ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1437 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1437 ************************************ 22 Jan 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for the meaning of , the name the Koran gives to the Queen of Saba` (Sheba). Unfortunately, we could find no information. Scholars place the biblical Queen of Sheba in the 10th century BC. Arabic tradition calls her ; Ethiopian tradition names her and makes her the forebear of their royal dynasty [1]. The underscore in the name represents a bar under the previous letter. The Society rarely deals with such ancient history, and we have few references that cover that period. It is entirely possible that no one knows the origin of the name , as the information may be lost to history. The name apparently was used by Arabic women in our period, though [2]. If you would like more information about period Arabic names, you can find a little on the web: Arabic Naming Practices and Names List http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/daud/arabic-naming/ We're sorry this letter couldn't be more useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 15 Jan 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] "Sheba, Queen of" Britannica Online. [Accessed 02 December 1998]. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/541/87.html [2] Da'ud ibn Auda, "A List of Arabic Women's Names" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996). http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/arabicwomen.html