ABSTRACT
The Kebra Nagast shares with the Book of the Himyarites two striking features: its glorification of the Ethiopian monarchy in general and Caleb in particular; and its character as a Monophysite document. In the Kebra Nagast, the main theme is the Ethiopian monarchy and its claims to Solomonid descent. One of the main puzzles which the thought of the Kebra Nagast presents is its attitude towards the Jews and Judaism. The basis of the Christian polemic in early centuries against the Jews is well known; but the author of the Kebra Nagast, Christian as he is, is in the peculiar position, almost self-contradictory, of emphasising the Israelite descent of the Ethiopian Negus and at the same time of reviling the Jews and Judaism.
