Kebra Nagast

Illustrations to theKebra Nagast,1920s

TheKebra Nagast,var.Kebra Negast(Ge'ez:ክብረ ነገሥት,kəbrä nägäśt), orThe Glory of the Kings,is a 14th-centurynational epicof Ethiopia, written inGeʽezby thenebure idIshaq ofAksum.In its existing form, the text is at least 700 years old and is considered by manyOrthodox Tewahedo Christiansto be a historically reliable work.It is considered to hold the genealogy of theSolomonic dynasty,which followed the Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

The text contains an account of how theQueen of Sheba(QueenMakedaof Ethiopia) metKing Solomonand about how theArk of the Covenantcame to Ethiopia with their sonMenelik I(Menyelek). It also discusses the conversion of Ethiopians from the worship of the Sun, Moon, and stars to that of the "Lord God of Israel". As theEthiopianistEdward Ullendorffexplained in the 1967Schweich Lectures,"TheKebra Nagastis not merely a literary work, but it is the repository of Ethiopian national and religious feelings ".

It has been described as “an Abyssinian politico-religious epic” and "medieval-era mythology".Nadia Nurhusseinwrote that "The Kebra Nagast gave textual authority to a then newly articulated mythology of Abyssinia’s long imperial history, legitimizing a “Solomonic” dynasty' that claimed to reach back three thousand years earlier to the union of King Solomon and the supposedly Ethiopian Queen of Sheba. "It enabled the overthrow of theZagwe Dynasty.

Summary of contents

TheKebra Nagastis divided into 117 chapters, and is clearly a composite work;Ullendorff describes its narrative as "a gigantic conflation of legendary cycles".This account draws much of its material from the Hebrew Bible and the author spends most of these pages recounting tales and relating them to other historical events. The document is presented in the form of a debate by the 318 "orthodox fathers" of theFirst Council of Nicaea.

Opening (chapters 1–20)

These fathers pose the question, "Of what doth the Glory of Kings consist?" One Gregory answers with a speech (chapters 3–17) which ends with the statement that a copy of the Glory of God was made byMosesand kept in the Ark of the Covenant. After this, the archbishop Dĕmâtĕyôsreads from a book he had found in the church of "Sophia", which introduces what Hubbard calls "the centerpiece" of this work, the story of Makeda (better known as the Queen of Sheba), King Solomon, Menelik I, and how the Ark came to Ethiopia (chapters 19–94). Although the author of the final redaction identified this Gregory withGregory Thaumaturgus,who lived in the 3rd century before this Council, the time and the allusion to Gregory's imprisonment for 15 years by the king of Armenia makeGregory the Illuminatora better fit.

The Queen of Sheba and Menelik (chapters 21–95)

Queen Makeda learns from Tamrin, a merchant based in her kingdom, about the wisdom of King Solomon, and travels to Jerusalem to visit him. She is enthralled by his display of learning and knowledge, and declares "From this moment I will notworship the sun,but will worship the Creator of the sun, the God of Israel "(chapter 28). The night before she begins her journey home, Solomon tricks her into sleeping with him, giving her a ring so their child may identify himself to Solomon. Following her departure, Solomon has a dream in which the sun leaves Israel (chapter 30).

On the journey home, she gives birth to Menelik in Bala Zädisareya (chapter 32).

At 22, Menelik travels to Jerusalem throughGaza,seeking Solomon's blessing, and identifies himself to his father with the ring. Overjoyed by this reunion, Solomon tries to convince Menelik to stay and succeed him as king, but Menelik insists on returning to his mother in Ethiopia. King Solomon then settled for sending home with him a company formed from the first-born sons of the elders of his kingdom. This company of young men, upset over leaving Jerusalem, smuggled theArk of the CovenantfromSolomon's Templeand out of the kingdom (chapters 45–48) without Menelik's knowledge. He had asked Solomon only for a single tassel from thetekhelet-coloured travel cloth covering the Ark, and Solomon had given him the entire thing.

During the journey home, Menelik learns the Ark is with him, and Solomon discovers it is gone from his kingdom. The king attempts to pursue Menelik, but through the Ark's mysterious power, his son, with his entire entourage, is miraculously flown home to Ethiopia before Solomon can leave his kingdom. King Solomon then turns to solace from his wife, thedaughter of the Pharaoh,and she seduces him into worshiping the idols of her land (chapter 64).

