Traditions: Jewish biblical; Ethiopian Christian royal tradition Motif: Queen’s visit to Solomon develops into a dynastic origin story Connection verdict: Documented Ethiopian reworking of a biblical encounter Article status: Expanded Date: 2026-10-25
Summary
First Kings briefly recounts a queen of Sheba visiting Solomon to test his wisdom. The Ethiopic Kebra Nagast expands that encounter into a story of Makeda, their son Menelik, and Ethiopian sacred kingship. The later work openly reuses a biblical figure; its royal and ark traditions are meaningful claims of Ethiopian Christian history and identity, not facts that can be read back into 1 Kings.
The visit in 1 Kings
In 1 Kings 10:1–13, the queen hears of Solomon, comes with difficult questions and rich gifts, and praises his wisdom and the God who placed him on the throne. The passage does not name her. It does not report a child born from their meeting or say that Israel’s ark travels to Ethiopia. Its role is to display Solomon’s international reputation within the biblical account of his reign.
The Ethiopian epic
The Kebra Nagast, accessible here in an older English translation, develops the queen as Makeda. Her encounter with Solomon leads to Menelik and to a narrative about the ark’s movement to Ethiopia. These elements help connect Ethiopian royal legitimacy and sacred history with biblical Israel. A later nation-building and religious text is doing more than filling a few narrative gaps; it is constructing an origin and authority for a community.
Reuse is clear; historicity is another question
The shared queen and Solomon make intentional reuse secure. It is equally important to mark which details belong to which witness. “The Bible says Makeda took the ark” is false. “The Kebra Nagast is irrelevant because 1 Kings is shorter” ignores the later story’s importance to Ethiopian tradition. Whether its dynastic or ark claims correspond to recoverable ancient events requires independent evidence; their presence in a medieval text does not prove them historically.
A conversation worth having
The comparison asks how communities place themselves within inherited stories. Readers can respect Ethiopian claims as living cultural and religious memory while distinguishing the history of a text from proof of every event it narrates.
Sources and reading notes
- 1 Kings 10:1–13, Sefaria — unnamed queen’s visit and Solomon’s wisdom.
- Kebra Nagast, Wikisource — older English translation of Ethiopian royal epic.
Research limit
The later literary relationship is clear. Establishing the date, sources, and historicity of the epic’s dynastic and ark claims needs specialized Ethiopian historical study.