Biblical Nations - Sheba

Sheba

Key Scripture: 1 Kings 10:1

Figures: Queen of Sheba

This week we're going to take a break away from the nations that conquered or oppressed the Hebrew people to spend some time looking at people groups who had to travel longer distances to be included in the Biblical narrative.  This week we'll look at a location that was known to be exceptionally wealthy but has caused scholars a bit of difficulty, due in part to literature that has uncertain levels of credibility.  Without making a definite conclusion one way or the other, let's take a look at the land of Sheba and try to understand its location, history, and importance.

In the midst of the so-called Table of Nations found in Genesis 10, readers are introduced to a great-grandson of Ham named Sheba.  He was the son of Raamah, who was in turn the son of Cush.  As we've discovered previously, the majority of Ham's offspring settled to the south and west of the known world, including the Promised Land and portions of Africa.  At least one, however, began building cities across the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia, directly north of the Arabian peninsula.  Whether this is the forefather of the Sheba that is introduced later in the Old Testament is a matter of speculation.  What we do know is that during the time of Solomon, a wealthy queen traveled from the south with an impressively large caravan to meet the wise king of Israel and to test him with hard questions.  Scriptures say that the answers she received and the things she saw in Jerusalem, which would have included the completed Temple and royal palaces, caused her breath to be taken away.  She exchanged gifts with Solomon and returned to her land, although various traditions have included other details between the two which are not mentioned in the Bible, such as marriage, offspring, and religious conversion.

One of the possible locations for Sheba is a city in modern Yemen, south of Saudi Arabia.  Another option is in modern Ethiopia, west of the Red Sea along the Horn of Africa.  The city of Marib in Yemen was the center of a region known as Saba that spawned what became known as the Sabaean civilization across much of southern Arabia.  On the other hand, Aksum in Ethiopia was the center of a kingdom of the same name and may have controlled a region to its immediate south known as Shewa.  In addition to the proximity to places with similar names to "Sheba", both locations could have been a source for the camels that her retinue rode, as well as the frankincense that she carried since the Boswellia tree that provides the gum needed to make it grows in both areas.  Support for the Arabian location may be found in the gift of gold, which although it could be obtained from many kingdoms may well have indicated a proximity to Ophir, which is likely Mahd adh Dhahab (central Arabia's "Cradle of Gold").  Support for the African location can be found in the great epic of Ethiopia, Kebra Nagast (meaning "The Glory of the Kings"), which tells the national origin story that the queen named Makeda had journeyed to Jerusalem for six months and leaves pregnant with Solomon's child.  Their son, Menelik, would eventually become the first great king of Ethiopia but not before returning north to meet his father.  Solomon is said to rejoice at the reunion and attempts to have Menelik stay and rule, but is rebuffed.  He sends a group of Israeli men back with his son, but they are angry about leaving Israel and steal the Ark of the Covenant from within the Temple without Menelik's knowledge.  Solomon dreams that his son should keep it and he conspires with Zadok the priest to keep the disappearance a secret, which is why Ethiopians believe the Ark exists in their country to this day.  Ethiopian Christians also hold to the tradition that their Queen Candace, mentioned in Acts 8 as ruling during the time of Jesus and having a eunuch who was saved through the witness of Philip, was a direct descendant of Solomon through Menelik.

The only other Scriptural location where Sheba is mentioned by name is in Psalm 72, where Solomon as the author prays that the king would rule with righteousness and receive tribute and gifts from the nations, including Tarshish, Sheba, and Seba.  Other sources which reference the queen of the Biblical account are the Jewish historian Josephus, who calls her Nicaulis and says she hails from south of Egypt, as well as the Qur'an, which calls her Bilqis and claims she converted to Islam (although the events took place 1500 years before that religion was founded).  Whichever location was the real home of the Queen of Sheba, no less a teacher than Jesus Christ referenced her in the New Testament, although by a different title.  While criticizing the faith of His own countrymen, Jesus stated that the "Queen of the South" would rise up as a witness against them, since she as a foreigner journeyed to hear the wisdom of Solomon while they refused to hear the wisdom of one even greater than the historic king.  The offspring of Sheba, no matter which side of the Red Sea you prefer to believe it existed, still remains today as the local people groups have largely remained in place ever since Biblical times.