Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
lomon's wealth and wisdom that drew her to his court. The best-known story in the West is the Ethiopian tradition
that recounts how Solomon became enraptured with her beauty and devised a plan to have his wicked way with
her. He agreed to let her stay in his palace only on the condition that she touched nothing of his. Shocked that he
should consider her capable of such a thing, she agreed. That evening the king laid on a feast of spicy and salty
foods, and after all had eaten well, Sheba and Solomon retired to separate beds in his sleeping quarters. In the
night Sheba awoke thirsty from all the salty food she had consumed and reached across for a glass of water. The
moment she put the glass to her lips Solomon awoke and triumphantly claimed that she had broken her vow. 'But
it's only water,' she cried. To which Solomon replied, 'And nothing on earth is more precious than water.'
Ethiopian tradition holds that the child that resulted from the deceitful night of passion that followed was
Menelik I, from whom the entire royal line of Ethiopia claim direct descent. Though all the ancient sources agree
that a meeting took place between the two rulers, things become a little murky after that point. The Bible doesn't
even give Solomon's mysterious visitor a name, Jewish legend kindly gives Sheba hairy legs and a cloven foot,
and Quranic accounts say that Solomon heard rumours of a kingdom ruled by a queen whose subjects worshipped
the sun. He commanded a
jinn
(spirit) to bring her to him, and when Bilqis, as she is known in the Arab world, ar-
rived at Solomon's crystal palace, she immediately accepted the Abrahamic tradition of worshipping one god
alone.
Finding out whether Sheba existed and where her capital was located has not proved easy. The strongest claims
have come from Ethiopia, which believes that Aksum (Axum) was her capital, and Yemen, which says it was
Ma'rib (others claim she came from northwest Arabia or Nigeria). Both cities were important trade and cultural
centres and it's likely that both were, if not ruled by the same monarch, then closely tied through trade. So far
neither has any evidence to suggest that the Queen of Sheba ever existed. Whatever the truth, the legend persists
and every Yemeni will swear that Ma'rib was the home of the most beautiful cloven-footed woman to have ever
lived.
Sights
Great Ma'rib Dam
RUIN
Lying 8km southwest of town is the extraordinary Great Ma'rib Dam, justly Yemen's
most famous monument. The dam is believed to date to at least the 8th century BC. It was
periodically repaired; the last recorded time that major works were carried out was in the
6th century AD, after which it probably fell into disuse. Sadly, much of the remaining
walls have been used to build the new town. Only two sluice gates (look out for the
Sabaean inscriptions) remain. The vast stones, used for the dam's foundations, were
covered in a kind of 'waterproofing' consisting of clay and plastered with stones and
gravel on the sides. At the tip of the dam, two gaps in the wall channelled the water into
the irrigation canals.
'Arsh Bilqis
RUIN
Lying on the Safir road, the ancient and enigmatic 'Arsh-Bilquis (Bilqis Palace/Bilqis
Throne/Temple of the Moon) is the site of the famous five-and-a-half columns often seen
in tourist brochures. Although linked to the legend of the Queen of Sheba, archaeologists
