Kebra Nagast

The "Kebra Nagast" (var. "Kebra Negast", Ge'ez ,ክብረ ነገሥት, IPA|kəbrä nägäst), or the Book of the "Glory of Kings", is an account written in Ge'ez of the origins of the Solomonic line of the Emperors of Ethiopia. The text, in its existing form, is at least seven hundred years old, and is considered by many Ethiopian Christians and Rastafarians to be an inspired and a reliable account. Not only does it contain an account of how the Queen of Sheba met Solomon, and about how the Ark of the Covenant came to Ethiopia with Menelik I, but contains an account of the conversion of the Ethiopians from the worship of the sun, moon, and stars to that of the "Lord God of Israel". As Edward Ullendorff explained in the 1967 Schweich Lectures, "The "Kebra Nagast " is not merely a literary work, but -- as the Old Testament to the Hebrews or the Qur'an to the Arabs -- it is the repository of Ethiopian national and religious feelings." [Edward Ullendorff, "Ethiopia and the Bible" (Oxford: University Press for the British Academy, 1968), p. 75]

Summary of Contents

The "Kebra Nagast" is divided into 117 chapters, and even after a single reading one can see that it is clearly a composite work; Ullendorff describes its narrative "a gigantic conflation of legendary cycles." [Ullendorff, "Ethiopia and the Bible", p. 141] The document is presented in the form of a debate by the 318 "orthodox fathers" of the First Council of Nicaea. 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 by Moses and kept in the Ark of the Covenant. After this, the archbishop Domitius [Domitius is identified at the beginning of this section as "Archbishop of Rom" (i.e. Constantinople), and at the end as of Antioch. This person might be identified with Patriarch Domnus II of Antioch, who was deposed at the Second Council of Ephesus. E. A. Wallis-Budge identifies him with Patriarch Timothy III of Alexandria without any explanation.] reads from a book he had found in the church of "Sophia" (possibly Hagia 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 with Gregory 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 make Gregory the Illuminator a better fit. [Hubard notes that it is "a tendency common in Near Eastern writings to merge people of the same name." (David Allen Hubbard, "The Literary Sources of the "Kebra Nagast" (St. Andrews, 1954), p.253).]

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 not worship 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, and gives her a ring so that 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 (chapter 32). [The "Kebra Nagast" identifies the country Makeda gives birth to Menelik in as BÂLÂ ZADÎSÂRE(YÂ.]

At the age of 22, Menelik travels to Jerusalem by way of Gaza, 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 settles 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, then smuggle the Ark from the Temple and out of Solomon's kingdom (chapters 45-48) without Menelik's knowledge. He had asked of Solomon only for a single tassel from the covering over the Ark, and Solomon had given him the entire cloth.

During the journey home, Menelik learns the Ark is with him, and Solomon discovers that it is gone from his kingdom. The king attempts to pursue Menelik, but his son is magically flown home before he can leave his kingdom. King Solomon then turns to solace from his wife, the daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt, and she seduces him into worshiping the idols of her land (chapter 64).

After a question from the 318 bishops of the Council, Domitius continues with a paraphrase of Biblical history (chapters 66-83) then describes Menelik's arrival at Axum, where he is feasted and Makeda abdicates the throne in his favor. 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 praising the book Domitius has 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 "OT" [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, "The Literary Sources", p. 39] Hubbard further speculates that this selection from the Old Testament might be as old as Frumentius, who had converted the Kingdom of Axum to Christianity. [Hubbard, "The Literary Sources", p. 44.]

The "Kebra Nagast" concludes with a final prophecy that the power of Rome will be eclipsed by the power of Ethiopia, and describes how king Kaleb of Axum, will subdue the Jews living in Najran, and make his younger son Gabra Masqal his heir (chapter 117).

Origins

According to the Colophon attached to most of the existing copies, the "Kebra Nagast" originally was written in Coptic, then translated into Arabic in the Year of Mercy 409 (dated to AD 1225) [Hubbard, "The Literary Sources", p. 358.] by a team of Ethiopian clerics during the office of Abuna Abba Giyorgis, and finally into Ge'ez at the command of governor Ya'ibika Igzi'. Based on the testimony of this Collophon, "Conti Rossini, Littmann, and Cerulli, "inter alios", have marked off the period 1314 to 1321-1322 for the composition of the book." [Hubbard, "The Literary Sources", p. 352.]

Careful study of the text has revealed traces of Arabic, possibly pointing to an Arabic vorlage, 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. [Hubbard, for example, claims to have found only one word which points to a Coptic version. "The Literary Sources", p. 370.] On the other hand, 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 the Bible, either directly or from memory, and in their use and interpretation shows the influence of patristic sources such as Gregory of Nyssa. [One example is that in chapters 106-107 all but three passages quoted also appear in Gregory of Nyssa's "Testimonia adversus Judeos". Hubbard, "The Literary Sources", p. 39.]

