Ethiopian Christianity Research Articles

Political reform and religious violence in some Ethiopian regions since 2018: Evidence from Sidama, Somali, and Oromo

In the post-1991 period, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front clearly endorsed the separation of state and religion. More importantly, the government is obliged to deliver equal protection for the peaceful worshiping and well-being of religious institutions. However, there is little or no protection given to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Christians, specifically in the post 2018 political transition. Therefore, this study examines the most devastating and selective murdering and slaughtering of Orthodox Christians and the demolition of the church a few months after a new governmental transition took place in April 2018. To do so, this paper applied the theory of “religious victimization” to analyze the interplay between the so-called political reform and religious practice since 2018. In this respect, a qualitative research approach with a case research design was used: ten in-depth interviews, three focus group discussions, field observations, and secondary sources analysis. According to the findings, thematic analysis was applied by arranging items in the team based on their similarities. The results of the study also revealed that there were mass killings and demolition of orthodox Christian properties in the Ethio-Somalia, Oromia, and Sidama regions of Ethiopia. Vandalism was supposed to be systematic and well-planned. In this study, the researchers strongly recommend that the government identify intervention strategies to stop the atrocities of Ethiopian Christians.

Survival Ignored? Ethiopian Media’s Framing of the Terror Attack against Ethiopian Christians in Libya

Abstract The paper explores whether Ethiopian media report on the religious reasons behind the terrorist attack against 30 Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church (eotc) followers in Libya in 2015. A framing analysis of newspaper articles reporting on the event reveal that the religious identity of the victims, and the religious justification for the massacre, have been suppressed, and it has been presented as a common, criminal offence, and political act. The government is found to be the dominant framing force creating and shifting public opinion in the reports, while the eotc’s influence is found to be restricted. The state newspaper Addis Zemen shows favoritism towards the government in its framing of the event. The private newspapers are critical of this favoritism. It is found that journalists’ perceiving that secularism means writing articles and news reports that are free of religion, and anti-eotc rhetoric that has been voiced by consecutive governments since the 1970s appear to be contributing factors to this framing negligence.

The Basilica of Betä Sämaʿtiʾ in its Aksūmite, Early Christian, and Late Antique Context

The ancient Kingdom of Aksūm, located in Ethiopia and Eritrea, was one of the most influential civilizations of the first millennium ce. More than a dozen Aksūmite structures attest to the spread of Christianity from the fourth to the seventh centuries ce. Among these structures, a basilica recently discovered at the site of Betä Sämaʿtiʾ in northern Ethiopia first constructed during the fourth century ce constitutes one of the earliest examples of Christian architecture in Ethiopia. In this paper, we place the basilica of Betä Sämaʿtiʾ in the context of early Ethiopian Christian architecture while highlighting the importance of this new finding for broader studies on the early developments of the basilica form in the Afro-Eurasian Late Antique world. In doing so, we shed light on the connection between Syriac Christianity and the Kingdom of Aksūm and the neighboring Kingdoms of Nobadia, Makuria, and Alodia, which emerged in Nubia after the collapse of Meroe in the fourth century. We also emphasize the adaptation of indigenous pagan elements in influencing the first monotheistic structures of Ethiopia, offering an overview of the shift from paganism to monotheism in the Horn of Africa.

The Confession of King Gälawdewos (r. 1540–1559): A Sixteenth-Century Ethiopian Monophysite Document against Jesuit Proselytism

The Jesuit mission in Ethiopia represented one of the most serious challenges of Ethiopian Christianity during the early modern times. The mission had two phases. In the first phase, from 1555 to 1603, the missionaries undertook to convert King Gälawdewos and his court in return for military support from Portugal but had to face opposition from his successor, Minas (r.1559–1563). The second period ran from 1603 to 1632 and marked the major success of the mission. The missionaries managed to convert King Susənyos (r.1607–1632) as well as important nobles and dignitaries. In the first phase of the mission, even though the Christian kingdom had been heavily weakened by the wars with Imām Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm al-Ġazī, called ‘Grañ’ by Christians, the political and religious leaders resolutely opposed Jesuit proselytism. Their opposition took the form of theological debates, wherein local religious leaders, including the ruler, confronted the foreigners and their alien dogmas. In this paper, I will analyse a contemporary Ethiopian religious text popularly known as the Confession of King Gälawdewos. The piece was composed in 1555 under the order of Gälawdewos to face the Jesuit challenge. The paper will show that this important literary work was instrumental in defending the indigenous Orthodox religion and local customs.

