Process
Status Items Output None Questions None Claims None Highlights Done See section below
Highlights
id535466295
The Solomonic kings of Ethiopia, in Krebs’ retelling, forged trans-regional connections. They “discovered” the kingdoms of late medieval Europe, not the other way around. It was the Africans who, in the early-15th century, sent ambassadors out into strange and distant lands. They sought curiosities and sacred relics from foreign leaders that could serve as symbols of prestige and greatness. Their emissaries descended onto a territory that they saw as more or less a uniform “other,” even if locals knew it to be a diverse land of many peoples.
id535466319
The Solomonic dynasty specifically arose around 1270 A.D. in the highlands of the Horn of Africa and by the 15th century had firmly consolidated power. Their name arose out of their claim of direct descent from King Solomon of ancient Israel, via his purported relationship with the Queen of Sheba.
id535466346
They build churches.They reach out to the Coptic Christians living in Egypt under the Islamic Mamluks to present themselves as a kind of (theoretical) protector. The Solomonic kings of Ethiopia consolidated a huge “multilingual, multi-ethnic, multi-faith kingdom” under their rule
id535466263
especially in the 15th century, you have these “kings who see themselves as the center of the universe, who are sitting in these Highlands in the Horn of Africa and perceiving themselves as not just the heirs of biblical King Solomon, but as the first kings among the earth. And so I mean, that just changes how we need to read, in that case, African-European interactions.”