XXXIII
Menelik I
IBNA HAKIM, the son of the wise man, Solomon, who had adopted the throne name, Menelik I, was anointed by the Jewish high priest, Azariah, before the Ark after his mother, Makeda, died at the age of 60.
During his reign, he patterned his government and set policies, which were similar to those of the Hebrews, and he appointed Twelve Judges, according to the number of tribes of Israel.
Azariah drew up a code of laws and regulations based directly on the laws of Moses and tradition says that this code was the source of all subsequent legal decisions and ordinances,
Menelik I tried to legislate in every way like his father, Solomon, and his grandfather, David. He also adopted many of the engineering techniques of his Israeli friend, Adoniram, in building dams in the highlands where he stored water to irrigate the land in the dry season just as he did in Marib in the Arabian Saba.
He married a Hebrew woman and they had a son, named Thomas. He was to be the second emperor of the Ark.
In 930 B.C., he died at age 50 after reigning for 24 years.
IN 1904, the tomb of Menelik I was found in a large stone mausoleum in Ethiopia. The coffin contained the body of a king still wearing his golden crown. The crown was carefully removed and was placed with the crowns of other Ethiopian kings in St. Mary of Zion Cathedral in Aksum, the ancient capital. It is also the place where the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle of the Lord God of Israel, had rested for nearly 3,000 years.
The 225th Emperor, Haile Selassie I -- the Power of the Trinity -- and Tafari Makkonen before he took the throne name rode up to the gates of Aksum on his horse during his coronation celebrations in the 1930s where he cut a symbolic cord and, like those many kings before him, declared, "I am the son of David and Solomon, and Ibna Hakim."
(End of Part I of The Glory of The King)
Monday, February 12, 2007
The Death of Solomon
XXXII
The Death of Solomon
AT AGE 60, Solomon lost his will to live. The Ark was gone and so was his wisdom the God of Israel had given him.
The Angel of Death hovered over his bed.
"O Lord God of Israel, I'm conquered by the terrestrial law," he cried. "Please, have mercy on me and remember the covenant you made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Have mercy on me, for the sake of David. O Master of the world and of kings and of governors have mercy on me."
Tears streams down his face and he tried to dry them.
The Angel of Death reminded Solomon that his anguish was caused by marrying alien women and taking the Law of God lightly, and believing he would sire many male offspring.
"He has only given you three sons," said the Angel, whose name was Gabriel. "The one who carried your glory to Ethiopia, whom they call Ibna Hakim, then there's the little crippled one, Rehoboam, from the house of Judah and Adramis, who's the son of a Greek handmaiden."
Gabriel then touched Solomon on the foot and his health seemed to be restored.
Later, the king prayed, "I give thanks to the Lord, for he's looked on my affliction and didn't allow me to die in my grief."
He then told the court reporter to write down his final words, which were these:
"As a rsult of worshipping the strange gods of my wives, the spirit of God departed from me and from that day on my words became as idle talk., for she convinced me to build temples of idols. As a result I, wretched man that I am, carried out her advice and the glory of God completely departed from me. My spirit darkened and I became a laughing stock to the idols and demons. For the reason I have written out this, my testament, in order that those who hear might pray about, and pay attention to, the last things and not the first things."
Then Solomon ordered Zadok to anoint Rehoboam king, just like his father, David, had done while he was still alive.
The city was alive with celebrating as Rehoboam rode the king's mule through the streets, but before the son could return to his father, Solomon died.
Although Solomon had strictly ruled during the latter part of his reign, Rehoboam was a cruel and contemptible monarch and later the kingdom was divided in two -- Israel and Judah -- with Jeroboam picked by lot.
And then its people were scattered to the four winds of the earth, for the Glory of the King had vanished.
The Death of Solomon
AT AGE 60, Solomon lost his will to live. The Ark was gone and so was his wisdom the God of Israel had given him.
The Angel of Death hovered over his bed.
"O Lord God of Israel, I'm conquered by the terrestrial law," he cried. "Please, have mercy on me and remember the covenant you made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Have mercy on me, for the sake of David. O Master of the world and of kings and of governors have mercy on me."
Tears streams down his face and he tried to dry them.
The Angel of Death reminded Solomon that his anguish was caused by marrying alien women and taking the Law of God lightly, and believing he would sire many male offspring.
