Baltis

1 Kings x. 1, &c.BALTIS, Balchis or Balkis. This name the Eastern people give the Queen of Sheba who came to visit Solomon. They inform us, that she was Queen of Arabia, of the posterity of Jarab the Son of Cathan; she reigned in the City of Mareb the capital of the Province of Sheba. Her Father was Hadhad, Son to Scharshabis, twentieth King of Yemen, or Arabia the Happy. Others make her to be the Daughter of Sarabil, who was descended in a right line from Sheba, Son of Jakh-Schab, Son of Jaarab, Son of Cathan or Jaktan. The Mahometans tell us abundance of fabulous particulars, concerning a journey which Solomon is pretended to have made into Arabia, and the messages which he conveyed by a certain Bird which he always carried with him, and we call a Hoop; they give an account likewise, after their particular manner, of Queen Baltis’s journey into Palestine to invite Solomon, of the presents she sent, and the marriage which she contracted with this Prince. All this as it is related in their history is much¹ more proper to furnish matter for a Romance, than to give any lights to the recital made by the sacred Authors of the Jews. See the article Candaule, the name given by Josephus to the Queen of Sheba; and Sheba, Queen of Sheba.

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