The reign of the Sheban dynasty was followed by that of the queens of
Candace, who were ruling Ethiopia at the date of the birth of Christ,
indeed, one of them is mentioned in the New Testament, Matthew 12:42,
and her story is related in another chapter of this book.
Among the many evidences of high civilization in Ethiopia, are its
literary productions. There are several hundred books in the various
public libraries of Europe which show a remarkable condition of
development.
In the way of history, there are the annals of ancient chronology by
Georges Ibn-al Amid, which follows the genealogy of David from Adam, and
a list of the kings of Israel and Judea, together with the principal
events of their reigns. To this is added a chronology of the reigns of
the Roman Emperors, and the Consuls.
In the chronological book, there is an entire chapter giving the history
of the kings of Ethiopia, from Ibn-al Hakim, son of Solomon by the Queen
of Sheba, down to recent times.
There are also volumes of poems of great beauty and perfect meter,
stories of wars, genealogical lists, biographies, commentaries, moral
maxims, philosophy, anecdotes, astrologies, homilies, hymns, etc. All of
these are contemporaneous.
In proof of this remarkable condition, reference is made to the
“Catalogue des manuscripts Ethiopiens (Gheez et Amharique) de la
Bibliotheque nationale de France, a Paris,” a copy of which may be found
in any of our great public libraries.