African Zion. The Sacred Art of Ethiopia 0300059159, 9780300059151

Table of contents :
Introduction, by Roderick Grierson
Dreaming of Jerusalem, by Roderick Grierson
Ethiopia Revealed: Merchants, Travelers, and Scholars, by Richard Pankhurst
Church and State in Ethiopia: The Early Centuries, by Taddesse Tamrat
Church and State in Ethiopia: The Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century, by Donald E. Crummey
Ethiopic Literature, by Getatchew Haile
Ethiopian Manuscripts and Paleography, by Siegbert Uhlig
Linear Decoration in Ethiopian Manuscripts, by Carla Zanotti-Eman
Maryam Seyon: Mary of Zion, by Marilyn E. Heldman
Aksumite Coinage, by Stuart C. Munro-Hay
The Heritage of Late Antiquity, by Marilyn E. Heldman
The Zagwe Dynasty: 1137-1270, by Marilyn E. Heldman
The Early Solomonic Period: 1270-1527, by Marilyn E. Heldman
The Late Solomonic Period: 1540-1769, by Marilyn E. Heldman

Citation preview

a . 1i1ca.· •

Z.1 00. the sacRe.6 aRt of eth1op1a Catalogue by Marilyn Heldman with Stuart C. Munro-Hay Essays by Donald E. Crummey, Roderick Grierson, Getatchew Haile, Richard Pankhurst, Taddesse Tamrat, Siegbert Uhlig, and Carla Zanotti-Eman

Edited by Roderick Grierson

1lf103 Yale University Press, New Haven and London in association with lnterCultura, Fort Worth The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore The Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa

Frontispiece Our Lady Mary with Her Beloved Son and Archangels (cat. 6), 1445-80, private collection

This catalogue was first published on the occasion of the exh ibition "African Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethiopia"

Cover illustrations

The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland 17 October 1993-9 Januar y 1994

FRONT

BACK

Our Lady 1vlary , Apostles, Saint George, and Saint Theodore (cat . 4), 1445- 80, Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa Processional Cross (cat. 114), 1730- 55, Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa

The Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York, New York 1 February-29 March 1994 The Menil Collection , Houston , Texas 21 April-19 Jun e 1994

Copyright © 1993 by lnterCultura In c., 2630 West Freewa y, Suite 208, Fort Worth, Texas 76102. Photographs of exhibited objects from collections in Ethiopia by Malcolm Varon , NYC© 1993 Artwork for the map on page xi and for the designs at the end of each essay and on page 69 has been created from historical examples of Ethiopian harag by Carolyn Grierson © 1993 All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in w hol e or in part, in any form (beyond that copy in g permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.

Museum of African American Life and Culture, Dallas, Texas 28 September-30 November 1994 Dusable Museum of African American History, C hi cago , Illin ois 23 December 1994-26 February 1995 The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia 7 June-2 August 1995 Califo rnia Afro-American Museum, Los Angeles, Ca li forn ia 25 September-20 October r995 The Cleveland Museum of Art, C leveland, Ohio 14 November 1995- 1 January 1996

Catalogue produced and distributed by Yale University Press, New Haven and London Designed by Gillian Malpass Edited by Robin Jacobson and Toni Rosenberg Set in Linotron Bembo by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester Printed in Ital y by Amilcare Pizzi, S.p.A. , Milan Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 93-6083 5 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library rSBN ISBN

o 300 05819 5 (hardback) o 300 05915 9 (paperback)

Edito rial Note The research of this catalogue is the collabo rative effort of scholars from the United States, Great Britain , Germany, Ethiopia, and Ital y. These scholars used research materials from French, German, Italian, and Ethiopic sources . Especiall y in the absence of any internationally agreed system of transliteration , this ha s created inconsistencies in spellings for locations and historical names which could not be resolved within the deadlines of an exhibition catalogue. Apologies are made for any confusion that this may create for the reader.

