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The
Order of the Queen of Sheba: founded by Empress Zauditu
in 192. Awarded in a superior class (Collar-reserved for
the Emperor and Empress,members of the Imperial Family,Foreign
Heads os State, and a maximum of five ordinary recipients),
and five classes (1, Grand Cordon-limited to fiftee,2,
Grand Officer-limited to twenty-five ,3. Commander-limited
to thirty-five, 4. Officer- limited to forty-five, and
5-Chevalier - limited to fifty- five) 
Order of Emperor Menelike II: was founded
in 1924 by the Regent, Ras Tafari Makonen,
during the reign of Empress Zauditu, and
is one of the most attractive of the Imperial
Orders. It is also somtimes referred to
as "The Order of the Lion of Judah" or as
"The Order of the Ethiopan Lion"; undeed,
these names appear to have applied to what
was essentially one comprehensive honour.In
1996, the Crown Council decided to end this
anomaly by estblishing two separate Orders
with distinct insignia and ribands: the
old insignia designated for Menelik and
the new design for the Lion. Thus both Orders
(Emperor Menelik II and the Ethiopian Lion
) can be said to have been found in 1924
with modification into two Order, while
Spink, in London, has made the Order of
the Ethiopian Lion.
The founder of Ethiopia (or Abyssinia)
and the founder of the Imperial dynasty are held to
be Menelik I, son of Solomon, King of Israel, and
of Makeda, the Queen of Sheba. According to legend,
the brother Kings Ella Abrecha and Ella Asbeha, together
with their mother, were converted to Christianity
by the Coptic monk Frumentius of Alexandria in 330
AD. Their successor, King Kaleb, considerably expanded
the kingdom to include parts of South Arabia. However,
the state came under increasing pressure from the
expanding Islamic world, gradually being pushed back
into the interior of Ethiopia. The Solomonic dynasty
lost power to the Zagwe dynasty of Lasta from 1117
until 1268. The former being confined to their traditional
fiefs in Showa. According to legend, the Ethiopian
Saint Takla Haymanot persuaded Emperor Nakuto Le-Ab
to relinquish power in favour of Tasfa Iyasus, a descendant
of the Solomonic dynasty. The settlement so engineered,
granted the head of the Zewde dynasty the hereditary
title of Wagshum together with rule over the Wag region
and precedence immediately after the Emperor, together
with the right to be seated in his presence on a silver
throne one step below his and to the right. Tasfa
Iyasus was crowned as Emperor Yekonu Amulak in 1270,
and became the ancestor of a line of Emperors who
ruled for six hundred years. They succeeded in strengthening
the state and expanding their power under several
able rulers, including Emperors Amda Seyun I and Zara
Yakub. However, increasing threats from surrounding
Islamic states prompted an alliance with the Portuguese
and a reproachment with Rome. Although initially helpful
in stemming the Islamic threat during the sixteenth
century, by the early seventeenth century, rivalry
between the Roman and Coptic churches had become acute.
Emperor Susenyos [Malak Sagad III] was eventually
forced to abdicate in favour of his son as a consequence.
During the reign of Iyasu the Great, a shift in power
at court resulted in the rise to prominence of a number
of Galla nobles, eroding the powers of the traditional
supporters of the dynasty from Tigray and Amhara.
By the end of the eighteenth century, these Muslim
Galla noble families were continuously competing for
the important positions at court. The Emperors were
gradually reduced to puppets. Princes of the dynasty
being raised to the throne and deposed with the ebb
and flow of military strength amongst the 
Gallas. This period being known in history as the
Zamana Masafint or "Era of the Princes". The provinces
regained much of their autonomy, but this resulted
in increasing competition between the local rulers.
Dejazmatch Kassa, a minor nobleman from Qwara, at
the battles of Taqusa and Ayshal, defeated the Gallas
in 1855. He did away with the practice of appointing
a puppet Emperor, and assumed the Imperial mantle
himself as Emperor Tewodros II. He came into conflict
with most of his neighbours, and incurred British
wrath by imprisoning several British representatives.
A punitive expedition under General Napier resulted
in Tewodros committing suicide in his mountain fortress
at Magdala in 1868. A short period of chaos ended
with the seizure of the Imperial crown by Wagshum
Gobaze, of Lasta, as Emperor Takla Giyorgis II. He
was in turn defeated in battle and imprisoned by another
provincial lord, Kassa Mirtcha of Tigray, in 1871.
Emperor Yohannes IV died in battle against the Mahdist
invaders from the Sudan. His long-time opponent, Menelik
II, King of Showa, stepped into the Imperial breach
in 1889. As a direct descendant in the male line,
from Emperor Lebna Dengel, Menelik's accession marked
the restoration of the ancient Solomonic line. *
the Order of the Goly Trinity was established by Emperor
Haile Selassie I in 1930 for his coronation. The Order
was generally limited to the nobility, high celergy and
a handful of courtiers. 
