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Jewsih elements in Ethiopian Christianity and the religion of the Falashas
Yacob Tesfai and Meseret Sebhat-Leah

 

This paper, by a Lutheran and a formerly Orthodox professor from Ethiopia, was presented at the June 1977 Conference of the W.C.C. Consultation on the Church and the Jewish People.

The following is a brief introduction to the discussion on the so-called Judaic elements in Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. In dealing with this topic, one immediately becomes aware of a number of problems. The existence of the elements is recognized by many scholars as well as by ordinary observers of the Ethiopian scene. The difficulty arises when one attempts to determine the origin of these influences. Were there Jews who brought them to Ethiopia? If so, when did they come to Ethiopia? Or are these elements merely the result of an imitation of the Old Testament by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church? Closely connected with this is the question of the Falashas. Who are they? Are they Jews and is their religion Judaism? What is their relationship to Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity? In what follows, we simply try to present a summary of the discussion on this subject without in any way attempting to be exhaustive.

Beginnings of Ethiopian Christianity

Christianity was introduced to Ethiopia in about 345 A.D. Two brothers and their father arrived from Syria to the Red Sea coast. The father was killed by robbers but the two children were rescued. They were brought to the king and grew up in the palace. When they reached manhood, they were given special responsibilities in the palace of the king. While conducting their normal duties they began to gather some Christian merchants, thus forming a small nucleus of Christians. When they were released from their duties and permitted to return to their country, Frumentius, as one of the brothers was called, went to Alexandria and reported the matter to Athanasius. As a result, he was consecrated bishop and sent back to Ethiopia to take care of the little flock.' The king was converted to Christianity and proclaimed it as the national religion.

Ever since that time Christianity has been the national religion of Ethiopia. Other religions, particularly Islam, have threatened its existence many times, but it has survived to our own day. In the course of its long history Ethiopian Christianity has developed its own peculiar character, Its strength and genius lie in that it has been able to absorb 'non-Christian' elements. In fact, it may even be said that its survival was achieved, humanly speaking, through its ability to incorporate and assimilate "foreign" as well as local elements. As a result of this ongoing interaction Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity has succeeded in becoming not only a national expression but truly indigenous and deeply rooted in the life of the people.2

Jewish elements in Ethiopian Orthodox Church

Some of the -foreign' elements which Ethiopian Christianity absorbed were from Judaism.' Within the scope of this paper we can neither list nor discuss all of them in detail. We simply mention a few prominent elements:

1. The Ethiopian church building is divided into three sections just like the Solomonic temple. The Holy of Holy of Holies houses the Tabot (the Ark of the Covenant). Only senior priests and the king may have access to this part. The second section is the Holy. This is generally reserved for priests. Occasionally, however, some lay people may enter it, especially during a communion service. The third section is the court. Here the scholars of the church sing. The general public is allowed to enter this part.

2. The Ark of the Covenant (Tabor) is found in every church. It rests on the altar in the Holy of Holies. On many feasts the Tabot is taken out of the church covered with colorful drapes and carried around. The procession is accompanied by shouts of joy, singing and dancing by the scholars of the church and ululating by women.

3. Food taboos are still observed by ordinary Orthodox Christians. Pork, for example, is not eaten. But the practice rests not so much on the clear teaching of the church concerning appropriate or inappropriate foods as on tradition. It is also perpetuated by priests who do not have much learning.

4. The seventh day is also observed as a holy day. There is ambiguity as to the relationship between Saturday and Sunday. Both are venerated.

5. Circumcision is widely practised in Ethiopia not only among Christians but among non-Christians as well. It is not restricted to the Orthodox Church. It has become a cultural practice to which almost every male and female born into the society is subjected. Doctrinal positions of the church have clearly stated that circumcision is not a religious but a cultural practice.' This does not preclude the fact that at certain periods in the history of the church, such practices as circumcision have assumed a clearly religious significance. Such, for example, was the case when the Jesuits attacked circumcision as an unchristian practice in the seventeenth century!'

Suggested sources of this Jewish heritage

The question that arises and one that has engaged many minds is: what is the source of these Judaic elements? How did they come to Ethiopia and manage to become part and parcel of Ethiopian Christianity? There are a number of suggestions from among which it is not easy to choose." The matter is complicated by the fact that there are no written records which help us to determine the carriers of these elements.' There are four main theories:

1. The first view is based on traditional lore of Ethiopian Christianity. It rests on a literary work called the Kebra Negest (Glory of the Kings)." This book maintains that the introduction of Hebraic elements into Ethiopian Christianity stretches far back into the time of King Solomon of Israel. It was then that the Queen of Sheba, inspired by the stories of the greatness of Solomon, went to Jerusalem to visit him. She was very much impressed by the wisdom the king exhibited. In the course of her visit, the king tricked the queen into his "lust-trap" and she left Jerusalem pregnant. On her way to her country she gave birth to a son, "in the image and likeness- of his father. On his return from Jerusalem, the shrewd Menelik I, as he was called, stole the Ark of the Covenant and transported it to Aksum, the capital of the Ethiopian Empire. Along with it he took many first-born sons of Israel; Azariah, the first- born son of Zadok the High Priest, and many Levites accompanied him in order to minister before the Ark. Ethiopians practised Old Testament religion from that time up to the coming of Christianity.° They also carried some practices of their former religion over into the new one.

