The Queen of Sheba

I am sooo ready for spring! I think I projected some of those longings into the warm colouring of this one. If this series makes it to a full calendar, she'll definately be a summer month.

The |queen of Sheba| is mentioned in many different places, perhaps most notably in the Bible. The kingdom of Sheba is believed to have covered modern day Ethiopia and Yemen. The queen, referred to as Balqis in Arabic legends or as Makeda in Ethiopian lore, visited king Solomon of Israel. This is where the official Bible tale stops but legend had it the two did more then just exchange pleasantries. The two are said to have been lovers, and the Ethiopian version of events even mentions a child of the two from which the imperial family of Ethiopia claim to be descendants. It is said that the |Song of Songs| in the Bible was written by Solomon for this legendary queen.

There's plenty more to tell about this but I'm gonna hold it there because I'm not sure any of you were looking for a history lesson here ;) Fact is, this woman must have been pretty amazing to have her memory survive the ages, no matter how you look at it. I tried to incorporate some elements that could evoke both the Yemeni and the Ehtiopian components of the legend. And just tried do her justice, basically.