The Queen of Sheba: Fact, Legend, and Ethiopia's Link

She is one of history's most famous figures — yet almost everything we think we know about the Queen of Sheba is a blend of ancient Sabaean inscriptions, biblical poetry, Ethiopian epic, and Islamic tradition. In this episode, Lucas and Luna separate the layers: the Sabaean kingdom that actually existed in modern Yemen, the tantalizing 8th-century BCE inscription from a Sabaean ruler named Yathi'amar Watar, and the extraordinary medieval Ethiopian text, the Kebra Nagast, which claims the queen — called Makeda in the Ge'ez tradition — bore a son, Menelik I, by King Solomon. They explore what archaeology actually tells us about the incense trade that made Saba wealthy, the tantalizing lack of direct evidence for a female ruler, and why the story became so politically potent — for Ethiopian emperors, for Yemeni nationalists, and for biblical literalists. No myth-busting for its own sake, but a thoughtful look at how one kingdom became a symbol for everyone.

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