Нехалкидонские (древневосточные) общины во внешнеполитической деятельности российского государства и Церкви. Конец XIX – начало XX в.

The article analyzes the contacts of the Russian state and Church in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century with the non-Chalcedonian communities - the Assyrian-Nestorians of Northern Persia and Eastern Turkey, the Syro-Jacobites of Mesopotamia, the Monophysite Church of Ethiopia. These undertakings, largely determined by the desire to strengthen the religious and ideological influence of Russia in the strategically important regions of the world, were not, at the same time, purely pragmatic. Factors of a cultural and symbolic nature were also of great importance, namely, the opportunity to get in touch with the heritage of ancient churches, whose historical roots dates back to biblical times, to take them under Russia's protection and thereby elevate the role of the Russian Church in the international stage. Russia's help would make it possible to reveal the cultural riches hidden in the bowels of remote religious communities, to create the basis for the revival of Christianity in the vast expanses of Asia and Africa. The doctrinal basis for expanding contacts with non-Chalcedonian churches was the idea of the proximity of their doctrine to the dogmas of the Orthodox Church. The undertakings of the Russian church-state structures resulted in the foundation of the Russian mission in Urmia (Persia), the conversion of part of the Nestorians and Syro-Jacobites to Orthodoxy, the strengthening of ties with the church of Ethiopia, and help to Ethiopian Christians in returning the shrines of Jerusalem that once belonged to them. Successfully developing activity was interrupted by the First World War and the revolution. However, the relationship of the Russian Church with the non-Chalcedonian confessions continued in the second half of the 20th century.

A Case of Mǝhǝrkä Dǝngǝl

Abstract Within the framework of medievel Ethiopian historiography Mǝhǝrkä Dǝngǝl is often considered as its typical representative. He was a royal secretary, the Court confessor and authored the beginning of the chronicle of the Ethiopian King Susǝnyos (1604–1632). The present article deals with the other side of this highly educated scribe, who proved to be a translator from Arabic into Gə‘əz of the Universal History by John of Nikiu (fl. 680–690) and one of the rare Ethiopian Christian scholars, who converted to Catholicism. Therefore, the written heritage of Mǝhǝrkä Dǝngǝl and his religious beliefs require particular attention. Although it would be tempting to explain his apostasy from the so-called “Alexandrian Faith” by expanding his confessional horizons through acquaintance with the early Byzantine history described in detail in the Chronicle of John of Nikiu, it seems quite more probable that Catholicism aroused his sympathy as a reliable ideological basis for royal autocracy.

Imported ornaments of a Late Antiquity community in Christian Ethiopia

ABSTRACT Several thousand glass beads excavated in the Maryam Anza (Tigray, Ethiopia) cemetery over three seasons between 2014 and 2016 tell the story of the direct or indirect long-distance contacts of the people buried there. By combining typological and quantitative studies of drawn glass beads, this paper provides new bead evidence on the subject of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean trade in Late Antiquity. The assemblage is dominated by tiny monochrome glass beads of mid-fourth/fifth-century AD date that were brought as ships’ cargo from South Asia through Arabian ports, reaching Northeast Africa at a time of intensive Indian Ocean trade. Close proximity to the Red Sea port at Adulis (in modern Eritrea) also allowed the transport of other overseas bead imports produced in Egypt or the East Mediterranean region. Comparative percentage analysis makes Aksum and the Maryam Anza community one of the major accumulators of India/Sri Lankan beads in Northeast Africa.

