The origin of civilizations & religion

Ethiopia is generally considered Africa's oldest continuously identifiable nation. The beautiful country covers well over a million square kilometers; Ethiopia is about twice as large as Kenya or Texas, or about five times as large as the United Kingdom.

The Old Testament makes no fewer than thirty references to Ethiopia ("Cush" to the Hebrews). Moses wed an "Ethiopian" woman (Numbers 12:1). According to tradition, the Ethiopian nation was founded by Etiopik, great grandson of Noah, and Axum (Aksum) was founded by Etiopik's son, Aksumai.

Queen Makeda of Sabea (Sheba) would have been a member of this dynasty; she ruled a vast area that included Yemen, and in her reign Ethiopians traded with peoples as far as Palestine and India. Makeda ventured to Jerusalem to visit King Solomon, by whom she bore a son, Menelik (from Ibn-al-Malik, Son of the King).

Thus was established the Solomonic dynasty, which tradition identifies with various lines amalgamated into the dynasty that ruled until 1974. It is believed that Menelik visited his father in Jerusalem for three years as a young adult, learning the Mosaic law, and returned to Ethiopia with the Ark of the Covenant.