Stories of Kings

After a question from the 318 bishops of the Council, Domitius continues with a paraphrase of Biblical history (chapters 66–83). Specifically, he focuses on the central element of lineage and royal bloodlines that were prevalent then. He discusses the intermixing of the royal families to preserve their power and ensure their bloodline survives. He does this by using each chapter to describe a specific family line, such as discussing the family tree of Constantine (chapters 72-73) or to describe two separate seeds of Shem (chapters 74-75). In chapter 90, we see a heavy emphasis on God's law and the rules he sets forth for his believers to follow, which he presents by choosing the house of Jacob to reign as kings and spread God's message. The author then describes Menelik's arrival at Axum, where he is feasted, and Makeda abdicates the throne in his favour. Menelik then engages in a series of military campaigns with the Ark, and "no man conquered him, on the contrary, whosoever attacked him was conquered" (chapter 94). After chapter 94, the author takes a step back and describes a more global view of what he had been describing in previous chapters.

Prophecies (chapters 96–117)

After praising the king of Ethiopia, the king of Egypt, and the book Domitius was found, which has established not only Ethiopia's possession of the true Ark of the Covenant, but that the Solomonic dynasty is descended from the first-born son of Solomon (chapter 95). Gregory then delivers an extended speech with prophetic elements (chapters 95–112), forming what Hubbard calls a "Patristic collection of Prophecies": "There can be little doubt that chapters 102–115 are written as polemic against, if not an evangel to, the Jews. These chapters seek to prove by Old Testament allegories and proof-texts the Messianic purpose of Jesus, the validity of the Ethiopian forms of worship, and the spiritual supremacy of Ethiopia over Israel".Hubbard further speculates that this selection from the Old Testament might be as old asFrumentius,who had converted the Kingdom of Axum to Christianity.

TheKebra Nagastconcludes with a final prophecy that the power of Rome will be eclipsed by the power of Ethiopia, and describes how kingKaleb of Axumwill subdue the Jews living inNajran,and make his younger sonGabra Masqalhis heir (chapter 117).

History

Origins

According to thecolophonattached to most of the existing copies, theKebra Nagastoriginally was written inCoptic,then translated intoArabicin the "year of mercy" 409 (dated to AD 1225),and then intoGe'ezby a team of clerics in Ethiopia—Yəsḥaq, Yəmḥarännä ˀAb, Ḥəzbä-Krəstos, Ǝndrəyas, Filəp̣p̣os, and Mäḥari ˀAb—during the office ofAbunaAbba Giyorgisand at the command of the governor ofEndertaYa'ibika Igzi'. Based on the testimony of this colophon, "Conti Rossini, Littmann, andCerulli,inter alios,have marked off the period 1314 to 1321–1322 for the composition of the book ".During the time of theZagwe dynasty,the chief of Enderta played a major role in supporting the Solomonids along with the chief priest ofAksumby the name of Tekeste Birhane; the two are listed among the most influential dignitires on the side ofYekuno Amlak.Other sources put it as a work of the fourteenth century Nebura’ed Yeshaq of Aksum.

The central Solomonic narrative of the text is thought to derive from theZagwe dynasty,who believed theAxumiteswere descended fromSolomon."Makeda" might have its origins in multiple terms.Sabaeaninscriptions mentionmlkt(𐩣𐩡𐩫𐩩,"queen" );furthermore, Sabaean tribes knew the title ofmqtwyt(𐩣𐩤𐩩𐩥𐩺𐩩,"high official" ). AlternativelyMakueda,the personal name of the queen in Ethiopian legend might be interpreted as a popular rendering of the title ofmqtwyt.Other historians consider parts of the Kebre Negast date to as late as the end of the sixteenth century, when Muslim incursions and contacts with the wider Christian world made the Ethiopian Church concerned with asserting its character and Jewish traditions.

Some historians have been suspicious of the statement on the colophon and have suggested that the authors of the original text itself were Ethiopian scribes.Historian Stuart Munro-Hay stated that there is no record of Ethiopian monarchs claiming descent fromSolomonbefore the 13th century.

