Ethiopia
has held the imagination of countless people the world over for generations. It
is remarkable that in the Caribbean, many of the descendants of the slaves who
were brought out in bondage between the 17th and 19th centuries from West Africa,
see in Ethiopia a mystical place and a spiritual home.
Ethiopia
is the one and only country in all of Africa that was not a victim of
colonialisation, although the Italians in the early 1930s did 'conquer' the
East African country. Significantly, this incursion had the effect of
heightening the awareness about Ethiopia amongst people of African descent
throughout the western world.
The
Ethiopia of antiquity is possessed of impressive biblical traditions, written
in the ancient 'Chronicles of the Emperors'. The rulers of Ethiopia claim to be
descended from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and are described as the
'conquering lion of the tribe of Judah'. The tablets of Moses, brought from
Jerusalem at the founding of the dynasty, were preserved in the great city of
Aksum. To this day the priests, as the descendants of the Levites, still dance
at the great festivals as David danced before the ark in his youth.
"Sirius,
the dogstar, hung like a beacon in the lightening dawn, soon to be absorbed
into the glory of her father Ra."
There
is a mystery in the story of the 'sun behind the sun', as there is a mystery in
Egypt being the daughter of Ethiopia. As the sun cleared the summit of Zion,
her caravan that had traveled through the night, descended into the Holy City.
Several miles long it was, a wonder to behold, thousands of camels, mules and
magnificent Arab steeds laden with antique gold, spikenard for the anointing of
kings yet unborn, frankincense for the glory of Jehova.
Precious
stones, diamonds, sapphires, and she herself riding before all this grandeur
upon a giant Bactrian camel whose flanks were decorated with enormous red
tassels bound in gold. Sheba, daughter of Africa, having heard of the fame of
Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, had come to pose him hard questions.
And King Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she
asked, besides which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and
went to her own country.
"According
to the Chronicles of the Emperors, Solomon also gave unto her a son, who was
called Menelik, and he became the first emperor of Ethiopia."
This
is written in the Kebra-Nagast or 'Glory of Kings' that was found amongst the
treasure of St. Sophia of Constantinople before the year 325 AD.
According
to this book, the biblical queen of Sheba was in fact Makeda, who ruled over
Tigre and whose emissaries had traveled as far afield as India. The royal
youth, King Solomon's son, was raised a prince at Aksum, and at his majority
was sent to Jerusalem to receive his father's consecration. He was anointed in
wonderful magnificence as sovereign of an empire which stretched 'from the
river of Eqypt to the west, and from the south of Shoa to eastern India'.
Solomon then sent him home and with him twenty of the sons of the nobles of
Israel as Levites, priests of the most high.
Legend
has it that in departing, the prince and his companions carried off the Ark of
the Covenant from the temple, and crossing Egypt and the red Sea, reached
Makeda's city, where the Ark was deposited. Then the religion and the laws of
Israel were established by the Levites throughout the kingdom - the New Zion.
Wonderful
traditions had been passed from
generation to generation in the close to three thousand year-old history of the
empire. One of these is the coronation ceremony as celebrated since the
founding of Aksum in front of the Cathedral of St. Mary of Zion. H.I.M. (His
Imperial Majesty) on horseback appears before the daughters of the ancient
city, who bar his way with a length of chord. He is challenged three times by
the women, after which they allow him to draw his sword and cut the chord, and
then their proclamation rings out
"Verily,
verily, thou art the king of Zion, son of David, son of Solomon."
The
sovereign is then led to the ancient throne, known as the throne of David,
where the crowning takes place. From these biblical beginnings are woven the
histories of the kings. Knowledge of this highland kingdom really only made its
way to the west in the 12th century - this without any clear idea of her
identity, the world began to look towards Ethiopia. In 1116, a rumour began to
circulate in western Europe, according to which a Christian emperor of immense
wisdom and power ruled over 72 kings and over lands that lay on the way to
India. This was the time of the crusades, when Frankish knights, some of them
thought to be heirs of the throne of David as well, fought the Muslim armies to
create a kingdom in Jerusalem. The thought of a high civilisation caught the
imagination of medieval man. The land of 'Prester John' was sought.
It
was known from pilgrims who visited Jerusalem, where they came into contact
with Abessynian monks, that there existed a Christian kingdom called Ethiopia.
Two expeditions were mounted by Franciscans in about 1289 in order to penetrate
the area. They never returned. 100 years later, Venetian merchants were more
successful. They reached Asmara and saw a fine basilica whose interior was
completely overlaid in gold. A church in Rome was conceded to them, so as to
facilitate pilgrims from Asmara, and they were granted the privilege to
celebrate mass according to their rites. A window had been opened on an ancient
world.