Islam, Ethnicity, and Conflict in Ethiopia: The Bale Insurgency, 1963–1970 by Terje Østebø

Østebø’s study of a major insurrection in Ethiopia during the 1960s presents a significant example of contemporary trends in the study of religious and ethnic movements. This book is an in-depth study of an important movement in modern Ethiopian history. It is also a clearly presented argument, reflecting important current trends in scholarship, for utilizing inclusive analytical frameworks to study religious and ethnic movements.The ambitious goal of this study is to provide an “understanding of the intertwined roles of religion and ethnicity in fomenting identity, demarcating boundaries, and causing conflict” (1). Østebø’s approach goes beyond redefining terms; it reshapes the modes of analysis. Much of the current study of movements is shaped by sets of binary conceptualizations, like traditional vs. modern or religious vs. ethnic. Østebø argues that the “either-or” perspective involved in such binary approaches hinders an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of group and communal identity.In this study, religion and ethnicity are understood to be “intimately connected” as dimensions of group definition and identity (317). A movement is not viewed as either ethnic or religious but can be both. This framework opens the way for a different understanding of important historical developments. For example, the process of Islamization of African communities (like the Oromo in Østebø’s study) is often viewed as the spread of some kind of “mainstream” or “pure” Islam, and when local religious traditions and practices are maintained within the Muslim framework, they are seen as departures from “mainstream” Islam. However, Østebø views “the expansion of Islam as a dialectical process of Islamization of the Oromo and the Oromization of Islam” (52). This interactive synergy is also seen in what Østebø describes as the “localization” of contemporary Muslim Salafism in Ethiopia. Within this framework, he concludes that in viewing insurrections in the Horn of Africa, “the integrated nature of religion and ethnicity … makes it impossible to dissect such conflicts as either religious or ethnic” (258).The introduction to the book presents a general discussion of the approaches to the study of religion and ethnicity. It introduces Østebø’s concept of “peoplehood” as an inclusive analytical concept that “enables us to move beyond either-or perspectives in relation to conflicts” (28). Chapters 2 and 3 provide the ethnographic and historical backgrounds for the insurrection, followed by two chapters about the insurrection itself—texts that Østebø describes as a “historical ethnography of the insurgency” (29). This historical account, which utilizes important interviews with surviving participants, is a distinctively important source.Østebø follows this historical account with a series of interpretive discussions. His assertion, in Chapter 6, that the Bale insurgency “was not a peasant rebellion” precedes discussions of how changing systems of land tenure were related to the insurrection (180). The final chapters of the book look at the meaning and role of religion and ethnicity, with concentrated discussions of the evolution of Ethiopian Christianity, Islam, and local Oromo nationalism. In this concluding section, Østebø includes a consideration of the “relevance of class in relation to religion and ethnicity,” arguing that “interpretations that favor and isolate one of these categories at the expense of the other inevitably bring forth a one-sided and incomplete picture” (259).How does Østebø’s broadly conceived analysis change our understanding of the nature of the secular? During the 1960s, many scholars identified activist movements as secular-nationalist rather than as instances of religious revivalism. Accordingly, as Østebø notes in this book, insurgencies in southeast Ethiopia were more influenced by “secular Arab nationalism and pan-Arabism” than by Islamic revivalism (245). If he had gone beyond an analysis based on the old binary of religious vs. secular in this book as he did with the paradigm of religious vs. ethnic, this book might have been even more useful.In a time like the present when ethnic conflicts and religious militancy are important elements in global affairs, it is important to study the relationships. Østebø presents an important study that goes beyond old exclusivist conceptual binaries in examining the relations between religion and ethnicity. The book is a valuable addition to the library of studies working to understand the nature of identity and conflict in the modern and contemporary world.

Talismanic Imagery in an Ethiopian Christian Manuscript Illuminated by the Night-Heron Master

Talismanic Imagery in an Ethiopian Christian Manuscript Illuminated by the Night-Heron Master

Royal Names in Medieval Ethiopia and their Symbolism

Abstract Millenarianism, widespread among Christians in general, was also deep-rooted in the flock of the Ethiopian Church. Several ideas of that kind occur in Ethiopic written sources. In particular, they appear in the treatise composed in Gəʿəz language probably around the 16th–17th centuries AD. This work bears a title Fəkkare Iyäsus (“The Explication of Jesus”) and is dedicated to the last days of the World. Eschatological ideas about the appearance of a righteous King from the Orient became popular among the Ethiopian Christians and are well attested in royal chronicles. Chiliastic aspirations were prevalent during the period of political disintegration in the late 18th – mid-19th centuries AD known as the “Epoch of the Judges”. The strong expectation for a graceful and powerful reign encouraged some clergymen to make prophecies. This tendency was manifested in the Ethiopian royal historiography and especially in royal onomastics.