~

CONTENTS

Preface

Vil

Acknowledgments

IX

Map

XI

Introduction

Roderick Grierson

Dreaming of Jerusalem

5

Roderick Grierson

Ethiopia Revealed : Merchants, Travelers, and Scholars

I9

Richard Pankhurst

Church and State in Ethiopia: The Early Centuries

33

Taddesse Tamrat

Church and State in Ethiopia: The Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century

43

Donald E. Crummey

Ethiopic Literature

47

Getatchew Haile

Ethiopian Manuscripts and Paleography

Siegbert Uhlig

Linear Decoration in Ethiopian Ma.nuscripts

Carla Zanotti-Eman

57

CONTENTS CATALOGUE

Maryam Seyon: Mary of Zion

71

Marilyn E. Heldman

Aksumite Coinage

IOI

Stuart C. Munro-Hay

The Heritage of Late Antiquity

117

Marilyn E. Heldman

The Zagwe D ynasty: 1137- 1270

133

Marilyn E. Heldman

The Early Solomonic Period: 1270- 1527

Marilyn E. Heldman

The La ce Solomonic Period: 1540- 1769 Marilyn E. Heldman

Bibliography

Glossary

VI

193

PREFACE

INTERCULTURA IS PLEASED TO BRING to the United States " African Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethiopia," a co mprehensive exhibition of Christian art fr o m the Orthod ox C hurch. This exhibiti on mo ves to th e for efr ont the accomplishm ents of Ethiopia, a nation with a rich multicultural heritage that at times has been o ve rshadowed b y the politi cal and societal events in the southern and wes tern regions of the continent . The proj ect seeks to expand our understanding of the Ethiopian achievem ent in the context of hi stori ca l African di versity. It is sig nificant to no te that, although man y W esterners assum e Christianit y ca m e to Africa th ro ugh a legacy of colonialism or sla ve ry, th ere is compellin g eviden ce to verify the existence of C hristian belief on the continent in ancient times . The origin s of the Ethio pian Orthodo x C hurch , w hich are at on ce Semitic and C hristian, date fr o m the fo urth centur y A.D. This duality of religio us traditions emphasizes the di versity of influences in Ethi opian C hristianit y: the legend of Solom o n and Sheba , and the associated Judaic custom s; the ancient Egy ptian Copti c heritage; and, especiall y in th e seventeenth centur y, the European influen ce of Roman Ca tholicism. It is w ith proj ects such as " African Z ion " that InterC ultura seeks to fulfill its mission of internatio nal cultural exchange throug h museum exhibitions. There is a mo ve m ent to day in the United States to wa rd m aintaining th e di versity of our va ried cultures, in stea d of subscribin g to the no tion of a cultural m elting po t. It is, therefore, in creasin gly important that we understand on e another' s view of the wo rld and culti va te an awa reness of th e historica l and cultural co mp onents of our o w n perceptions. T his exhibiti on has been in the plannin g stages fo r a number of years, and m an y people ha ve m ade significant contribution s to the proj ect. I w ould like to thank Roderick G riers on, o ne of o ur found ers, w ho w orked tirelessly to bring th e proj ect to fruiti on. Ri chard Pankhurst, of th e In stitute of Ethi opian Studies in Addis Ababa, has been an invaluable partner. M aril yn H eldman , Visitin g Associate Professor in the D epartm ent of Art , Uni ve rsity of Mi ssouri , Saint Lo uis, prov ided curatorial expertise in th e selectio n of the o bj ects in the exhi biti on as well as in her contribution s to this catalogue. It has been a pri vil ege to w ork w ith o ur partn ers, Ro bert P. Bergman and Ga r y Vikan of the Walters Art Gallery, in the rea lization of this proj ect. The exhibition wo uld have been impossibl e w ith o ut the generous suppo rt of the N ation al End ow ment fo r the Humanities and th e N atio nal End ow m ent for the Arts. Jam es M. Bradburne devised a tho ughtful interpretative audio visual to accompan y the exhibiti on , and M anuel Theodo re w as generous w ith his expertise in the conserva tion of icons and in establishing criteria for the safest possible condition s for th e o bj ects in travel and in stallation. In addition to Roderi ck Grierso n, M aril yn Heldm an , and Richard Pankhurst, o ther experts generously participated with essays for this catalo gue , includin g Donald C rumm ey, Getatchew Haile, Stuart Munro-Hay, T addesse T amrat, Siegbert Uhlig, and C arla Zan o tti-Eman. V ll

PR EF ACE

We are grateful to the Institute of Ethiopian Studies and the Ethio pian Orthod ox C hurch for th eir generous suppo rt as th e m aj o r lenders to the exhibition. InterC ultura o w es thanks as well, to all other lend ers in this exhibitio n . It is our ho pe that, throu gh their participatio n, audiences in th e United States and beyond w ill gain a deeper understandin g and appreciation of the Ethiopian tradition as it relates to the perceptions of diversity in out da y- to- day li ves. M arga ret L. Booher Executive Directo r, In te rC ultura

