Posted on 03/07/2010 7:10:30 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Narrated Al-Bugheerer bin Stu’pidi:
Allah’s Apostle said, “There is none amongst the Muslims who can fill an empty crypt with headless Infidels so fast as me!”
The Hebrews were said to come to Caanan around 1400 to 1300(some say 1500) BC, there were then 400 years during which the Judges of the Hebrews reigned, then around 1000 bc Saul the first king reigned. There was another 400 years or so of Kings and prophets, a period of slavery lasting 70 years before a limited return of nationhood, then a time known as the 400 “silent years” until Christ would come. Now I know the timing of these events isn’t perfect and folks tend to slide the “time scales back and forth a bit” to try to make things fit. We know about when Solomon ruled (in the 900 to 800 BC period or might have ruled as early as 1200 BC depending on who you read and how early the placement of the arrival of the Hebrews is positioned). We know from the Bible that the Hebrews were under the judges for 400 years before they demanded to be ruled under kings. Then you have Saul, David, then Solomon. After Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel got divided!
During the reign of Solomon, the Queen of Sheba visited according to the Bible. So the real key is when the Hebrews arrived to Israel because after that, the reigns of the kings after the time of the judges(400 years) are more or less recorded chronologically, up until the destruction of the Northern Kingdom and years later, the enslavement of Judah by Nebuchednezzar and the Babylonians.
Somewhere in a span of 1200 to 800 BC, Solomon reigned and the Queen of Sheba visited him.
Yemen was never called Ethiopia. The Queen of Sheba was (as Josephus stated) the Pharaoh of Egypt, and at that time (and at various other times as well) Egypt also ruled Nubia.
...around 1000 bc Saul the first king reigned. There was another 400 years or so of Kings and prophets...Saul was succeeded by David, who was succeeded by Solomon.
There’s a coffeetable book, uh, around here somewhere (or maybe I left it somewhere else I frequent) with some very nice photos of loads of various little-studied (gee, I wonder why) pre-Islamic antiquities in Saudi Arabia; but I just doubt these size estimates.
And the Marib Dam...
Well, only eight hundred, but I agree. :’)
“Then you have Saul, David, then Solomon. After Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel got divided”
Gee ya didn’t read all my post, did ya?
I did. Solomon wasn’t two hundred years after Saul.
Yes, I know Yemen was never called Ethiopia. What the ancients referred to as Ethiopia was sometimes the Sudan or Eritrea or even North Africa such as Libya.
For some reason, people began saying the Queen came from Ethiopia, not sure why. Scholars have long established that Sheba was in modern Yemen.
No David ruled 40 years after Saul, then Solomon ruled. I didn’t say Solomon ruled 200 years after Saul. I was trying to point out that some experts differ as to when the Hebrews arrived , but when they did arrive, they lived 400 years under the Judges. The times of the Kings began after that and during the reign of Solomon, the Queen of Sheba came to see Solomon! You keep saying that the Queen of Sheba existed earlier than Solomon’s reign though the Bible says differently. Unless there were several Queen’s of Sheba existing at different points in history.
Solomon lived about 800BC or soYour words, not mine. David didn't rule 40 years after Saul, if by that you mean he took the throne 40 years after Saul. Solomon's reign immediately followed David's, was a long reign, and was the highwater mark of the kingdom. I haven't said that the Queen of Sheba existed earlier than Solomon's reign -- I said that there was no Kingdom of Sheba in Yemen. The Queen of Sheba was an Egyptian ruler.
Scholars have never done any such thing. There was no room for a kingdom of Sheba anywhere else, so the *speculation* that maybe it was in Yemen led to people looking for something that wasn’t there.
Well it has been nearly forty years since I wrote that paper but unless something has changed, there was no real doubt as to where the kingdom of Sheba was.
I am too old and worn out to go do the research again. I do recall much of the original research had been done by Biblical scholars.
I also know that Simon the Ethiopian was from what we now call Libya, tho as I mentioned before, that designation has changed a lot even varied back in ancient times.
People there have been fighting desertification since the Sahara and Arabian deserts began drying out after the last ice age, I assume.
There was literally never anything but speculation. There are no inscriptions referring to anything like it. Tarshish wasn’t in Spain, yet that idea has a huge following. It doesn’t take much (or anything) to get stuff started, and it takes on a life of its own.
Yes, it isn’t the easiest part of the world to travel round :) - I managed to get up to the Nabatean burial site at Mada’in Saleh in Saudi a few years back, which is stunning: almost in the same league as Petra. Talking of books, the best (by far) that I’ve come across pertaining to the history of this part of the world is ‘Arabian Sands’ by the British explorer Wilfred Thesiger. Some fascinating mentions of ancient tombs he came across in the Rub’ Al-Khali (Empty Quarter) in Oman, which are quite likely still sitting there unexplored and uninvestigated.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.