Sacred Texts  Africa 

The Kebra Nagast by E.A.W. Budge [1922]

This is a translation of the Kebra Nagast, a tremendous collection of Ethiopian Biblical folklore. The Kebra Nagast tells the legend of the Queen of Sheba's son by King Solomon, Menyelek (also known herein as Bayna-Lehkem and David II). Menyelek engineers a plot to take the Tabernacle of the Law of God (i.e., the Ark of the Covenant) to Ethiopia. This is done at the behest of an Angel of God who predicts the downfall of the kingdom of Solomon.

Comitted to writing in the fourteenth century, the Kebra Nagast was derived from Ethiopian oral traditions of the Queen of Sheba and her state marriage with Solomon. The Kebra Nagast has been cited as one of the sources of the Rastafarian movement because of its support of Ethiopian theocracy.

Introduction

The Kebra Nagast