Queen of Sheba
biblical figure
The Queen of Sheba, named Bilqis in Arabic and Makeda in Geʽez, is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she brings a caravan of valuable gifts for Solomon, the fourth King of Israel and Judah. This account has undergone extensive elaborations in Judaism, Ethiopian Christianity, and Islam. It has consequently become the subject of one of the most widespread and fertile cycles of legends in West Asia and Northeast Africa, as well as in other regions where the Abrahamic religions have had a significant impact.
Modern historians and archaeologists identify Sheba as one of the South Arabian kingdoms, which existed in modern-day Yemen. However, because no trace of her has ever been found, the Queen of Sheba's existence is disputed among historians.
Narrative
Hebrew
The Queen of Sheba (Hebrew: מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא, romanized: Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ, in the Hebrew Bible; Koine Greek: βασίλισσα Σαβά, romanized: basílissa Sabá, in the Septuagint; Syriac: ܡܠܟܬ ܫܒܐ; Ge'ez: ንግሥተ ሳባ, romanized: Nəgśətä Saba), whose name is not stated, came to Jerusalem "with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones" (1 Kings 10:2). "Never again came such an abundance of spices" (10:10; 2 Chronicles 9:1–9) as those she gave to Solomon.
The use of the term ḥiddot or 'riddles' (1 Kings 10:1), an Aramaic loanword, indicates a late origin for the text.
Sheba was quite well known in the classical world.
“Queen of Sheba” enters the record as biblical figure. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Queen, Sheba and biblical can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q159888. VIAF identifies the subject as 25394427. The Library of Congress control number is n50022135. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Queen of Sheba” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.