School of Trivia

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School of Trivia
School of Trivia
Season 28, Day 18 - "Around the Horn (of Africa)"

Season 28, Day 18 - "Around the Horn (of Africa)"

It's "Queen" week, and today's quiz is inspired by the Queen of Sheba.

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Alex Jacob
Jul 04, 2024
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School of Trivia
School of Trivia
Season 28, Day 18 - "Around the Horn (of Africa)"
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Queen of Sheba

The Queen of Sheba is a biblical queen known for her visit to King Solomon to test his wisdom. Accounts of this visit, in which Solomon successfully answers several of the Queen’s riddles, appear in 2 Chronicles and 1 Kings as well as the Quran. Though she is unnamed in the Bible, the wealthy queen is known as “Bilqis” in Islamic tradition, while Ethiopian literature refers to her as “Makeda”. The Solomonic dynasty, which ruled Ethiopia until the late 20th century, claimed to be descendants of the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (Menelik I). The Order of the Queen of Sheba is an honor awarded by Ethiopia. The Queen of Sheba is also the title subject of operas by Charles Gounod and Karl Goldmark. The Queen of Sheba has been played by Gina Lollobrigida in the 1959 movie Solomon and Sheba and Halle Berry in the 1995 TV movie of the same name. Once commonly found on the hillsides of Yemen, the Queen of Sheba’s gazelle has not been sighted since 1951 and is now considered extinct. The Reine de Saba cake (French for “Queen of Sheba”), a rich chocolate almond cake, is one of Julia Child’s most famous recipes. Acting like or thinking you are the Queen of Sheba has become an idiom for believing you’re more important than or superior to others.

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