Bilkis and Other Stories of the Middle East Ancient and Modern

The Ethiopian empire ended with Haile Selassie as the last Negus Negesti, descendant of the Lion of Judah, in 1975 when he was arrested and killed by Mengistu Haile Mariam, a Communist dictator who, in turn, was overthrown in 1990 through uprisings in Eritrea and Wollo/Tigre Provinces. Legend has it that the Queen of Sheba, who the Ethiopian rulers are said to have descended from, was made to promise King Solomon a night of passion if he were able to catch her stealing anything of his, even though she, being a rich ruler, albeit a vassal, had given him so many gifts ( see I Kings ). The myth holds that it was during such a night that the very first ruler of Ethiopia was produced by Solomon and conceived by the Queen of Sheba, whose traditional Arabic name is Bilqis. This story about an unbridled night of passion fleshes out the Ethiopian myth of three thousand years ago and also explains the origin of Ethiopias notoriously hot curries. Flavius Josephus, the Judeo-Roman historian, claims that not only were Solomon and the Queen of Sheba a recognized couple but that her empire included, within Northeast Africa, Egypt as well.