"He has only given you three sons," said the Angel, whose name was Gabriel. "The one who carried your glory to Ethiopia, whom they call Ibna Hakim, then there's the little crippled one, Rehoboam, from the house of Judah and Adramis, who's the son of a Greek handmaiden."
Gabriel then touched Solomon on the foot and his health seemed to be restored.
Later, the king prayed, "I give thanks to the Lord, for he's looked on my affliction and didn't allow me to die in my grief."
He then told the court reporter to write down his final words, which were these:
"As a rsult of worshipping the strange gods of my wives, the spirit of God departed from me and from that day on my words became as idle talk., for she convinced me to build temples of idols. As a result I, wretched man that I am, carried out her advice and the glory of God completely departed from me. My spirit darkened and I became a laughing stock to the idols and demons. For the reason I have written out this, my testament, in order that those who hear might pray about, and pay attention to, the last things and not the first things."
Then Solomon ordered Zadok to anoint Rehoboam king, just like his father, David, had done while he was still alive.
The city was alive with celebrating as Rehoboam rode the king's mule through the streets, but before the son could return to his father, Solomon died.
Although Solomon had strictly ruled during the latter part of his reign, Rehoboam was a cruel and contemptible monarch and later the kingdom was divided in two -- Israel and Judah -- with Jeroboam picked by lot.
And then its people were scattered to the four winds of the earth, for the Glory of the King had vanished.
The Pharoah's Daughter
XXXI
The Pharoah's Daughter
ONE OF his great loves, besides Makeda, was Makshara, the daughter of Pharoah and she brought him into the house he'd built where there were figures of the sun, moon and stars in the roof causing the rooms to be lighted brightly day and night.
The mansion's beams were made of bras and its roof of silver and its panels of lead and its walls of stones, red with black, and brown with white and green and its floor was of blacks of sapphire stone and sardius.
Makshara possessed certain idols which her father had given her and Solomon saw her sacrificing to them. He didn't rebuke her about idol worship and sorcery because God was angry with him and caused him to forget his wisdom.
She even talked some of the Israelites into joining her in worshipping her idols.
Even Solomon became excited with Makshara's folly.
"It's good to worship the gods like my father and all the kings of Egypt, who were before my father," she told Solomon with a sweet smile.
"They call gods the things which have been made by the hands of the worker in metal , and the carpenter and the potter and the painter. They're not gods, but the work of the hand of man, but we worship none else than the Holy God of Israel and our Lady, the holy and heavenly Zion, the Tabernacle of the Law of God, whom He gave us to worship and our seed after us."
Makshara shook her head.
"Your son took the Ark, didn't he?"
Solomon remained silent.
"Your son, you had with an alien woman which God hadn't commanded you to marry, and what's more she's an Ethiopian, who isn't of your color, and isn't from your country and, moreover, she's black."
Solomon, inwardly, trembled at her words, but he refused to bow down to her idols.
A month later, Makshara turned against the king, treating him disdainfully and refusing his advances.
"What do you want me to do?" moaned Solomon. "You've turned against me and I don't know what's the matter. Tell me and I'll do anything you ask."
"Do you mean it, you'll do anything I ask?" she said, slowly.
"Yes," he whispered.
"Makshara then tied a scarlet thread on the middle of the door of the shrine she'd made to her gods and brought three locusts and put them in the shrine.
"Here's what you have to do, Solomon, kill those three locusts within breaking the scarlet thread." He did as he was told.
"I'll have sex with you now because you've sacrificed to my gods by entering into this shrineto kill the locusts."
Solomon returned to his own quarters, and remembering how he had enticed Makeda into his bed through deception so long ago and now he was the one who had been duped.
In the night, a shadow fell across him and a voice thundered, "Why, Solomon did you marry alien women and sacrifice to their gods?"
From being the wisest man in the world, he had become a fool.
The Pharoah's Daughter
ONE OF his great loves, besides Makeda, was Makshara, the daughter of Pharoah and she brought him into the house he'd built where there were figures of the sun, moon and stars in the roof causing the rooms to be lighted brightly day and night.
The mansion's beams were made of bras and its roof of silver and its panels of lead and its walls of stones, red with black, and brown with white and green and its floor was of blacks of sapphire stone and sardius.
Makshara possessed certain idols which her father had given her and Solomon saw her sacrificing to them. He didn't rebuke her about idol worship and sorcery because God was angry with him and caused him to forget his wisdom.
She even talked some of the Israelites into joining her in worshipping her idols.
Even Solomon became excited with Makshara's folly.
