The Queen of Sheba's Son and the Legend of the Ark of the Covenant.
The kingdom of Aksum (c. 1 AD to 1000 AD) was situated in what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea. Its positioning on the western coast of the Red Sea made it a thriving centre of trade attracting merchants from further north in Africa, the interior, Arabia, and the Mediterranean.
The land in which this kingdom was eventually founded is said to have been the birthplace of the Queen of Sheba who travelled from there to Judah with a large retinue in order to seek the wisdom of King Solomon. They fell in love, and had a son, Menelik I, the founder of Aksum. 
This story is recounted in a chronicle called the Kebra Nagast, which means 'The Glory of the Kings'. It is a compilation of histories, myths, and legends put together by monks in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
And this site, the palace at Dungur, is where the Queen of Sheba is said to have lived. More likely, it was a castle built for a royal Aksumite family in the 7th century. But most Ethiopians believe, and will tell you, that the queen undoubtedly lived here.
This is what the full castle might've looked like.
The Kebra Nagast also relates how Menelik I, the son of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, transported the Ark of the Covenant, containing the Ten Commandments, from Jerusalem to Aksum, where it currently remains.
The Ark is stored in a small building next to the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, pictured here. It is said that a monk, who never leaves the church, guards it at all times. Only very high-ranking members of the Orthodox Ethiopian Church are allowed inside to see it.
Both the kingdom of Aksum and modern-day Ethiopia are steeped in Christianity and Christian tradition. In 330 AD, its king, Ezana, adopted Christianity as the kingdom's official religion, making Ethiopia one of the world's first Christian states.
After Aksum fell in c. 1000 AD, the Zagwe Dynasty that replaced it was ruled by one king who sought to re-create Jerusalem in Ethiopia. His story will be told in the next thread!
