The Kebra Nagast

And He redeemed Adam and his descendants from the hand of the Accursed One by means of a piece of wood, even as the fruit of a piece of wood had led him into error. And concerning this, David the Prophet said in the Psalm,[15] ”Declare ye among the nations that God reigneth from the wood.” And this piece of wood became most honourable because the Body of our Lord was raised up on it, and at length when they laid it upon a dead body that body rose up again. And the similitude [of the Cross] became a protection to kings and a strengthening of the remainder of the Christians for evermore. And as for the thirty collars of silver afore-mentioned Judas cast them back to the accursed Jews, and after this he hanged himself and departed this life by reason of his love of money. And the Jews took them and bought with them the field of the potter, and it is a place of burial for strangers unto this day. This is what happened through the piece of wood.

And now we will return to the subject with which we began, namely, how the kingdom of David was removed to the country of Abyssinia, and will relate the conclusion of the story. Behold, Solomon the King paid honour to the Queen, and he made her and her retinue and her soldiers to alight by the side of his palace, and every day she visited him in order to hear his wisdom. And Solomon loved women passionately, and it came to pass that, when her visits to him multiplied, he longed for her greatly and entreated her to yield herself to him. But she would not surrender herself to him, and she said unto him, “I came to thee a maiden, a virgin; shall I go back despoiled of my virginity, and suffer disgrace in my kingdom?” And Solomon said unto her, “I will only take thee to myself in lawful marriage—I am the King, and thou shalt be the Queen.” And she answered him never a word. And he said unto her, “Strike a covenant with me that I am only to take thee to wife of thine own free will—this shall be the condition between us: when thou shalt come to me by night as I am lying on the cushions of my bed, thou shalt become my wife by the Law of Kings.” And behold she struck this covenant with him determining within herself that she would preserve her virginity from him; and this [happened] through the dispensation of God, the Most High, to Whom be praise! And Solomon by his wisdom instructed her for a number of days, and he did not again demand from her the surrender of her person, and the matter was good in her sight, because she thought that he had driven her out of his mind.

And after these things Solomon summoned the cooks and commanded them to prepare and cook food for all those who were in the palace, for himself and for the Queen, dainty and highly seasoned dishes, and he gave them pungent and aromatic and strong-smelling herbs and spices for this purpose, and the cooks did even as he had commanded them. Now when the Queen had eaten of these meats that were filled with spice and pepper and pungent herbs, she craved for cold water which she drank in large quantities by day and by night, but this did not help her to [quench her thirst]. And when the third night had come Solomon secretly gave the order to all those who were about the palace, both those who were inside it and those who were outside it, that none of them was to leave with the afore-mentioned Queen the smallest quantity of water to drink, and [he swore] that any one of them who showed her where water was or gave her any of the water which was his own should be put to death forthwith and without trial. And he commanded that, if any of them were to be asked for water by her during the night, they were to say unto her, “Thou wilt find no water except by the couch of the king.” And it came to pass that when the night had come, a great and fiery heat rose up in the heart of the Queen because of the highly spiced food [that she had eaten], and she sought for water to drink, but found none, and she was sorely agitated and was smitten with death. Then she cried out with a loud voice to her servants, but they were unable to find any water to give her to drink.

Then by reason of the consuming thirst that had seized upon her, she wandered into the palace and went round about to every one who had water therein to find some water to drink, and every person whom she asked said unto her, “Verily, by thy kingdom, thou wilt only find water to quench the flame of thy thirst by the bedside of the King.” Then the Queen went back to her couch, but she could not control herself and keep still, and her spirit was about to depart from her body, and she was swooning. Then she made haste and went to the place where Solomon was, so that she might drink some water there. Now Solomon was in truth wide-awake, nevertheless he pretended to be asleep, and the Queen drank a very large quantity of water and assuaged her thirst, and she recovered her spirit, and she felt that her strength was restored after having [nearly] died. And when the Queen wanted to return to her couch, King Solomon started up hurriedly, and seized her, and said unto her, “Verily thou hast now become my wife according to the Law of Kings.” And she remembered the covenant that existed between him and her. And she gave herself into his embrace willingly and yielded to his desire, according to that which she had covenanted with him.

