⸻ · ⸻
Chapter 22 · Tamrin the merchant
22.1
The Kebra Nagast 22.1 · Tamrin the merchant📜 Bezold's printed edition
The book introduces the man who will bring the queen word of Solomon.
· · ·
በእንተ፡1
baʾǝnta
Aboutconcerning
ታምሪን፡2
Tāmrin
Tamrin
ነጋዲ።3
nagādi
the merchant.
. ወሀለወ፡4
wa-hallawa
There wasand there was
፩፡5
ʾaḥadu
aone
ልብው፡6
lǝbbǝw
wiseshrewd
ሊቀ፡7
liqa
chief ofelder of
ነጋድያን፡8
nagādǝyān
merchants
ዘስሙ፡9
za-sǝmu
whose name was
ተምሪን፡10
Tamrin
Tamrin;
; ወይጽዕን፡11
wa-yǝṣǝʿǝn
and he loadedand he would load
፭፻፡12
ḫamǝs mǝʾǝt
five hundred
ወ፳፡13
wa-ʿǝšrā
and twenty
አግማለ፡14
ʾagmāla
camels,
, ቦቱ፡15
bottu
and he hadwith him
ወአሕማረኒ፡16
wa-ʾaḥmāra-ni
ships too,and ships also
, መጠነ፡17
maṭana
to the number ofthe amount of
፸ወ፫፡18
sabʿā wa-šalas
seventy-three.seventy and three
. About Tamrin the merchant. There was a wise chief of merchants whose name was Tamrin; and he loaded five hundred and twenty camels, and he had ships too, to the number of seventy-three.
About Tamrin the merchant. There was a wise chief of merchants whose name was Tamrin; and he loaded five hundred and twenty camels, and he had ships too, to the number of seventy-three.
22.2
The Kebra Nagast 22.2 · Red gold, black wood, sapphire📜 Bezold's printed edition
King Solomon, wishing to build the house of God, sent to merchants of the east and west, the south and the north, to bring gold and silver.
· · ·
And they told him about this rich Ethiopian merchant; and he sent word that he should bring him what was needed from the land of Arabia: red gold, and wood that does not rot, black, and sapphire.
Chapter headings in Ethiopian manuscripts are usually written in red, and this one names its hero: Tamrin, the queen’s chief merchant. Dillmann’s dictionary has an entry for the name, and every reference in it is to the Kebra Nagast: he appears nowhere else.
The numbers are written in Ethiopic figures: ፭፻ (five hundreds), ፳ (twenty), ፸ወ፫ (seventy and three). Five hundred and twenty camels and seventy-three ships make a trading house on land and sea, the same reach chapter 21 gave the queen.