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History Channel The Real Queen of Sheba Airs on Monday, March 13 at 10:00pm ET USA
According to the Bible, the Queen of Sheba came to Solomon's Palace bearing fabulous gifts, including one of the world's most valued substances--frankincense. She is mentioned only briefly in the Bible before she and her entourage disappear back into the desert from which they came. Was this Queen real? If so, who was she? Host Josh Bernstein digs deep in Ethiopia, legendary home of the Queen, follows the ancient incense trail, and ends up in Yemen, while attempting to discover her mystery and legacy.
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The Ethiopians believe that she was on the Western side of the Red Sea, according to their lore and ancient traditions. The Muslims believe that she was in Yemen....
According to Josephus, she was the queen of Ethiopia and Egypt(I think that is what he said).
Perhaps the proof is in the pudding concerning the ark of the covenant. If the ark is in Ethiopia, then I would say that there would then be no reason to doubt that the queen resided there.
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Outside of Biblical lore, the Queen of Sheba figures prominently in both Ethiopian and Arabian legends. In Ethiopia she is named Makeda while the Arabs call her Bilqis. According to all three sources, the Queen ruled over a kingdom that stretch on both sides of the Red Sea from the modern Eritrea and northern Ethiopia to Yemen. Whether she is born in Africa or Yemen is unclear but as it was discussed many times in this forum before Southern Arabia and Ethiopia had intimate ties and contacts with each other since prehistoric times and both regions claim her as her birthplace. The Arabs say she was queen of Saba which was one of the southern Arabian kingdoms and corroborates Biblical stories. We know from various sources that the Southern Arabia was a more matriarchal and matrilineal society so a wise and powerful queen from this area is not surprised nor she may not be unique in her region.
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Shut your lil trap Djenuti, the Queen was an Ethiopian Queen.
There is no living memory of the Queen in Saba or Yemen, yet the entire Ethiopian living culture revolves around the memory of their great Qeen Mother who founded the Dynasty that still continues with the Haile Selassie lineage.
Shut your trap with that Europhilia-Negrophobia necrosis of yours.
Lord-Gwad...your thoughts stink.
Lion/Lord of the Nile Posts: 7419 | From: North America | Registered: Mar 2009
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Don't speak on what you don't know, IronLion.
The Sabaean Kingdom was definitely in South Arabia and it's most likely that the Biblical reference to Sheba would have been to this kingdom. However, we have no guarantee that there ever really was a true "Queen of Sheba." Sabaean clans were patrilineal and there is only indirect evidence that there were some matrilineal clans (Korotayev A. V. Were There Any Truly Matrilineal Lineages in the Arabian Peninsula? Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 25 (1995): 83-98.).
As for Makeda, it's very likely she's a pre-Christian legendary or mythical figure who has been conflated in Ethiopian lore with the Queen of Sheba. Evidence to this is the fact that she's also the slayer of an evil serpent, Arwe (meaning beast in Ge'ez) that ruled in tyranny over the land. In some versions of the story, the blood that pours out from serpent fertilizes the land and becomes teff, the staple grain of Ethiopia used for making bread (injera).
Her father is said to be Agabo or Agabos or Be'ese Agabo (man of the Agabo tribe), whose name appears on some medieval kinglists as the earliest or one of the earliest kings.
We have documentary evidence of this name in early Aksumite times from the Maryam Anza stele and its inscription, inscribed by the King of Agabo (likely a local ruler of a tribe or more likely eponymous district of Agabo). It hasn't been precisely dated, but it is of the pre-Christian era and uses early Ge'ez script, so it can be dated generally to the first or second century AD.
There's evidence of the importance of women in ancient Ethiopian society in the kingdom of Da`amat/D`mt (c.800-500 BC), however. Each king has listed his queen or `arkyt(n). This word is derived from the Ge'ez "`Ark," meaning "companion," and then feminized with the "yt" letters, representing probably "-it" (y as a long vowel i), as is used in modern Amharic and classical Ge'ez as a feminine marker. The "n" sometimes found at the end is I think a grammatical marker.
-------------------- "Oh the sons of Ethiopia; observe with care; the country called Ethiopia is, first, your mother; second, your throne; third, your wife; fourth, your child; fifth, your grave." - Ras Alula Aba Nega. Posts: 1024 | Registered: Jun 2006
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That patrilineal Saaba is which has no living tradition of any queen mother emperess is the home of the great lioness??
Or Ethiopia, where the footsteps of Makeda are still discernable in the sand of times and the entire Ethiopia including the Royal family venerates her up to this day?
Come on don't be lame like Dough M. Nor robotic like the robot. Use your critical intelligence.
-------------------- Lionz Posts: 7419 | From: North America | Registered: Mar 2009
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I think YOm made his point that Makeda is older than Queen of Sheba and from the story of Arwe and Makeda destroying the Serpent King that ruled shows that the Queen of sheba has been incoporated into Makeda the Ancient one who slew the Snake King.
Im not sure that Makeda is the only queen that was hailed as a greatmother in that area of Northeasternafrica/southarabia im also sure that solomon was of no significance with a little nation socalled israel if it even existed.
Actually Yom brought up some good points especially arkay,ark,arke,arkena my friend,companion and the story of Azeb predates the Queen of Sheba come on they had a King who was a Serpent,Snake and she killed him doesnt sound like any Queen of Sheba i know of
Posts: 410 | From: Al-Ard | Registered: Jun 2009
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quote:Originally posted by IronLion: Shut your lil trap Djenuti, the Queen was an Ethiopian Queen.
There is no living memory of the Queen in Saba or Yemen, yet the entire Ethiopian living culture revolves around the memory of their great Qeen Mother who founded the Dynasty that still continues with the Haile Selassie lineage.
If you had any good reading comprehension, you would notice that I never said the Queen wasn't Ethiopian! I merely said both Ethiopia and Yemen claim her.
Also, the Yemenis do have memory as well as records of a number queens who ruled anciant kingdoms.
quote:Shut your trap with that Europhilia-Negrophobia necrosis of yours.
Lord-Gwad...your thoughts stink.
Lion/Lord of the Nile
And exactly what have I written that you consider "Europhilic" or "Negrophobic"??!
Taunt deleted - Henu
[ 27. July 2009, 03:24 AM: Message edited by: Henu ]
Posts: 26236 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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I have read the Kebra Negast which doesnt really matter but Yemen/Eritrea/Tigray use to be one country a long time ago. So if there ever was a queen of Sheba or Queen of the South She ruled both Habashat those on both sides of the Mareb,and those on the other side of Bab al Mandeb
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And exactly what have I written that you consider "Europhilic" or "Negrophobic"??! 
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