Story of the Queen of Sheba

Object Details

Girma Belatchew, 1945-1994, born Ethiopia

Label Text

Row 1- Paying tribute to the zendo (python); Killing the python; Mixing the poison; Let the goat eat poison; They took the goat; They let the goat be eaten (by the python); He did not see after he killed the python.

Row 2- After he killed the python he crowned; Makeda with the emperors of the country;The death of the father of Makeda; Makeda crowned in honor;Jerusalem merchants; Makeda sent perfume to Solomon; Traveling by boat carrying the perfume.

Row 3- He (Makeda's servant)deleivered the perfume to Solomon; Makeda traveling to Jerusalem; Makeda traveling by boat; Makeda on the threshold of Solomon's house; Makeda and Solomon introduced;Makeda and Solomon eating dinner together; Solomon asked Makeda to sleep with him.

Row 4-Solomon takes (Makeda's) maid; Solomon sleeping with Makeda; Makeda and Solomon; Makeda and Solomon; Solomon gave to Makeda a symbol of gold; Makeda traveling back to her country; Menelik is born.

Row 5- Menelik and his friends playing ge'nna; Menelik aksing Makeda to tell him of his father; She tells him about his father; Menelik traveling to Solomon; Menelik traveling in a boat; Menelik on the threshold of Solomon's house; Menelik identified his father.

Row 6- Menelik in school; Menelik received the tablet; Menelik on the boat; Menelik and the tablet; She gave him a seal;the testament of Makeda; Menelik erecting the monument Makeda's.

Description

Painting, oil on canvas, six rows of seven scenes, each with inscription

Provenance

Acquired in Ethiopia, 1965

Mrs. Alexander Paar, 1965 to 1967

Exhibition History

From Monastery to Marketplace: Focus Gallery-Queen of Sheba, National Museum of Natural History, Anthropology Department, Washington, D.C., February 7, 2002-January 20, 2003

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Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Alexander Paar

Mid-20th century

Object number

67-3-1

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Painting

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

H x W x D: 76.2 x 86.4 x 3 cm (30 x 34 x 1 3/16 in.)

Geography

Ethiopia

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

National Museum of African Art

Record ID

nmafa_67-3-1

Metadata Usage (text)

Not determined

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys75262a65c-4c53-4039-8f4d-afdd59868ce4