Colophon
Budge 1922 translation, complete 117 chapters with preface, introduction, colophon and notes; excludes biblical-passages appendix and index
E. A. Wallis Budge
Colophon
In the Arabic text it is said: “We have turned [this book] into Arabic from a Coptic manuscript [belonging to] the throne of Mark the Evangelist, the teacher, the Father of us all. We have translated it in the four hundred and ninth year of mercy in the country of Ethiopia, in the days of Gabra Masḳal the king, who is called Lâlîbalâ, in the days of Abbâ George, the good bishop. And God neglected to have it translated and interpreted into the speech of Abyssinia. And when I had pondered this—Why did not ‘Abal’ez and Abalfarog who edited (or, copied) the book translate it? I said this: It went out in the days of Zâguâ, and they did not translate it because this book says: Those who reign not being Israelites are transgressors of the Law. Had they been of the kingdom of Israel they would have edited (or, translated) it. And it was found in Nâzrêt.”
“And pray ye for me, your servant Isaac the poor man. And chide ye me not because of the incorrectness of the speech of the tongue. For I have toiled much for the glory of the country of Ethiopia, and for the going forth of the heavenly Zion, and for the glory of the King of Ethiopia. And I consulted the upright and God-loving governor Yâ’ebîka ‘Egzî’ĕ, and he approved and said unto me, ‘Work.’ And I worked, God helping me, and He did not requite me according to my sins. And pray ye for your servant Isaac, and for those who toiled with me in the going out (i.e. production) of this book, for we were in sore tribulation, I, and Yamharana-’Ab, and Ḥezba-Krestôs, and Andrew, and Philip, and Maḥârî-’ab. May God have mercy upon them, and may He write their names in the Book of Life in the kingdom of heaven, with those of all the saints and martyrs for ever and ever! Amen.”
THE END
Footnotes
Source notes
[1] See the History of Ḥannâ, edited and translated by myself, in Lady Meux MSS. 2–5, p. 164.
[2] Printed about 1533.
[3] A French translation from the Spanish version of this work appeared in Paris in 1558, folio.
[4] De Abassinorum rebus deque Æthiopiae Patriarchis, Libri I–III, Leyden, 1615, 8vo, p. 35.
[5] Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile in the years 1768–1773, containing a Journey through Egypt, the three Arabias and Ethiopia. First edition in five vols., 1790; second edition in six vols., in 1805; 3rd edition in seven vols., 1813.
[6] Cat. Codd. MSS. Bibliothecae Bodleianae, Oxford, 1848, No. xxvi, p. 68.
[7] Ibid., p. 74 (No. xxvii).
[8] Fabula de Regina Sabaea apud Æthiopes. Dissertatio Inauguralis. Halle (No date).
[9] A description of the very ancient copy of the Kebra Nagast in the Bibliothèque Nationale, which Zotenberg assigned to the thirteenth century, was published by him in his Catalogue des MSS. Êthopiens, Paris, 1877, No. 5, p. 6.
[10] Chez la Reine de Saba, Paris, 1914, pp. 110–121.
[11] Ibid., pp. 125–227; see also a rendering of the French into English by Mrs. J. Van Vorst, entitled Magda, Queen of Sheba, New York and London, 1007, 8vo.
[12] Translated from the Arabic text printed by Bezold, op. cit., p. xliv ff. A French paraphrase of the Arabic was printed by Amélineau in his Contes et Romans, Paris, 1888, tom. I, p. 144 ff.
[13] Luke xi, 31; see also 1 Kings x, 1; 2 Chron. ix, 1.
[14] Psalm cxxxii, 11 f.
[15] Psalm xcv (xcvi), 10. See the Douay Version, vol. ii, p. 176, and Swete, Old Test. in Greek, vol. ii, p. 342.
[16] Ali Beidhawî’s Commentary on the Kur’ân (ed. Fleischer, pt. 3, p. 67).
[17] Al-Beidhawî, op. cit., p. 68.
[18] Ibid., p. 69.
[19] Commentary of Jalâl ad-Dîn Muḥammad bin Aḥmad, Cairo edit. A.H. 1311, pt. 2, p. 60.
[20] Ibid., p. 70.
[21] See Littmann, Dr. E., The Legend of the Queen of Sheba in the Tradition of Axum, Leyden, 1904; Conti Rossini, Ricordi di un Soggiorno in Eritrea, Asmara, 1903.
[22] See Malan, Book of Adam and Eve, London, 1992, p. 92 ff., and Bezold, Schatzhöhle, Leipzig, 1883, p. 8.
[23] In Genesis xiv, 14, Abraham’s home-born armed servants numbered 318.
[24] 1 Kings xi, 3, says 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines
[25] Several examples of such wooden tablets are exhibited among the Christian Antiquities in the White Wing of the British Museum.
[26] See Pereira, Historia dos Martyres de Nagram, Lisbon, 1889.
[27] I.e., the Virgin Mary, who is identified in Chapter 11 with the “Tabernacle of the Law of God, the heavenly and spiritual Zion.”
[28] The Gregory here referred to is not Thaumaturgus, but the “Illuminator,” i.e., Gregor Lusavoritch, who flourished in the first quarter of the fourth century.
[29] There is some confusion here; Cainan was the son of Enos (Gen. 9).
[30] Here the name Judah is considered to be derived from the Ethiopic root hêd, “to carry off by force.”
[31] i.e., three courses and seven courses had been consumed.
[32] The remainder of this paragraph is a comment by the author of this work.
[33] There is a mistake here. The author had in his mind Joab, the captain of David’s host. Several of the MSS. have the reading “Benyâs,” i.e., Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada (see 1 Kings ii, 35), who was put in Joab’s room.
[34] The name of the reigning king to be added by the copyist.
[35] I.e. double drachmas.