Everything about Menelik I totally explained
Menelik I (originally named
Ebna la-Hakim, "Son of the Wise"), first Jewish
Emperor of Ethiopia, is traditionally believed to be the son of
King Solomon of ancient
Israel and Makeda,
Queen of Sheba and ruled around
204 -
179 BC according to traditional sources. Tradition credits him with bringing the
Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia, following a visit to
Jerusalem to meet his father upon reaching adulthood.
According to the
Kebra Nagast, King Solomon had intended on sending one son of each of his nobles and one son each of each temple priest with Menelik upon his return to his mother's kingdom. He is supposed to have had a replica made of the Ark for them to take with them, but the son of Zadok the High Priest secretly switched the replica with the real Ark, and brought it into Ethiopia where it's said to remain to this day in the ancient town of
Axum.
Upon the death of Queen
Makeda, Menelik assumed the throne with the new title of Emperor and King of Kings of Ethiopia. According to legend, he founded the
Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia that ruled Ethiopia with few interruptions for close to three thousand years and 225 generations later ended with the fall of Emperor
Haile Selassie in
1974. However, the medieval incarnation of the Solomonic dynasty didn't come into power until
1270, claiming descent from the Kings of
Aksûm, while their predecessors, the
Zagwe dynasty, were said to not be of "the house of Israel" (for example of Solomon and Menelik). The claims of descent of the
Aksûmite Kings preceding the Zagwe dynasty are uncertain, though early pagan inscription denote the King as "son of the unconquerable [god]
Mahrem" (translated in
Greek as
Ares), while medieval Ethiopian sources ascribe them a similar claim of descent. This is consistent with the earliest records that testify that one half of Ethiopians followed the laws of Moses, while the other half worshipped pagan gods.
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