Ruins Observed By Pilot Probably Not Capital City Of Famed Queen Of Sheba, Declares Lake

"An aviator who claimed to have seen the capital city of the Queen of Sheba in a flight over a section of waste land in Southern Arabia midway between the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea probably saw the ruins of some ancient city, but it is doubtful whether it was ever the home of the famous queen," said Kirsopp Lake, professor of History, in an interview with the CRIMSON yesterday. "The main reason for believing that it is not her city is that the volume of trade which was reputed to have flowed into her kingdom would never have been attracted into the center of this barren region.

"The Queen, if there ever was such a person, knew how to handle her own affairs and Solomon's; she would have founded her city on a rock and not on a desert. If any one claims that the character of the land has changed since the tenth century, B.C., they are mistaken. There is very little precipitation in Arabia, and the only things which tend to change the topography are sand storms, but these are few in number. Relics found in deep gulleys, where water would have flowed if there was much rain, are perfectly preserved; some tomb stones and monuments have been toppled over, it is true, because of the corrosion caused by sand around the bases, but the inscriptions are still intact.

"Little is known about the Queen of Sheba; her fame has come mostly from the many legends written about her in every language of the world. Always a glamorous figure, she has lived in literature. True, the Bible mentions a Queen of Sheba who was supposed to have ruled over the Sabaeans, a tribe which lived in central Arabia in the small section of inhabitable land which there is in the country. This district is little known archaeologically, however, but exploration may discover other traces of the Sabaeans. Unfortunately, they were little addicted to writing tablets telling of their actions, and this makes it much more difficult to trace their history. Mention of the Queen of Sheba herself has never been found and may never be found. She may be entirely a fictitious character."