The True Story Of The Queen Of Sheba

The country of Ethiopia accepts the Queen of Sheba as the queen mother of their people. Why wouldn't you, right? Her son brought the Ark of the Convenant to Ethiopia, and she had that very kid with a king blessed by God. That's true icon status, and it's led to some people considering Ethiopians to be the chosen people of God.

In fact, the descendants of the queen have official divine right to rule in Ethiopia, a rule that was officially inscribed into the Ethiopian constitution in 1955. Plus, back in the 19th century, she played a part in a pretty hilarious power struggle. See, a lot of what we know about the Queen of Sheba comes from an Ethiopian holy book called the Kebra Nagast, and evidently, whoever wields this thing has a whole lot of power. And we're not talking about power in a magical sense. As it turns out, in 1872, King Yohannes IV of Ethiopia begged Queen Victoria in a letter, "There is a book called Kebra Nagast which contains the law of the whole of Ethiopia. ... I pray you will find out who has got this book and send it to me, for in my country my people will not obey my orders without it."

Thankfully, Victoria returned the book from England (no word on if she was reading it or what). King Yohannes no doubt thought that having the inscription of formal Ethiopian law would win him favor over his rivals. And it just goes to show how much power the Queen of Sheba has had for years upon years, where even a book with her name in it can make or break a king.

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