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Sheba (; Ge'ez: ሳባ, ''Saba'', Arabic: سبأ, ''Sabaʾ'', South Arabian 13px13px13px, Hebrew: שבא, Šəḇā) was a kingdom mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament) and the Qur'an. Sheba features in Ethiopian, Hebrew and Qur'anic traditions. Among other things it was the home of the biblical "Queen of Sheba" (named ''Makeda'' in Ethiopian tradition and ''Bilqīs'' in Arabic tradition). Modern archaeological studies support the view that the biblical kingdom of Sheba was the ancient Semitic civilization of Saba in Southern Arabia,〔Adolf Grohmann, Arabia Volume 3, Issue 1, Part 3 p. 122〕〔PHILBY, H. ST. John B. THE LAND OF SHEBA London: Royal Geographical Society, 1938 p. 445 〕〔Israel Finkelstein, Neil Asher Silberman,''David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition'' p. 171〕〔(''Saba'' britannica last retrieved April 18 2013 )〕 in Yemen, between 1200 BCE until 275 CE with its capital Marib.〔Kenneth A. Kitchen : The World of Ancient Arabia Series. Documentation for Ancient Arabia. Part I. Chronological Framework and Historical Sources p.110〕〔"Sabaʾ." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 03 Feb. 2013〕 The Kingdom fell after a long but sporadic civil war between several Yemenite dynasties claiming kingship,〔D. H. Muller, 1891; Mordtmann, Himyarische Inschriften, 1893 p. 53〕〔Javad Ali,The articulate in the history of Arabs before Islam Volume 2 p. 420〕 resulting in the rise of the late Himyarite Kingdom. Similar description in the Hebrew Bible is found in Strabo's writings and Assyrian annals about the Sabaeans〔(arabia felix humnet.unipi.it/ )〕 Their civilization stretched as far as Aqaba with small colonies to protect the trade routes, these colonies included Yathrib and the central Arabian kingdom of Kindah〔Javad Ali ,The articulate in the history of Arabs before Islam Volume 7 p. 241〕〔Javad Ali,The articulate in the history of Arabs before Islam Volume 7 p. 519〕 and northern Ethiopia where archaeologists found an ancient temple dedicated to the Sabaean chief god El-Maqah〔David W. Phillipson, Ancient Churches of Ethiopia (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009), p. 36〕 The study of the history and culture of this kingdom is still patchy, especially the chronology of historical events and kings.〔(Queen of Sheba - Behind the Myth Documentary )〕 ==Biblical tradition== The two names Sheba (spelled in Hebrew with ''shin'') and Seba (spelled with ''samekh'') are mentioned several times in the Bible with different genealogy. For instance, in the Table of Nations〔Genesis 10:7.〕 Seba, along with Dedan, is listed as a descendant of Noah's son Ham (as sons of Raamah, son of Cush). Later on in Genesis,〔Genesis 25:3.〕 Sheba and Dedan are listed as names of sons of Jokshan, son of Abraham Another Sheba is listed in the Table of Nations〔Genesis 10:28〕 as a son of Joktan. Another descendant of Noah's son Shem. There are several possible reasons for this confusion. One theory is that the Sabaean established many colonies to control the trade routes and the variety of their caravan stations confused the ancient Israelites, as their ethnology was based on geographical and political grounds not necessarily racial〔Javad Ali,The articulate in the history of Arabs before Islam Volume 7 p. 421〕 Another theory suggests that the Sabaean hailed from Southern Levant and established their kingdom on the ruins of the Minaean Kingdom〔HOMMEL, Südarabische Chrestomathie (Munich, 1892) p. 64〕 It remains a theory however and cannot be confirmed. The most famous claim to fame for the Biblical land of Sheba was the story〔1 Kings 10〕 of the Queen of Sheba, who travelled to Jerusalem to question King Solomon, arriving in a large caravan with precious stones, spices and gold. The apocryphal Christian Arabic text ''Kitāb al-Magall'' ("Book of the Rolls", Kitāb al-Magāll.〔http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/aa/aa2.htm Kitab al-Magall〕 considered part of Clementine literature) and the Syriac ''Cave of Treasures'' mention a tradition that after being founded by the children of Saba (son of Joktan), there was a succession of sixty female rulers up until the time of Solomon. The Jewish-Roman historian Josephus describes a place called Saba as a walled, royal city of Ethiopia, which Cambyses afterwards named Meroe. He says "it was both encompassed by the Nile quite round, and the other rivers, Astapus and Astaboras" offering protection from both foreign armies and river floods. According to Josephus it was the conquering of Saba that brought great fame to a young Egyptian Prince, simultaneously exposing his personal background as a slave child named Moses.〔Josephus, ''Antiquities of the Jews'' II.10〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sheba」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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