By De Birhan Media
05 July 2012
Dear De Birhan's readers,
This is extraordinary.
The Birthday of Ethiopia's exceptional King, our most dearest King of Kings Emperor (Emyee) Menelik II is fastly approaching. It is on 17 August. The preparation for his birthday is well underway.. One of De Birhan's readers and good colleague has sent us a big surprise last weekend. We have kept it with us for a while but now is the time for you, our esteemed readers to listen to it. It is Emperor Menelik's voice. Yes his VOICE!
HIM Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia
Yes Emeoror Emperor Menelik II who was baptized as Sahle Maryam in Angolela, Debre Birhan, was Negus/King of Shewa (1866-1889), then Nəgusä Nägäst (King of Kings) of Ethiopia and died 12 December 1913. Yes the King we dearly call Emeyee. The King, who paid his blood and flesh to keep Ethiopia's present territorial and national sovereignty by for the first time in world history defeating a Northern colonizing nation, Italy, at the battle of Adewa.
It is his voice. We bet you never heard of it.
According to our source (knowledgeable and very close to such materials) who sent us this clip, " the message of Emperor Menelik was sent to Queen Victoria few years before he died."
Speaking in Amharic Language, Emperor Menelik lays out the issue of Metema, a border town between North West Ethiopia and Sudan, plainly to Queen Victoria.
We owe our deepest gratitude to the person who sent us this rare and most historical recording of His Imperial Majesty the Exceptional King, Emperor Emyee Menelik II.
Here we have produced the YouTube version of it with our colleagues at ECADF. In the coming few days - We will come up with an astounding video clip having Emperor Menelik's Voice.
After we uploaded the audio of HIM Emperor Emyee Menelik II, some readers have been asking if this was true at all and the two ever exchanged a voice message.
Here we have produced the YouTube version of it with our colleagues at ECADF. In the coming few days - We will come up with an astounding video clip having Emperor Menelik's Voice.
To give an academic substantiation to this recording, we refer to a research conducted by Cambridge University in 1969. The Research titled "Emperor Menelik's Phonograph Message to Queen Victoria" by Abraham Demoz appearing on Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 32, No.2 pp. 251-256.
The Paper states
In 1898 Queen Victoria sent a recording of her voice to the Emperor of Ethiopia and his Queen, Itege Taitu, together with some phonograph apparatus. The following year (1899) Menelik and Taitu returned the complement by making recordings of their voices and sending them to Queen Victoria. The latter recordings have been preserved in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle.
As most ahead thinking as he was, when King Menelik heard, he showed much interest in it and asked for it to be played again and again. You can read the paper Here.
The second primary historical source that reported the message exchange between Queen Victoria and Emperor Menelik is the Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11187, of 31 March 1899, Page 4. The Paper reported the Queen had first sent a phonograph message through her Envoy, Harrington and Emperor Menelik after delightfully listening to it sent back His own and his Wife's recorded message. To read Hawke's Bay Herald, click here.