"It's good to worship the gods like my father and all the kings of Egypt, who were before my father," she told Solomon with a sweet smile.
"They call gods the things which have been made by the hands of the worker in metal , and the carpenter and the potter and the painter. They're not gods, but the work of the hand of man, but we worship none else than the Holy God of Israel and our Lady, the holy and heavenly Zion, the Tabernacle of the Law of God, whom He gave us to worship and our seed after us."
Makshara shook her head.
"Your son took the Ark, didn't he?"
Solomon remained silent.
"Your son, you had with an alien woman which God hadn't commanded you to marry, and what's more she's an Ethiopian, who isn't of your color, and isn't from your country and, moreover, she's black."
Solomon, inwardly, trembled at her words, but he refused to bow down to her idols.
A month later, Makshara turned against the king, treating him disdainfully and refusing his advances.
"What do you want me to do?" moaned Solomon. "You've turned against me and I don't know what's the matter. Tell me and I'll do anything you ask."
"Do you mean it, you'll do anything I ask?" she said, slowly.
"Yes," he whispered.
"Makshara then tied a scarlet thread on the middle of the door of the shrine she'd made to her gods and brought three locusts and put them in the shrine.
"Here's what you have to do, Solomon, kill those three locusts within breaking the scarlet thread." He did as he was told.
"I'll have sex with you now because you've sacrificed to my gods by entering into this shrineto kill the locusts."
Solomon returned to his own quarters, and remembering how he had enticed Makeda into his bed through deception so long ago and now he was the one who had been duped.
In the night, a shadow fell across him and a voice thundered, "Why, Solomon did you marry alien women and sacrifice to their gods?"
From being the wisest man in the world, he had become a fool.
The Last Days of Solomon
XXX
The Last Days of Solomon
1. THEIR SECRET
AFTER SOLOMON realized his son, Ibna Hakim, and the young noblemen, including Zadok's son, Azariah, had stolen the Ark and taken it away to Ethiopia, he returned to Jerusalem from Egypt.
Both he and Zadok wept bitterly in the Temple and they remained silent for a long time.
However, his elders tried to comfort him.
"Don't be sorrowful concerning this," said Adoniram, his former cabinet minister for public works and now a court adviser, "for we know, from first to last, that without the will of God, the Ark won't dwell anywhere."
Adoniram thought of his first meeting with Tamrin, and being in the mountains of Lebanon with the now crippled Chief Merchant and ambassador for Makeda. "If only we'd never met, then maybe, just maybe, the Ark would still be with us," he thought to himself.
Out loud, however, he continued with his words of comfort, recalling how the Philistines once carried it away, only to send it back to Israel because it carried such destruction.
Maybe this would happen to the Ethiopians, he thought.
"For it's impossibe," he continued, "to carry the Ark away unless she wanted to and God wanted it.
"When your father, Solomon, reigned over Israel he took the Ark from the city of Samaria and brought the Ark here to Jerusalem, dancing on her feet before her, and clapping his hands because of the joy for her. And the reason she wrent to the Ethiopian capital was because God willed it and she willed it."
Solomon seemed to be resigned to Adoniram's words when he said: "If the Ark doesn't return it will be God's good pleasure.
Although, they all had wept bitter tears, Solomon ordered them to cease with the words, "Cease so that the uncircumised people won't boast and won't say, 'Their glory is taken away and God has forsaken them.' Don't tell anything to alien people."
Then he told them of a secret plan.
"Let's take the boards Azariah and his henchmen set up in the Temple when they stole our Lady, and decorate them and cover with gold and let's put the Book of the Law inside it."
He assured his leaders that God hadn't abandoned them because of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the later covenant with his father, David, and the one with himself.
Solomon lived for 11 years after the Ark was stolen and then his heart turned aside from the love of God and he forgot his wisdom,. through the excessive love of women.
The Last Days of Solomon
1. THEIR SECRET
AFTER SOLOMON realized his son, Ibna Hakim, and the young noblemen, including Zadok's son, Azariah, had stolen the Ark and taken it away to Ethiopia, he returned to Jerusalem from Egypt.
Both he and Zadok wept bitterly in the Temple and they remained silent for a long time.
However, his elders tried to comfort him.
"Don't be sorrowful concerning this," said Adoniram, his former cabinet minister for public works and now a court adviser, "for we know, from first to last, that without the will of God, the Ark won't dwell anywhere."