V lll

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THE EXHIBITION AND THE CATALOGUE that accompanies it were conceived during conversations with Richard Pankhurst in the library of the Royal Asiatic Society, and then planned at the British Library during the summer months Dr. Pankhurst spen t in London away from the great rains ofEast Africa. Many books on Ethiopia have begun with expression s of gratitude to one or o ther of three generation s of Pankhursts w ho ha ve devoted their li ves to the stud y of this extraordinar y country, and the present catalogue is no exception. At the First International Conference on the History of Ethiopian Art, organized by Dr. Pankhurst at the Warburg Institute under th e auspices of th e Royal Asiatic Society, and again at· the Tenth International Conference ofEthiopian Studies in Paris, I had the opportunity to meet both Stanislaw Chojnacki and Marilyn Heldman, w ho have made such distinguished contribution s to our understanding of the Ethiopian achi evement. As the first curator of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Dr. Chojnacki performed an invaluable ser vice by assembling and publishing many of th e most important objects in the exhibition, and as the leading American histo rian of Ethiopian art, Dr. H eldman has done more than an yone to establish its study as a discipline alongside Coptic, Syrian, or Armenian art history, recognized as an integral part of international B yzan tin e culture. The other contributors to the catalogue and members of the advisory committee ha ve also been ideal colleagues with whom to work, and during the past month s have provid ed a constant source of inspiration, despite being scattered across three continents. I am especially gra teful to Stuart Munro-Hay, whose advice on South Arabian, Aksumite, an d a hos( of other questions has been invaluable. The enthusiastic collaboration of the director of the In stitute of Ethiopian Studies, Bahru Zewde, and of the curator, Girma Kidan e, has been essential at every stage of the project, as has that of Gary Vikan, assistant director at The Walters Art Gallery, whose advice and support throughout the organization of the exhibition and the catalogue ha ve been both acute and generous. Without these individuals and the institutions th ey and their colleagues serve so ably, the project would obviously have been impossible. Margaret Lorimer Booher achieved that most difficult of compromises, sensitive and efficient administration, and her appointment as executi ve director oflnterCultura at a crucial moment made an enormous contribution to the success of the project. H er colleagues in Fort Worth, Lori al-Aqqad, M elanie Benjamin, Sherri MacNell y, and Sarah Voelker, provided an excellent foundation for such a complex undertaking , while the energy and skill of Marcus Sloan in coordinating the production of the ca talogue with Yale Uni versity Press, as well as arranging a host of other details, deserve special recognition. Our copyeditors, Robin Jacobson and Toni Rosenberg, ha ve labored far beyond the call of duty, and continued to make improvements to a complicated text until the last possible moment. Without the dedication of Gillian Malpass at Yale University Press in London, the catalogue would ha ve become extrem.ely difficult, es pecially given th e need to secure photographs of IX