Words that Burn: On the Manners and Implications of Oath-Taking Practices in Ethiopian Amhara Customary Law, Nineteenth–Twentieth Centuries

Between the spoken word, ritual action, and legal processes, the studies of oath-taking practices have developed a broad literature. This article provides an additional layer of materials and analysis on speech acts and ritual procedures involved in the manners of taking an oath in the Christian societies of Ethiopia, as recorded from the midnineteenth century to the early twentieth century. Some samples of Amharic discourse specific to the manners of oath-taking in the customary legal system of Christian Ethiopia are presented here through extracts from unpublished field notes recorded in the 1840s by the French traveller Arnauld d’Abbadie. This source is then compared to other ethnographic observations of oath-taking statements and rituals in the context of Ethiopian Christian societies. The implications of swearing an oath in Ethiopian customary law lead to the critical re-examination of the history of Ethiopian law in a comparative outlook, particularly with the canonical laws of Eastern and Western Europe.

Ethiopian Christians on the margins: Symbolic blackness in Filippino Lippi's Adoration of the Magi and Miracle of St Philip

AbstractNew identifications of prominent but overlooked black figures in two major works by Filippino Lippi enrich our understanding of how Africans were seen in late Quattrocento Florence. The African in the Adoration of the Magi, neither king nor attendant, represents the first gentiles who accepted Christ, as discussed in St Augustine’s Epiphany sermons. The black man in the Miracle of St Philip fresco, in the Strozzi Chapel of Santa Maria Novella, represents (or alludes to) the Ethiopian eunuch baptised by St Philip. These and other Florentine paintings from the 1490s, by various artists, shows black Africans as recent or future Christian converts. This hitherto unnoticed phenomenon reflects an increased awareness of Ethiopian Christians, who visited Italy repeatedly in the Quattrocento. Many Italians saw these African coreligionists as different from themselves: both insiders and outsiders. Filippino used various visual strategies to express both inclusion and alterity. Specifically, he depicts both black figures on the margins, both literally and symbolically: they stand at the edge of the miracle scenes.

Negus Ezana: Revisiting the Christianisation of Aksum

The Christianisation of Ethiopia is decoded within the reign of Ezana. The person of Ezana as a real-time figure and within the context of then Aksumite religious-cultural and political dynamics creates the background of the narrative for Ethiopian Christianity. In a revised study as a follow-up to the investigations of the dating of Ezana, revisiting his conversion, the study attempts to locate the Negus within the complex of then emergent Christian orthodoxy continuum whilst assigning due regard to the Judaic background enveloping Aksumite religion and antiquity. This attempt adds to the development of an integrated approach to church history, where the integrated narrative of Aksumite Christianity will be composite to the complete documentation of early Christianity. The investigation was accomplished through a multi-approach, whilst the main method was document analysis, as commensurate with the nature of the study, cultural historiography and the archaeology of religion was dually engrained. A review of the conversion and reality of Ezana in tangent with the recorded accounts of Ethiopian Christianity, when exerted through reference to archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic evidence, enhances a comprehensive narrative on the recorded inceptions of Ethiopian Christianity. The conversion of Ezana and the narrative of Frumentius’ ordination as the first Abuna though an account mainly ascribed to narratives by ecclesiastical historians; is an event that can be substantiated through the re-examination of archaeological-epigraphical data. Therefore, Aksumite Christianity should be composite to wholistic Christian narratives as paralleling the manner Vandal episodes and eastern Christianity are duly noted.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Whilst the article takes the main form of a historical review of Ethiopian Christianity’s origins, there are inferences to biblical studies and archaeological establishments. The main methodology takes the form of a document analysis in the form of comprehensive literature review which also includes references to epigraphy.