And it came to pass that after these things she became with child by him, and she said unto him, “I am going to return to my country and to my kingdom, and what shall I do with thy child if it be that God shall desire to give him life?” And Solomon said unto her, “If God doth will this thing and thou dost bear to me a man child, so soon as he hath reached man’s estate send him to me, and I will make him king, and thy kingdom shall be his; but if thou dost bear a woman child let her stay with thee.” And the Queen said unto him, “If I send thee thy son how wilt thou be certain that he is thy son?” And Solomon gave her his ring, and said unto her, “Guard carefully this ring, and covenant with me that thou wilt not in the smallest degree break the conditions of the true and righteous covenant that existeth between us, and God, the Governor of the Universe, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, the God of my father David, shall be the witness between me and between thee. And when thou dost send my son to me, give him my ring, and let him wear it on his own hand, and I shall know that in very truth he is my son, and I will make him king and send him back to thee.” And she accepted from Solomon this just covenant, and he and the Queen took farewell of each other, and she set out with her retinue to go to her own country, surrounded by the peace of God.

And behold, on her arrival in her own country the Queen fulfilled the number of her days, and she brought forth a man child, and she rejoiced with an exceedingly great joy, and she called him David, according to the name of his grandfather, and she had him reared in great state and splendour. And when he had arrived at manhood’s estate, he was hale, and strong, and wise, and understanding like his father. And it fell out on a day that he spake unto his mother and said unto her, “O my mother, who is my father? Did he, peradventure, die during my childhood?” Then the Queen answered and said unto him, “My son, thy father is alive, and he is Solomon, the son of David, the Prophet of God and King of Israel, and his Kingdom is in Jerusalem. And behold, the seal of the kingdom of thy father is in my possession, and it is laid up ready for thee so that thou mayest become thereby king over the country of Abyssinia. And this is God’s Will, and it is not due to me; the kingdom is no longer mine but thine, and thou, the King’s son, art King.” And this pleased the young man greatly, and he gave thanks to the Queen. And the Queen said unto him, “O my darling son, gather together for thy use gifts and soldiers, and get thee to Jerusalem that thou mayest pray there, and see thy father and his kingdom, [and hear] his great wisdom, and that he may make thee king according to the covenant that existeth between him and me, the Governor of the Universe being witness between us.” And thus saving, straightway she put his father’s ring on his right hand.

And by the Will of God—praise be unto Him!—he gathered together soldiers, and with them and the royal gifts he set out on his journey, and in due course he arrived in Jerusalem. And when Solomon knew that a king was coming to him he commanded soldiers to meet him. And when the young man arrived at the gate of the palace of his father Solomon, the king was not certain that he was his son. And behold, when the young man came closer and saw the riding beast of his father standing there with his saddle on his hack and his bridle in his mouth, straightway he leaped up and mounted him and pranced about, and unsheathed his sword with his hand. And when Solomon saw this the matter was grievous to him, but he hid his displeasure. And when they met [later] Solomon spoke openly what he had in his mind about the matter of the riding beast, and how the young man had mounted him and snatched the sword with his hand. And the young man said unto hire, “The owner of this ring made me king of his kingdom when I was in my mother’s womb, and this hath happened by the Will of God.” And when Solomon had looked at the ring, and was certain about the matters connected with it, he was overcome with joy, and he stood up by his throne and threw his arms round the young man’s neck, and he cried out, saying, “Welcome, my darling boy, [thou] son of David.”

