Sheba

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86 THE KEBRA NAGAST for Solomon’s feast for the Queen of Sheba, place names, the queen’s name Makeda/not thus/ not this way, and strange grammatical constructions. There is general agreement that the Sheba-Menelik Cycle consists of chapters 22 to 28A, 29B - 34A, 35-43, 45-63A, 84-93A, and 94 of the Kebra Nagast. However, this writer maintains the description of the Queen of Sheba, chapter 21B, should also belong to the Sheba-Menelik Cycle to form the opening paragraph. The first part of the Sheba-Menelik Cycle resembles Josephus’s account to such an extent that he almost certainly summarized a very similar text. However, Josephus’s account concerning Sheba ends with her departure from Jerusalem, and it is highly unlikely that he would have omitted summarizing any additional text at his disposal, particularly text as dramatic as the theft of the Ark of the Covenant. This is the vital part of the Kebra Nagast and an issue that Zadokite compilers of the Old Testament totally ignored. Scrutiny of the Sheba-Menelik Cycle not only reveals a plausible explanation for the Ark’s disappearance but also sheds considerable light on a variety of subjects, including the origins of Solomon’s name, the illogical dispersal pattern of Jewish settlements in Arabia, the origins of Hebraic/Israelite groups in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia; the linguistic riddle of the name for the Ark, Sabaean inscriptions mentioning Hebrew in Ethiopia and a solution to the problems of Old Testament archaeology. The Sheba-Menelik Cycle begins with a description of the Queen of Sheba as a beautiful and brilliant young woman whose country was enjoying unprecedented prosperity from trade (chapter 21B). The queen learned about Solomon from Tamrin, her chief trader, who was supplying materials for the new temple in Jerusalem. Desirous of experiencing Solomon’s wisdom first hand, the queen set out with a 797-strong camel caravan to visit him (chapters 22-24). This journey reportedly occurred in the sixth year of her reign (chapter 30) and in the seventh of Solomon’s (chapter 37). The queen stayed in Jerusalem for six months. She was deeply impressed by what she saw in Jerusalem, studying Solomon’s administrative methods, and witnessing his benevolent treatment of ordinary people (chapters 25-27), a practice that, according to the Old Testament, degenerated into harshness in later years. The queen decided to convert to the Israelite religion, while on his part Solomon grew increasingly anxious to bed her (chapter 28). He succeeded in his quest, and she left bearing a ring he had given her (chapters 29B-31).
QUEEN OF SHEBA AND BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP 87 The next part of the Sheba-Menelik Cycle deals with the real life consequences of a vision Solomon had on the night he slept with the queen. He dreamed that the sun moved from Israel and shone on the queen’s realm (chapter 30): A brilliant sun rose up before King Solomon. It swept down from heaven and shone with a brilliant light over his kingdom. And as he watched it hang over his realm he saw it suddenly soar away moving across the sky until it settled over the Queen’s country where it shone even brighter than before as if it wished to remain there for all eternity. The remainder of the Sheba-Menelik Cycle is concerned with this theme. Meanwhile the story continues. The queen gives birth to Menelik at Bala Zadisareya. It is not known if this name is associated with the Mai Bela River bend, the traditional site for Menelik’s birthplace. The Sheba- Menelik Cycle states that the queen gave birth before reaching her own country (chapter 32), and no mention is made of the huge caravan that accompanied her to Jerusalem. It seems unlikely that it could take nine months and five days (chapter 32) to travel south and still fail to reach the queen’s Arabian home. The Sabaean inscriptions near Mekele on the Ethiopian plateau state that three queens of Sheba ruled there not long after Solomon’s era, and the legends of Makeda’s early life indicate her mother was not from southern Arabia, but from Africa. It seems therefore reasonable to suggest she gave birth to her son as she was returning from the Aksum area (which the tenth-century Yemeni historian Hamdani states was “her mother’s country”) on her way to Arabia. The name of the Queen of Sheba’s son is usually given as Menelik. The Kebra Nagast refers to him as Bayna Lekhem, which means son of the wise man (Solomon). He was also known as David or Daud, in honor of Solomon’s father, his own grandfather. The name Menelik is usually taken to be a corruption of Bayna Lekhem, its Arabic equivalent Ibn Hakim or a title Ibn Malik (son of the king). When Menelik reached the age of twelve his companions asked him who his father was. He approached his mother: The Queen spoke to him angrily, intending to discourage him from discovering the truth and visiting Solomon, “Why do you ask me about your father? I am your father and mother, so do not mention the subject again.” (Chapter 32)
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Queen of Sheba and Biblical Scholar
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QUEEN OF SHEBA AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
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CHAPTER ONE Sheba, Zionism, and the
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CHAPTER TWO The Search for Evidence
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MAP 8 Arabic Dialects of Western Ar
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Sheba

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