Sheba
Kingdom mentioned only in reference to the loves of King Solomon with his queen.
Description
The kingdom of Sheba is mentioned in the work of Maria Valtorta only indirectly, through allusions to its legendary queen. At Clear Water, where Jesus withdrew with his apostles, the curious spread what is known about him:
"'The star came afterwards, it came with the wise men of the east, one of whom was a relative of Solomon, and therefore of the Messiah, because He is of the house of David, and David is Solomon’s father, and Solomon loved the queen of Sheba because she was beautiful and because of the gifts that she brought him, and he had a child of her, and he belongs to Judah although he is from beyond the Nile.'"[2]
This visit of the queen to Solomon is recorded in the Bible[3] but their relationship is not explicit. It is recounted in a 14th-century Ethiopian document: the Kebra Nagast. The oral traditions it gathers may therefore indeed be ancient, According to Maria Valtorta. Jesus mentions the Queen of Sheba before the scribes and Pharisees who came to ask him for a sign.[4]
"So the Queen of the South will rise on Doomsday against the men of this generation and will condemn them. Because she came, in her days, from the end of the world to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, whilst this generation, which has Me with them, will not listen to Me and they persecute and drive Me away as if I were a leper and a sinner, and yet I am much greater than Solomon."[5]
Elsewhere, Aurea Galla, a young slave freed by Claudia Procula, sheds light on some practices of the slave trade.
"'See, they deceived them saying that they were Arabs or that they came from the Upper Nile, where it rises. They sold one girl saying that she was a descendant of the Queen of Sheba.' ‘Fancy that! They did not deceive the girls, but the purchasers. So you say: they cheated. What a race! A wonderful surprise for the purchaser when he saw… the false Ethiopian grow lighter!'"[6]
According to the work of Maria Valtorta, this is therefore a kingdom of the Upper Nile and Ethiopia at the time.
Its name
Saba, Sheba. In Hebrew, it is written "שְׁבָא" (Sheva or Sheba). The exact etymology of this name is not clearly established.
Where is it mentioned in the work?
Learn more about this place
Historians hesitate to locate this kingdom in southern Arabia; in Yemen; in northern Ethiopia or in present-day Eritrea. In any case, the memory of the kingdom of Sheba and its queen Makeda is still alive in Ethiopia. Salton the Kebra Nagast, already cited, she stayed by the king’s side for six months before deciding to return to her kingdom. There she gave birth to a son, Menelik, born from her union with Solomon around 950 BCE. He later went to Jerusalem to be recognized by his father, after which the Ethiopian dynasty he founded took the name Solomonide.
Explore
- 15° 45’ 40’’ N / 38° 47’ 44’’ E /
- +0m/1000m
Notes and references
Article partially based on the Geographical Dictionary of the Gospel, by Jean-François Lavère.
- ↑ 1 Kings 10:1-13.
- ↑ GRM 119.1.
- ↑ 1 Kings 10:1-13 | 2 Chronicles 9:1-12.
- ↑ Matthew 12:42 | Luke 11:31.
- ↑ GRM 344.6. See also GRM 269.10 where the Queen of Sheba is also called "Queen of the South".
- ↑ GRM 435.3.