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As you've scrolled through my product catalogue, you may have noticed a couple names you weren't familiar with. Nandi and Makeda, perhaps?
A couple years ago, I drew what became "Makeda" (muh-Kay-duh), and while trying to come up with a name for the drawing, I decided to look up African queens of history. Lo, I stumbled upon a list of incredible women I had never heard the names of before. One of them was Makeda.
If you're a church kid like me, or maybe even if you aren't, you might've heard of the Queen of Sheba before. A powerful and wise queen, who traveled to see the wisest king, Solomon, and no doubt blow his mind with how incredible she was.
"The earliest mention of the Queen of Sheba can be found in the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings 10). The queen hears rumors of King Solomon’s boundless wisdom and close relationship to God. Intrigued, she travels to Jerusalem to meet and test him and brings along caravans with gold, precious stones, and camels carrying spices. When Solomon meets her in a display of riches and solves each of her riddles with ease, the queen is overwhelmed and recognizes Solomon as a valued instrument of God. She offers him gifts, and Solomon, in turn, offers her anything she desires before she returns home. " https://www.thecollector.com/who-was-the-queen-of-sheeba/
Makeda, or the Queen of Sheba, as she is widely known as, has become a legend and nearly a fairytale in many cultures over time. In my own life, the Queen of Sheba always stood out to me as this incredibly wise and beautiful woman who was intelligent and clever enough to impress a king blessed with unmatchable wisdom himself. Not only was she smart and a well-respected ruler, she was seemingly kind, as well. These are the qualities of a Queen, and probably why she's the first queen mentioned in the Bible.
While my artwork has no biblical ties, and I didn't set out to create a rendition of a legendary Queen, I wanted to name the piece I lovingly created after a woman who fit, if not set, the standard for what an Enivid Queen is. And that's how the Makeda got its name.
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