The kingdom of Ethiopia is an ancient land with a civilization dating back many centuries. More than three thousand years ago, the land was ruled by a young king who was only twenty-seven years old. He ruled for forty years and helped make Ethiopia a great power. His name? We know him as Moshe Rabbeinu.
How and when did he get there? Here is the story.
Nikanos Goes To Battle
In ancient times, the land of Ethiopia was ruled by a mighty king named Nikanos. He had conquered many nations, all of whom were forced to pay tribute to him in the form of very heavy taxes.
As these nations chafed under the heavy burden, it was only inevitable that several of them would decide to revolt.
Nikanos gathered a mighty army to punish them. At the time, his prime minister was Bilaam (a non-Jewish navi who in the future would curse Bnei Yisrael), and he and his sons were the king’s most trusted advisers.
“I am going to battle against the nations of the east,” Nikanos told Bilaam. “I leave the capital city in your care. Make sure that no enemy succeeds in attacking while we are away.”
Bilaam assured the king that all would be well in his absence and wished him success in the battle. In reality, however, Bilaam saw an opportunity to take the capital city and become its king.
As soon as the king and his army had left, Bilaam hastily gathered the elders of the city together and said:
“Why should we serve Nikanos? I have a plan to rid us of this tyrant and assure ourselves a life of leisure and peace.
“What do you propose, Bilaam?” the elders asked.
“I suggest that we fortify the city well and barricade its gates so that Nikanos, should he return from the wars, will be unable to enter.”
“This is well and good,” replied the elders, “but we shall need a new king who will lead us and guide us.”
The clever Bilaam naturally expected this and carefully answered, “That is true. Select a man to be your new king who will lead you into an era of plenty.”
“There is little doubt that you alone can be our new king,” the elders answered.
“I will do so only if you swear to obey me and follow my commands all the days of your lives.”
The people shouted their agreement and the move was made. Bilaam was proclaimed the new king of Ethiopia.
He wasted little time in fortifying the city in the event that Nikanos returned. He raised the wall higher on the east and west. On the north of the city he had great moats and ditches built and diverted the waters of the river into them until the entire side was a great mass of water. Then, using his magical powers, he gathered together serpents and scorpions to guard the south side. The city was now defended and thus it stood – no one could enter or leave.
Nikanos Returns
Nikanos, meanwhile, had dealt a mighty blow to the rebels and returned home flushed with triumph. Imagine his astonishment, however, as he beheld the height of the walls of his capital city.
“Bilaam has raised the walls many feet. Undoubtedly, he feared that my long absence meant that I had been defeated and was afraid of attack.”
Approaching the mighty walls, Nikanos cried out: “Open up! It is I, Nikanos, the king, returning from battle.”
The guards, however, refused, saying: “You are no longer king here. We take orders only from the new king Bilaam.”
Nikanos grew livid with anger.
“Scale the walls!” he cried to his men. This, however, was easier said than done. The height of the walls made it easy for the defenders to rain arrows and spears down on to the climbing attackers and Nikanos lost 130 men.
Seeing that it would be impossible to scale the walls, he now ordered the army to attack the unfortified north side. Charging ahead at full speed, the unsuspecting cavalry plunged headlong into the deep waters that had been drawn into the hidden moats and thirty chariots, together with horses and men, drowned.
Nikanos now turned to the south side only to meet a terrible disaster as the hordes of snakes and scorpions wreaked havoc on his foot soldiers. The king realized that the clever Bilam had succeeded in fortifying his city so well that it was impregnable. There was only one thing to do – lay siege to the city.
Moshe Rabbeinu
The siege lasted for many years when suddenly there a stranger appeared in the camp.
“Who are you?” demanded Nikanos as the man was brought before him.
“My name is Moshe,” replied the stranger. “I am a fugitive from Egypt and I seek refuge with you.”
Ethiopia and Egypt had always been bitter enemies, and Nikanos was always ready to welcome its refugees. In this case, he was especially taken with the handsome man whose stature was as that of a palm tree and whose face shone with a light. Above all, he showed himself to be a man of great wisdom.
Many nights Nikanos would sit with the stranger and listen to things that he had never heard of before. He heard him tell of a G-d Who could not be seen but Who had created all from nothing. He listened to the story of a Hebrew by the name of Avraham who had left his home and the land of his fathers to go to a strange country and there established an inn where he gave men physical and spiritual nourishment.
He heard new ideas – of love and brotherhood of all men, of the sin of human sacrifice. He grew to respect this young man and listened to his advice. And then, as the siege entered its ninth year, Nikanos grew ill and died.
The army was now in a quandary. A meeting of the generals was called to discuss what to do.
“What are we to do now? We cannot attack the city directly and this interminable siege can last for another hundred years.”
“This is not necessarily so,” said one of the generals. Perhaps it was the fact that Nikanos was already an old man and weak that has prevented us from conquering the city.”
“Let us choose for ourselves a king, one who is strong and wise, and perhaps he will succeed where Nikanos failed.
The New King
“A splendid idea,” cried the soldiers. “There is only one man who is so powerful and so wise to do this. Let us appoint the Hebrew, Moshe, to be our new king.”
And so, they threw off their cloaks in token of submission and built a great throne. To the noise of a ram’s horn, the soldiers carried Moshe to the throne as the multitude cried out, “Long live the king, Moshe!”
(To be continued)