And straightway he put the crown of his father David on his head, and made him to sit upon the throne of David his father, and the trumpeters sounded their horns, and the proclaimers of tidings cried out, saying, “This is David, the son of Solomon, the son of David, the King of Israel.” And the matter was noised abroad, and the rumour spread about among all the tribes of the children of Israel that the son of Solomon, the son of the Queen of the South, had come to his father Solomon, and that Solomon had made him ruler over the kingdom of his father David, and had crowned him king, and had seated him upon his throne.

Now in the House of the Lord which Solomon had built and consecrated was the Tabernacle of the Covenant of God, and inside it were the two Tablets of stone that had been written by the Finger of God, and the rod of Aaron, and the pot (or, chest) of manna. And this Tabernacle was covered with plates of gold and was draped with draperies of cloth woven with gold. And [in connection with the Tabernacle] a miracle which was seen by all the people of Israel was wrought. Whensoever the priests prayed, and the supplications of themselves [and of the people] were presented before the Governor of the Universe, and they had made an end of their prostrations, the Tabernacle of the Covenant of God used to raise itself up from off the ground, and they [and the people] knew that in very truth their supplications had been accepted. And when they had made an end of their prostrations and the Tabernacle did not raise itself from off the ground, the priests knew of a certainty that some sin had been committed by themselves or by the people. Then they continued to make their supplications unto the Lord, and at the same time they searched out him that had done wrong, and they punished the guilty one, and when the Tabernacle raised itself up from off the ground they knew that God had removed His displeasure from them.

And it came to pass that the afore-mentioned king, the son of Solomon, went into the House of the Lord to pray, and he saw the Tabernacle of the Covenant of God raising itself up—a matter which it is impossible for the human mind to understand—and this was pleasing in his sight, and he determined to carry off the Tabernacle of the Covenant of God to his own country. And he broke the matter to his begetter Solomon, the King of Israel, and he said unto him, “I am going to carry off the Tabernacle of the Covenant of God to my country.” And Solomon said unto him, “O my darling son, thou canst not do this. Behold, there is no one except a priest who can carry the Tabernacle, and whosoever toucheth the Tabernacle except the priests, his soul departeth from him immediately. Moreover the children of Israel have no protection whatsoever against their enemies except the Tabernacle of the Covenant of God.” But these words did not satisfy him, and he said unto Solomon, “I ask of thee neither gold nor silver, for in my country men gather in heaps gold from its earth. I ask from thee nothing but the Tabernacle of the Covenant of God, so that it may protect me on my journey, and may be a support for my kingdom and for my soldiers in my country.” And Solomon said unto his son, “O my son, if it be the Will of God, the Governor of the Universe, that thou shalt take away the Tabernacle with thee, it will be an easy thing for thee to do so. But when thou carriest away the Tabernacle do not let me know about it, and when thou goest away with it do not bid me farewell.

Then the young man summoned to himself secretly a workman, who made a wooden case of the same length and breadth and depth and shape as the Tabernacle, and then the young man killed him by night. Then he brought in other artificers, and they overlaid the wooden case with plates of gold similar to those that covered the Tabernacle, and he treated those men even as he had treated the carpenter, and then the young man covered the case with draperies into which gold had been woven. Now whilst he was making his preparations for his departure Solomon the King knew nothing whatsoever about them. Then the young man summoned to him four of the priests who could be trusted, and he made them believe that he had done so in order to ask them to pray for him before his departure, and he gave them much gold to pray for him, and he bribed them to assist him whensoever he needed them. And when the night of his departure had arrived, these priests came to him in order to bid him farewell, and he took them into his own apartment, so that they might pray for him. And when they had entered and were in the apartment with him, he bound them in iron fetters for the night, and commanded his soldiers to mount and depart without sounding the trumpets. Then he took with him a company of his servants who were carrying spears in their hands, and he took those priests whom he had bound with iron fetters for the night so that they might not escape, and he went into the House of God.

