Posted on 10/19/2018 11:33:55 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Who is the Queen of Sheba? In the Bible we are introduced to an unnamed queen from the land of Sheba who travels to Jerusalem to meet King Solomon (see 1 Kings 10; 2 Chronicles 9). Accompanied by many attendants and camels, the Queen of Sheba brings a large quantity of spices, gold and precious stones with her. She is drawn to Jerusalem because of Solomon's fame, and she tests the king with hard questions. Solomon is able to answer them all.
Impressed by Solomon's wisdom -- and by the riches of his kingdom -- she proclaims, "Your wisdom and prosperity far surpass the report that I had heard" (1 Kings 10:7). The Queen of Sheba gives King Solomon 120 talents of gold, precious stones and the largest quantity of spices ever brought to Jerusalem (1 Kings 10:10). In return King Solomon gives the Queen of Sheba gifts and "every desire that she expressed" (1 Kings 10:13). After receiving these gifts, the queen returns to the land of Sheba with her retinue.
The Biblical account of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon ends there, but later Jewish, Christian and Islamic sources have elaborated the story -- adding details to the famous queen's visit...
Archaeological and historical sources document a Kingdom of Saba (Sheba) during Biblical times in modern-day Yemen. Those in ancient Ethiopia were fully aware of the Kingdom of Saba in southern Arabia -- and sometimes even appropriated aspects of their culture.
(Excerpt) Read more at biblicalarchaeology.org ...
I loved Gina Lollobrigida as the Queen of Sheba in “Solomon and Sheba”.
As far as I know she was resurrected in September https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2018/09/23/after-years-majestic-queen-sheba-arrives-america/BWINdbKtU7rBL8K7HbeEeK/story.html ;-)
A corollary to, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans!” Is “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him what is important!”
Could you add me to your ping list.
Thank you.
Who is the Queen of Sheba? I know it isn’t Nancy Pelosi nor is it Maxine Waters. But they act like they are...There’s an Ethiopian Restaurant that is called ‘Queen of Sheba’ here in Tampa.
Seems to me that if the Queen of Sheba was really Hatshepsut, then it would have a rather large impact upon our understanding of the history of that time. But if one doesn't care about history, it macht nichts.
ML/NJ
No.
It is the most sacred site in Ethiopia. One man lives on site 24/7 as its guardian.
IIRC, each of these guardians lives a short life marked by physical ills, cataracts, cancer and other illnesses associated with chronic radiation exposure.
In any event, as the most sacred site with the most sacred artifact in the country, it has an abundance of armed guards outside the holy ground.
Mostly the curious are firmly but very politely forbidden to enter (I've had an Ethiopian roommate, he could be quite polite and persuasive, I can see a whole country of such making is so a determined seeker would back down out of reciprocal politeness!)
No Christian or Jew, or probably Animist for that matter, would intrude.
A muslim might murder half the country to seize it, but I would advise them to consider the fate of Pompeii (the person, not the city) after he intruded into The Temple's Holiest of Holies.
And the invader of the Chapel of the Tablet might see no more in it that Pompeii saw in The Holy of Holies...
I thought the Romans first imported camels to North Africa from Arabia? If so, Sheba was really Saba in Arabia.
That's one whoppin' non-sequitur, right there.
There's a single guardian who keeps watch 24/7, and it's a great honor. They don't leave the shrine until death or shortly before that. They train their replacement, so, for a short while there are two living people who have seen the supposed Ark. If I had to guess, it would be that the purported Ark in Ethiopia is an Egyptian royal coffin of some sort, nothing to do with ancient Israel at all.
That's merely some just-so speculation. Hatshepsut's bas relief showing and describing the details of her trip to Punt portray and name the port official who received her and her delegation, and his son is mentioned in the OT as having the same job later on. The attempt to put Punt in Yemen and to put Sheba in Yemen (at a disjointed, later time) is just a kludge, nothing more.
Heh... she's had that impact in a few other roles as well...
Thanks Hootowl, and I made a tiny error in my recollection a sec ago.
44. A preliminary expedition dispatched by Hatshepsu[t] to prepare the way for the main expedition, was met by Peruha, the biblical Paruah, governor of Ezion-Geber.
Theses For The Reconstruction Of Ancient History by Immanuel Velikovsky (1945)
I want one of those pith helmets with a solar powered fans.
Thanks!
Well put.
Ah, Florida. And the Queen of Sheba. Brings back memories, just out of school I went to Tampa with her...
That’s a stretch
There was no Suez and even then it’s about 1000 nautical from Elat to Yemen closest port and Elat itself was a trek across badass desert from Jerusalem
Ethiopia ditto
Syria and kingdoms to the north and Egypt were much closer
Sheba is popular today cause she was a chick and dark....Hamitic I think..who knows
Solomon’s mommy was hotter
For inspiration Ruth and Esther are mo betta
How fast could slaves row those unwieldy vessels
I profess ignoramoose ness
“it’s about 1000 nautical from Elat to Yemen”
But only about 20 miles across the Bab al Mandeb, between ancient Ethiopia and Yemen.
