The Ethiopian holy man as outsider and angel

Abstract

Ethiopian monasticism traces its origins to the end of the 5th century and the arrival of two groups of monks from Syria . The impact of their activities on the understaffed and underresourced church of the period can scarcely be overestimated.' Yet, despite the crucial role played by these foreign missionaries, teachers and translators, it was not until the end of the 13th century that the monastic ideals and institutions they represented became the dominant force in Ethiopian Christianity. Only in the early Solomonic period (1270-1527) do we witness the rise of the monastic holy man to a central position in Christian life and belief.' I have introduced the expression `holy man' alongside the more commonly used term `saint' not only to associate this paper with similar studies, the outstanding example of which is Peter Brown's `The Rise and Function of the Holy Man in Late Antiquity', 3 but also to clarify a number of points concerning its subject matter . First it must be stressed that it is my intention to discuss the image and activities of the holy man during his own lifetime . The veneration of and competition for saintly relics, prayers at grave sites, and posthumous miracles were all important elements of Ethiopian religious life during the early Solomonic period, but they are not of immediate concern to me in this paper . Neither will this essay include a treatment of the nonEthiopian saints commemorated by the Ethiopian Church . Accordingly, while the expression saint has been used at numerous points it should always be understood to refer to a living Ethiopian holy man . In a similar fashion while the holy men have been referred to as `monks' or `monastic leaders' at various points, it has not been my intention to present a study of Ethiopian monasticism per se . In so far as all of the holy men were monks and generally monastic leaders, the consideration of some of the institutions of Ethiopian monasticism has inevitably formed a portion of this paper. However, it must be stressed that while the holy men were all monks, all monks were not holy men. The ill and lame, incompetent and unlucky were all well represented in Ethiopia's monastries . The exalted figures who are the subject of this paper represent only a small, far from typical portion of the many people who assumed the monastic garb . All the generalizations I shall