Did the Queen of Sheba have a son by King Solomon?

Those familiar with the Old Testament will surely know that the Queen of Sheba heard of the wisdom of King Solomon and the riches of his kingdom and came to see and hear for herself the proof. She was not disappointed.

But did she take home more with her than the Biblical record indicates? Did she return to Sheba pregnant with King Solomon's son?

I became fascinated with the story because of the reference made by Christ in the New Testament.

Matthew 12

42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

I take the queen of the south here to be the Queen of Sheba based on the OT stories in 1 Kings 10 and 2 Chronicles 9. The message from verses 41 and 42 of Matthew 12 is one condemning the Jews of the time for their unbelief in Christ, because the men of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba got the message, and they only had Jonah and King Solomon as witnesses. The Jews of the time had the Messiah Himself and did not believe, so greater is their condemnation.

But back to the topic of this thread. I had mistakenly assumed that Sheba was somewhere in India, probably because of the similarity of the word Shiva. After a little research, I found Sheba was actually located in what is modern day Yemen and Ethiopia. I connected stories of the Ark of the Covenant being taken to Ethiopia with this, and my curiosity deepened. Not to mention the connection of Yemen to modern day power struggles. Rise up in the judgment, indeed.

The web page I was reading this morning even went so far as to suggest the lovechild of Sheba and Solomon may have been none other than Nebuchadnezzar himself. Now that would really be a twist wouldn't it? Solomon's own son the destroyer of the First Temple!

Upon returning home, she gave birth to a son, whom she named Ibn al-Hakim, "son of the wise man." Some Jewish, Islamic and Persian sources state that this child was Nebuchadnezzar (44); Ethiopians believe him to be David II (the name given him by Solomon), who later called himself Menelek, and who was the first king of the Ethiopian dynasty.

source

Menelek is said to have travelled to Jerusalem at 22 to meet his father. Solomon reportedly recognized him immediately from his features and a ring he wore that Solomon had given to his mother. Menelek stayed for a time learning the Mosaic law, but eventually returned to Sheba.

The Queen, Makeda, went on to establish her son by Solomon on the throne of Sheba.

The Kebra Negast, written to establish the Solomonic kings as the basis of the Ethiopian dynasty, and Islam as the national religion, emphasizes her decree that "there shall be no more queens in Ethiopia, but only a man." Here she is portrayed telling Solomon, "Henceforward a man who is of thy seed shall reign, and a woman shall nevermore reign; only seed of thine shall reign and his seed after him." (45)

Here too, she is described writing Solomon a letter, requesting that he send her a fringe from the holy Arc of the Covenant, so that the Sabaeans might reverence it. When Solomon demanded that his counselors send their eldest sons to Sheba to spread the religion of the Israelites, his counselors rebelled and arranged for the theft of the Arc, which was then secretly transported to Sheba.

I don't get this last part. Why would Solomon's counselors rebel at the idea of sending their sons to spread Judaism, then turn around and steal the Ark and send it to Sheba?

Anyway, my investigation so far has yielded more questions than answers, and I am curious if there are any interested members here who would like to comment on or contribute to my studies.


[edit on 31-5-2008 by Icarus Rising]

Maybe this is why his high priests were angry...

Menelik stayed with his father in Jerusalem and learnt the Law of Moses for 3 years. Menelik looked very like his father, which confused the Israelites as they had difficulty in telling the difference between Solomon and Menelik. Because of this confusion they complained to King Solomon and asked him to send Menelik home. King Solomon said if they wanted him to send his son back home the high priests would have to send their oldest son and 1000 people from each tribe of Israel with Menelik. The high priests agreed to send their oldest son and 1000 people from each tribe with Menelik.