2. The second view states that Jews came to Ethiopia as part of the diaspora. They began to arrive in Ethiopia after the Babylonian exile. Their flow increased during the Persian and Greek periods. Many more Jews came to Ethiopia after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. There was peaceful coexistence between the local inhabitants who were mostly pagan and the Jewish immigrants. Substantial conversions to Judaism were lacking, even though a few conversions here and there could not be ruled out. When Christianity came to Ethiopia quite a few Jews were among the first converts to the new religion. Many of them even became priests due to their knowledge of scripture. Being leaders, they carried their Judaic traditions over into Christianity.

3. The third theory, which is close to the second, maintains that Semites entered Ethiopia some time in the first millenium B.C. These came from southern Arabia. Because of their superior civilization, they imposed their culture upon the original inhabitants." But here, there are two divergent views concerning the religion of the newcomers. Ullendorff, for example, maintains that there were Jews among the emigrating Semites." He says that it is likely that "... some Jewish elements were included in the southern Arabian civilization and settlement in Abyssinia".'? But others, among them Littman'? and Doresse,14 are of the opinion that the Semites who crossed over to Ethiopia were pagans.

4. There is another theory which does not seem to enjoy much support. It conjectures that the Judaizing elements in Ethiopian Christianity may have come about as a result of the wars that were waged against the Falashas. From the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries many military campaigns were conducted against the Falashas. In about the middle of the fifteenth century the Falashas were subdued for some time and forced to accept Christianity. Many were converted as a result of this coercion and thus carried the Judaic elements over into Christianity. 15

There is general agreement that the first view is legendary. But even the remaining theories are no more than educated guesses. The archeological evidence is very scanty. There are also no written records from the period in question. Such conclusions as can be reached arc based upon a few inscriptions.

Who are the Falashas?

Let us now turn our attention to another Jewish-related aspect of Ethiopian life. Some Ethiopian historians say that when Christianity came to Ethiopia there were some groups who did not accept it. Instead, they chose to adhere to their former religion which was Hebraic. In the course of time the Christian population began to persecute them. As a result, the persecuted groups emigrated northwards from Aksum to escape persecution. From a stronghold which they occupied, they eventually descended upon and conquered Aksum under their female leader, Queen Yodit (or Gudit) about the tenth century A.D. During her reign, considerable destruction was caused to the treasures of the church; obelisks were dashed to pieces, church buildings were burned to the ground and Christians were persecuted. 16

That there are some legendary elements in this story has been recognized by historians. Some modern historians question its authenticity'? while some accept its outline without all the details?" In any case, a number of kings from this group established their own dynasty called Zagwe and ruled Ethiopia ca. 1150-1270 A.D. Some of these kings, however, were converted to Christianity. Lalibela, one of the most famous kings remembered for his rock-hewn churches, was from this dynasty.

There are some Ethiopian historians who connect these incidents with the Falashas. These historians argue that the name Falasha is derived from the Ethiopian verb felese meaning "one has emigrated". As was said above, the group who left Aksum for a safe place free from persecution was thus given the name. 19

This brings us to the question of the identity of the Falashas and their relationship with Ethiopia. One thing that can be said about them is that they have maintained a non-Christian religion. As a result, there were many campaigns against them which were motivated by the idea of converting them to Christianity. The persecutions and military campaigns came to a climax in the reign of King Yishaq (1412-1429) who was frustrated by the religious plurality in his realm. His proposed solution was to impose Christianity upon the renegades and thus solve the problem once and for al12° The attempts to suppress them continued up to the middle of the seventeenth century?' One thing these campaigns show is that the Falashas were somehow different from the surrounding population.

What then are the Falashas? Are they Jews? There are some who have answered the latter question in the affirmative." The position is also supported by an Ethiopian source which refers to them as "Jews of Ethiopia".1s There are even some scholars who have referred to them as 'the Black Jews ».24 But the Falashas refer to themselves as Beit Yisra-el (the house of Israel).25

So far as their religion is concerned, the Falashas have a number of Jewish practices. Among these are observance of ritual cleanliness, and the Sabbath, and the celebration of feasts prescribed in the Pentateuch. As was shown above, the first two practices are not peculiar to the Falashas. The Falashas also practise circumcision and monasticism. Their place of worship is called masgid (the term which is also used for Muslim places of worship in Ethiopia). The Falashas know no Hebrew at all nor are they aware of the existence of either the Talmud or the Mishnah. Their ritual practices are therefore squarely based upon and limited to those contained in the Pentateuch.