Historian Gizachew Tiruneh felt that it was most likely that the text was written in the 6th century and was written byMonophysite Christiansin Ethiopia.He noted that the Solomonic dynasty had been well established by the 14th century and felt that it was unlikely they would need to be legitimised by this period.Tiruneh also noted that theKebra Nagastends with a story that took place in c. 525, whenKaleb of Axumdefeated theJewish kingin south Arabia.He also pointed out there was no mention ofIslamin the text, despite Muslim incursions into Ethiopia and its neighbours having taken place by this time.Tiruneh further noted that the story ofMenelik,son of Makeda and Solomon, was known as far back as the 10th century A.D. in theAlexandrian Church.

Careful study of the text has revealed traces of Arabic, possibly pointing to an ArabicVorlage(prior version), but no clear evidence of a previous Coptic version. Many scholars doubt that a Coptic version ever existed, and that the history of the text goes back no further than the Arabic vorlage.The numerous quotations in the text from the Bible were not translated from this hypothetical Arabic vorlage, but were copied from the Ethiopian translation of theBible,either directly or from memory, and in their use and interpretation shows the influence of patristic sources such asGregory of Nyssa.

Old TestamentscholarDavid Allan HubbardidentifiedPatristic,Qur'anic,RabbinicalandAporcyphaltexts as sources for theKebra Nagast.TheKebra Nagastitself claims that the original text was found by theArchbishop of Rome(i.e.Constantinople) in theChurch of Saint Sophiaand that he read the manuscript claimed the world belonged to theEmperor of Romeand theEmperor of Ethiopia.Hubbard details the many sources that the compiler of theKebra Nagastdrew on in creating this work. They include not only both Testaments of the Bible (although heavier use is made of theOld Testamentthan theNew), but he detects evidence ofRabbinicalsources, and influence fromdeuterocanonicalorapocryphalworks (especially theBook of EnochandBook of Jubilees,both canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and suchSyriacworks as theBook of the Cave of Treasures,and its derivatives theBook of Adam and Eveand theBook of the Bee).Marcus thus describes it as "apasticheof legends... [that] blended local and regional oral traditions and style and substance derived from the Old and New Testaments, various apocryphal texts, Jewish and Islamic commentaries, andPatristic writings".

Early European translations

One of the earliest collections of documents of Ethiopia came through the writings ofFrancisco Álvares,official envoy which kingManuel I of Portugal,sent toDawit II of Ethiopia,under Ambassador Dom Rodrigo de Lima. In the papers concerning this mission, Álvares included an account of the Emperor of Ethiopia, and a description inPortugueseof the habits of the Ethiopians, titledThe Prester John of the Indies,which was printed in 1533.

The Jesuit missionaryPedro Páezincluded a detailed translation of theKebra Nagastthrough Menelek's return to Aksum with the Ark of the Covenant in hisHistória da Ethiópia.Completed in the early 1620s, the manuscript was not published in Páez's lifetime. However, it provided the foundation for many of the Jesuit accounts of Ethiopia that came after his, including those of Manuel de Almeida and Balthazar Telles.

Additional information on theKebra Nagastwas included by the Jesuit priestManuel de Almeidain hisHistoria de Etiopía.Almeida was sent out as a missionary to Ethiopia, and had abundant opportunity to learn about theKebra Nagastat first hand, owing to his excellent command of the language. His manuscript is a valuable work. His brother, Apollinare, also went out to the country as a missionary and was, along with his two companions, stoned to death inTigray.

In the first quarter of the 16th century, P.N. Godinho published some traditions aboutKing Solomonand his sonMenelik,derived from theKebra Nagast.Further information about the contents of theKebra Nagastwas supplied byBaltazar Téllez(1595–1675), the author of theHistoria General de Etiopía Alta(Coimbra, 1660). The sources of Téllez's work were the histories of Manuel de Almeida,Afonso MendesandJerónimo Lobo.

Beginnings of modern scholarship

It was not until the close of the eighteenth century, whenJames Bruceof Kinnaird, the famousScottishexplorer, published an account of his travels in search of the sources of theNile,that information as to the contents of theKebra Nagastcame to be generally known among European scholars and theologians.

When Bruce was leaving Gondar, RasMikael Sehul,the powerfulInderase(regent) of EmperorTekle Haymanot II,gave him several of the most valuable Ethiopic manuscripts. Among them was a copy of theKebra Nagast.When the third edition of Bruce'sTravels to Discover the Source of the Nilewas published in 1813, a description of the contents of the original manuscript was included. In due course these documents were given to theBodleian Library(shelfmarkBruce 87).

