Menelik I was the son of Makeda, Queen of Sheba and King Solomon of Israel. He was the founder of the Solomonic Dynasty in Ethiopia, and is said to be the first monarch to use the title of King of Kings of Ethiopia. Makeda, according to the Kebre Negest, returned from her biblical visit to Jerusalem pregnant with Solomon's son, as did one of her servants. (The Zagwe dynasty would later claim to be the descendants of the servant). When her son was born, she raised him as her heir, and then sent him to meet his father in Jerusalem when he came of age. After meeting his father, Menelik returned to his homeland. When Menelik returned, Solomon arranged for a copy of the Ark of the Covenant to be made for him to take with him, and ordered the eldest sons of all his nobels and priests to go with Menelik. The son of Zadok the High Priest, apparently reluctant to go off to a strange land with just a copy of the Ark, crept into the temple and exchanged the replica with the real Ark, and brought the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia. It is kept at the Cathedral of St. Mary of Zion to this day, in a special sanctuary Chapel that only one guardian monk is permitted to enter
The restored Solomonic lineage started in 1270 with Emperor Yekuno's declaration to be the lineal descent Menelik I, offspring of King Solomon and Queen Makeda (Queen of Sheba or Queen of Saba). All succeeding Ethiopian rulers confirmed their having full filial rights and obligations by birth to Yekuno Amlak and, by that means, to King Solomon and Queen Makeda. The information known today about the Solomonic Dynasty comes from a combination of Egyptian, Syrian, and Abysinian text. The Kebra Nagast, a royal chronicle compiled in Abyssinia in the 14th century, warrants the reestablishment of the Solomonic line. A good portion of the book is consigned to the origin of Emperor Menelik I who was the son of King Solomon and Queen Makeda.
In conformity with the legend, Queen Makeda ventured from Abyssinia to Jerusalem to examine and acquire from the wise and great rule of King Solomon. Queen Makeda was proselytized to Judaism and she gained knowledge and understanding of Middle Eastern statecraft by study, instructions, and experience. When Queen Makeda resolved to go back to Abyssinia, King Solomon persuaded her to have super with him in his imperial palace. While staying over for the night, she was compelled to go to bed with the king. In his dreams that night the king saw that the Queen would beget him a son, and that God’s blessings would be with him and his country. When the child, Menelik I, eventually grew to be a man, he journeyed to King Solomon and was proclaimed Emperor of Ethiopia by King Solomon.
In 1930 news came of the crowning of an Ethiopian King and the last heir of the dynasty. This was not merely another King being crowned. This King was crowned His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God, Light of this World, King of Zion. This King was reported as being the 225thth restores of the Solomonic Dynasty. It was attended by many nations, including the Duke of Gloucester, the representative of the British Crown who returned the Emperor the sacred scepter stolen from Ethiopia many years before.
African Christian people now began asking many questions. The throne that Haile Selassie I represented was the oldest throne on earth, over 3,000 years old. The throne of the Royal House of Britain, the colonial sovereign of Jamaica was less than 500 years old. It was not only that African people saw that they had an African King exceeding all over colonial sovereigns in royal status and antiquity, but this King's throne represented the throne of God on earth, established by a covenant between God and King David as recorded in the Old Testament
No comments:
Post a Comment