Another tradition related that when the queen met Solomon he was sitting in a glass house. Thinking he was in water, the queen raised her dress, exposing her hairy legs. Solomon's displeasure became an aetiological story for the origin of depilatories.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~