The queen of Sheba
Let us reflect on the Queen of Sheba, her son Menelik, the Ethiopian Church, tradition, scriptures, and the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch by Philip.
There is a beautiful thread here: Sheba seeks wisdom, Menelik carries a tradition of covenant, and the Ethiopian eunuch receives Christ through Scripture and baptism. I’ll separate what the Bible says, what Ethiopian tradition preserves, and what later Christian interpretation adds, so the reflection can be both reverent and historically clear.
Yes. And I think there is a remarkably beautiful line running through these traditions:
a queen travels north seeking wisdom; her son, in Ethiopian tradition, carries covenant south; centuries later an African court official travels north seeking God and returns south carrying Christ.
That is not a single historical narrative written by one biblical author, and we should distinguish Scripture from later Ethiopian tradition. But as a spiritual reading, the correspondences are extraordinary.
The Queen who went looking for wisdom
The biblical story begins in 1 Kings 10 and 2 Chronicles 9. Scripture calls her simply the Queen of Sheba. It does not give her the name Makeda, does not mention a child by Solomon, and does not say that she carried the Ark to Ethiopia. Those belong to later Ethiopian tradition.
What Scripture does emphasize is her extraordinary act of seeking.
She hears that Solomon possesses wisdom connected with the name of the Lord, and she undertakes a great journey to Jerusalem. She brings wealth—gold, spices, precious stones—but the deepest thing she brings is questions. She speaks to Solomon about what is in her heart, sees his wisdom, his household, his worship, and eventually praises the God of Israel. biblegateway.com
That already gives her an important spiritual character.
She is not portrayed as someone who says, “I already know.”
She travels because she wants to know.
She asks.
She listens.
She observes.
And eventually what she discovers turns into praise.
That is presumably why Jesus remembers her centuries later. He calls her the “Queen of the South” and says that she came “from the ends of the earth” to hear Solomon’s wisdom—while something greater than Solomon is now present in Christ. biblegateway.com
So in the Gospel, she becomes almost an icon of the outsider who recognizes God’s wisdom while insiders may fail to recognize it.
That will become important when we reach the Ethiopian official in Acts.
Then Ethiopia gives the Queen a name: Makeda
In the Ethiopian Christian tradition she becomes Makeda.
The great literary expression of that tradition is the Kebra Nagast, the Glory of Kings, preserved in Geʿez. Its surviving form is medieval, associated especially with the fourteenth century, although it gathers traditions and materials older than its final redaction. It greatly expands the brief biblical story of Solomon and Sheba. en.wikisource.org
Here Makeda hears about Solomon’s wisdom, travels to him and eventually bears his son.
That son is Menelik—also called in the tradition Bayna-Lehkem or Menyelek.
In the Kebra Nagast, Menelik eventually journeys to Jerusalem to meet Solomon, his father. He is recognized there, and when he returns toward Ethiopia, the tradition tells how the Ark of the Covenant comes with him. The Ark—or “Zion”—therefore leaves Jerusalem and finds a new dwelling in Ethiopia. en.wikisource.org
Historically, this should be treated as Ethiopian sacred tradition rather than something established by 1 Kings or archaeology. The biblical books never mention Menelik or the transfer of the Ark to Ethiopia. But the story became enormously important for Ethiopian Christian identity, kingship and spirituality. The tradition locates the Ark at Aksum, at the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. smarthistory.org
And here something very distinctive about Ethiopian Christianity appears.
The Ark is not merely a story about the past.
Every Ethiopian Orthodox church traditionally has a tabot, a consecrated altar tablet associated symbolically with the Ark and the tablets of the covenant. The sanctuary is holy because the tabot dwells there. The Ark therefore becomes a living liturgical reality, not merely an archaeological mystery.
Makeda, Menelik and the movement of the covenant
Now we can see the Ethiopian theological imagination at work.
Makeda goes to Jerusalem because she seeks wisdom.
Menelik goes to Jerusalem because he seeks his father and inheritance.