Leslau sees the distinctiveness of the Falashas in their religion26 Strictly speaking, however, one has to qualify the statement by saying that it is only some aspects of their religion that make them different. To be specific, there are especially two practices which set the Falashas apart. The first is sacrifice. This is offered once a year (in some places more) on the eve of the feast of Passover27 The procedure followed is that of the Old Testament. Only males are permitted to take part in the eating of the sacrificial animal. Secondly, they celebrate feasts which are not found in Ethiopian Christianity. Some of these feasts are Passover, weekly fasts on Thursday, new moon, the Day of Atonement, etc.

From what has been said so far, we observe that the two basic Judaic elements which distinguish the Falashas from Orthodox Christians are sacrifices and feasts. As far as other elements are concerned, however, there are broad points of agreement. The questions of their identity, origin and religion thus remain. Among modern scholars, Ullendorff maintains that the Falashas are descendants of those elements in the Aksumite kingdom who resisted conversion to Christianity".'s But it must be admitted that the evidence in support of this idea is flimsy. The one thing that can be stated with some measure of assurance, at least as far as Ullendorff29 and Leslau" are concerned, is that the Falashas are not ethnically Jews. Nor are they part of the lost tribes of Israel, an idea espoused by former travellers to Ethiopia.

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1. C.P. Groves, The Planting of Christianity in Africa, vol. I, London: Lutterworth Press, 1964, p. 52.
2. Edward Ullendorff, Ethiopia and the Bible, Lon-Christian Church and Missions in Ethiopia, London: World Dominion Press, 1950, pp. 4ff.
3. Edward Ullendorff, Ethiopia and the Bible, London: Oxford University Press, 1968, pp. 73-118.
4. The Fetba Negest, the Law of the Kings, translated by Abba Patios Tzadua, Addis Ababa: Haile Sellassie I University, 1968, pp. 308ff.
5. Donald Crummey, Priests and Politicians, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972, p. 7.
6. Margery Perham, The Government of Ethiopia, London: Faber and Faber, 1969, p. 117.
7. Robert L. Hess, "An Outline of Falasha History" in Proceedings of the Third International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa, 1966: "... Suffice it to say that there is no clear record of any Jewish immigration in Ethiopia" (p. 99).
8. The book appeared during the 14th century. It was written by one Isaac, a priest of Aksum. The main content of the book is the story of the Queen of Sheba, cf. Donald Levine, Greater Ethiopia, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974, Chap. 7, and Edward Ullendorff, -The Queen of Sheba in Ethiopian Tradition in Solomon and Sheba, edited by James Pritchard, London: Phaidon Press, 1968, Chap. 5.
9. John Markakis, Ethiopia: Anatomy of a Traditional Polity, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974, pp. 291f.
10. Mesfin Woldematiam, An Introductory Geography of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, 1972, pp. 14ff.
11. Edward Ullendorff, The Ethiopians, London: Oxford University Press, 1960, p. 53.
12. Ibid. Cf. also George A. Lipsky, Ethiopia, Its People, Its Society, Its Culture, New Haven: Hraf Press, 1962. "Among the Semitic immigrants from southern Arabia ... a large number were specifically Judaic" (p. 7).
13. Enno Littmann, art. "Abyssinia" in E.R.E. Volume I: "When they (i.e. the Semites from Arabia) came, they were of course pagans, but after some centuries they became Christian." And again: `From this it appears that the Semites who came from South Arabia to found the Aksumitic Empire worshipped the ancient triad of heaven, sea and earth" (p. 57).
14. Jean Doresse, Ethiopia, London: Elek Books, 1959: "What is the nature of their religion? We know nothing of it save for a few monuments and votive inscriptions, which are more or less akin to the cult practices of southern Arabia ..." (p. 21).
15. Hess, op. cit., p. 103.
16. Tecle-Tsadiq Mocria, A History of Ethiopia (in Amharic), Addis Ababa, 1951, p. 384.
17. Ullendorff, The Ethiopians, p. 60ff.
18. Cf. art. "Gudit" in The Dictionary of Ethiopian Biography, pp. 66-68.
Tekle-Taadiq Mocria, op. cit., p. 385.
20. Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970, pp. 196-201.
21. Cf. the new introduction by Robert L. Hess to Henry A. Stern, Wanderings Among the Falashas in Abyssinia, 2nd edition, London: Frank Cass & Company Ltd., 1968.
22. John Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, London: Heineman, 1971, pp. 254, 255.
23. Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State, p. 198.
24. Groves, op. cit., p. 22.
25. Lipsky, loc. cit.
26. Wolf Leslau, Falasha Anthology, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1951, p. XIII.
27. Ibid., p. XXVI.
28. Ethiopia and the Bible, p. 117.
29. Ibid., "The value and great interest of the Falashas today lies ... not in their rehabilitation as a long lost tribe of Israel (which is historically quite unwarranted). Like their Christian fellow Ethiopians, the Falashas are stubborn adherents to fossilized Hebraic-Jewish beliefs ...2 (p. 118).
30. Op cit., p. XLIII: "Very few of the Western scholars who have dealt with the problem of the Falashas are of the opinion that they are ethnically Jews. Most of them think that they are a segment of the indigenous Agau population which was converted to Judaism. How and when they were converted is a problem for which historical evidence is lacking ... The problem still awaits final solution."