Preface

...shrine, even though the “belly of a ship” is mentioned in connection with it. In several chapters of the Kebra Nagast original: "KEBRA NAGAST"; the "Glory of Kings," Ethiopia's national epic, the “chariot of the Tabernacle of the Law” The Ark of the Covenant is mentioned. This fact suggests that in later times, at least, the sacred box was equipped with a carriage or a sledge for transport.

History is silent regarding where the Tabernacle of the Law was finally placed. However, Ethiopian tradition asserts that it survived all the troubles and disasters that fell upon the Ethiopians original: "Abyssinians" during their wars with the Muslims, and that it was preserved at Aksum original: "Akṣûm," the ancient capital of the Ethiopian Empire until relatively recent times.

In the short introduction that follows, I have provided a sketch of the literary history of the Kebra Nagast, including references to the scholars who have studied it. I have also prepared a summary of its contents in a narrative form, which I hope will be useful to the reader. A full discussion of every portion of the work—including the original texts of the sources used and quoted by Isaac the Scribe The traditional compiler of the work—would fill another entire volume. Unfortunately, the current costs of printing, paper, and binding are so high that the plan to produce such a book had to be abandoned.

I have added a translation of an Arabic text describing how the Kingdom of David was transferred from Jerusalem to Ethiopia, as this interesting document is practically unknown in England. The illustrations of events described in the Old and New Testaments included in this book are taken from Ethiopian manuscripts original: "Ethiopic MSS." in the British Museum. These images show, as nothing else can, the religious beliefs and traditions of the Ethiopians. At the same time, they serve as examples of the drawings and designs with which they illustrated their manuscripts. Nearly all of these illustrations depict scriptural events described or referred to in the Kebra Nagast.