The Queen of Sheba and Biblical Scholarship

The Queen of Sheba and Biblical Scholarship
Author: Bernard Leeman
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2015-07-21
Genre:
ISBN: 9781515169611

This book examines evidence connected with the life of Queen of Sheba, including the Sabaean inscription on the Ethiopian plateau, aspects of the Ancient West Arabian language, and geographical references in Ge'ez Kebra Nagast to offer a third alternative. It argues that the Old Testament is an accurate account but its events took place in West Arabia, not Palestine. It suggests that scholars are unwilling to consider such a strong possibility because, if true, it would not only completely undermine the raison d'être of the State of Israel but also force a total reassessment of Biblical, Arabian, and North East African history. Professional archaeology in the Holy Land dates from the 1920s and has been characterized by Jewish and Christian attempts to substantiate the Biblical record. While evidence has been unearthed that supports the account of the post-Babylonian captivity, well-known archaeologists such as Kenyon, Pritchard, Thompson, Glock, Hertzog, Silberman, and Finkelstein have concluded that the Old Testament is either a fantasy or highly exaggerated. Joshua's invasion of Canaan has been reinterpreted as a peaceful migration and traces have been found of the massive public works allegedly contracted in Jerusalem by Solomon or in Samaria by Omri. If they existed, they would have been little more than petty village headmen with imaginative publicists. This so-called minimalist outlook is fiercely challenged by others who believe that the evidence to support the Old Testament has literally yet to be uncovered. By accepting African traditions in providing a solution to the bitter division in Biblical scholarship, this book ranks with Martin Bernal's Black Athena in its degree of controversy and presenting evidence that most scholars should address.

The Queen of Sheba

The Queen of Sheba
Author: Deborah M. Coulter-Harris
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2013-01-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0786469692

Part I of this book begins with a scriptural study of all Sheba references, particularly the origins and genealogy of the name and its connections with Hebrew patriarchs such as Abraham and kings Saul and David; it later explores the literature and legends surrounding king Solomon and his trade negotiations with Sheba. The text analyzes theories and links between the Queen of Sheba and Pharaoh Hatshepsut, and concludes that Sheba may well be the Pharaoh based upon linguistic associations and the related stories from a multitude of regions and countries. Part II travels into ancient Arabian, Yemeni, Ethiopian, and Eritrean tales of the Queen of Sheba, and examines the mention of Sheba in an array of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim texts. It scrutinizes associations between ancient gods and pharaohs, particularly the similarity of their iconographic representations, the meaning of their symbols and signs that connect with Sheba legends and Hatshepsut's history, the real extent and location of her vast empire.

Queen of Sheba

Queen of Sheba
Author: Maseno, Loreen
Publisher: University of Bamberg Press
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2024-03-18
Genre:
ISBN: 3863099761

Text and History

Text and History
Author: Jens Bruun Kofoed
Publisher: Eisenbrauns
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN: 1575060949

Jens Bruun Kofoed addresses the methodological issues that must lie behind the use of the biblical text and its validation as a source for historical information. --from publisher desscription.

The Blessing of Africa

The Blessing of Africa
Author: Keith Augustus Burton
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2007-07-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830827625

Keith A. Burton traces the story of biblical Africa and the place of the Bible in the land of Ham. He ends with an examination of the modern era and the achievements of African Christianity. This invigorating work places the story of the Bible and African Christianity in a wider global context and challenges readers to think differently about history and the biblical world.

Transforming Scriptures

Transforming Scriptures
Author: Katherine Clay Bassard
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2011
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 082033880X

Transforming Scriptures is the first sustained treatment of African American women writers' intellectual, even theological, engagements with the book Northrop Frye referred to as the “great code” of Western civilization. Katherine Clay Bassard discusses how such texts respond as a collective “literary witness” to the use of the Bible for purposes of social domination.

Reimagining Hagar

Reimagining Hagar
Author: Nyasha Junior
Publisher:
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2019
Genre: History
ISBN: 019874532X

Reimagining Hagar illustrates that while interpretations of Hagar as Black are not frequent within the entire history of her interpretation, such interpretations are part of strategies to emphasize elements of Hagar's story in order to associate or disassociate her from particular groups. It considers how interpreters engage markers of difference, including gender, ethnicity, status and their intersections in their portrayals of Hagar. Nyasha Junior offers a reception history that examines interpretations of Hagar with a focus on interpretations of Hagar as a Black woman. Reception history within biblical studies considers the use, impact, and influence of biblical texts and looks at a necessarily small number of points within the long history of the transmission of biblical texts. This volume covers a limited selection of interpretations over time that is not intended to be a representative sample of interpretations of Hagar. It is beyond the scope of this book to offer a comprehensive collection of interpretations of Hagar throughout the history of biblical interpretation or in popular culture. Junior argues for the African presence in biblical texts; identifies and responds to White supremacist interpretations; offers cultural-historical interpretation that attends to the history of biblical interpretation within Black communities; and provides ideological criticism that uses the African-American context as a reading strategy. Reimagining Hagar offers a history of interpretation, but also expands beyond interpretation among Black communities to consider how various interpreters have identified Hagar as Black.

The Age of Solomon

The Age of Solomon
Author: Lowell K Handy
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 560
Release: 2023-08-14
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9004667830

The figure of King Solomon is central to our understanding of the history of Israel and Judah. This volume of collected articles brings the reader up-to-date with the latest scholarship in the field. The work consists of twenty-four chapters and provides important studies in the historical approach to Solomon and to 10th century B.C.E. Judah and Israel with archaeological surveys of the neighboring regions, sociological surveys, and literary readings of the biblical texts. With suggestions for further research and indexes.

Nabonidus and the Queen of Sheba

Nabonidus and the Queen of Sheba
Author: Janet Tyson
Publisher: Pirištu Books
Total Pages: 142
Release: 2024-11-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1739315472

Befitting her name, this book offers seven unique perspectives on the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon in 1 Kings 10. Although each theory stands alone and can be taken as a starting point for further investigation, the overall implication is that the Queen’s visit was not intended as a chronicle of some illustrious Arabian ruler seeking the king’s wisdom but rather, it was a reminder of the most castigated woman in the Hebrew Bible, Nitocris, wife of Nabonidus, King of Babylon (556-539 BCE). Two previous investigations, She Brought the Art of Women, and Arabian Sinai, set a new paradigm for the interpretation of the Song of Solomon and the exodus narratives, placing the stories of Abraham, Moses, and Solomon firmly in the 6th Century BCE. Nabonidus and Nitocris’ relationship was based on arcane rituals, secret initiations, and the drinking of a psychedelic, addictive potion; the “Queen of Sheba” epithet preserves this influence on the king as a caveat. Subsequent additions to the simple legend played with other associations to serve changing needs but the link to Nabonidus and Nitocris could never be lost, even if their original histories had been long forgotten.