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THE QUEEN OF SABA
& THE WISE MAN OF SABA

AKSUM PAINTING "THE QUEEN OF SABA MEETS KING SOLOMON"

(Ethiopia, 20th c.)
Magos Foundation Collection

SOLOMON & THE QUEEN OF SHEBA, SUPPOSED ANCESTORS OF BALTHAZAR THE MAGUS

The kingdom of Queen Sheba (Torah), Queen of the South (Bible), Bilqis (Islam) stretched from South Arabia to the Horn of Africa. The remains of one of her palaces are still visible in Aksum. According to Ethiopian tradition, the Queen gave birth to a son nine months after visiting King Solomon in Jerusalem. After the sovereign’s death, her son Menelik, of the Jewish faith, founded a dynasty in Ethiopia, whose 61st descendant is known as King Bazen, alias Balthazar the Magus. As early as the 2nd century, Coptic and Syriac scrolls mention a Magus King from Saba.