Ethiopia and the Bible.

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Traditionally Ethiopia has formed a bridge between the civilizations of Africa and Asia. Many of her inhabitants came from South Arabia introducing their language, writing system, and other aspects of their cultural heritage. Jerusalem be-came as vital as Aksum in the national consciousness of the Ethiopians.

Outside the bustling modern towns, Ethiopia remains a haven of peace where priests are dancing before the ark and the courtesies of the ancient Orient continue to live. The scene of David and all the house of Israel playing before the Lord on harps and lyres, drums and sistra, dancing with all their might and bringing up the ark with shouting and the sound of trumpets, is a spectacle that is eminently alive in Ethiopia today.

In this volume Professor Ullendorff, the first incumbent of the only Chair of Ethiopian Studies in Great Britain, investigates the relationship of Ethiopia to the Bible. He considers the historical background of religious manifestations in the country, translations of the Bible into Ethiopian languages, and the impact of the Old Testament, which goes beyond anything experienced in the other Oriental Christian Churches.

The book concludes with an examination of the story of the Queen of Sheba, based on the Biblical account of the queen’s visit to King Solomon, which has undergone extensive Arabian, Ethiopian, Jewish and other elaborations and has become the subject of one of the most ubiquitous and fertile cycles of legends in the Near East. From a large and confused skein of traditions and tales Professor Ullendorff has disentangled some basic features which are common to all stories about that famous encounter between the Queen of the South and the greatest of the kings of Israel.

Biblethiophile, 07.12.2025