Hubbard details the many sources that the compiler of the "Kebra Nagast" drew on in creating this work. They include not only both Testaments of the Bible (although heavier use is made of the Old Testament than the New), but he detects evidence of Rabbinical sources, influence from apocryphal works (especially the Book of Enoch and Book of Jubilees, and such Syriac works as the "Book of the Cave of Treasures", and its derivatives the "Book of Adam and Eve" and the "Book of the Bee". [This is the stated aim of Hubbard's doctorial thesis, "The Literary Sources".]

Early European translations

One of the earliest collections of documents of Ethiopia came through the writings of Francisco Álvares, official envoy which king Manuel I of Portugal, sent to Dawit II of Ethiopia, under Ambassador Don Rodrigo De Lima. In the papers concerning this mission, Alvarez included an account of the Emperor of Ethiopia, and a description in Portuguese of the habits of the Ethiopians, titled "The Prester John of the Indies", which was printed in 1533.

Additional information on the "Kebra Nagast" was included by the Jesuit priest Manuel de Almeida in his "Historia de Etiopía". Almeida was sent out as a missionary to Ethiopia, and had abundant opportunity to learn about the "Kebra Nagast" at 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 in Tigray.

In the first quarter of the 16th century, P.N. Godinho published some traditions about King Solomon and his son Menelek, derived from the "Kebra Nagast". Further information about the contents of the "Kebra Nagast" was supplied by Baltazar Téllez (1595-1675), the author of the "Historia General de Etiopía Alta" (Coimbra, 1660). The sources of his work were the histories of Manoel Almeida, Alfonso Méndez and Jerónimo Lobo.

Beginnings of modern scholarship of the book

It was not until the close of the eighteenth century when James Bruce of Kinnaird, the famous Scottish explorer, published an account of his travels in search of the sources of the Nile, that some information as to the contents of the "Kebra Nagast" came to be generally known amongst European scholars and theologians.

When Bruce was leaving Gondar, Ras Mikael Sehul, the powerful Inderase (regent) of Emperor Tekle Haymanot II, gave him several of the most valuable Ethiopic manuscripts and among them was a copy of the "Kebra Nagast". When the third edition of his "Travels in Search of the Sources of the Nile" was published, there appeared a description of the contents of the original manuscript. In due course these documents were given to the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.

Although August Dillmann prepared a summary of the contents of the "Kebra Nagast", and published its colophon, no substantial portion of the narrative in the original language was available until F. Praetorius published chapters 19 through 32 with a Latin translation. [ "Fabula de Regina Sabaea apud Aethiopia". Dissertation. (Halle: 1870).] However 35 years passed before the entire text was published by Carl Bezold, with commentary, in 1905. The first English translation was prepared by E. A. Wallis Budge, which was published in two editions in 1922 and 1932. [This overview is based on Hubbard, "The Literary Sources", pp. 6-8.]

Dr Bernard Leeman has argued that the "Kebra Nagast" consists of two main documents dating to the time of King Solomon (ca.950 BC) and the eve of the invasion of Himyaritic Yemen by King Kaleb of Axum (circa AD 520). [Bernard Leeman, "Queen of Sheba and Biblical Scholarship" (Queensland Academic Press 2005) ISBN 0-9758022-0-8] His arguments that part of the "Kebra Nagast" was written at his earliest proposed date are that (i) the "Kebra Nagast" contains the oldest known sections of the Old Testament Torah (including the Holiness Code) without any of the laws found only in the Book of Deuteronomy, which many scholars believe were added much later by Hilkiah; (ii) it contains the only detailed account not only of the fate of the Ark of the Covenant but also the disappearance of the High Priesthood of Judah in Solomon's reign, (iii) the ancient form of name of the Ark preserved in this document; (iv)lack of references in this work to later Old Testament History; (v) the Ge'ez text reveals an extraordinarily inaccurate geography, which Leeman argues makes sense only if it is applied to locations in Arabia, not Palestine. Leeman also relies on evidence published by Chaim Rabin ("Ancient West Arabian", London: 1951) that suggest there was an ancient Hebrew speaking population between Medina and Yemen, and by Roger Schneider ("Two Sabaean inscriptions on the Tigre Plateau") that indicate there were Queens of Sheba ruling over a mixed Hebrew and Sabaean population near Mek'ele, Ethiopia, around 700 BC, confirming the account in the "Kebra Nagast". However, Dr Leeman's arguments are not accepted by most scholars.

See also

* Fetha Negest

Notes

External links

* An English translation of this book is available at [http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/kn/ Sacred Texts] .
* [http://www.csw.ucla.edu/Newsletter/May06/belcher.html Wendy Belcher, "Medieval African and European Texts about the Queen of Sheba"]