Sheba

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Sheba (from the English transcription of the Hebrew name sh'va: שבא, also Saba, Arabic: سبأ) is a southern kingdom mentioned in the Jewish scriptures (Old Testament) and the Qur'an. The actual location of the historical kingdom is disputed between Ethiopia and Yemen.

In the Old Testament genealogy of the nations (Genesis 10:7), Sheba, along with Dedan, is listed as one of the descendents of Noah's son Ham (i.e. son of Raamah son of Cush son of Ham). In Genesis 25:3, Sheba and Dedan are listed as sons of Jokshan. Another Sheba is listed in the Genesis 10 genealogy as a descendent of Noah's son Shem, i.e. a Semite. (There the genealogy lists Sheba as son of Joktan son of Eber son of Shelah son of Arphaxad son of Shem.)

The nation makes its first appearance in world literature in the form of the Queen of Sheba (Bilqis, in Islamic tradition), who travels to Jerusalem to check out the fame of King Solomon (1 Kings 10). According to some traditions (the Biblical passage is silent), she either weds or has an affair with Solomon, eventually returning home with their child (Menelik, in Ethiopian tradition). The location of Sheba has thus become closely linked with national prestige as various royal houses have claimed descent from the Queen of Sheba and Solomon.

Long the most vigorous claimant has been Ethiopia, where Sheba was traditionally linked with the ancient Axumite Kingdom. As Ethiopia has remained a Christian state, the connection to Sheba has been an important one, especially to the ruling family, the Solomonid dynasty.

Recent archeological evidence has not given strong support to the Ethiopian claim, however, and today most scholars believe that, at most, the kingdom of Sheba controlled some coastal regions of Ethiopia while being centered on the southwestern tip of the Arabian peninsula, modern Yemen. Linguistic evidence also points to a close historical relationship between the two sides of the Red Sea, as South Semitic languages are found only in two places: southern Arabia (modern Yemen and Oman) and Ethiopia. The modern Ge'ez alphabet is also descended from the old South Arabian alphabet.

Modern scholars tend to think a link to the Sabaeans of southern Arabia, who inhabited the same region, is the most probable.

Ruins in many other countries including Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, and Iran have been credited as being Sheba, but with only minimal evidence, and there has even been a suggestion of a link between the name Sheba and that of Zanzibar.


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See also

N.B.: Genesis X:27

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External links

da:Saba de:Reich Saba he:שבא nl:Sheba no:Saba pl:Królestwo Saby sv:Saba

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