August Dillmannprepared a summary of the contents of theKebra Nagast,and published its colophon, but no substantial portion of the narrative in the original language was available until F. Praetorius published Chapters 19 through 32 with a Latin translation.Another 35 years passed before the entire text was published, byCarl Bezold,with commentary, in 1905. The first English translation was prepared byE. A. Wallis Budge,and was published in two editions in 1922 and 1932.

See also

• Fetha Nagast
• Replacement theology

References

Bibliography

• Boavida, Isabel; Pennec, Herve; Ramos, Manuel Joao (2011) [1622],Pedro Paez's History of Ethiopia,vol. 1, translated by Tribe, Christopher J., London: Hakluyt Society,ISBN9781908145000,OCLC751723117
• Budge, E.A. Wallis(1922),The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek,London: The Medici Society
• — (1932),The Kebra Nagast(2nd ed.), London: Oxford University Press
• Foot, Sarah; Robinson, Chase F. (25 October 2012).The Oxford History of Historical Writing: Volume 2: 400-1400.OUP Oxford.ISBN978-0-19-163693-6.Retrieved4 July2022.
• Hubbard, David Allan (1956),The Literary Sources of theKebra Nagast(Thesis), University of St. Andrews,hdl:10023/544
• Jamme, A. (2003), "SABA (SHEBA)",New Catholic Encyclopedia,vol. 12 (2nd ed.), Gale, pp. 450–451
• Maraqten, Mohammed (2008)."Women's inscriptions recently discovered by the AFSM at the Awām temple/Maḥram Bilqīs in Marib, Yemen".Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies.38:231–249.ISSN0308-8421.JSTOR41223951.
• Marcus, Harold G. (1994),A history of Ethiopia,Berkeley, CA: University of California Press,ISBN0-520-22479-5
• Munro-Hay, Stuart (2006),The Quest for the Ark of the Covenant: The True History of the Tablets of Moses,London: I.B. Tauris,ISBN978-1845112486,OCLC918462598
• Phillipson, Daniel W. (2014),Foundations of an African Civilisation: Aksum and the Northern Horn, 1000 BC – AD 1300,Rochester, NY: James Currey (published 2012),ISBN9781847010889
• Praetorius, Franz (1870),Fabula de Regina Sabaea apud Aethiopes(in Latin and Geez), Halle: Halis Typis Orphanotropei,OCLC600994746
• Tamrat, Taddesse(1972).Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527.Oxford: Clarendon Press.ISBN0-19-821671-8.OCLC653228.
• Tamrat, Taddesse(1977). "Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn". In Oliver, Roland (ed.).The Cambridge History of Africa. Volume 3: From c.1050 to c.1600(1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 98–182.doi:10.1017/chol9780521209816.ISBN978-1-139-05457-7.
• Trimingham, J. Spencer (2013).Islam in Ethiopia.Routledge.ISBN9781136970221.OCLC858861432.
• Ullendorff, Edward (1968),Ethiopia and the Bible,Oxford University Press for the British Academy,OCLC460553359

Further reading

• Bezold, Carl (1905),Kebra Nagast, Die Kerrlichkeit Der Könige: Nach Den Handschriften(in German and Geez), Munich: K.B. Akademie de Wissenschaften (published 1903),OCLC320050047Ge'ez PDFArchived2021-11-06 at theWayback Machine.
• Budge, E. A. Wallis(1920), "m'kit",Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary,vol. 1, John Murray, p. 288b
• — (2000),The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek (Kĕbra Nagast)(PDF),Cambridge, Ontario: In Parentheses Publications, archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2016-11-30
• Galāw, Sergew (2001),Kebra Nagast(in Amharic and Geez), Addis Ababa University,OCLC50630238
• Leeman, Bernard (2 October 2009).The Sabaean Inscriptions at Adi Kaweh: Evidence Supporting the Narrative of theSheba-Menelik Cycleof theKebra Nagast(PDF).African Studies Association of Australasia and Pacific Conference. University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Australia.
• Munro-Hay, Stuart (2001),"A Sixth Century Kebra Nagast?",Annales d'Éthiopie,17(1): 43–58,doi:10.3406/ethio.2001.990
• Shahid, I., "The Kebra Nagast in the Light of New Researches,"Le Muséon,89 (1976), pp. 133-78

External links

• Belcher, Wendy Laura (4 May 2006),"Medieval African and European Texts about the Queen of Sheba",CSW Update,archived fromthe originalon 11 May 2008.