It was especially interesting how the writers of the Kebra Negast took a story from the Bible and filled in some holes to weave Ethiopia further into the story. The Queen's role was carefully filled in. I am not entirely sure where this story differs from the Bible, but presumably, the writers of the Kebra Negast answered questions raised by ambiguous portions of the actual Bible story.
The intention was obviously to make Ethiopia look good. Solomon is a well known and respected Biblical figure and tying themselves to him was a way to do this. It is interesting, though, how the queen and Solomon had to behave in less than admirable ways in order to make this connection. However, the writers were careful to make Solomon more of a "bad guy" than queen Sheba, which, given their purpose, makes sense.
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