u 



«w 



THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 473 



* or Azab) fhall rife lip in the judgment with this genera* 

 tion, and mall condemn it ; for fhe came from the utter- 

 moll parts of the earth to hear the wifdom of Solomon ; 

 and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here *." No other 

 particulars, however, are mentioned about her in fcripture ; 

 and it is not probable our Saviour would fay fhe came from 

 the uttermoft parts of the earth, if Ihe had been an Arab, 

 and had near 50 of the Continent behind her. The gold, 

 the myrrh, caffia, and frankincenfe, were all the produce 

 of her own country ; arid the many reafons Pineda f gives 

 to fhew Ihe was an Arab, more than convince me that lire 

 was an Ethiopian or Cufhite fhepherd. 



A strong- objection to her being an Arab, is, that the 

 Sabean Arabs, or Homerites, the people that lived oppofite 

 to Azab on the Arabian fhore, had kings infleacl of queens, 

 which latter the Shepherds had, and ilill have. Moreover, 

 the kings of the Homerites were never {ten abroad, and 

 were Honed to death if they appeared in public; fubjecls of 

 this ftamp would not very readily fufFer their queen to go 

 to Jerufalem, even fuppoiing they had a queen, which they 

 had not. 



Whether fTie was a Jewefs or a Pagan is uncertain ; Sa- 

 baifm was the religion of all the Eafl. It was the conflant 

 attendant and ltumbling-block of the Jews ; but conndering 

 the multitude of that people then trading from Jerufalem, 

 and the long time it continued, it is not improbable fhe was 



Vol. I. 3 O a Jewefs. 



* Matth. chap. xii. ven 42. Luke xi. 31. 



f Pin. de reb. Solomon, lib. iv. cap. 14th. — Jofephus thinks fhe was an Ethiopian, fo do On'gen } 

 Auguftin, and St Anfelmo. 