Negus Ezana: Revisiting the Christianisation of Aksum

The Christianisation of Ethiopia is decoded within the reign of Ezana. The person of Ezana as a real-time figure and within the context of then Aksumite religious-cultural and political dynamics creates the background of the narrative for Ethiopian Christianity. In a revised study as a follow-up to the investigations of the dating of Ezana, revisiting his conversion, the study attempts to locate the Negus within the complex of then emergent Christian orthodoxy continuum whilst assigning due regard to the Judaic background enveloping Aksumite religion and antiquity. This attempt adds to the development of an integrated approach to church history, where the integrated narrative of Aksumite Christianity will be composite to the complete documentation of early Christianity. The investigation was accomplished through a multi-approach, whilst the main method was document analysis, as commensurate with the nature of the study, cultural historiography and the archaeology of religion was dually engrained. A review of the conversion and reality of Ezana in tangent with the recorded accounts of Ethiopian Christianity, when exerted through reference to archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic evidence, enhances a comprehensive narrative on the recorded inceptions of Ethiopian Christianity. The conversion of Ezana and the narrative of Frumentius’ ordination as the first Abuna though an account mainly ascribed to narratives by ecclesiastical historians; is an event that can be substantiated through the re-examination of archaeological-epigraphical data. Therefore, Aksumite Christianity should be composite to wholistic Christian narratives as paralleling the manner Vandal episodes and eastern Christianity are duly noted. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Whilst the article takes the main form of a historical review of Ethiopian Christianity’s origins, there are inferences to biblical studies and archaeological establishments. The main methodology takes the form of a document analysis in the form of comprehensive literature review which also includes references to epigraphy.

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception 18: Mass–Midnight ed. by C. M. Furey et al.

Reviewed by: Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception 18: Mass–Midnight ed. by C. M. Furey et al. Christoph Stenschke Furey, C. M., B. Matz, S. L. McKenzie, T. Römer, J. Schröter, B. D. Walfish and E. Ziolkowski, eds. 2020. Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception 18: Mass–Midnight. Berlin: de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3110313352. Pp. xxviii + 1228 cols. €259. This essay takes the entries on the Gospel of Matthew and Messiah/Messianism in the latest volume of the multi-volume Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception as its point of departure for a few reflections on the history of the reception of the Bible in Africa and the challenges involved in studying it. The comprehensive Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (2009–2021) endeavours to cover comprehensively not only the Bible but also its varied reception in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, as well as in literature, the visual arts, music and film (see https://www.degruyter.com/dg/page/ebr/encyclopedia-of-the-bible-and-its-reception). Previous volumes were vol. 1: Aaron–Aniconism; vol. 2: Anim–Atheism; vol. 3: Athena–Birkat ha-Minim; vol. 4: Birsha–Chariot of Fire; vol. 5: Charisma –Czaczkes; vol. 6: Dabbesheth–Dreams and Dream Interpretation; vol. 7: Dress–Essene Gate; vol. 8: Essenes–Fideism; vol. 9: Field–Gennesaret; vol. 10: Genocide–Hakkoz; vol. 11: Halah–Hizquni; vol. 12: Ho Tsun Shen–Insult; vol. 13: Integrity–Jesuit Order; vol. 14: Jesus–Kairos; vol. 15: Kalam–Lectio Divina; vol. 16: Lectionary–Lots; and vol. 17: Lotus– Masrekah. Volume 18 of the Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, covering entries from "Mass" to "Midnight," contains several entries of interest to NT scholars, in particular the entries on Matthew’s Gospel, the disciple Matthew and the many entries related to Messiah/Messianism. They offer up-to-date surveys by recognised international specialists in the field. However, the entries also raise interesting issues regarding the reception of the Bible in Africa and biblical scholarship in Africa. The extensive article on Matthew’s Gospel gives a good indication of the nature and approach of this Encyclopedia. It begins with Lidija [End Page 506] Novakovic’s six columns on "Matthew, Gospel of I. New Testament" (123–129). She treats issues of authorship, date and provenance, sources and genre, structure and theology, that is, Christology, fulfilment of Scripture, ecclesiology, ethics and eschatology. In closing, she discusses the socio-religious setting of the reconstructed Matthean community, that is, its relationship with Judaism, the gentiles and other Christian groups. However, there is no reference to the debate about Gospel audiences, in terms of which the notion that the Gospels were addressed to particular communities and reflect their concerns, was severely challenged (see Bauckham 1988). The following entry, "Matthew, Gospel of II. Christianity," consists of several sub-entries that trace aspects of the reception of Matthew’s Gospel in different eras: Brian Matz, "A. Greek and Latin Patristics and Orthodox Churches" (129–131); Edwin Woodruff Tait, "B. Medieval and Reformation Times" (131–134); Ian Boxall, "C. Modern Europe and America" (134–137) and Clyde R. Forsberg, "D. New Christian Churches and Movements" (138). Like with many other entries in previous volumes, the reception of biblical books or persons, et cetera, in Africa, Asia or Latin America is not included. What are readers to make of this omission? At worst, it is simply not considered worth mentioning. However, other entries that do include the reception of the Bible in Africa (e.g., in the following entries related to Messiah) indicate that this is not the case. More likely, such omissions are attributable to the fact that few people are ready and able to tackle this, admittedly, thankless task. To use the present example, who would dare to write a representative survey on the reception of Matthew’s Gospel in Africa? Would "Africa" in this case mean sub-Saharan Africa, as is often assumed? If the term would include Northern Africa, the picture would be even more complex, as it would include, for example, the ancient and rich heritage of Ethiopian Christianity. However, some material is available, for example the varied notions of Jesus in Africa, based on Matt...

