With film shot during Wendell Phillips’ 1950 expedition and footage of the collection housed in the museum in Sana’a, this documentary is a fascinating insight into a long-gone civilization and a queen who lives on in the cultural memory of her country.

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The name of the Queen of Sheba conjures a vision of eastern exoticism. There is no indisputable evidence that she ever existed, though a Bible story tells how she journeyed to Jerusalem, bearing gold and incense, to visit King Solomon and to see for herself whether tales of his great wisdom were true. The people of Yemen remain convinced that the Queen of Sheba is a historical, not a legendary, figure and that she ruled over the ancient kingdom of Saba, now part of their country, which lies in the extreme south of the Arabian peninsula.
In the past fifty years, several foreign archaeological expeditions have sought to discover more about Yemen’s enigmatic past and the Yemenites themselves are now endeavoring to repossess their heritage. The museum of the University of Sana’a, the modern-day capital of Yemen, is assembling a fine collection of artefacts that have been found during excavations around the country. But this largely desert country has been reluctant to yield up its treasures. Several excavation sites which have had to be abandoned have rapidly become covered over once more by sand.

Produced by Institut du Monde Arabe
Directed by Alain Jomier

© Licensed by Digital Classics Distribution

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