Menelik I
Amhara–Tigrinya highland folk religion · mortal · Amhara–Tigrinya highland folk religion traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Menelik I, called Bayna Lehkem or Ebna Hakim, 'son of the wise man', is in the Kebra Nagast the son of Solomon and Makeda and the first king of Christian Ethiopia. Journeying to Jerusalem to be recognised by his father, he is anointed and sent home; but the eldest sons of Israel's elders, unwilling to leave the divine presence, spirit the tabot of Zion out of the Temple and bear it with them to Aksum, where in highland belief it abides to this day. As the reputed founder of the Solomonic line, Menelik anchors the sacred genealogy that legitimated Ethiopian kingship for six centuries.
Parentage
- parent: SolomonKebra Nagast, chapters 32–34; trans. Budge (1922). (primary)
- parent: MakedaKebra Nagast, chapters 32–34; trans. Budge (1922). (primary)
Domains
- sovereignty
- sacred guardianship
Powers
- carries the Ark of Zion to Ethiopia
Epithets
- እብነ ሐኪም — son of the wise manKebra Nagast; trans. Budge (1922). (primary)
Relations
- parent: SolomonKebra Nagast, chapters 32–34; trans. Budge (1922). (primary)
- parent: MakedaKebra Nagast, chapters 32–34; trans. Budge (1922). (primary)
Sources
- Menelik I, son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, is anointed first king of Ethiopia and brings the Ark of the Covenant to Aksum in the Kebra Nagast.: E. A. Wallis Budge (trans.), The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek (Kebra Nagast) (London: Oxford University Press, 1922), chs. 32–58. (primary); Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, s.v. 'Mǝnilǝk I' (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2007). (secondary)