From manbirds to Ratu Balqis, the Queen of Sheba

Continued from The 1-3-1-1 formation of Borobodur.

The previous sections were at the eastern face of Borobudur. We continued walking counter-clockwise to the north face.

Upon reaching the staircase, we climbed to the next level. For the record the building has four faces, each facing a cardinal direction. Every face has stairs leading to the top.

Again we went counter clockwise.

At a section are figures of creatures half man half bird.

Doing the explanation is an assistant of KH Fahmi. He said such manbirds are also shown at ancient structures of far away ancient cultures such as pyramid of the Mayans in Central America, adding the creatures often help human cultures flourish. Thus he takes this as an evidence that Borobudur was built by a high civilisation that also employed other than human beings.

For the record Fahmi claimed Borobudur was built by genies or jin under command of Prophet Solomon or Sulaiman. The Quran says he had power of the jins and often used them to make great buildings.

Then comes one of the most interesting part...

We were shown what they claimed to be the figure of Ratu Balqis, known in the West as Queen of Sheba.

The Quran says Balqis visited Sulaiman's palace where she raised her skirt thinking polished floor was water. This relief is claimed to depict that...

Below right is relief of a ship.

Fahmi said this depicts the ark of Noah.

Nearby is a relief showing what is claimed as Balqis taking a bath.

Like the previous one said to be of her, this one also has the queen standing on a unique stone slab.