A C KNOWL E DGM E NT S

o bj ects in remote monasteries in Ethiopia. Eve ryone in volved in the proj ect is grateful that a ca talogue could be produced to the stand ards of such a prestigious press under such circumstances . Th e board of directo rs ofint erC ultura has continued to provide a privil eged positi o n fr om w hi ch to expl ore the di versit y o f the Eas tern Christian heritage, despite th e m an y ocher responsibilities of its prog ram. W hile the Na tion al Endo w m ent for the Arts and the N ati onal Endowment for the Hum anities pro vided essential funding for the exhibiti on , the guidance and encoura gem ent of the staff at th e endow m ents have also been a g reat suppo rt th ro ugho ut the last two yea rs. K aren D alton at the M enil Fo undation enabled us to draw o n her profo und and extensive kn owl edge of African and African Ameri ca n culture, and if she had not introduced th e project to her colleagues at o ther in stituti ons thro ug ho ut the United States, such an ambitio us tour wo uld ne ver have beco me a reality. T hrou gh her, we were also abl e to discu ss the possibility of an academi c conference w ith H enr y Louis Ga tes , Jr. , th e directo r of the W. E. B. D u B ois Institute at H ar va rd , and this valu abl e opportunit y to explore the them es of th e exhi bition is due to Dr. Dalton 's constant enthusias m. All the obj ects in the Institute of Ethiopian Studies , the N ation al Library, and the collections of the Ethio pi an Orth o dox Church were ph otograph ed by Malcolm Varon , w hose dedi ca tion to his craft has filled us all w ith ad miration . W e are also g rateful to Bent Juel-Jensen , w ho generousl y provided photo graphs of Aksumite coins , an d to Santha Faiia, w ho allowed us to select photographs taken fo r her impressive exhibiti on at the Royal Geographi cal Society . Sa m Fogg, w hose offi ces on B o nd Street them selves contain a library of rare and precious m anuscripts, provided fund s to prepare a pho tographic record of m an uscripts in th e B ritish Librar y . Ever yone w h o sees them during their unprecedented visit to Am eri ca w ill be in debted to his re m arka ble generosity . As w ith o ther ex hi bitions of medieva l art organized by InterC ul tura, the consultant conser vator M anuel T heodore ensured chat rare and precious obj ects could era vel to the United States w ith minimal risk. T hrougho ut several yea rs of resea rch at the British Librar y, Vrej N ersessian has given us complete access to every fa cilit y o f this m ost impo rtant coll ecti o n of Sy ri ac and Ethiopic m an uscripts. I am also gra teful to his coll eagues in oth er departm ents of th e British Li brary, as well as to the staff at the librar y o f th e Orien tal In stitute at O xford , the librar y of the School of Oriental and African Studi es in London , the N ation al Art Librar y, and th e London Library . Andrew B urn ett permitted extensive loan s fr om the British Museum at very sho rt no ti ce, and his enthusias m fo r the proj ect has added imm easurabl y to its quality. M y own ea rliest interest in Ethi opi a began as an undergraduate readin g the Ethi opi c text o f En och w ith M atthew Black at St. Andrews, and I w as th en en couraged by Sebastian Brock at Oxford to continue explo rin g th e legacy of Syri an m onas ti cism in th e hi ghl an ds of Afri ca. M y gratitude to these two scholars cannot adequately be expressed . Dream s of an Ethi o pian exhibition were later shared with Milbry P olk and D ee Smith , as well as w ith Jam es Bradburn e, w ho w orked so hard o n the initial proposa ls to the N ational Endowm ents, and w ith w ho m I first saw the ho ly city of Lalibela. His Holin ess Abun a Paulos has inspired all of us b y his devotion to th e cause of Ethio pian Orthodo x cul ture, no t si mpl y as a legacy fr o m earlier centuries, but as a livin g tradition fo r the futur e. His generous provision of obj ects fro m ecclesias tical coll ections, and his percepti ve ad vice concernin g the ca talogue, have been in valuabl e. It has been a unique privil ege fo r the proj ect to have had his blessing . Roderick G rierson

X

Dabra Damo

•

Aksum e • Abba Garima

Lake Tana

LAST A GOJJAM

• Lake Hayq

ADAL Dabra •Libanos Ankobare

SHAW A

J(/ Lake Zeway

ETHIOPIA

Principal cities and monasteries of the medieval Ethiopian empire

INTRODUCTION Roderick Grierson

"It seems that we all belong, ultimately, to Africa." -Roland Oliver, The African Experieuce'

