Menelik I
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2008-05-01T08:48:35Z
Minilik
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'''Menelik I''' (originally named '''Ebna la-Hakim''', "Son of the Wise"), first Jewish [[Emperor of Ethiopia]], is traditionally believed to be the son of [[Solomon|King Solomon]] of ancient [[Israel]] and Makeda, [[Queen of Sheba]] and ruled around [[204 BC|204]] - [[179 BC]] according to traditional sources.<ref>[http://starnarcosis.net/obsidian/ethiopia.html#Ethiopia Regnal Chronologies ]</ref> Tradition credits him with bringing the [[Ark of the Covenant]] to Ethiopia, following a visit to [[Jerusalem]] to meet his father upon reaching adulthood.
[[Image:Kebra_Nagast.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Modern book cover of [[Kebra Nagast]]: The Glory of the Kings]]
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 is 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 [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksûm]], while their predecessors, the [[Zagwe dynasty]], were said to not be of "the house of Israel" (i.e. of Solomon and Menelik). The claims of descent of the [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksûmite]] [[Kings of Axum|Kings]] preceding the Zagwe dynasty are uncertain, though early pagan inscription denote the King as "son of the unconquerable [god] [[Mahrem]]" (translated in [[Greek language|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.
==See also==
*[[Haile Selassie]]
*[[Menelik II of Ethiopia]] (1844–1913)
*[[Ethiopia]]
{{ethiopia-bio-stub}}
[[Category:Solomonid dynasty]]
[[Category:Emperors of Ethiopia]]
==References==
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