The
mythical depth of the millennia-old history of Ethiopia was completely unknown
to the descendants of West African slaves in the New World. If anything, the
European colonial establishments of the day had no interest in teaching the
colonial subjects about the history and the glory of African kingdoms.
It
came therefore as a complete surprise to Caribbean people when half a world
away and almost 500 years later, Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican patriot, described
sometimes as a prophet, proclaimed before his death:
"Look
to Africa, when a black king shall be crowned, for the day of deliverance is
near."
In
a paper published by M. Smith, R.
Augier and Rex Nettleford on the 'Rastafari' movement in Kingston, Jamaica, an
interesting point is raised concerning truth. The authors remark that in social
affairs it possesses two levels.
"The
actual events and the statements about the actual events and statements
believed to be true, are often sociologically more important than those which
are true." Commenting on the center of all religious beliefs, the authors
continue: "What people believe or assert emphatically, represents a social
force which cannot be disposed of or merely denied."
To
the Rastafari fraternity all over the world, Marcus Garvey is a major prophet,
although his actual connection with the movement in its nascent stages is not
at all established. That Garvey was a significant individual, a significant
Caribbean man, is in itself an understatement, because what he represented in
his ideals is in truth a beacon to all men.
In
November of 1930, an ancient ceremony was performed one windy morning before a
very old cathedral church in the city of Addis Ababa. As virgins wailed,
covering their beauty in their best linen, a handsome man sliced a golden
chord, and in so doing inaugurated the last reign of the 'King of Kings, Lord
of Lords, the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah'. The man was Ras Tafari,
the son of Ras Makonnen, who had been recognised as the heir to the throne of
Ethiopia in the reign of empress Zawdita. In 1923, Ethiopia became a member of
the League of Nations through Tafari’s efforts. He reorganised the army and put
down two rebellions. In 1928, he received the title ‘Negus’ and upon the death
of the empress, ascended to the throne, taking the imperial title Haile
Selassie I.
In
the far-away Caribbean, in Jamaica in particular, those who followed Garvey’s
way of thinking opened their bibles. Could he be the one spoken of? They looked
to Revelation 5:2,5:
“And
I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice: ‘Who is worthy to open the
book, and to loose the seals thereof?’ ... And one of the elders saith unto me:
‘Weep not. Behold, the Lion of Judah, the Root of David hath prevailed to open
the book and to loose the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the Earth.”
The
career of H.I.M. was followed closely by Caribbean people through his wars with
fascist Italy, who was described as ‘the beast 666’. In 1941, a photograph was
flashed around the world. H.I.M. had reentered his kingdom and the prophecy was
fulfilled.
“And
the beast was taken and with him the false prophet.” Mussolini was executed and
Hitler had committed suicide. “These both were cast alive into a lake of fire
burning with brimstone.”
The
concept of the divinity of the emperor as the living God was developed by
several people quite independently. One could count Leonard P. Howell, Esq., a
veteran of the Ashanti wars, who was the first to preach the divinity of Ras
Tafari. Another was Joseph Hibbert, who was a member of the Ancient Mystic
Order of Ethiopia, a Masonic brotherhood. A third was H. Archibald Dunkley, who
devoted many years of research to determine whether Haile Selassie I. was the
Messiah prophesied by Garvey. Ezekiel 30.1, Timothy 6, Revelation 11 and 19 and
Isaiah 43 were said to have convinced him. Many others came forward to testify
and to proclaim that the new covenant had arrived.
To
many, this epic is just another example of how misguided people could become.
To others, these are articles of their faith.
The
emperor himself, as far as it is known, never acknowledged that he was viewed
as much more than God's vicar on earth, but in fact as the Alpha and the Omega
itself, divinity personified. He was, however, sitting on the oldest throne in
Africa, if not the world. In the prime of his life, in the postwar years,
before he was overtaken by senility and mutiny, he spared nothing and nobody in
living up to his legend, as Adrian Boot and Michael Thomas write in their book
'Babylon on a thin wire', where they wrote:
"He
certainly did not spare his own people, who died like flies, while he and his
entourage of relatives and libertines spoiled themselves in Addis Ababa." As
despots and dictators all know, power is derived from imagery, maintained by
the projection of being a celebrity.
History,
however, records and demonstrates that from the time of Osiris of Egypt, people
have believed that the Gods do come down and dwell amongst us.