And he commanded the priests who were with him to carry away the Tabernacle of the Covenant of God, and then he deposited the case which he had had made to resemble it in the place thereof. And he went forth by night having with him the Tabernacle, which was carried by the priests, and he neither bade his father farewell nor allowed him to know of his departure. And this happened by the Dispensation of God the Most High, praise he unto Him! for the protection of the holy Tabernacle of His Covenant, so that it might abide for ever even as the Davidic kingdom, for even so did God make the promise to David that the offspring of his loins should sit upon his throne for ever. And in this manner, enveloped in the protection of God, did the young man set out on his journey.

And it came to pass that, when the morning had come, the children of Israel and the priests went into the House of God according to their wont to pray. And it came to pass that, when the priests had made an end of their prostrations and had presented their supplications unto the Governor of the Universe, the Tabernacle did not rise up into the air, and it did not stir from its place. And they said, “Behold, some folk have sinned”; and they ordered fasting and prayer for three days, and they searched among the people to find out who had committed sin and folly, but they found no [guilty] person. And after this the priests went up to the Tabernacle, and O what calamity, and terror, and grief were there for them when they did not find the Tabernacle of the Covenant of God and its holy things, but only an empty case resting upon the place where the Tabernacle had stood! Then they knew that of a certainty the son of King Solomon had taken it away. And they searched and made an examination into the number of the priests who were among the tribes of Israel, but they were not able to find those priests whom the young man had taken with him, and thus it became clear to them that the sin lay with them (i.e. the four priests).

And behold, the priests and the elders of Israel went to Solomon the King, and they were weeping and sorrowing because of the absence of the Tabernacle of the Covenant of God from its Holy Shrine, and they said unto Solomon, “it is thou who hast commanded thy son to take the Tabernacle.” And Solomon wept and cried out in pain, and displayed exceedingly great sorrow, and he swore an oath to them, saying that he had not given his son permission to do this thing, and that he had not bidden him farewell, and that he knew nothing whatsoever about his departure or when it took place. And the priests and elders answered, saying, “May the King live! If this thing hath taken place without thy wish and without thy permission, despatch thou with us armed soldiers that we may pursue him and take from him the holy Tabernacle of the Covenant of God, so that we may bring it back to His sacred House.” And Solomon gave them soldiers, and money, and provisions, and they set out in quest of the young man, and they rode on their way continuously for forty days. And they found merchants riding towards them on their return journey, and they enquired of them concerning the Tabernacle, and whether they had seen it. And the merchants answered them, saying, “We have seen a great king and his numerous soldiers, and the Box of the Covenant of God was with them.

And they were travelling along like the clouds when they are driven before the attack of mighty winds for a very long distance at a time, and the natives of the villages through which we have passed informed us that they travelled each day the distance of a forty days’ journey.” And they returned defeated and disheartened, and weeping and regretting; but regret in no way helped them. And behold, the young man arrived in his country safe and sound, and his mother met him, and she abdicated in his favour, and he rose up as king on the throne of David his father, and the kingdom of Abyssinia belonged to the throne of David for ever and ever, and the Tabernacle of the Covenant of God remained therein.

This is what happened in respect of the Tabernacle of the Lord, and this is the reason why it was transferred to the country of the Nĕgûs; and this state of affairs continued until the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ of the pure Mary. And he completed His Dispensation upon earth and set free Adam and his posterity. And after His Ascension into heaven the Disciples preached the Gospel in His Name in all the earth. And concerning the story of the eunuch, the Deputy of Ḳandâḳes, it is related that the cause of his visit to Jerusalem was to pray [there]. And on his return journey the Holy Spirit sent to him the Apostle Philip, and the eunuch believed and was baptized; and when he went back to his native land he preached Christ therein, and all the people believed through him. And after this Pârmenâs, one of the Seven, went to them, and he baptized them, and consecrated for them priests and deacons, and he ordained that their Father should be of the throne of Mark the Evangelist. And the orthodox Faith was established in the country of Abyssinia, and the sovereignty of [the house of] David remained fixed therein for ever and ever. Glory, and praise, and majesty, and honour, and supplication he unto the Holy Trinity for ever and ever! Amen.

