Menelik I: Difference between revisions

'''Menelik I''' ([[Ge'ez]]: ምኒልክ, ''Mənilək'') was the claimedlegendary first [[Emperor of Ethiopia]]. According to [[Kebra Nagast]], a 14th-century national epic, in the [[10th century BC]] he is said to have inaugurated the [[Solomonic dynasty]] of Ethiopia, so named because Menelik I was the son of the [[biblical]] [[Solomon|King Solomon]] of [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|ancient Israel]] and of [[Makeda]], the [[Queen of Sheba]].<ref>Marrassini, Paolo. 2007. "Kəbrä Nägäśt." In Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: He-N: Vol. 3, edited by Siegbert Uhlig, 364-368. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.</ref><ref>[[Fiaccadori, Gianfranco]]. 2007. "Mənilək I." In Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: He-N: Vol. 3, edited by Siegbert Uhlig, 921-922. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.</ref>

According to the medieval Ethiopian book, the ''[[Kebra Nagast]],'' translatedwritten intoin [[Geʽez]] in [[1321|1321 CE]],<ref>Bezold, Carl. 1905. Kibra negest , die Kerrlichkeit der Könige: Nach den Handschriften in Berlin, London, Oxford und Paris. München: K.B. Akademie der Wissenschaften.</ref><ref>Anonymous. 1932. The Queen of Sheba and Her Only son Menyelek ... A Complete Translation of the Kebra Nagast. Translated by E. A. Wallis Budge. 2nd ed. London: Oxford University Press.</ref><ref>Hubbard, David Allan. 1957. "The Literary Sources of the Kebra Nagast."PhD diss, University of St. Andrews.</ref> his name was ''Bäynä Ləḥkəm'' (from {{lang-ar|ابن الحكيم}}, {{transl|ar|ALA|Ibn Al-Hakim}}, "So''nson of the Wise.wise"<ref>The name "Menelik" is [[Amharic]] (a [[Semitic language]] spoken in Ethiopia) in origin, and has two meanings:[http://www.newKerala.com/baby-name/4260/menelik]

# "What will he send?"</ref>'')''.'' He was conceived when his father Solomon tricked his visiting mother, the Queen of Sheba, into sleeping with him. His mother raised him as a JewJewish in her homeland, and he only traveled to [[Jerusalem]] to meet his father for the first time when he was in his twenties. While his father begged Menelik to stay and rule over Israel, Menelik told him that he wanted to return home. Thus, Solomon sent many Israelites with him, to aid him in ruling according to biblical standards; which were aggrieved at being exiled forever. One recount is that King Solomon gave histhe [[Ark of the Covenant]] to his son as a gift, while another states that Menelik and his Israelite companions took the Ark with them; and Solomon attempedattempted to regain the ark but was unable to, due to its supernatural properties aiding Menelik. Upon the death of his mother, or upon her abdication in his favor, Menelik was crowned King of Ethiopia.

According to one Ethiopian tradition, Menelik was born at Mai-Bela near the village of Addi-ShmagaliShmagle, located north west of [[Asmara]],<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia (Volume 1)|first=E. A. Wallis|last=Budge|publisher=Methuen & Co.|location=London|year=1928|page=200}}</ref> which is now part ofin [[Eritrea]].

According to legend, Menelik I founded the [[Solomonic dynasty]] of Ethiopia that ruled Ethiopia with few interruptions for close to three thousand years. This ended 225 generations later, with the deposition of Emperor [[Haile Selassie]] in 1974. However, historicalHistorical records show that the Solomonic dynasty beganwas restored, based on the traditional narrative, in 1262 AD, when [[Yekuno Amlak]], who claimed descent from biblical Solomon and Sheba, overthrew the last ruler of the [[Zagwe dynasty]], dismissing them as not of "the house of Israel" (i.e., of Solomon).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pankhurst |first1=Richard |title=Fear God, Honor the King: The Use of Biblical Allusions in Ethiopian Historical Literature, Part I |journal=Northeast African Studies |date=1986 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=11–30 |jstor=43660191 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43660191 |access-date=12 June 2021}}</ref> and re-established the Solomonic Dynasty in 1270 AD.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zagwe-dynasty#ref184296|title=Zagwe dynasty &#124; Ethiopian history}}</ref> Acts 8:26–40 depicts a 1st century account of ana Ethiopianeunuch royalof official[[Kandake|Candace]], Queen of Ethiopians on a pilgrimage to [[Jerusalem]], fromencountering Ethiopia[[Philip the Apostle|Saint Philip]] in [[Samaria (ancient city)|Samaria]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%208&version=NIV|title=Acts 8 NIV - - Bible Gateway}}</ref>

2004 short documentary, ''Menelik I'', was filmed in Ethiopia. It tells the story of the son of the Queen of Sheba through tableau images and music.<ref>{{IMDb title|1370436qid=Q128789817|title=Menelik l}}, {{YouTube|id=UrGNWt_Gqrk|title=Menelik l}}</ref>

[[Category:10th-century BC rulersmonarchs]]