And according to the tradition, the covenant then travels toward Ethiopia.
The movement is fascinating:
Ethiopia seeks Jerusalem.
Jerusalem gives something back to Ethiopia.
In the Kebra Nagast, this becomes almost a theology of election. Zion is no longer geographically confined. The presence of God journeys outward.
And Ethiopian Christian tradition develops another beautiful connection: Ark and Mary.
Just as the Ark bore the tablets of God’s covenant, Mary bears the incarnate Word. Ethiopian theology and art frequently connect the Ark, Zion and the Mother of God. Scholarship on the Kebra Nagast has noted this strong correspondence between Mary as bearer of Christ and the Ark as bearer of the covenant. tandfonline.com
So the movement becomes:
Ark → covenant → Mary → Christ.
That prepares us unexpectedly well for Acts 8.
Centuries later, another traveler leaves Jerusalem for Africa
Acts tells us about another extraordinary traveler.
Philip is sent by an angel toward the desert road running from Jerusalem toward Gaza. There he encounters an African royal official, described as an Ethiopian eunuch, who serves the Kandake, the queen, and is responsible for her treasury.
He has been to Jerusalem to worship.
And now he is going home.
He is sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah. biblegateway.com
Already the parallel with the Queen of Sheba is striking.
The Queen came from the south to Jerusalem looking for wisdom.
This man has also come from the south to Jerusalem looking for God.
The Queen brings royal wealth.
He is a royal treasury official.
The Queen asks Solomon difficult questions.
The official asks Philip:
“How can I understand unless someone guides me?”
Both are seekers.
Both refuse superficial religion.
Both want understanding.
But we need one geographical clarification
The word “Ethiopian” in Acts should not simply be equated with the borders of today’s Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
In Greco-Roman usage, Aithiopia referred broadly to lands south of Egypt. The Kandake was associated particularly with the kingdom of Kush/Meroë, centred in what is now Sudan. Scholars therefore usually locate the official’s political world in Nubia/Meroë rather than assuming he came from Aksum in modern Ethiopia. biblegateway.com
This means we should distinguish two statements.
Historically, Acts 8 does not securely demonstrate that Christianity had already reached the Aksumite kingdom of modern Ethiopia.
But within Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, the eunuch has long been received as an apostolic precursor and first evangelist associated with Ethiopia. Ethiopian biographical tradition explicitly remembers him in this way. dacb.org
The historically documented Christianization of Aksum comes later, especially in the fourth century under King Ezana and St Frumentius (Abba Salama). Coins and inscriptions provide material evidence for Ezana’s Christian conversion, and Frumentius became the first bishop of Aksum through Alexandria. Cambridge University Press
That distinction does not diminish the Acts story. It actually makes the traditions easier to appreciate without confusing sacred memory with what the historical evidence can establish.
And what is the Ethiopian reading?
This may be the most beautiful part.
He is reading Isaiah 53:
the mysterious Servant who is led like a sheep to slaughter, humiliated, deprived of justice.
The official asks Philip: Who is the prophet talking about
And Philip begins with that Scripture and announces Jesus. biblegateway.com
Notice Philip’s method.
He does not tell him to stop reading his Bible and listen to a new religion.
He enters the Scripture that the man is already seeking to understand.
The road to Christ runs through the Word he is already holding.
And then suddenly the traveler sees water.
His question becomes wonderfully direct:
“What prevents me from being baptized?”
There is something enormous hidden in that question.
What prevents me? My nationality? My body? My status? My distance from Jerusalem? My being an outsider? My past?
What prevents me?
And the story’s answer is action rather than argument
They go down into the water.
Philip baptizes him.
The man continues his journey rejoicing.
And Isaiah contains an astonishing echo
Acts explicitly tells us that he was reading Isaiah 53.
But only a few chapters later comes Isaiah 56.
There God speaks directly about foreigners and eunuchs.
The foreigner must not say, “The Lord will separate me from his people.”
