Ten Thousand Scorpions: The Search for the Queen of Sheba's Gold

Debbie Feisst is the reference/Internet resources librarian in the
Information Services Division of the Edmonton Public Library.

The Queen of Sheba is an almost-mythical historical figure. She is known
as Bilqis in Yemen, Makeda in Ethiopia, and Saba Sultana in Turkey. She
is mentioned both in the Bible and in the Quran, and all stories about
her are remarkably similar. None of these interpretations, however, shed
any light on who she was or whether the tales about her treasure are
true.

In 1996, a Canadian mining company searching for gold in the Yemeni
desert happened upon a series of pits and tunnels dug into the ground.
From the ancient-looking implements scattered about, it appeared as if
the tunnels were very old and that whoever dug them was also searching
for gold. Found nearby was an alabaster tablet carved with ancient
lettering; it was later determined to be Sabean, an ancient script of
the kingdom of Sheba. Could these ancient prospectors have found the
Queen of Sheba’s cache of gold?

The geology team that made the find was headed by Chuck Fipke, the
subject of the bestselling 1999 biography Fire into Ice, about his
discovery of the Ekati diamond region in the Northwest Territories. In
early 2001, Toronto-based writer Larry Frolick joined up with Fipke in
Yemen; they then went on to Ethiopia and Turkey to research the mystery
behind the elusive Queen of Sheba’s fabled gold.

Though the first quarter of this book is an entertaining look at the
rigours of the incredibly competitive exploration business and the
characters who run it, Ten Thousand Scorpions is by no means a book
about geological discovery. It is, rather, an exploration of the mystery
and the significance of the cultural interpretations of the legendary
queen, to which Frolick takes a detailed and philosophical approach. The
book is well researched, and can be described as equal parts surrealism,
humour, and travelogue.