The Kebra Nagast: A New English Translation of the Ancient Book about the Ethiopian Queen of Sheba, King Solomon, and Their Son Menilek

Michael Kleiner and I are embarked on a new translation of the Kəbrä Nägäśt, based on new research, better translation methods, and additional manuscripts. 

The Kəbrä Nägäśt (The Glory of the Kings) is perhaps the most important medieval text ever written, a retelling of the story of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon written down in Ethiopia in 1321. It is not only a vital sub-Saharan African text, it also changed modern history and the European canon. It is the foundation of my book The Black Queen of Sheba: A Global History of an African Idea.

The Kəbrä Nägäśt is in Gəʿəz (Ethiopic). It has been edited from several manuscripts and translated into German in Carl Bezold’s Kebra Nagast, Die Kerrlichkeit Der Könige: Nach Den Handschriften, Munich: K.B. Akademie de Wissenschaften, 1905. You can download the the Gəˁəz PDF of the book, which is now in the public domain, although it is very large: 20.3 MB. The previous English translation, with some unfortunate choices and in outdated language, is available many places online, including here and here.