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Concept
Solomonic dynasty
Summary
The Solomonic dynasty, also known as the House of Solomon, was the ruling dynasty of the Ethiopian Empire from the thirteenth to twentieth centuries. The dynasty was founded by Yekuno Amlak, who overthrew the Zagwe dynasty in 1270. His successors claimed he was descended from the legendary king Menelik I, the supposed son of the biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, in order to legitimize the dynasty's assumption of power. Although this claimed ancestry gave the dynasty its name, there is no credible evidence that the dynasty was descended from Solomon or the Davidic line. The Solomonic dynasty remained in power until 1974, when its last emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown by a coup d'état.
History of Ethiopia and Ethiopian historiography
The Solomonic dynasty is the name given by modern historians to the line of Ethiopian Orthodox Christian monarchs that ruled Ethiopia from the late 13th century to 1974. The dynasty was founded by Yekuno Amlak, a noble from Shewa, who overthrew the last ruler of Ethiopia's Zagwe dynasty in 1270 and seized power.
The dynasty later claimed that Yekuno Amlak was a direct male line descendant of the royal house of the Kingdom of Aksum. The Aksumite kings had ruled much of Ethiopia from the 1st to the 10th centuries AD when they had been replaced by the Zagwe dynasty. Through the Aksumite royal house, it was also claimed that Yekuno Amlak was a descendant of the biblical king Solomon. The canonical form of the claim was set out in legends recorded in the Kebra Nagast, a 14th century text. According to this, the Queen of Sheba, who supposedly came from Aksum, visited Jerusalem where she conceived a son with King Solomon. On her return to her homeland of Ethiopia, she gave birth to the child, Menelik I. He and his descendants (which included the Aksumite royal house) ruled Ethiopia until overthrown by the Zagwe usurpers. Yekuno Amlak, as a supposed direct descendant of Menelik I, was therefore claimed to have "restored" the Solomonic line.
Official source
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