The Kebra Nagast

The Kebra Nagast is an ancient text, detailing the relationship between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba; this work examines these legends, and how they correspond with Ethiopian folklore and the Holy Bible.

Written by Ethiopian scholar Is'haq Neburä -Id in the 14th century, the Kebra Nagast is a complete narration of the meeting and relationship between the ancient King Solomon and the Ethiopian Queen named Sheba. Drawing heavily upon the Biblical lore, the Kebra Nagast includes further detail upon pertinent topics; other ancient monarchs, prophetic visions, and the culture of the court of Ethiopia. The final chapters allude to the birth, life and death by crucifixion of Jesus Christ, with foreshadowings to these momentous events also present earlier in the Kebra Nagast.

This book is an informed and heavily detailed treatise by academic, archaeologist and scholar of antiquity E. A. Wallis Budge, who acts as both translator and annotator. Imbuing his narration with the knowledge he had gained from several decades of excavations, researches and learning, we are treated to an intense and detailed translation of each chapter. Some thirty-one illustrations accompany the text; they belong to the British Museum’s Madalâ Collection of aged Ethiopian artworks.