Kebra Nagast

the hoopoe, the night raven, the hornbill, the waterpiper, the water-hen, and the bat ; these are unclean. And ye shall not eat the locust nor anything of his kind, nor the *akatan nor anything of his kind, nor the grass- hopper nor anything of his kind, nor the field locust nor anything of his kind. Of the things that fly (or, spring) and have two or four or six feet, their flesh is unclean, ye shall not eat thereof. And ye shall not touch their dead bodies, and whosoever toucheth them shall be unclean until the evening. " Now these things we have declared unto you in order that ye may keep and perform the fear of God so that ye may be blessed in this your country, which God hath given unto you because of the heavenly Zion, the Tabernacle of the Law of God, for because of her have ye been chosen. And our fathers have been rejected, because God took from them Zion, the Tabernacle of the Law of God, to keep you and your seed for ever. And He will bless the fruit of your land, and He will multiply your cattle, and will protect them in everything wherein they are to be protected. " And as for thee, O my Lady, thy wisdom is good, and it surpasseth the wisdom of men. There is none that can be compared with thee in respect of thy intelligence, not only in the matter of the intuition of the women who have been created up to this present, but the understanding of thine heart is deeper than that of men, and there is none who can be compared with thee in the abundance of thine understanding, except my lord Solomon. And thy wisdom so far exceedeth that of Solomon that thou hast been able to draw hither the mighty men of Israel, and the Tabernacle of the Law of God, with the ropes of thine understanding, and thou hast overthrown the house of their idols, and destroyed their images, and thou hast cleansed what was unclean among thy people, for thou hast driven away from them that which God hateth. 160