Editing Kebra Nagast (section)

== Summary of contents ==
The ''Kebra Nagast'' is divided into 117 chapters, and is clearly a composite work;{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}} Ullendorff describes its narrative as "a gigantic conflation of legendary cycles".{{Sfn|Ullendorff|1968|p=141}} This account draws much of its material from the Hebrew Bible and the author spends most of these pages recounting tales and relating them to other historical events. The document is presented in the form of a debate by the 318 "orthodox fathers" of the [[First Council of Nicaea]].

=== Opening (chapters 1–20)===
These fathers pose the question, "Of what doth the Glory of Kings consist?" One Gregory answers with a speech (chapters 3–17) which ends with the statement that a copy of the Glory of God was made by [[Moses]] and kept in the Ark of the Covenant. After this, the archbishop Dĕmâtĕyôs{{efn|Identified in ch. 14 as "Archbishop of Rôm" (i.e. [[Constantinople]]), and in ch. 94 as of Antioch. This person might be identified with Patriarch [[Domnus II of Antioch]], who was deposed at the [[Second Council of Ephesus]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}} E. A. Wallis Budge transliterates his name as "Domitius" in his first edition ({{harvnb|Budge|1922|p=14}}) and "Timotheus" in his second edition ({{harvnb|Budge|1932|ps=, ch. 14}}).}} reads from a book he had found in the church of "Sophia", which introduces what Hubbard calls "the centerpiece" of this work, the story of Makeda (better known as the Queen of Sheba), King Solomon, Menelik I, and how the Ark came to Ethiopia (chapters 19–94). Although the author of the final redaction identified this Gregory with [[Gregory Thaumaturgus]], who lived in the 3rd century before this Council, the time and the allusion to Gregory's imprisonment for 15 years by the king of Armenia make [[Gregory the Illuminator]] a better fit.{{efn|Hubbard notes that it is "a tendency common in Near Eastern writings to merge people of the same name". ({{harvnb|Hubbard|1956|p=253}})}}

=== The Queen of Sheba and Menelik (chapters 21–95)===
Queen Makeda learns from Tamrin, a merchant based in her kingdom, about the wisdom of King Solomon, and travels to Jerusalem to visit him. She is enthralled by his display of learning and knowledge, and declares "From this moment I will not [[solar deity|worship the sun]], but will worship the Creator of the sun, the God of Israel" (chapter 28). The night before she begins her journey home, Solomon tricks her into sleeping with him, giving her a ring so their child may identify himself to Solomon. Following her departure, Solomon has a dream in which the sun leaves Israel (chapter 30).

On the journey home, she gives birth to Menelik in Bala Zädisareya (chapter 32).

At 22, Menelik travels to Jerusalem through [[Gaza City|Gaza]], seeking Solomon's blessing, and identifies himself to his father with the ring. Overjoyed by this reunion, Solomon tries to convince Menelik to stay and succeed him as king, but Menelik insists on returning to his mother in Ethiopia. King Solomon then settled for sending home with him a company formed from the first-born sons of the elders of his kingdom. This company of young men, upset over leaving Jerusalem, smuggled the [[Ark of the Covenant]] from [[Solomon's Temple]] and out of the kingdom (chapters 45–48) without Menelik's knowledge. He had asked Solomon only for a single tassel from the [[tekhelet]]-coloured travel cloth covering the Ark, and Solomon had given him the entire thing.

During the journey home, Menelik learns the Ark is with him, and Solomon discovers it is gone from his kingdom. The king attempts to pursue Menelik, but through the Ark's mysterious power, his son, with his entire entourage, is miraculously flown home to Ethiopia before Solomon can leave his kingdom. King Solomon then turns to solace from his wife, the [[Pharaoh's daughter (wife of Solomon)|daughter of the Pharaoh]], and she seduces him into worshiping the idols of her land (chapter 64).

==== Stories of Kings ====
After a question from the 318 bishops of the Council, Domitius continues with a paraphrase of Biblical history (chapters 66–83). Specifically, he focuses on the central element of lineage and royal bloodlines that were prevalent then. He discusses the [[Inbreeding|intermixing of the royal families]] to preserve their power and ensure their bloodline survives. He does this by using each chapter to describe a specific family line, such as discussing the family tree of Constantine (chapters 72-73) or to describe two separate seeds of Shem (chapters 74-75). In chapter 90, we see a heavy emphasis on God's law and the rules he sets forth for his believers to follow, which he presents by choosing the house of Jacob to reign as kings and spread God's message. The author then describes Menelik's arrival at Axum, where he is feasted, and Makeda abdicates the throne in his favour. Menelik then engages in a series of military campaigns with the Ark, and "no man conquered him, on the contrary, whosoever attacked him was conquered" (chapter 94). After chapter 94, the author takes a step back and describes a more global view of what he had been describing in previous chapters.

=== Prophecies (chapters 96–117)===
After praising the king of Ethiopia, the king of Egypt, and the book Domitius was found, which has established not only Ethiopia's possession of the true Ark of the Covenant, but that the Solomonic dynasty is descended from the first-born son of Solomon (chapter 95). Gregory then delivers an extended speech with prophetic elements (chapters 95–112), forming what Hubbard calls a "Patristic collection of Prophecies": "There can be little doubt that chapters 102–115 are written as polemic against, if not an evangel to, the Jews. These chapters seek to prove by Old Testament allegories and proof-texts the Messianic purpose of Jesus, the validity of the Ethiopian forms of worship, and the spiritual supremacy of Ethiopia over Israel".{{Sfn|Hubbard|1956|p=39}} Hubbard further speculates that this selection from the Old Testament might be as old as [[Saint Frumentius|Frumentius]], who had converted the Kingdom of Axum to Christianity.{{Sfn|Hubbard|1956|p=44}}

The ''Kebra Nagast'' concludes with a final prophecy that the power of Rome will be eclipsed by the power of Ethiopia, and describes how king [[Kaleb of Axum]] will subdue the Jews living in [[Najran]], and make his younger son [[Gabra Masqal]] his heir (chapter 117).