 Second edition cover | |
| Author | Tahir Shah |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Tahir Shah (photos) |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Ethiopia, folklore |
| Genre | Travel |
| Published | 2002 John Murray |
| Pages | 320 pp. |
| ISBN | 978-1-84511-698-9 |
| OCLC | 228197615 |
| Preceded by | Trail of Feathers |
| Followed by | House of the Tiger King |
In Search of King Solomon's Mines is a travel book by Anglo-Afghan author, Tahir Shah, relating his travels in Ethiopia with only local people for company and assistance.
Shah's search began with a map discovered in a Jerusalem stall which shows a trail leading to the fabled mines of King Solomon in the land of Ophir. [1] The mines have enthralled and tormented all those who searched for them down the centuries and superstition whispers of terrible curses that will befall anyone that finds them. Bewitched by the legends, Tahir Shah decides to take up the quest.
Chasing clues gathered from the Septuagint to ancient folklore, from the copper scroll to the national epic of the Kebra Negast, Shah was led to Ethiopia, whose past rulers traced their descent from the son born to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, and from which gold has been exported for millennia. [2] He arrived there at the start of the 21st century, in a period when the impoverished country is still recovering from the violence and disruption of the century before.
In Addis Ababa, Shah engaged the service of Samson, a born-again Christian and former miner. Their first trip was down the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway to view the feeding of the hyenas said to guard Solomon's treasure in Harar, then returning by bus and undergoing "the kind of experience that makes you question the purpose of even the most well-intentioned journey". Next, they visited an illegal gold mine near Shakiso, where hundreds of men, women and children toil in "a biblical Hell". The presence of the travellers was betrayed to the local authorities and they were jailed, but then freed by a friendly regional commander. Immediately afterwards, they were allowed to visit the Government's official Lega Dembi Mine.
For his journey round the wild borders of the north, Shah acquired the wrecked shell of the Emperor Haile Selassie's jeep, with the khat-chewing Bahru as chauffeur. First he explored the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and was shown an ancient cross known as "the Gold of Sheba". Venturing from there among the feared Danakil tribe, he left Bahru to drive to Mekelle and joined a camel caravan back across the desert. Due to the greed of the people of the Afar Region, he was told, God has turned to salt the gold that once abounded there. Somewhere in the region to the north, it is rumoured, are the mines from which the Queen of Shaba derived her gold.
Religious experiences in the north later on included being lifted by rope to view the clifftop Debre Damo monastery; in Axum, Shah met a Rastafarian 'god'; in Gondar one of the few remaining Falashas. Heading southward next through monsoon downpours and swamped roads, the party made for the sinister mountain of Tulu Wallel where, decades before, an English adventurer called Frank Hayter claimed to have discovered the gold mines of King Solomon. Failing to locate the exact site, Shah returned months later to make a fresh attempt but was driven back by the harsh conditions.
Time's description of the book's style as "simple and elegant, subtly self-deprecating and often hilarious" soon made its way onto the front cover of later editions. [3] Though The New Yorker notes that Shah presents Ethiopia as "a land with all of the ills of modernity and none of its benefits", [4] yet he manages to describe even the most shocking detail with a light touch and imparts information in so entertaining a way that "most readers won't realize that while walking on the wild side, they've also just done a quick course in Ethiopian history." [5]
Though giving due credit to all this, Mary Whipple deprecates Shah's "unfortunate sense of entitlement in his attitudes toward the people around him". [6] A critical study goes further and makes plainer the element of manipulation in the writing, with its tantalising treasure maps, mad sultans and accursed mountains. It derives from H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines (1885), a widely influential work of fiction that Shah mentions deprecatingly in his own book. The debt to that work, however, and to others derivative from it, is recognised by Richard Pine in his Minor Mythologies as Popular Literature as but "the most recent" example of "the industry" generated by such mythologies. [7]
Solomon, also called Jedidiah, was a Jewish monarch of ancient Israel and the son and successor of King David, according to the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. He is described as having been the penultimate ruler of an amalgamated Israel and Judah. The hypothesized dates of Solomon's reign are from 970 to 931 BCE. According to the Bible, after his death, his son and successor Rehoboam adopted a harsh policy towards the northern tribes, eventually leading to the splitting of the Israelites between the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south. Following the split, the biblical narrative depicts his patrilineal descendants ruling over only the Kingdom of Judah.
Haile Selassie I was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (Enderase) for Empress Zewditu from 1916 until 1930. Haile Selassie is widely considered a defining figure in modern Ethiopian history, and the major figure of Rastafari, a religious movement in Jamaica that emerged shortly after he became emperor in the 1930s. Before he rose to power he defeated Ras Gugsa Welle Bitul of Begemder at the Battle of Anchem in 1928. He was a member of the Solomonic dynasty, which claims to trace its lineage to Emperor Menelik I, a legendary figure believed by the claimants to be the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who they name as Makeda.
