Ethiopian painting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

Ethiopian painting on canvas of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

In the first Book of Kings of the Tanakh, written in the 6th century BC, it is said in passing that in the time of Solomon, Israel had achieved such prestige that the queen of Sheba, a distant kingdom located in southern Arabia, traveled to Jerusalem laden with gifts to see for herself the power of the Jews. But once there, and having heard that Solomon was wise, the queen wanted to test his wit by asking him difficult questions. Apparently, Solomon answered correctly to everything and that was it.
But the gossips could not resist and legends, whispers and rumors began to emerge in which it was claimed that, after solving a few riddles, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba became intimate and even knew each other in the biblical sense.
In the middle of the 4th century AD The kingdom of Aksún (present-day Ethiopia) had adopted Christianity as its state religion, and that ancient biblical story of Solomon and Makeda (that, and no other, was the name of the queen) and the subsequent gossip about their relationship ended up legitimizing the Ethiopian dynasty by linking it to the lineage of David and, therefore, to Jesus Christ himself. In the 13th century, the Book of the Glory of the Kings of Ethiopia, or Kebra Nagast, appeared, which already recounted that, after her trip to Jerusalem, Makeda became pregnant and had a son, Bayna Lehkem, who was recognized by his father before returning to Saba and being crowned the first king of Ethiopia with the name of Menelik I.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the painting we are now showing revives the love story of the kings of Israel and Saba, who travel in barges separated by a lagoon filled with strange geese and violent hippopotamuses that, one by one, are shot down with machetes or muskets. The sovereigns are accompanied by a very large entourage and the occasional sullen cherub. On the banks, curious villagers act as curious villagers. The painting is sold with a frame in poor condition.

Canvas dimensions: Height 28cm, width 101cm.