The author, or editor, of the Kur’ân devoted a considerable section of Surah XXVII to the correspondence that passed between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, and to their interviews. Among the many gifts that God bestowed upon Solomon were the understanding of the speech of birds, and knowledge of every kind. He was the lord of men, genii and birds. When he travelled through the air on his magical carpet of green silk, which was borne aloft by the wind according to the King’s direction, the men stood on the right of it, and the spirits on the left, and a vast army of birds of every kind kept flying over the carpet to protect its occupants from the heat of the sun. One day when he was reviewing the birds he perceived that the lapwing was absent, and he asked why she was absent, and threatened to punish her for not making her appearance with the other birds. Very soon after he had spoken the lapwing appeared, and she excused herself for her absence by saying that she had been looking upon a country that the king had never seen, and that she had seen Sâba, which was ruled over by a queen called “Balḳîs,” who was very rich, and who sat upon a throne made of gold and silver and set with precious stones, eighty cubits long, forty cubits broad, and thirty cubits high. The queen and her people were idolaters and worshipped the sun, and they were under the influence of Satan, who had turned them from the right way. Thereupon Solomon wrote the following letter to the Queen of Sheba: “From the servant of God, Solomon, the son of David, unto Balḳîs, Queen of Sheba.

In the Name of the most merciful God. Peace be unto him who followeth the true direction. Rise not up against me, but come and render yourselves unto me.” Having perfumed this letter with musk and sealed it with his wonderful seal, Solomon gave it to the lapwing and told the bird to go and drop it in Sâba, and to turn aside afterwards and wait for the Queen’s answer. The lapwing departed and delivered the letter, some saying that she flew into the Queen’s private apartment through the window, and others that she dropped the letter into the Queen’s bosom[16] as she was standing surrounded by her army. Having read the letter the Queen called upon her nobles to advise her what to do, but they reminded her that they were soldiers, who were ready to march against Solomon if she ordered them to do so, and that the letter was addressed to her and she must make the decision. Wishing to avoid invasion and the evils that would follow in its train, the Queen decided to send gifts to Solomon, and she despatched forthwith five hundred male and five hundred female slaves, five hundred ingots of gold, a crown studded with precious stones, and a large quantity of musk, amber, spices, precious woods, etc. The lapwing returned quickly to Solomon and told him what had happened, and that an embassy from the Queen bearing gifts was on its way. When the men of Sâba arrived they were received by Solomon in a large square surrounded by a wall, the bricks of which were made of gold and silver.

Solomon spoke slightingly of the Queen’s gifts and sent the embassy back, bidding them tell their mistress that he would send invincible troops against her city, and that they would capture it and expel its inhabitants in disgrace. When Balḳîs received this message, she determined to go to Solomon and to tender her submission to him, and having locked up her throne in a certain strong fortress, and set a guard over it to protect it, she set out for Jerusalem, accompanied by a large army. Whilst she was on her way Solomon said one day to his nobles, Which of you will bring the Queen’s throne here to me before she and her company arrive? And an ‘Ifrît, one of the genii, whose aspect was most terrible, and who was called Dhakwân, said, I will bring it to thee before thou hast finished thy session. Now Solomon used to sit in judgment until noon daily.[17] Some one who had knowledge of books and who was present seemed to think that the ‘Ifrît was demanding too much time in which to fulfil the King’s urgent wish, and he said, I will bring thee the throne before thou canst cast thine eyes on an object and remove them again. The commentators are in doubt about the identity of the person who made this offer to Solomon, for some say he was Âṣaf, the son of Barkhîyâ, the wazîr of Solomon, and others that he was Khidhr (Elijah), or Gabriel, or some other angel, or even Solomon himself.[18] It is generally thought that the person was Âṣaf, for he knew the ineffable Name of God.