Sheba is an ancient kingdom mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. It particularly features in the tradition of Orthodox Tewahedo in today's Yemen and is also asserted as the home of the Queen of Sheba, who is left unnamed in Jewish texts, but is known as Makeda in Ethiopian texts and as Bilqīs in Arabic texts. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Sheba was the home of Princess Tharbis, who is said to have been the wife of Moses before he married Zipporah.
Menelik I was the legendary first Emperor of Ethiopia. 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.
The Queen of Sheba, named Makeda in Ethiopian tradition, is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she brings a caravan of valuable gifts for the Israelite King Solomon. This account has undergone extensive Jewish, Islamic, Yemenite and Ethiopian elaborations, and it has become the subject of one of the most widespread and fertile cycles of legends in Asia and Africa.
Lij Iyasu was the designated Emperor of Ethiopia from 1913 to 1916. His baptismal name was Kifle Yaqob. Ethiopian emperors traditionally chose their regnal name on the day they were crowned, and since he was never crowned, he is usually referred to as Lij Iyasu, "Lij" meaning child, especially one born of royal blood.
The Kebra Nagast, var. Kebra Negast, or The Glory of the Kings, is a 14th-century national epic of Ethiopia, written in Ge'ez by Nebure Id Ishaq of Aksum. The text, in its existing form, is at least 700 years old and is considered by many Ethiopian Christians to be a historically reliable work. It is considered to hold the genealogy of the Solomonic dynasty, which followed the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Wehni is the name of one of the mountains of Ethiopia where most of the male heirs to the Emperor of Ethiopia were interned, usually for life. It was the last of the three such mountains, or amba, said to have been used for that purpose, the other two being Debre Damo and Amba Geshen.
The National Museum of Ethiopia (NME), also referred to as the Ethiopian National Museum, is a national museum in Ethiopia. It is located in the capital, Addis Ababa, near the Addis Ababa University's graduate school.
Mendi is a town in western Ethiopia. Located in the West Welega Zone of the Oromia Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of 9°36′N35°36′E with an elevation of 1821 meters above sea level.
Shakiso is a town in Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Located in the Guji Zone of the Oromia Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of 5°45′N38°55′E and an elevation of 1758 meters above sea level.
Adola is a town located in the Guji Zone of the Oromia Region, at an altitude of 1,758 metres (5,768 ft) above sea level. 470 km from Addis Ababa.
Nedjo is a town in western Ethiopia. Located in the West Welega Zone of the Oromia Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of 9°30′N35°30′E with an elevation of 1821 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Nejo woreda. Nejo is served by Nejjo Airport and is 150 km east of Asosa Airport.
Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam was an Ethiopian politician, an Amhara aristocrat and intellectual of the Japanizer school of thought. He was the primary author of the 16 July 1931 constitution of Ethiopia, which was influenced by the Japanese Meiji Constitution.
Nasibu Zeamanuel, also Nasibu Zamanuael or Nasibu Emmanual in some texts, was an army commander of the Ethiopian Empire. Along with his brother Wasane, historian Bahru Zewde groups Nasibu "among the most colourful of the first-generation intellectuals" of Twentieth-century Ethiopia. His maternal grandfather, Azaz Emmanual Wolde Malakot, whose name both brothers came to adopt, was a notable courtier of Emperor.
Mount Welel is a mountain in southwestern Ethiopia. Located in the Mirab Welega Zone of the Oromia Region, it has an elevation of 3,301 metres (10,830 ft) above sea level. Characterized by twin peaks, Welel is the highest point in the Zone and Hawa Welele woreda.
Workneh Eshete or Azaj Warqnah Ishete, also known as Charles Martin was an Ethiopian physician and politician. He was the first Ethiopian educated as a medical doctor and led the Ethiopian diplomatic mission to the United States in 1927, which negotiated a contract to build a dam on the upper Abay River; and, beginning in 1934, he served as Ethiopia's Minister to the United Kingdom.
The Search for King Solomon's Mines is a documentary film based on the trail followed in Tahir Shah's 2002 book In Search of King Solomon's Mines. After the initial journeys through Ethiopia that resulted in Shah's book, he returned to the country with a film crew commissioned by National Geographical TV and Britain's Channel 4, to bring the search for the fabled mines to television. As a travel writer, having a film crew accompany him for the first time was a new experience for Shah. His work in researching books usually involves low-key methods of gaining information and making contacts.
Search For the Lost City of Gold is a 2003 documentary commissioned by The History Channel and Five (UK). It traces Tahir Shah's epic quest for the lost city of Paititi in the Madre de Dios jungle of Peru, to which the Incas fled from the Spanish in 1532. This journey and his TV-hour film also formed the basis for the book House of the Tiger King, as well as the cinematic feature film with the same name. The film was produced by Caravan Film and was directed by Swedish film director David Flamholc.
Bahru Zewde is an Ethiopian historian and author. He writes extensively about modern Ethiopian history and is now an emeritus professor at Addis Ababa University where he once served as the Head of the History Department and the Director of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies.