Week 7 blog 2

I thought it was very interesting how the problem of the Queen becoming pregnant by Solomon in the Kebra Negast was handled. I was especially surprised how clear it was that they had had sex, but it did not seem to be a big deal and she was not looked down upon for it at all. I would have thought that this would be a huge deal and it would make the Queen look very bad, and not reflect well on Solomon either. The language of the passage itself surprised me because of how graphic it was: "after she had drunk water he worked his will with her and they slept together" (35). When I first read that I was really shocked and thought that I misunderstood it or something. I was just amazed that it told us in such blunt terms. I would think that this aspect would be a huge problem for the text and that it would cause troubles for it throughout time. I would think that first off, other Christian nations would say that it is not true because of the implications it has about Solomon. I would think having an illegitimate son with the Queen of a foreign nation would be something that is frowned upon for someone so high in the religious hierarchy. I would think it would be a hard story for the Ethiopians to have recognized. I would also think that the language and the story itself would be controversial because of the out of wedlock child that comes from it. It just goes against what I would expect from story with such an obvious problem. But, it think its success goes to show the power of history and the credibility that can come from being around for so long. I do not think that Ethiopia would be able to have this story if it was not such an old Christian nation. This story really shows the power of traditions and how you can manipulate something that would be thought to be so negative in to a way that ends up being all together neutral.