Be this as it may, Solomon accepted the offer, and raising his eyes to heaven brought them down quickly to earth again, and when his eyes rested on the earth he saw the throne of Balḳîs standing before him. Then Solomon had the throne altered, with the view of preventing her knowing her own throne when she arrived. When Balḳîs came into his presence, he pointed to the throne, saying, Is thy throne like unto this? And she replied, It is all one with this. Then Balḳîs was invited to go into the palace which Solomon had built specially for her reception. The walls were made of blocks of white glass, and the floor was made also of glass, over which water flowed, and in the running water fishes swam. When Balḳîs turned to enter the palace and saw the water, thinking that it was deep, she drew up the skirts of her garments before attempting to walk through it. By this act she uncovered her legs, and Solomon had proof that the rumour that the feet and legs of Balḳîs were covered with hair like the coat of an ass, was true. The sight of the glass building with its floor of glass amazed Balḳîs, who said, O Lord, verily I have dealt unjustly with my own soul, and I resign myself, together with Solomon, unto God, the Lord of all creatures. Some commentators think that the Queen uttered these words partly in repentance for having worshipped the sun, and partly through fear of being drowned in the water which she saw before her. Jalâl ad-Dîn says that Solomon thought of marrying Balḳîs, but could not bring himself to do so because of the hair on her feet and legs.

The devils who were always in attendance on Solomon removed the hair by the use of some infernal depilatory,[19] but it is doubtful if even then Solomon married her. Al-Beidhawî says that it is very doubtful who married Balḳîs, but is inclined to think that it was one of the chiefs of the Hamdân tribe.[20]

A curious and interesting legend of the way in which King Solomon became the father of Menyelek is found in a number of slightly varying versions among many of the tribes of Northern Abyssinia.[21] According to this the mother of Menyelek was a Tigrê girl called Ĕtêyê Azêb (i.e. Queen of the South), and her people worshipped a dragon or serpent, to which each man in turn had to present as an offering his eldest daughter, and large quantities of sweet beer and milk. When the turn of her parents came they tied her to a tree where the dragon used to come for his food, and soon after this seven saints came and seated themselves under the tree for the sake of the shade it gave. As they sat a tear dropped from the maiden above them, and when they looked up and saw her bound to the tree they asked her if she was a human being or a spirit, and she told them that she was a human being and, in answer to a further question, she told them that she was bound to the tree so that she might become food for the dragon. When the seven saints saw the dragon, one of them, Abbâ Tchêḥamâ, plucked at his own beard, another, Abbâ Garîmâ, exclaimed, “He hath frightened me,” and a third, Abbâ Menṭelît, cried out, “Let us seize him”; and he forthwith attacked the monster, and aided by his companions they killed him by smiting him with a cross. As they were killing him some blood spurted out from him and fell on the heel of Ĕtêyê Azêb, and from that moment her heel became like the heel of an ass.

The saints untied her fetters and sent her to her village, but the people drove her away, thinking that she had escaped from the dragon, and she climbed up into a tree and passed the night there. On the following day she fetched some people from the village and showed them the dead dragon, and they straightway made her their chieftainess, and she chose for her chief officer a maiden like herself. Soon after this Ĕtĕyê Azêb heard a report of the medical skill of King Solomon, and she determined to go to him so that he might restore her deformed heel to its original shape. She and her chief officer dressed their hair after the manner of men, and girded on swords, and departed to the Court of Solomon at Jerusalem. Her arrival was announced to Solomon, who ordered his servants to bring the King of Abyssinia into his presence, and as soon as her deformed foot touched the threshold it recovered its natural form. Solomon had bread, meat, and beer brought in and set before the two women who were disguised as men, but they ate and drank so little that Solomon suspected that his guests were women. When night fell he caused two beds to be made for his guests in his own bedroom, and he hung up in the room a skin with honey[comb] in it, and he pierced the skin and the honey dropped down into a bowl set there to catch it, and Solomon and his guests betook themselves to their beds.

