Ethiopia as the Next Zion

While reading the Kebra Negast I found it interesting that the Ethiopians consider Ethiopia rather than Israel to be the Zion. This makes me think of the Mormons and how they consider a city in Ohio to be the Zion. This brought up two thoughts in my mind. First I think that Zion serves the purpose of making a generic, worldwide religion accessible to groups of people. It allows them to feel close to God, thinking that they were called upon him to establish Christianity in their region. It's hard to feel close to a religion when the Zion is miles away. Secondly, I really do not think there has to be one Zion. Historically, yes, Israel is known as the Zion but I think in our modern age Zion as changed to be a state of mind. Zion can be anywhere for people as long as a place is named Zion for a religious purpose only.

I also found it interesting that in the Kebra Negast Queen Sheba's character is the focus on many pages. In the Qur'an it is mentioned that Queen Sheba rules but I do not think it goes so in depth with her story like the Kebra Negast. I think this reflects the society and the role of the female. It's interesting that you can have historical, religious texts that are very similar in message (Bible, Qur'an, Kebra Negast) yet different parts are tweaked to fit the structure of society at that time and they persist that way throughout history...no one tries to rewrite them to fit the modern society.