The Results of New Research in the Tigray Region, Ethiopia: Three Rock-hewn Churches of Kola Tembien as Historical Sources

The article is devoted to the results of research focused on three rock-hewn churches, which are not well-represented in literature, in Kola Tembien of the Tigray region in Ethiopia. Fieldwork was carried out with the financial support of the Russian foundation for Basic Research. Trips to the site were conducted in the autumn of 2019 and 2020. The problems of dating and typology is the focus of this research. In the article, three churches are described — Mikaʼel ʽAddi Kawa, Abunä Fäqadä Amlak in ʽAdi Śərä and Maryam Degol Chako. Special reference is made to the architectural ties of these three monuments with others of the region in order to reveal the possible mutual influence of architectural constructions and some decorative elements. Information on these churches has not been published since the time of cooperative research by Ruth Plant and David Buxton in the 1970s. Particular attention in the article is paid to the churches Abunä Fäqadä Amlak inʽAdi Śərä and Maryam Degol Chako as they have very rich paintings on canvas dating from the middle of the XX century. These paintings are valuable not only as art objects of Christian Ethiopia, but also as important sources of the cultural and political history of Tigray. Unfortunately, the preservation of these paintings in the studied churches raises concerns. The article presents new authentic material on the described churches. Photographs of the interiors are published for the first time. In addition, on the basis of the iconographic and architectural analysis, a number of hypotheses by the author are presented for further discussion and verification. It is worth noting the possibility of reconstructing the previous basilica rock-hewn churches into centric structures by building the interior the walls.

Däbrä Aron: A Rock-cut Monastic Church, Mäqet District of Northern Ethiopia

This study aims to explore Däbrä Aron, a least known monastic rock-cut church of the 14th century of Christian Ethiopia. Däbrä Aron is named after abba Aron, a famous Ethiopian monk, the founder and hewer of the monastery, which is established at Däbrä Daret, a mountain situated along the upper course of Täkkäzze River. It is a monastery that integrates troglodytic and mountainous monastic landscapes. Like Däbrä Gol, where Aron experienced his monastic life, Däbrä Daret was centre for coenobitic monastic life and opposition against immoral practices ofSolomonic kings who in different times exiled Aron and other monastic men. The church is excavated in to a white soft tuff rock and it is one of the few instances for the declining rock-church tradition of the Solomonic period. Expansion works are made internally by using gudəb, abba Aron’s ax-like excavation tool which is still preserved in the church. It has a complex layout constituting different parts – elongated anteroom, aisles, nave, tripartite sanctuary and compartmented chapels – separated by unevenly shaped columns with rough capitals and arches. This caveis unique largely by its səqurät, aperture of the cave’s roof opened into the sky. The nave’s səqurät, rectangular in shape, allows, except rainfall droplets, entrance of sunlight into the church. The reputation of Däbrä Aron is partly associated with the acceptance of this feature as icon of the architectural excellence and spiritual devotion of abba Aron by whom many Christians were attracted into his monastic life. The cave also has an engraved processional cross decorated with symbolical trifoliate motifs

