Menelik I
| Menelik I ምኒልክ | |
|---|---|
| Emperor of Ethiopia (traditional) | |
| Reign | 982–957 B.C. (E.C.) 975–950 B.C. (G.C.) (according to Tafari Makannon's King List) 954–930 B.C. (Alternate dates from E. A. Wallis Budge) |
| Predecessor | Makeda |
| Successor | Hanyon or Tomai (depending on the king list) |
| Born | c. 1000 B.C. |
| Dynasty | House of Solomon |
| Father | King Solomon |
| Mother | Queen of Sheba |
Menelik I (Ge'ez: ምኒልክ, Mənilək) was the legendary first Emperor of Ethiopia's Solomonic dynasty. According to Kebra Nagast, a 14th-century national epic, in the 10th century BC he is said to have inaugurated the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia, so named because Menelik I was the son of the biblical King Solomon of ancient Israel and of Makeda, the Queen of Sheba.