The Savannah morning news., 1903-10-04
KING MEKELIK COMES
OF NOBLE LINE
His Descent Dates Back to King Solomon-The
Queen of Sheba Was His Maternal Ancestor

erless the source of great modification
to her and the priests, sorcerers and
surgeons of the country could do moth
ing for her. Almost incredible stories
of the learning and wisdom of Solo
mon, King of Israel, having spread over
the earth, Queen Maqurda determined
to go to him in hopes that he could sug-
gest some remedy. In order that he
should not know1her rank she disguised
herself as a pilgrim and secretly made
the journey to Jerusalem, attended only
by one of her ministers, who was a rel
ative and a faithful friend. But Solo,
mon was not deceived. In her intelli-
gence and bearing he promptly detect
ed the manners and culture of high
rank. She was compelled to confess
her secret and take the great king into
her confidence. 1t was wei she did, for
he Immediately called his surgeons, who
cured her deforn1ity and gave her a new
pair of legs and feet like those Worn
by other women. Then comes the love
story. Although at that very moment
there were several hundred of the most
beautiful women in the world in his
harem offering him their attractions,
Solomon declared that there was no one
on earth to compare with the Queen
of ETHIOPIA. She yielded to his en-
treaties, accepted his religion and be-
came his wife, as l have already de-
scribed.
If we accept the theory of the inspi-
ration of the Bible or the accuracy of
the historical narratives it contains, we
are compelled to reject this romantic
story, for chapter nine of the Second
Book of Chronicles tells us that when
the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame
of Solomon she came TO prove Solomon
with hard questions at Jerusalem with
a very great company, and Solomon
told her all her questions. and there
was nothing hid from Solomon which
he told her not" and king Solomon
gave to the Queen of Sheba all her de-
sire whatsoever she asked, beside that
which she had brought unto the king.
So she turned and went away to her
own land. she and her servants" But
before going she said to the king; 1T
was a true report which | heard in
mine own land of thine, acts and OF
thy wisdom. Howbeit, 1 believed not
their word until came, and mine eyes
had seen: and behold the one-half of
the greatness of thy wisdom was not
told me: for thou exceeded the fame
that 1 heard"
These are broad expressions and
leave plenty of room for details, which
may be supplied by the imagination or
the traditions of Abyssinia. No event
in all the thousands of years covered
country is considered of greater inn
portance, or has been the subject of
more comment-not even the time,
when, forty years ago, the Abyssinians
drove the British from their valleys
and mountains, or when, only a few
years ago, the flower of the Italian
army fell under the nurderous fire of
the soldiers of King Menelek. He has
successfully defended his country
taxy IF fbroa oixriIizAd
nations; no people have a nobler rec
ord of bravery and patriotism: none
can trace their ancestry back to so re-
mote period; no land in all the earth
can boast of such an unbroken line
of kings and unchanged boundaries for
so many centuries as Abyssinia.
In Abyssinian literature there are
several other versions of the visit of
Queen Maqurda to Jerusalem, and
they are all of great interest and
full of poetic and romantic situations.
One of them confirms the Bible story
more closely than that which / have
related. 1t says that the queen made
the journey in seven months, travelling
with an enormous train of camels and
horses, and a large military escort,
and arrived in Jerusalem about the
time Solomon was celebrating the
completion of his temple. She made
nificent banquet, when not only King
Solomon, but every other man pres
ent was Immediately fascinated by her
beauty, and graces. But Maqurda
came on business, and not to make
love. She was not an inquisitive
women, but had been perplexed with
several important questions involving
her administrative policy and the well
fare of her subjects. Hearing of the
xxrt- Of he Of
Jerusalem, she made the long jour-
ney to seek his advice and counsel.
Solomon received her with appropriate
honors and listened attentively as she
related her troubles. His wise adj
vice was accepted with respect and
gratitude, which soon ripened into
live, and before her return to her own
country she bore him a son. AS she
was leaving Jerusalem Solomon pre-
scented her with a ring which was to
be placed upon the finger of the boy
when he was crowned King of Ethio-
pia, It was talisman which
would give him wisdom whenever he
found himself in doubt or perplexity.
The mother and boy returned to their
own country, and the latter, who AFT
erward assembled the throne of Abyss
sinia under the title of Menelek l.,
inherited and displayed much of the
sagacity of his eminent father.
Another story tells us that after the
fall of Jerusalem the ark of the cove
nant, containing the original tablets
inscribed with the Ten Command
ments given by God to Moses on
Mount Sinai, were entrusted by the
Levites to the care of Menelek, the
son OF Solomon. For the protection
of the ark, he built great tabernacle
at Axsum, the sacred city of Abys-
sinia, and the people of that country
claim that the ark and its contents
remain there until this day.
There are several other stories of
similar purport. Nearly all the liter
AZURE of Abyssinia contains some ref
erence more or less direct to these
traditions.
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