Menelik I

According to the Kebra Nagast, a 14th-century national epic, Menelik I lived in the 10th century BC and was born to the biblical King Solomon of ancient Israel and Makeda, the Queen of Sheba. That lineage gave him the throne and the name for the dynasty he inaugurated. The Solomonic line he established would claim descent from him for centuries, rooting Ethiopian kingship in Jerusalem and scripture. Whether historical figure or sacred genealogy, his story became the cornerstone of imperial legitimacy in the Horn of Africa.