Adoniram thought of his first meeting with Tamrin, and being in the mountains of Lebanon with the now crippled Chief Merchant and ambassador for Makeda. "If only we'd never met, then maybe, just maybe, the Ark would still be with us," he thought to himself.
Out loud, however, he continued with his words of comfort, recalling how the Philistines once carried it away, only to send it back to Israel because it carried such destruction.
Maybe this would happen to the Ethiopians, he thought.
"For it's impossibe," he continued, "to carry the Ark away unless she wanted to and God wanted it.
"When your father, Solomon, reigned over Israel he took the Ark from the city of Samaria and brought the Ark here to Jerusalem, dancing on her feet before her, and clapping his hands because of the joy for her. And the reason she wrent to the Ethiopian capital was because God willed it and she willed it."
Solomon seemed to be resigned to Adoniram's words when he said: "If the Ark doesn't return it will be God's good pleasure.
Although, they all had wept bitter tears, Solomon ordered them to cease with the words, "Cease so that the uncircumised people won't boast and won't say, 'Their glory is taken away and God has forsaken them.' Don't tell anything to alien people."
Then he told them of a secret plan.
"Let's take the boards Azariah and his henchmen set up in the Temple when they stole our Lady, and decorate them and cover with gold and let's put the Book of the Law inside it."
He assured his leaders that God hadn't abandoned them because of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the later covenant with his father, David, and the one with himself.
Solomon lived for 11 years after the Ark was stolen and then his heart turned aside from the love of God and he forgot his wisdom,. through the excessive love of women.
The Ark Goes to War
XXIX
The Ark Goes to War
THREE MONTHS after the Ark arrived, Menelik and his soldiers learned of pockets of resistance to his leadership and with the priests carrying the Ark they headed for the camp at Maya Abaw.
The following morning they laid waste the district of Zawa and then they camped at Gerra before destroying the city of vipers, which had the faces of men and tails of asses attached to the loins.
Makeda joined her son on the battlefield and for three months they waged war, conquering the city of Saba, which had fallen into enemy hands, and Noba and upwards towards the borders of Egypt.
Because of this terrible weapon of destruction, in the small golden container, the kings of Medyam and Egypt trembled and they sent gifts to Menelik to try to appease his wrath.
They also moved towards the king of India with the same results, for Menelik waged war wherever he wanted and he conquered all the lands his troops entered.
The Ark had made him invincible.
They were able to travel in one day distances that usually took three months and none of the Ethiopians suffered any loss of life because the angel Michael was directing the movements of the Ark, the Very Essence of God.
Menelik I, or Ibna Hakim and David II, stayed much of time at Debra Makeda and if he wanted something to be done, it was just by his thoughts. The Hand of God was with him.
The Ark Goes to War
THREE MONTHS after the Ark arrived, Menelik and his soldiers learned of pockets of resistance to his leadership and with the priests carrying the Ark they headed for the camp at Maya Abaw.
The following morning they laid waste the district of Zawa and then they camped at Gerra before destroying the city of vipers, which had the faces of men and tails of asses attached to the loins.
Makeda joined her son on the battlefield and for three months they waged war, conquering the city of Saba, which had fallen into enemy hands, and Noba and upwards towards the borders of Egypt.
Because of this terrible weapon of destruction, in the small golden container, the kings of Medyam and Egypt trembled and they sent gifts to Menelik to try to appease his wrath.
They also moved towards the king of India with the same results, for Menelik waged war wherever he wanted and he conquered all the lands his troops entered.
The Ark had made him invincible.
They were able to travel in one day distances that usually took three months and none of the Ethiopians suffered any loss of life because the angel Michael was directing the movements of the Ark, the Very Essence of God.
Menelik I, or Ibna Hakim and David II, stayed much of time at Debra Makeda and if he wanted something to be done, it was just by his thoughts. The Hand of God was with him.
Solomonic Dynasty
XVIII
Solomonic Dynasty
GATHERING HER NOBLES into the inner court of the Palace, Makeda said: "Swear by the heavenly Zion that in the future you won't allow any queen to ascend this throne and that no one except the male seed of my son, Ibna Hakim, the son of Solomon, will be worthy of it"
They agreed with a great shout.
In the following days, she appointed Elyas the chief of priests and Azariah the chief of deacons and with Ibna Hakim's assistance a similar administration as to the one in Jerusalem was set up.
