On July 20, 1779, Tekle Giyorgis I (meaning “The Plant of Saint George”) became Emperor of Ethiopia, a member of the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia. Between ascending to the throne on this day, and June of 1800, he would 5 more times be named Emperor, having lost his status each time previously for a total of 6 stints as Emperor, probably a World Record for times any person became Emperor!
Digging Deeper
As you probably guessed already from the name of the dynasty the Ethiopian Emperors supposedly descended from, it is the same Solomon one finds in the Bible, the son of King David of the Israelites, the one that slew Goliath. Ethiopians claim their emperors descended directly from Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, the first of these Solomonic Emperors being Menelik I, who reigned in the 10th Century BC. According to Ethiopian tradition, the Queen of Sheba was Makeda, an Ethiopian woman. (Note: Absolutely no evidence from an archaeological or historical standpoint exists for the existence of David, Solomon, the Queen of Sheba or Menelik I.)
