Ethiopia- Noah, Solomon, The Ark?

According to oral tradition, Ethiopia was settled by Ethiopic, the great-grandson of Noah. Ethiopic's son Aksumai, founded the capital of Axum (known as Sabea) and also a dynasty of rulers that lasted for up to 97 generations. The last and greatest monarch was the Queen of Sabea (better know to Westerners as the Queen of Sheba). She visited Solomon and then had his son, Menelik. At 22 Menelik spent time with Solomon, then took the Ark of the Covenant with him when returning to Ethiopia, and it is locked away in the Church of St Mary Zion in Axum. The Solomonic Dynasty founded by Menelik ruled Ethiopia until 1974 when it was overthrown in their revolution.

Most Ethiopians accept this version of events unquestioningly, but it has never been taken very seriously by Western historians.

But, there are more than 30 Old Testament references to Ethiopia (or Cush as it was known to the Hebrews). Moses is known to have married an Ethiopian woman (Numbers 12:1); while Genesis contains a reference to the Ghion River (what we now call the Blue Nile) which, it claims, 'compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia". In the book of Isaiah, we hear of the 'country ... beyond the rivers of Cush, who send ambassadors by sea, in papyrus skiffs over the waters ... a people tall and bronzed'; while in Zephaniah, the Lord speaks the following words: 'from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering', which suggests some sort of Jewish dispersal to Ethiopia.

As Ron and I read more about this country we will be serving in for awhile, we are beginning to see that it is filled with a rich history that will be interesting to learn about.