Finally, Makeda turned over her kingdom to her son with these words, "Take the kingdom, I've given to you. I have made king whom God has made king, and I have chosen him whom God has chosen as the keeper of His pavilion. I'm well pleased with him whom God has been pleased with him whom God has been pleased to make the envoy of the Tabernacle of His Covenant and His Law. I have magnified him whom God has magnified and the director of his widows and I've honored him whom God has honored as the giver of food to orphans."
Ibna Hakim rose to his feet and praised Makeda and then said: "Please, pray for me, mother, that we'll respect the habitation of the Glory of God and those that come after me will obey His will and do what's right in respect of the Ark then we'll become chosen men and no one will be able to treat us evilly in the mountain of His holiness while His habitation is us.
"Also, I know God is with us because He sent the mighty angel, Michael, who directed us here and he'll be with us forever.
Ibna Hakim: And we've brought the whole Law of the kingdom and the commandment of God which Zadok declared to us when he anointed me with the oil of sovereignity in the Temple, the horn of oil, which is the unction of priesthood and royalty, being in his hand. And he did what was written in the Law and we were anointed along with Azariah to the priesthood and Elymas as the keeper of Zion and the Ear of the King in every path of righteousness. Zadok told me that I should listen to their advice about everything.
Then Elymas and Azariah brought Zadok's writing and read it to Makeda.
Then she spoke to the two advisers, saying, "Protect him and teach him the path of the kingdom of God and honor our Lady Zion, for you are the guardians of the Ark."
In the following days, Azariah issued the same dietary laws to his new nation that were applicable in Israel.
Azariah ordered the Jubilee trumpets to be blown and for the Ethiopians to be gathered around the mountain of Debra Makeda, where the Ark was now resting inside a tent.
"Let us go to Zion and there we will make new the kingdom of our lord, David," Azariah said.
There he anointed Ibna Hakim with the throne name of Menelik. Afterwards they blew horns and pipes and trumpets and beat drums with singing, dancing and displays of jousting and horsemanship.
The boundaries of the new kingdom began on the east at the city of Gaza in the land of Judah and along the coastline to Leba and Saba and down to Bisis and Asnet with its boundary the Sea of Blacks and Naked Men and towards Mount Kebereneyon into the Sea of Darkness, the place where the sun sets. The border also extended to Feneel and Lasifala and then towards the Sea of India.
Solomonic Dynasty
GATHERING HER NOBLES into the inner court of the Palace, Makeda said: "Swear by the heavenly Zion that in the future you won't allow any queen to ascend this throne and that no one except the male seed of my son, Ibna Hakim, the son of Solomon, will be worthy of it"
They agreed with a great shout.
In the following days, she appointed Elyas the chief of priests and Azariah the chief of deacons and with Ibna Hakim's assistance a similar administration as to the one in Jerusalem was set up.
Finally, Makeda turned over her kingdom to her son with these words, "Take the kingdom, I've given to you. I have made king whom God has made king, and I have chosen him whom God has chosen as the keeper of His pavilion. I'm well pleased with him whom God has been pleased with him whom God has been pleased to make the envoy of the Tabernacle of His Covenant and His Law. I have magnified him whom God has magnified and the director of his widows and I've honored him whom God has honored as the giver of food to orphans."
Ibna Hakim rose to his feet and praised Makeda and then said: "Please, pray for me, mother, that we'll respect the habitation of the Glory of God and those that come after me will obey His will and do what's right in respect of the Ark then we'll become chosen men and no one will be able to treat us evilly in the mountain of His holiness while His habitation is us.
"Also, I know God is with us because He sent the mighty angel, Michael, who directed us here and he'll be with us forever.
Ibna Hakim: And we've brought the whole Law of the kingdom and the commandment of God which Zadok declared to us when he anointed me with the oil of sovereignity in the Temple, the horn of oil, which is the unction of priesthood and royalty, being in his hand. And he did what was written in the Law and we were anointed along with Azariah to the priesthood and Elymas as the keeper of Zion and the Ear of the King in every path of righteousness. Zadok told me that I should listen to their advice about everything.
Then Elymas and Azariah brought Zadok's writing and read it to Makeda.
Then she spoke to the two advisers, saying, "Protect him and teach him the path of the kingdom of God and honor our Lady Zion, for you are the guardians of the Ark."
In the following days, Azariah issued the same dietary laws to his new nation that were applicable in Israel.
