‘Son of the Wise’ back as Isaac Menelik to conjure up Ethiopia’s legendary legacy

On Graham’s Pretty Big Deal podcast, the Model and body positivity advocate Ashley Graham and daddy Justin Ervin introduced the name of Isaac Menelik Giovanni, to their newborn baby boy named by the first Ethiopian Emperor (Menelik-I) who was born on 18 Jan 2020 as a reminder of the legendary trip of Queen of Sheba of the ancient Aksumite Kingdom to King Solomon of Israel.

While spending Christmas in Ethiopia, the couple came across the moniker, which also means son of the wise. “Everything in his name is pointing to legacy,” said Ervin.

“My sister Kia and I would have discussions about, ‘Oh, one day, when we have kids,’ said Ervin, explaining, “I brainstormed my own name for my future son, and I knew it was going to be Isaac.” As you might imagine, the baby’s name wasn’t a spur of the moment’s decision.

Isaac’s biblical heritage was key, though Graham added she and her husband choose Menelik, which is African for “son of the wise.” The name was a souvenir of sorts from a trip to Ethiopia the couple took, on which they learned the country’s first emperor was named Menelik I.

“So everything in his name is pointing to legacy,” the new daddy beamed. Giovanni was suggested by a

friend, and also reflected the names ofhis and Graham’s grandfathers, who

were both named John — the Englishequivalent of that name.

Little Isaac was graced the cover of with his mom, though while still in utero,was

delivered naturally, at the couple’shome, the new parents also revealed, as

quoted by the Vogue UK.

Who was Menelik I( Son of the Wise)

The Old Testament archaeology appears to rest in ancient Ethiopian traditions,

inscriptions and documents concerning the Ark of the Covenant, the most

revered possession of the Hebrew people. The Bete Israel (“Black Jews of

Ethiopia”) and the Ethiopian Orthodox

Church believe the Ark was brought to Ethiopia in about 950 B.C. by Menelik,

son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. This booklet argues that the

story is true, indicated Dr. Bernard Lee man in his finding stitled the Ark of

the Covenant: Evidence Supporting the Ethiopian Traditions. The Hebrew Old Testament is silent on the fate of the Ark of the Covenant but the second century B.C. Second Book of Maccabees states it was hidden at Mt Nebo during the Babylonian invasion and destruction of 587-586 B.C.

Traditions from Arabia, where arkswere still being carried into battle in

the 1920’s A.D. [Grierson and Munro-Hay:176-194, 244a] say the Arabs captured it from the Israel ites in battle and it was flung on a dunghill [Parfitt

2008:213] The most detailed account ofwhat happened to the Ark is contained

in the Ge’ez (Ancient Ethiopic) epic Kebra Nagast (Glory of the Kings).

The Kebra Nagast was compiled in about A.D. 1314 in Aksum. It consists

of two intertwined main documents of roughly equal length and a short

conclusion. The earliest part is a totally Israelite (i.e. pre- 586 B.C.) document known as the Sheba-Menelik Cycle and appears to have been originally recorded in Solomon’s reign. The second part, the Caleb Cycle, was probably written in about A.D. 520 on the eve of the Christian

invasion of Jewish Yemen(Lee man,2009]. A thorough study of the literary

sources of the Kebra Nagast was undertaken in a 1956 doctoral thesis at St Andrew’s University Scotland by the late David Hubbard, who became

principal of Fuller Theological College in California. Hubbard agreed with

many earlier researchers that the Sheba-Menelik Cycle had been translated into Ge’ez from Arabic not from Coptic as the compilers claimed.

The legend of Queen Sheba as can be found in the Holy Bible, the Muslim

Qur’an described how the Queen of Sheba left her abode to visit King

Solomon in Jerusalem on account of what she heard about his wisdom and

great understanding. She came with so many questions to ask him and a lot of gifts of spices, gold and precious stones.

The queen was able to satisfy and confirm her curiosities and concluded

that she was told half of what she had seen with her own eyes. The remaining part of the text mentions her appreciation

of the God that King Solomon worships The queen then returned to her country,

(The Holy Bible- King James Version,Gideons International, 1977).

The Queen seemed to have gotten the story of King Solomon from a

messenger bird, referred variously as mountain-cock or hoopoe sent back to invite the queen to the court. She was

also said to be overwhelmed by what she saw and ended up being converted to the worship of Allah. The Arabian

legends have raised the queen’s descent from demons, her hairy legs, her goats hoof as a foot and possible marriage

with Solomon, (Mamman Musa Adamu,Mekelle University, 2009).

The legend of Queen Sheba and King Solomon is still revered as factual by

many Ethiopians and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido church. Modern

day Ethiopians believe her as the mother of their first emperor, Menelik

I and the ultimate maternal ancestor and progenitor of their long- ruling

Solomonic dynasty.

The church claims that it originated from the visit of the Queen of Sheba to

Solomon back in the 10th century (BC). The Ark is still kept at the Cathedral of Saint Mary’s church of Zion to this day,

in a special sanctuary chapel that only one guardian monk is permitted to enter. There is to date a ritualistic symbolism of carrying the Ark on the head in commemoration of how the Ark was

initially brought to Aksum by Menelik Iand his group. On holy days the priests

circle the cathedrals, carrying a talisman of the Ark on top of their head.

Similarly, the existence of a Jewish sect of an unknown origin but traced

to Menelik I, known as Bete Israel or Falashas in the region of Ethiopia north

of Lake Tana, is another testimony of the pervasiveness of the legend. Most of these Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel during the ‘Operation Moses’ in

1984 and ‘Operation Solomon’ in 1991,under the Israel’s law of return of 1950.More than 90,000 or over 85 percent

of them immigrated to Israel (http://www.wikepedia/ Beta Israel). It is to be noted, however, that the claims of these

people to their Jewish origin has been a controversial issue among different scholars, the Rabbis and scientists.

THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION FEBRUARY 16 / 2020

BY HAFTU GEBREZGABIHER