“How fast could slaves row those unwieldy vessels?”
The later 8th century BC) Greek Trireme (crewed by free sailors) could routinely row about 50-60 miles a day (Thucydides mentions a trireme travelling 300 kilometres in one day). Six knots was a leisurely cruising speed. Likely the older Phoenician/Egyptian ships were somewhat less efficient.
Galley ships that combined sail and oars were common in Late Bronze Age antiquity, including the time of Hatshepsut (~1,500 BC). Trade goods were exchanged over a wide range range of cultures around the Mediterranean, and inland across Persian areas, such as lapis lazuli from Afghanistan.
Around 1,200 BC, there was a collapse like the Dark Ages in Europe (the time of the “Sea Peoples” invasions), but 100-200 years later Phoenician ships had re-established regular establish trade around the entirety of the Mediterranean and Black Seas (1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed, https://www.amazon.com/1177-B-C-Civilization-Collapsed-Turning/dp/0691168385 ).
“But before the time of Solomon they (Phoencian ships) had passed the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar Strait), and affronted the dangers of the Atlantic. Their frail and small vessels, scarcely bigger than modern fishing-smacks, proceeded southwards along the West African coast, as far as the tract watered by the Gambia and Senegal, while northwards they ...ventured across the mouth of the English Channel” (https://phoenicia.org/ships.html ). So the nautical technology existed at Egyptian ports on the Mediteranean, the Nile and the Red Sea.
Egypt had a standing navy during the 17th and 18th Dynasties (Hatshepsut reigned during the 18th), as demonstrated by The Siege of Avaris in the Nile delta, against the Hyksos (c. 1550 BC) by Ahmose I, the founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty. They ran reed ships on the Nile, but imported wood from Lebanon for their sea-going ships, as well as getting whole ships as tribute and through purchase. Phoenicians (and pre-Phoenician people along the Lebanese coast - Byblos to the Egyptians) were probably the best ship builders of the day, if a powerful kingdom was looking to acquire good ships.
“In the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Hatshepsut built a Red Sea fleet to facilitate trade between the head of the Gulf of Aqaba and points south as far as Punt to bring mortuary goods to Karnak in exchange for Nubian gold. Hatshepsut personally made the most famous ancient Egyptian expedition that sailed to Punt. During the reign of Queen Hatshepsut in the 15th century BC, ships regularly crossed the Red Sea in order to obtain bitumen, copper, carved amulets, naptha and other goods transported overland and down the Dead Sea to Elat at the head of the gulf of Aqaba where they were joined with frankincense and myrrh coming north both by sea and overland along trade routes through the mountains running north along the east coast of the Red Sea” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Punt)
So nautical trade and government relations were routine around the Red Sea in 1,500 BC - Eilat to Yemen, Ethiopia to Egypt. Just walking the coastlines and sailing 20 miles across the Bab al Mandeb in the South, or crossing the Sinai in the North were also routinely possible. 1,000 miles from Eilat to Yemen is less than half the distance that Appalachian Trail through hikers walk for fun over the Summer - without horses or camels, which were in wide use before 1,500 BC.
Trade between Ethiopia and Egypt preceded Hapshetsut by thousands of years - 90% of Nile water originates from Ethiopia.
I have no particular theory I am promoting on who the Queen of Sheba was. My point is that the logistics of the day make it possible for Sheba of the day to be on the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen, Oman, Saudia Arabia), Egypt, or Ethiopia (Horn of Africa region). They all were in contact, through diplomatic and trade contacts. That is true whether you theorize Solomon’s reign to be during the time of Hatshepsut (starting 1,478 BC), or the more conventionally accepted period (starting 970 BC). It is of note that all those regions speak languages of the Semitic family group today - Arabic, Hebrew, Ethiopian Amharic.
Additionally, Sheba like any other ancient Kingdom, likely had borders that fluctuated over time - royal marriages could unite countries for one generation, and they could then be divided among the children. That was a common phenomena. Local military alliances and tribute relationships of a “Greater Sheba” would also wax and wane over the generations with changes in the economy, military balance and the capability/popularity of individual leaders. So the term Sheba might be used at one point in history to refer to territory that was not part at another point in history - or even just to a wider area that might only share cultural or ethnic similarity.
Maybe the climate was different, or people deliberately cultivated it elsewhere, but today the great concentration of frankincense trees is along the NE coast of of Somaliland/Somalia at the very Horn of Africa, with other significant traditional production along the coast of Western Oman/Eastern Yemen.
That’s a lot of info
I was questioning the logistics since long distance sailing is something I know a bit about
I had no clue how slave galleys go speed wise
They were shallow draft cumbersome things.....the rams were very light for speed with sharp tip so they say
I think I read about 10 knots with Is max for short distance in decent seas with right winds and more like 4-5 normal which is still kicking.....
Did the Israelites have slave galleys?
Ancient times seafaring was more risky and slower than today
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