Sheba

More documents

Recommendations

Info

108 THE KEBRA NAGAST The Caleb Cycle of the Kebra Nagast is sometimes dated between the reign of the eastern Roman (Byzantine) emperor Justin I (A.D. 518-527) and before madness overcame Justin II (A.D. 571). The reasoning behind this is that the Caleb Cycle treats the death of the eastern Roman emperor Marcian (A.D. 457), last of the male imperial Theodosian line, as a consequence of his convening the Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451) that rejected Monophysitism. It refers to Justin I as a co-religionist, hence a Monophysite, but makes no mention of Justin II’s later years when his insanity had advanced to such a stage that he had himself wheeled round in a small cart so he could bite his subjects’ legs. If the Caleb Cycle had been written during or after this time, it would have used this madness as an example of the consequences of rejecting Monophysitism. However, references to both Justins and to Marcian come at the end of the Kebra Nagast in the same section as the fourteenth century monarch Amda Seyon. In addition, the references to Marcian and other issues are inaccurate, so it is probable that the whole of this late section was written in the early 1300s not in the 500s as is the rest of the Caleb Cycle. The Caleb Cycle speaks of the emperor Marcian as being vanquished by the Persians. The writer seems to have confused Marcian, who suffered no such fate, with a later ruler. During and after the Himyarite War the Byzantines were in frequent diplomatic contact with Aksum, but it seems the authors of the Kebra Nagast did not have access to pertinent records. The Caleb Cycle states Justin I and Caleb met before launching their campaigns against the Jewish movements in Armenia and in Himyar. Such a meeting never took place, and Justin’s name may have been confused with Julian, an envoy whom the Emperor Justinian (A.D. 527–565) dispatched to Aksum. The Caleb Cycle also confuses Justin’s Armenian campaign with the Persian campaign against the Jewish state of Mahoza. It is Mahoza that was linked to Yusuf’s rising in Himyar/Yemen. Justin’s campaign was in the region of modern Armenia and Georgia, where there were demographically insignificant isolated Jewish groups, including blacksmiths of African descent in Colchis, whose ancestors, according to Herodotus, had been exiled by the Assyrians. These Jewish groups do not seem to have led a major rebellion against the Byzantines. The confusion between Justin’s campaign and the Persian campaign must have been partly due to references to “Armenia,” whose boundaries once included much of modern Turkey and Iraq. Lastly, the Caleb Cycle only briefly refers to Caleb’s crusade against Jewish Himyar, although other highly detailed Monophysite accounts in Syriac exist. All this evidence points to the bulk of the Caleb Cycle being written at the
QUEEN OF SHEBA AND BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP 109 beginning of Caleb’s career - before the Himyarite War. The short account mentioning the war would therefore belong to the final chapters of the Kebra Nagast written in the early fourteenth century A.D. Before discussing the Himyarite war here is the content of the Caleb Cycle. The first part of the Caleb Cycle (chapters 1-21A of the Kebra Nagast) is set at the Ecumenical Church Council of Nicaea from 20 May to 19 June A.D. 325. Records indicate that around 300, mostly eastern church leaders, attended obeying the summons of Emperor Constantine. The Caleb Cycle gives the figure as 318 and states that Gregory the Illuminator explained the Aksumite worldview to the 318 church leaders. As mentioned, Gregory the Sun, or Illuminator, of Armenia, which became a Monophysite stronghold, did not attend the Council of Nicaea, but his son did and Gregory enthusiastically hailed his son’s report of the council’s decisions. It is not known whether Gregory’s son presented his father’s views at the council. If indeed he did so, they would not have resembled the argument presented in the Caleb Cycle. The Council of Nicaea was concerned with standardizing Christianity. Gregory, according to the Caleb Cycle, harangued the council about the divine destiny and glory of the Aksumite kings. That is why the Kebra Nagast (The Glory of the Kings) is so titled. The Caleb Cycle then proceeds to give a short history of the Old Testament, allocating a chapter each to Adam, Cain, and Abel, then from Seth through to Noah, the sin of Cain, the story of Noah, the Flood, the Covenant of Noah and the relationship between Zion and the Ark of the Covenant (chapters 3-10). The Caleb Cycle argues that the Ark of Noah is a symbol of the Ark of the Covenant, adding that God will keep faith with Israel if they obey His Law, and that likewise He will watch over the keepers of the Ark of the Covenant (Aksum). The 318 Church leaders then agree that the Ark of the Covenant was the first of God’s creations, and that it also represented the Virgin Mary (chapters 10 and 11). The narrative continues with a chapter each given to the apostasy of Canaan, Abraham’s rejection of idolatry, his Covenant with God, the story of Isaac and Jacob, Rueben, the Glory of Zion, and the construction of the Ark of the Covenant (chapters 12-17). The 318 church leaders (chapter 18) agree again to everything in the previous chapters, and then they discuss the discovery of the <strong>Sheba</strong>-Menelik Cycle (chapter 19). Discussion of the division of the earth between the kings of Rome and Ethiopia then follows (chapter 20).
Page 1 and 2:
Queen of Sheba and Biblical Scholar
Page 3 and 4:
QUEEN OF SHEBA AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
Page 5 and 6:
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
CHAPTER ONE Sheba, Zionism, and the
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
CHAPTER TWO The Search for Evidence
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
CHAPTER THREE Writing the Old Testa
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Page 59 and 60:
Page 61 and 62:
Page 63 and 64:
Page 65 and 66:
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72: QUEEN OF SHEBA AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
Page 121: QUEEN OF SHEBA AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
Page 133 and 134: CHAPTER SIX Western Arabia and the
Page 155 and 156: MAP 8 Arabic Dialects of Western Ar
Page 173 and 174:
Page 175 and 176:
Page 177 and 178:
Page 179 and 180:
Page 181 and 182:
Page 183 and 184:
Page 185 and 186:
Page 187 and 188:
Page 189 and 190:
Page 191 and 192:
Page 193 and 194:
Page 195 and 196:
Page 197 and 198:
Page 199 and 200:
Page 201 and 202:
Page 203 and 204:
Page 205 and 206:
Page 207 and 208:
Page 209 and 210:
Page 211 and 212:
Page 213 and 214:
Page 215 and 216:
Page 217 and 218:
Page 219 and 220:
Page 221 and 222:
Page 223 and 224:
Page 225 and 226:
Page 227 and 228:
Page 229 and 230:
Page 231 and 232:
Page 233 and 234:
Page 235 and 236:
Page 237 and 238:
Page 239 and 240:
Page 241 and 242:
Page 243 and 244:
Page 245 and 246:
Page 247 and 248:
Page 249 and 250:
Page 251 and 252:
Page 253 and 254:
Page 255 and 256:
Page 257 and 258:
Page 259 and 260:
Page 261 and 262:
Page 263 and 264:
Page 265 and 266:
Page 267 and 268:
show all

Sheba

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?