Early Ethiopian Christianity: Retrospective enquiry from the perspective of Indian Thomine tradition

Ethiopian Christianity’s narrative is aggregately established with an explicit aversion to the account of the Ethiopian Eunuch in the Lukan Acts (Ac 8). The preceding practise neglects a cardinal record in Christian history, as arguably the Book of Acts is the basicsource for 1st century Christianity. The main arguments for this approach derive from the lack of detailed archaeological data for the existence of Christianity before the Negus Ezana. However, this also evades the reality of the Judaic-Ethiopic connections as a substantial premise for the early interaction of Christianity with Ethiopia. Document analysis complemented by the archaeology of religion and cultural historiography were used in this study. A parallel review of Indian Thomine tradition and integrated maritime connections with Aksum developed a case for the establishment of a 1st century Christian account for Ethiopia. The approach of this study entailed the perception of Ethiopian Christianity in its organic native context and not necessarily as a derivate of Christianised Syria or Egypt. Contribution: A parallel review of Indian Thomine tradition and integrated maritime connections with Aksum developed a case for the establishment of a 1st century Christian account for Ethiopia.

The First Step to Apostasy? (An Ethiopian Ruler’s Missive to the Sultan Baybars Re-interpreted)

Abstract A majority of the sources on medieval Ethiopia are written in the Gǝ‘ǝz language in the “genre” of history. However, some texts written in Arabic remain equally important. Among such texts the missive addressed by a ruler of Ethiopia to the Mamluk Sultan Baybars (known as al-Malik al-Ẓāhir) in AH 673 / AD 1274-75 is of considerable interest. The Ethiopian ruler can be identified as the founder of the Ethiopian Solomonic dynasty Yǝkunno Amlak. The text of this missive survived in three Arabic versions: in the Islamic “encyclopaedias” by al-Nuwayrī and al-Qalqashadī (resp. AH 730 / AD 1330 and AH 814 / AD 1412) and in the dhayl (continuation) to the Universal history by al-Makīn, compiled by the Coptic author al-Mufaḍḍal b. Abī’l-Faḍā’il in AH 759 / AD 1358. All three versions are almost identical, however, the version by al-Nuwayrī is the longest one and the closest to the original. The detailed analysis of this version supplied by the full translation into English made for the first time by the present author clearly shows that the person who wrote it was the amīr (commander) of the Amhara and not yet the king of Ethiopia. However, he had an intention to become himself with his people a subject of Baybars to obtain help from him against the Zagwe dynasty. As a consequence, the Ethiopian Christians would have been under the Muslim power. However, the Mamluk Sultan was less interested in that affair.

Religious statecraft: Constantinianism in the figure of Nagashi Kaleb

The Himyarite invasion of 525 CE by Kaleb of Aksum was a definitive war in the narrative of global religion and politics. The accounts surrounding the war corroborate the notion of an impressed Constantinian modus of establishing religious statecraft. Whereas there has been much anthropological and archaeological work on the South Arabian–Aksumite relations from the 4th to the 6th centuries, revisionism in perspective of literary sources and respective evidence retains significance given the dynamism of Ethiopianism as a concept. Implicative document analysis, cultural historiography and archaeology of religion are relevant methods used in this study. There are parallels between Kaleb’s new Zion agenda and Constantine’s nova Roma persona, both resembling an emergent Christian-religious state. It is from this religious (Christian) state that a geopolitical policy that defined the trajectory of their respective nations emerged. The replete epigraphy and literary evidence on Ethiopia and its Byzantine connection aggregately affirms the explicit existence of a Christianised foreign policy.Contribution: The research revises the narrative of Ethiopian Christianity with a lens of political-religious dynamics thereby contributing to the field of theology and history.