And the eunuch must not say, “I am a dry tree.”
God promises the faithful eunuch within His house “a name better than sons and daughters” and speaks of His house becoming a house of prayer for all peoples. biblegateway.com
Luke never says explicitly, “This baptism fulfils Isaiah 56.”
So we shouldn’t pretend that connection is stated outright.
But the resonance is difficult to miss.
A foreign eunuch has travelled to Jerusalem seeking God.
He is reading Isaiah.
And now, through Christ, the question “What prevents me?” receives its answer:
nothing prevents grace from reaching him.
That is one of the great moments of inclusion in Acts.
From the Ark to Christ
And now the Ethiopian tradition allows an extraordinary theological reflection.
In the story of Makeda and Menelik, Ethiopia receives the Ark of the Covenant.
In Acts, an African traveler receives Christ Himself.
The first story says: the sign of God’s presence journeys south.
The second says something greater: the Gospel journeys south.
The Ark contains the covenant.
Christ establishes the new covenant.
The Ark accompanies Israel.
Christ accompanies the baptized person.
The Ark dwells in a holy place.
Through baptism, Christ now dwells in a human life.
There is almost a movement from sacred object to living temple.
And that is deeply Christian.
The most important question is eventually not: Where is the Ark?
but: Where does God dwell?
Paul’s answer will be: in His people.
And notice the importance of queens
There is another subtle thread.
The biblical story begins with a Queen of the South.
The Ethiopian tradition magnifies Makeda into a foundational figure.
Acts introduces another African royal court governed by a Kandake, a queen or queen-motherAnd her treasurer becomes one of Acts’ earliest baptized non-Jewish/African figures.
So women and royal courts frame both stories:
a queen seeks wisdom,
a queen’s servant receives the Gospel.
And neither story leaves Jerusalem unchanged.
The Queen of Sheba returns home praising the God whose wisdom she has encounteredThe Ethiopian official returns home rejoicing after encountering Christ.
Then Jesus’ words about the Queen become even more luminous
Jesus says:
The Queen of the South came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon.
But now something greater than Solomon has come. biblegateway.com
And Acts seems almost to show the next movement.
Once, the South travelled toward Solomon.
Now Christ’s Gospel begins travelling toward the South.
Once the nations came toward Jerusalem seeking wisdom.
After Pentecost, the Spirit sends the disciples out from Jerusalem toward the nations.
The direction reverses.
Jerusalem is no longer only the destination of pilgrimage.
It becomes the point from which the Gospel departs.
That is the missionary movement of Acts.
The Ethiopian does not have to remain in Jerusalem to possess God.
He is baptized on a desert road.
Then he goes home.
Perhaps that is the deepest connection
Makeda says, in effect: “I have heard of wisdom; I must go and see.”
The Ethiopian official says: “I am reading, but I need someone to help me understand.”
Philip says: “Let me tell you about Jesus.”
And God seems to say through all three stories:
Seek, and the road itself may become holy ground.
There is something particularly moving about the fact that the baptism does not occur in Solomon’s palace, the Temple, or a magnificent church.
It happens beside water on a desert road.
No cathedral.
No royal throne.
No Ark visible.
Just Scripture, a seeker, an evangelist, water, and the Spirit.
And perhaps there lies a beautiful progression in the Ethiopian Christian story:
Makeda searches for wisdom.
Menelik represents the receiving of covenant.
The eunuch searches the Scriptures.
Philip reveals Christ.
Water becomes baptism.
The traveler becomes bearer of the Gospel.
The treasure he carries home is no longer the gold of a queen’s treasury.
He himself has become the treasure-bearer.
And perhaps that is where our own reflection begins:
We may come to God like Makeda—with questions.
We may come like Menelik—looking for inheritance and identity.
We may come like the Ethiopian official—with a Bible open but not yet understood.
God is not offended by the journey.
He meets the seeker.
And the final movement is always the same:
from hearing → to seeking → to encounter → to covenant → to joy → to carrying the gift home.
