Image source: Guardian.co.uk

The legend of the Queen of Sheba came face-to-face with reality this week after an archeologist uncovered vast amounts of gold and temple ruins in the Queen’s former domain.

Almost 3,000 years since the Queen is said to have ruled, archeologist Louise Scholfield told media she found an enormous ancient gold mine in the land that once was Sheba, now moden-day Ethiopia and Yemen, The Guardian reported.

Heading the excavation in northern Ethiopia, Ms Schofield said she knew she had struck lucky when she found a 20ft stone stele with a sun and crescent moon, the “calling card of the land of Sheba”.

She explained she crawled beneath the stone were she found inscription in the language the Queen would have spoken, Sabaean.

Nearby the archeologist found the first few signs of a buried temple with carved stone channels and columns, evidence of a major fight as well as ancient bones.

"One of the things I've always loved about archaeology is the way it can tie up with legends and myths,” the archeologist said. 

“The fact that we might have the Queen of Sheba's mines is extraordinary."

Ms Scholfield explained she would now commence a full excavation of the ancient site and hopes to determine the size of the actual mine, which is currently blocked by boulders.

The Queen of Sheba has made appearances in holy texts including the Bible and the Qur’an.

She was also the source of inspiration for many medieval Christian mystical works as well as Turkish and Persian paintings.

"Where Sheba dug her golden riches is one of the great stories of the Old Testament,” archeologist Sean Kingsley added.

“Timna in the Negev desert is falsely known as 'King Solomon's Mines', but anything shinier has eluded us.

"The idea that the ruins of Sheba's empire will once more bring life to the villages around Maikado is truly poetic and appropriate.

“Making the past relevant to the present is exactly what archaeologists should be doing. "