Azariah ordered the Jubilee trumpets to be blown and for the Ethiopians to be gathered around the mountain of Debra Makeda, where the Ark was now resting inside a tent.
"Let us go to Zion and there we will make new the kingdom of our lord, David," Azariah said.
There he anointed Ibna Hakim with the throne name of Menelik. Afterwards they blew horns and pipes and trumpets and beat drums with singing, dancing and displays of jousting and horsemanship.
The boundaries of the new kingdom began on the east at the city of Gaza in the land of Judah and along the coastline to Leba and Saba and down to Bisis and Asnet with its boundary the Sea of Blacks and Naked Men and towards Mount Kebereneyon into the Sea of Darkness, the place where the sun sets. The border also extended to Feneel and Lasifala and then towards the Sea of India.
The Glory in Ethiopia
XVII
The Glory in Ethiopia
ALTHOUGH IBNA HAKIM and his entourage travelled through Egypt to the borders of Ethiopia, the old Regent Tamrin sent two messengers down the Nile with the report to Makeda that her son had been anointed king and they were bringing the Ark with them.
In her court, the Ethiopian queen wondered out loud, "The Ark? You must mean the fringe of its covering, just like I asked?"
"No, my Lady, they're bringing the Tabernacle of the Law of God with them, and they're flying through the air just like heavenly beings," replied the messengers in unison.
"Could it be true?"
"Yes, yes, my Lady."
Makeda realized it was true.
She then ordered the news to be spread throughout her land, that the Ark and her son were returning from Jerusalem and she began preparing for a great celebration by ordering special perfumes from India be brought to her.
Travelling on the Azyaba Road to Wakerom, Ibna Hakim finally entered Ethiopia and at Debra Makeda, the new capital city, which the queen had built.
Looking up, Makeda could see the Ark shining in the afternoon sun, the light flashing of it and when she saw this, she gave thanks to the God of Israel.
Bowing low, she smote her breast, while remembering the great cloud, which swooped over her and Solomon in the Temple so many years ago.
Makeda was overwhelmed with excitement. She laughed. She cried. She began to dance.
Her actions were contagious.
Ordering the official celebrations to begin, pavilions and tents were set up beside the river on the flat plain at the foot of the plateau of Debra Makeda and there 32,000 stalled oxen and bulls were slaughtered.
Azariah and his companions carried the Ark to a large rock formation, much like the one on Mount Moriah, and had it watched over by Makeda's special guard of 300 sword-wielding men. Her son also commanded a 700-man specially-trained contingent.
Three days after the Ark's arrival in Ethiopia, Makeda gave a gift of 17,700 chosen horses for her son's army when she abdicated her throne.
The Glory in Ethiopia
ALTHOUGH IBNA HAKIM and his entourage travelled through Egypt to the borders of Ethiopia, the old Regent Tamrin sent two messengers down the Nile with the report to Makeda that her son had been anointed king and they were bringing the Ark with them.
In her court, the Ethiopian queen wondered out loud, "The Ark? You must mean the fringe of its covering, just like I asked?"
"No, my Lady, they're bringing the Tabernacle of the Law of God with them, and they're flying through the air just like heavenly beings," replied the messengers in unison.
"Could it be true?"
"Yes, yes, my Lady."
Makeda realized it was true.
She then ordered the news to be spread throughout her land, that the Ark and her son were returning from Jerusalem and she began preparing for a great celebration by ordering special perfumes from India be brought to her.
Travelling on the Azyaba Road to Wakerom, Ibna Hakim finally entered Ethiopia and at Debra Makeda, the new capital city, which the queen had built.
Looking up, Makeda could see the Ark shining in the afternoon sun, the light flashing of it and when she saw this, she gave thanks to the God of Israel.
Bowing low, she smote her breast, while remembering the great cloud, which swooped over her and Solomon in the Temple so many years ago.
Makeda was overwhelmed with excitement. She laughed. She cried. She began to dance.
Her actions were contagious.
Ordering the official celebrations to begin, pavilions and tents were set up beside the river on the flat plain at the foot of the plateau of Debra Makeda and there 32,000 stalled oxen and bulls were slaughtered.
Azariah and his companions carried the Ark to a large rock formation, much like the one on Mount Moriah, and had it watched over by Makeda's special guard of 300 sword-wielding men. Her son also commanded a 700-man specially-trained contingent.
Three days after the Ark's arrival in Ethiopia, Makeda gave a gift of 17,700 chosen horses for her son's army when she abdicated her throne.
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