At night the king was accustomed to keep vigil with his eyes closed, and to sleep with them half-open, and thus when the two women, who were longing to get off their beds and to go and drink honey from the bowl, saw him with his eyes half-open they thought that the king was awake, and they curbed their desire for the honey and lay still. After a time the king woke up and closed his eyes, but the women, thinking he was asleep, rose from their beds and went to the howl of honey and began to eat. By this Solomon knew that his two guests were women, and he got up and went with them to their beds and lay with both of them. When he left them he gave to each woman a silver staff and a ring, and he said, If the child be a girl let her take this staff and come to me, and if it be a boy let him take the ring and come to me; and each woman being with child returned to her own country. In due course each woman gave birth to a son, and each told her child that Solomon was his father. When the boys grew up their mothers sent them to Jerusalem, and the Queen of Sheba gave her son, who resembled Solomon in every way, a mirror which she had brought when she visited Solomon, and told him to go with it to the king, who would hide from him, and not to speak to any other man who might be sitting on his throne. When the two youths arrived in Jerusalem and Solomon knew that they claimed to be his sons, he gave orders for them to wait for an interview, and kept them waiting for three years.

At the close of the third year he arrayed a friend in his royal robes, and seated him upon his throne, whilst he dressed himself in rags and went and sat in a stable, and then ordered the two young men to be admitted to the presence. When the young men entered the throne room the son of the Queen of Sheba’s minister grasped the hand of the man on the throne, who personified Solomon, thinking that he was the king, but the son of the Queen of Sheba, who was called “Menyelek,” stood upright and made no obeisance, and when he looked in the mirror which his mother had given him, and saw that the features of the occupant of the throne were entirely different from his own, he knew that he was not standing in the presence of Solomon. Then he turned about in all directions and looked at all the faces that were round about him, and found none resembling his own; after a time he looked up and saw Solomon gazing at him from the stable, and he knew him at once, and went to the stable and did homage to him as king. And Solomon said, “My true son! The other is also my son, but he is a fool.” Menyelek then took up his abode in Jerusalem and assisted Solomon in ruling the kingdom, but after a time the people found that father and son did not always agree in their judicial decisions, and they became dissatisfied. On one occasion in the case of a trespass of cattle the king decided that the owner of the field might confiscate the cattle which had trespassed, but Menyelek ordered him to accept six measures of grain instead of confiscating the cattle.

Thereupon the people told the king that they would not be ruled by two chiefs, and that he must send his son back to his native country. When Solomon told his son of the people’s complaint Menyelek advised his father to say to them, Is not Menyelek my first-born son? I will send him away if you will sent your firstborn sons with him; and the people agreed to send their first-born sons to Abyssinia with Menyelek. When Solomon was arranging for Menyelek’s departure he told him to take the Ark of Michael with him, but Menyelek, believing the Ark of Mary to be of greater importance, changed the covers of the two Arks, and took with him the Ark of Mary. A few days after the departure of Menyelek a storm visited Jerusalem, and Solomon told his servants to find out if the Ark of Mary was in its place, presumably with the idea of securing its protection against the storm. His servants went and looked and, seeing an Ark with the cover of Mary’s Ark upon it, assumed that it was the Ark of Mary, and reported to Solomon that the Ark of Mary was in its place. He then told them to take off the cover, and when they had done so they found that the Ark was Michael’s, and though Solomon sent a messenger after Menyelek to bring back the Ark of Mary, his son refused to give it up. Meanwhile Menyelek and his party went on their way, and when they arrived at Ḳayĕḥ Kôr, a deacon who was carrying the Ark of Mary died, and was buried there. After the burial they wished to resume their journey, but the Ark of Mary refused to move.

