102 ANCIENT KINGS OF ARABIA. 



bloody battles, became undisputed master of the 

 kingdom. 



Belkis, according to the Arabs, was the famous 

 Queen of Sheba or Saba, who visited and afterward 

 married Solomon in the twenty-first 3-ear of her 

 reign. Tabiri has introduced her story with such 

 gorgeous embellishments, as to resemble a fairy tale 

 rather than an episode in serious narrative. She is 

 said to have been subdued by the Jewish monarch, 

 who discovered her retreat among the mountains 

 between Hejaz and Yemen by means of a lapwing, 

 which he had despatched in search of water during 

 his progress through Arabia. This princess is called 

 Nicolaa by some writers. The Abyssinians claim 

 the distinction for one of their queens ; and have 

 preserved the names of a dynasty alleged to have 

 been descended from her imion with Solomon.* 

 Yasasin, surnamed Nashirelnaim, or the Opulent, 

 from his immense wealth, has the reputation of 

 being a magnificent and warlike prince. His ambi- 

 tion carried him into the unknown deserts of the 

 West ; but the whirlwinds of moving sands com- 

 pelled him to return, after losing a great part of his 

 army, which he had rashly ordered to advance. To 

 commemorate this disaster, he caused a brazen 

 statue to be erected on a pedestal of stone, with an 

 inscription in the Hamyaric character, importing 

 that here was the limit of his progress ; and that 

 none, but at the peril of destruction, could attempt 

 to go beyond it. The military achievements of 

 Shamar, called Yaraash, or the Tremulous, from a 

 disease to which he was subject, resemble those of 

 his predecessors. He is recorded to have made 

 various expeditions to Persia. He subdued Khora- 



* Russell's Nubia and Abyssinia, Familv Libran', No. LXI. 

 From her designation of " Queen of the South" (Yemen), and 

 the description of her presents to Solomon, " gold and spices, 

 very great store," there is little doubt that Arabia was the 

 native country of this famous princess. 



