Kebra Nagast
Also known as: The Glory of Kings, Kebra Negest, Kebra Nagast: The Glory of the Kings, Kebra Nagast (Ge’ez)
A 14th-century Ge’ez chronicle legitimizing Ethiopia’s Solomonic dynasty. It narrates the union of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, the birth of Menelik I, and the translation of the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia as the divine seal of kingship.
Description
The Kebra Nagast (“Glory of Kings”) is the Ethiopian national epic and royal chronicle, redacted in Ge’ez in the early 14th century. Blending narrative, homily, genealogy, and apologia, it recounts Makeda’s pilgrimage to Solomon, their son Menelik’s recognition in Jerusalem, and the Ark of the Covenant’s translation to Axum under angelic sanction. The work maps Israel’s sacred history onto Ethiopian destiny, establishing a theology of kingship in which Zion—embodied by the Ark (tabot)—chooses Ethiopia. Extensive biblical citations, patristic excerpts, and lists of ancestral rulers frame a charter myth for the Solomonic line and for the Ethiopian Church’s liturgical veneration of the tabot.
Historiography
Surviving in numerous Ge’ez manuscripts, the Kebra Nagast shows layered composition, likely from an Arabic Vorlage and earlier Coptic/Greek and Hebrew materials. Its definitive redaction is often placed in the reigns surrounding the Solomonic restoration (14th c.). E.A.W. Budge’s 1922 English translation popularized the text in the West, though philological work since has refined readings. The chronicle shaped Ethiopian royal ideology and ecclesial identity, with later chronicles and legal texts dialoguing with its claims.
Date Notes
Compiled in Ge’ez, drawing on biblical, patristic, and Near Eastern materials; traditional attribution ties redaction to the early Solomonic restoration period.
Archetypes
Major Characters
- Menelik I
- King Solomon
- Queen of Sheba
- Zadok
- Azariah
Myths
- Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
- Birth of Menelik
- Translation of the Ark to Ethiopia
- The Solomonic Dynasty’s Covenant
Facts
- Composed in Ge’ez and redacted in the early 14th century CE.
- Frames Ethiopian kings as direct heirs of Solomon through Menelik I.
- Central claim: the Ark of the Covenant was divinely translated to Ethiopia.
- Combines narrative, homily, genealogy, and political theology.
- Draws on biblical, patristic, and Near Eastern source strata, likely via an Arabic Vorlage.
- Served as ideological cornerstone for the Solomonic dynasty and Ethiopian Church.
- Traditionally counted at roughly 117 chapters in manuscript divisions.
- Popularized in English by E.A.W. Budge’s 1922 translation.
- Influenced later Ethiopian royal chronicles and legal-religious discourse.
- Liturgical practice around tabot replicas reflects its Ark theology.