They then dug up the deacon’s body, and laid it in a coffin, and buried it again, but still the Ark refused to move, and when Menyelek again ordered them to dig up the body, they found a finger of the deacon outside the coffin. When they had placed the deacon’s finger in the coffin with the rest of his body, the Ark of Mary allowed itself to be moved, and Menyelek and his companions went on their way. In due course they came to Tegrây and arrived in Aksûm, where they found Satan building a house to fight against God. When they told him that the Ark of Mary had come he stopped building, threw down what he had built, and went away; and the stones which he had collected were used by Menyelek in building a church to hold the Ark of Mary. One very large stone, which Satan was carrying to his building when the news came of the arrival of the Ark of Mary, was dropped by him at once, and at the present day that stone stands on the same spot on which he dropped it.

The book opens with an interpretation and explanation of the Three Hundred and Eighteen Orthodox Fathers concerning the children of Adam, and the statement that the Trinity lived in Zion, the Tabernacle of the Law of God, which God made in the fortress of His holiness before He made anything else. The Trinity agreed to make man in God’s image, and the Son agreed to put on the flesh of Adam; man was made to take the place of Satan and to praise God. In due course Christ, the second Adam, was born of the flesh of Mary the Virgin, the Second Zion (Chap. 1).

In Chap. 2 Isaac, the translator of the Ethiopic text, next quotes Gregory the Illuminator, the son of Anag, a native of Balkh, who was born about 257 A.D. and died about 330. Whilst Gregory was suffering the tortures inflicted upon him by Tiridates III he pondered on the question, Of what doth the glory of kings consist? In the end he came to the conclusion that Adam’s kingship bestowed upon him by God was greater than that of any of the Kings of Armenia.

Chaps. 3–6 deal with the birth of Cain and Abel; the face of Cain was sullen and that of Abel good-tempered, and Adam made Abel his heir because of his pleasing countenance. Cain and Abel had twin sisters. Cain’s sister Lĕbhûdhâ had a good-tempered face, and Adam gave her in marriage to Abel; Abel’s sister Ḳalîmath had a sullen face like Cain, and Adam gave her in marriage to Cain.[22] Moved by Satan to envy, and filled with wrath against Adam for taking his twin sister from him, Cain rose up and slew Abel. Adam was consoled for Abel’s death by the birth of Seth. The descendants of Cain were wicked men, and neglected God, and passed their time in singing lewd songs to stringed instruments and pipes, and they lived lawless and abominable lives. Isaac credits them with having produced the mule, and condemns the crossing of mares with asses. In the tenth generation from Adam Noah lived, and he refused to deal in any way with the children of Cain, whose arrogance, pride, fraud, deceit, and uncleanness cried aloud to heaven. At length God sent the Flood, which destroyed everything on the earth except Eight Souls, and seven of every clean beast, and two of every unclean beast (Chap. 8). God made a covenant with Noah not to destroy the earth again by a flood, and when Noah died Shem succeeded him (Chaps. 9 and 10). In Chap. 11 we have another declaration by the 318 Orthodox Fathers that:

The seven sons of Canaan, who were the sons of Ham, seized seven cities that belonged to Shem’s children, but eventually had to relinquish them. The nations seized by Canaan’s sons were the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Jebusites, the Girgasites. In the days of Terah men made magical images, and placed on the tombs of their fathers statues, out of which devils spake and commanded them to offer up their sons and daughters as sacrifices to “filthy devils” (Chap. 12). Torah’s son Abraham, having proved for himself the powerlessness of idols, smashed the idols which his father sent him to sell, and then called upon the Creator of the Universe to be his God. A chariot of fire appeared (Chap. 13) and with it God, Who made a covenant with him, and told him to depart to another country. Abraham took his wife, and departed to Salem, where he reigned in righteousness according to God’s command. He had a bodyguard of eighteen[23] stalwart men who wore crowns and belts of gold, and gold-embroidered tunics.

Isaac and Jacob pleased God in their lives (Chap. ii), but Reuben transgressed and the succession passed from him (Chap. 16); under the curse of Jacob, with whose concubine Bilhah Reuben had lain, the children of Reuben became leprous and scabby.