The legends of the mighty Queen of Sheba have been shared across generations and cultures. The fascinating story about her treasures has now become very real as her ancient gold mine may have been discovered in Ethiopia.
When Dr. Louise Schofield, an archaeologist and former British Museum curator, decided to explore the Ethiopian Tigray region, she had little suspicion of what she might literally stumble across.
During her exploration, she was shown to a mine which appeared rather peculiar. There, she noticed a 6-meter stone stele with a carved sun and crescent moon, a symbol of the land of Sheba. Dr. Schofield continued her meticulous search and found an inscription in Sabaean. These first clues lead her to believe it is this mine, which gave the great queen of Sheba her staggering reputation of a fabulously rich ruler.
It is written in the Bible, the Qur’an and the Kebra Nagast, the Ethiopian holy book, that nearly 3,000 years ago, the then ruler of Sheba arrived in Jerusalem and endowed King Solomon with a mass of gold and spices. It was the legendary Queen of Sheba, who allegedly came to meet the king and challenge his reputed wit with a few riddles. Legends have it that they subsequently fell in love and had a son, Menelik, the king of Abyssinia.
The official excavation works, led by Dr. Schofield, will soon commence, however the goldmine as well as a ruin of a temple and a battlefield site have already been discovered in the area. While locals are known to search for gold in the nearby river, they had no idea about what treasure lays nearby. Now that the discovery is made public, Ethiopia hopes for the increase in the much needed tourist attention.
