Ethiopian Jews

The Axumite Jewish empire in Ethiopia was started by Manelik, storied son King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, according to an ancient myth. The Jewish Axumites say that when Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt, some of them had gone south instead of east, claiming Ethiopia to be the holy land of God. Pharisaic Judaism did not reach Ethiopia, so the Jewish religion was based solely on the Torah and never developed a rabbinical law. Legend speaks of the hiding of the Ark of the Covenant, which, which was thought that Solomon had given to Manelik for safekeeping on the shores of Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile (Hill, 106). (See Manelik)

Bibliography

Hill, Jonathan. Zondervan Handbook to the History of Christianity. Oxford: Lion Publishing, 2006.

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