Ethopian Treasures

Menelik then returned to Aksum, amongst those accompanying him was Azariah the son of the high priest (Zadok) of the temple of Jerusalem. Before the journey Azariah had a dream that told him to take the Ark of the Covenant with him to Ethiopia. Azariah did what the dream told him to do and he stole the Ark from the Temple, putting in its place a copy. Azariah told Menelik what he had done and Menelik was angry with him but Azariah convinced Menelik to take the Ark with them. Zadok, the high priest of the Temple, discovered the Ark's disappearance and informed King Solomon. King Solomon and his army followed Menelik but could not catch him. Whilst this was taking place Solomon dreamt that his son should have the Ark and he returned to Jerusalem and ordered his high Priests to keep its disappearance a secret.

So, you don't question whether there was a love child between Solomon and Sheba? Do you believe the Ethiopian Kingship was based on Solomon's seed? Do you believe the Ark was taken to Ethiopia and resides there to this day?

Absolutely! There was just a recent news release about a German team who found the altar that used to hold the Ark.

www.worldnetdaily.com...

And recent DNA findings that prove that some of the people of Ethiopia are indeed related to Jewish dna because of a certain marker.

www.mindspring.com...

Keepers of the Faith
" Ethiopia’s Christians still flock to the intricate stone churches of the highlands where their faith arose."





[edit on 31-5-2008 by yankeerose]

Great Thread

I do believe the child was his and I think I know why the Ark was sent there.

I feel they wished to overthrow Solomon it is said that he became decadent later in life, perhaps this was a ploy to unseat him with some one that everyone would recognize. Perhaps they felt they could control the son, where they could not control the father. If the son rose up against the father with the The Seal of King Solomon and the Ark he would be unstoppable.

Yes , thanks for this information..


This is part of a bigger picture to I and I Rastafari as Haile Selassie 1, Emperor of Ethiopia is Christ in this time, same one as Yesus Christ- the new testament quote reveals Ethiopia's special place as home to the returned Messiah God and King Jah Rastafari. Thanks and Praise.

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


I dont see how the Ethiopian Dynasty being connected to the House of David would make the Ethiopian Emperor the messiah or a god. Especially since he is no longer alive. The Ethiopian Emperor was a great man and could of been considered of the House of David.

If I had to pick a messianic contender, this is just pure silly speculation for the purpose of discussion.
I would be looking at the currently alive crown prince, Zera Yacob Amha Selassie. In 2001 he formed the Imperial Ethiopian Order of Saint Mary of Zion.

This guy, Girma Yohannis Iyasu is also potentially from the House of David. In addition his ancestry includes the Prophet Mohammed.

Edit: Here's the website for the Crown Council of the current Royal Family.
www.ethiopiancrown.org...

[edit on 7/6/08 by MikeboydUS]

a reply to: yankeerose

Greetings! Do you know the reason why the son of Solomon and Melenik was not put into the Jewish TANAKH?

a reply to: Icarus Rising

This is an interesting topic and it if you want to know where it is written you must read the Kebra Negast or the Ethiopian book of Kings that is part of the Ethiopian canon that includes the Book of Enoch.

While I have great respect for Ethiopian tradition it is unfortunate that Solomon is but a mythical figure whose glorious Kingdom has no basis in fact whatsoever.

Africans have always sought ways to historically connect themselves to the religious traditions of Judaism. The Jews were black, the Messiah was black, it just doesn't seem to matter that Khem or Ham is the father of Africa according to the Bible and certainly not Shem who is father of the many Semitic peoples including Arabs, Persians and Israelites.

The only reason this story exists is to make an attempt at proving the Ethiopians are related to the Jews. Not much else to it really.

Why they want to be Jews I have no idea but to this day there are Ethiopian Jews so it's a very old tall tale. They are religiously Jews just not Semites, like the Ashkenazi are Khazarian Jews also not Semites.

It's impossible for the story to be true because nobody has ever seen evidence of the existence of a real King Solomon and the meaning behind the tale of Solomon is lost to the Christian so only people in occult esoteric circles know what it means. Or people who study esoteric circles.

Kebra Negast