Corruption in the ancient world oft en centered on the
ruling classes. A common feature of government in the an-
cient world was the dynasty, where rulers inherited the po-
sition of king, queen, or emperor. Confl ict arose, however,
when the line of succession was unclear (for example, when a
king died without a male heir), when the inheritor of a throne
was mentally unbalanced or a minor, or simply when an indi-
vidual or group wanted to seize the throne and the power that
went with it. Sometimes the corruption resulted from power
struggles among groups. Th e ancient Chinese Han Dynasty
(202 b.c.e.–220 c.e.), for instance, fell because of corruption
and infi ghting among powerful groups, including the clan to
which the Han empress belonged and Confucian scholar-of-
fi cials at court.
Finally, some ancient rulers themselves were simply cor-
rupt and ruled entirely with a view to enhancing their own
power and wealth rather than the welfare of their people.
Th e ancient Roman emperor Nero (37–68 c.e.) is a good ex-
ample—though much of what is known about Nero’s life was
written by his political rivals, who characterized him as a ty-
rant and even as insane. Nonet heless, many historians believe
that in the year 64 Nero deliberately set the great fi re of Rome
that burned on the nights of July 18 and 19, destroying much
of the city, because he wanted to rebuild Rome as a monu-
ment to his personal greatness. At a time when rulers held
absolute power over their subjects, the potential for corrup-
tion and tyranny was enormous.AFRICA
BY KIRK H. BEETZ
Most of ancient Africa was preliterate, and such matters as
scandals and corruption are usually transmitted from the
past via written records, leaving much of Africa a blank for
the subject. Further, most of the writings of the major civili-
zations of Kush and Axum are in languages that have yet to
be translated, leaving just the Kushite texts that were writ-
ten in ancient Egyptian and the writings of outsiders, mostly
Greeks, for records that modern readers consult.
A scandal that is still renowned involved Queen Makeda
(r. ca. 1005–ca. 955 b.c.e.) of Axum, a kingdom of Africans
and Sabeans, a people who populated the southern Arabian
Peninsula. Th e name Sheba is derived from Sabean, and
Makeda was probably the queen of Sheba mentioned in the
Old Testament. Th e details of her meeting with King Solo-
mon have been distorted over the centuries by writers seeking
to modify the tale to support their particular social, politi-
cal, or religious prejudices. In essence, the story says that a
merchant named Tamrin from Axum ventured to King Sol-
omon’s court in search of trading opportunities and was very
impressed by the king’s display of wealth. He reported what
he saw to Makeda, who chose to see for herself the wonders of
Solomon’s court. Solomon was enamored of her beauty and
tried to seduce her. She refused his advances. Solomon made
a bargain with her: Th ey would sleep in separate beds in thesame room, and if Makeda took nothing without his permis-
sion, he would leave her alone, but if she did take something,
she would have sex with him. He served her very spicy foods
that evening, and she awoke very thirsty that night. Finding a
glass of water on a table in the middle of the room, she drank
from it; in an instant, Solomon was up, pointing out that she
had no permission to drink. Her protests that water was com-
mon and surely not part of their bargain were to no avail.
Makeda returned home and gave birth to Solomon’s son.
Th e scandal endured during the life of Makeda and Sol-
omon’s son. When he was grown, the son visited Solomon,
bringing a ring that Solomon had given Makeda. Solomon
celebrated the arrival of his son and gave the young man the
name Menelik. Solomon asked Menelik to stay with him and,
as his eldest son, to become the next king. Menelik refused,
insisting that he return to his mother to become the next
monarch of Axum. Solomon declared that the eldest sons of
his ministers were to go with Menelik and serve as his chief
advisers. Th ese eldest sons resented this order very much.
For revenge, they sneaked into the temple room where the
Ark of the Covenant was stored and replaced it with a copy,
taking the original with them. It was not until Menelik and
his companions reached Egypt that the theft was discovered.
Solomon sent an army in pursuit of Menelik, but by the time
the army reached Egypt, Menelik and the Ark had left Egypt.
Th e army returned home, saddened by its failure, and Mene-
lik was delighted when he learned of the theft. According to
Axumite tradition, the ark has resided in or near Axum ever
since.
How much of this entire story is true is open to debate.
For instance, Axum’s territory included the Sabean region
of the southwestern Arabian Peninsula as well as much of
eastern Africa, and Solomon’s army could have reached the
Sabean region without much trouble and could have waged
war on the Axumites there, but it did not. Nevertheless, even
if only the barest part of the story is true, it would likely have
been a big scandal in Axum, where the queen was expected
to remain a virgin until marriage. Further, it gave Axumite
Christians a national tradition to cling to during the years in
which they were cut off from other Christian nations by the
pagans and Muslims of the medieval era.
Th e ancient African civilization of Kush had its own
scandal of corruption that reshaped its national traditions:
Egypt had long taken children of Kushite nobility and raised
them according to Egyptian customs, especially Egyptian
religious beliefs, hoping to make the kingdom of Kush a
friendly ally. Th e children were treated like nobility, and they
did indeed return home as practitioners of Egyptian religion
when they were adults. As a result, when Egypt fell apart in
the ninth century b.c.e., the kings and queens of Kush re-
garded themselves as the saviors of the Egyptian way of life
and eventually invaded Egypt, founding the Twenty-fi ft h
Dynasty of Egypt (770–657 b.c.e.).
At that time Napata was the capital of Kush. Jebel Barkal
was a sacred hill or bluff on the other side of the Nile fromscandals and corruption: Africa 9090895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i909 909 10/10/07 2:30:24 PM