WHEN HE BEGAN HIS RECENT SURVEY of African history with the sentence quoted above, the emeritus professor of African history at the School of Oriental and African Studies was referring to the origins of the human race. The statement is increasingly seen as true in other senses as well, however, and in ways that might have seemed surprising to previous generations of Europeans or Americans. Even for those who might not accept the more extreme forms of the "Afrocentric" view of history , in which almost all of Western civilization is believed to have been an African invention,2 the fact that humanity is deeply indebted to th e achievements of African civilizations is becoming more obvious. But with th e question becoming the subject of intense political as well as academic deba te, it can become all the more difficult to agree on what sort of identity an African civilization is m eant to displa y. In the midst of such complex issues, an exhibition of Ethiopian art can not only provide us with an introduction to this unique society, it can also help us to recognize the diversity of the African achievement, a fact that is not always appreciated by those who live elsewhere. The history of Ethiopia demands that the present exhibition address another complicated and delicate question as well as the identity of Africa, and that is the legacy oflsrael, or perhaps more accurately, the enduring dream of Israel. In one of the most perceptive studies of African culture, Kwame Anthony Appiah embarks on a comparison of black and Jewish communities by observing that both have been defined in the West as possessing a political identity on the grounds of race. 3 By adopting this definition as a basis for their own assess ment, he argues, black intellectuals of earlier generations allowed themselves to accept a view of the solidarity of negritude which effectively obscured the extraordinary diversity of the traditions found on the African continent. 4 Such Europea n assumptions about Africa were largely produ ced by the experience of colonialism and the kinds of encounters with Africa which the colonial system encouraged or permitted. They are often characterized by the kinds of destructive fantasies Edward Said has described in connection with European attitudes toward Islam. 5 In such alien cultures , to w hich Europeans responded with a curious mixture of condescension and fascination, the shackles of European convention could be set aside, allowing the privileged to wallow in sensual experience of a sort which the blessings of scientific rationality and Christian mor·ality would otherwise preven t. The absurdity, and indeed the immorality, of such assumptions did not make them any less tenacious, and with each generation there has been a tendency to add still more la yers to the palimpsest of our impressions of Afri ca . It is ver y difficult for us now to look at W est African sculpture, for example, without recalling the experiments of the Fau ves in Paris during the early years of the century. 6

1. R. Ol iver 1991 : 1. For a sympatheti c but skeptical review of one of the lea ding contributi ons to this position (M. Bernal 1991) , sec J. Ray 1991. 3. K.A. Appiah 1992: 26. 4. Ibid.: 127. 5. E.W. Said 1978. 6. See, for exa mpl e, New York 1985. Th e exhibit ion stimulated a li ve ly debate in Ariforum, Arr in America, and other journals at the time. 2.

fa cing page: In a religi ous ce remon y at Aksum, a priest reads from the Bible written in the ancient Ethiopic language Geez.

INTRODU C TI O N

Ethiopia does not fit these illusions of Afri ca , however, and indeed it was no t part of the colonial experience at all. The emperors of Ethiopia not onl y resisted Europea n invaders, m ost fa mously at the Battle of Adwa in r 896, but even expanded th eir borders as European armi es w ere marching across the continent. While a great man y w hite intellectuals have therefore fa iled to find a place for Ethiopia in their drea ms of Africa, the Conquering Lion of Jud ah has been a symbol of liberation w ithin the blac k diaspora , especiall y since M arcus Garvey found inspiration in th e Biblical verses that told of Ethiopia stretching out its hands to God, and of a king arisin g in Africa. Garvey became in effect the found er of a series of m ovem ents, one of the most dramatic consequences being the Rastafarianism from which the Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley em erged to become a g reat hero of African liberatio n whil e N elson Mandela was still i 111 prisoned. 7 The present borders of Ethio pia include a ran ge ofling uistic and cultural g roups so vas t th at a single exhibition or catalog ue wo uld be overw helmed by them .Just as exhibitions of Coptic art fo cus on the Christian traditions of Egypt without necessarily including Pharaonic or Islamic obj ects, our Ethiopian exhibition will concentrate on the C hristian empire, beginnin g in the third century just before the con version of the kin gs of Aksum and ending w ith the collapse of imperial power in the eighteenth centur y durin g the Era of the Princes. There is an other similarit y to exhibitions of Coptic art, in w hich obj ects are considered in much the sam e w ay as exhibition s from other parts of the Byzantine world , largely in terms of the methodologies of m edieval art history, theolog y, or social and political history . As we m ove south along the Nile, however, and into regio ns w here the co mplexions of the inhabitants beco m e darker, W estern academics are often tem pted to chink m o re in terms of ethnograph y o r anthropol ogy than art history. A surprisin g demon stration o f this tend ency could be seen during the comprehensive Coptic exhibition of 1963-64, 8 w hen the Austrian organizers in stalled the Egy ptian material in the Akademie der bild enden Ki.inste but the Nubian and Ethiopian m aterial in the Museum for Vi:ilkerkunde. 9 An ambiti ous attempt to co mbine these two wo rlds of anth ropology and m edieval studies could be seen las t year in Paris, during the fasc in ating exhibition " Leroi Sal o m o n et Jes m aicres du rega rd: Art et medecin e en Ethiopie, " but the result was at times confusin g to Ethiopian specialists, let alo ne to the clergy of the Ethi opian Ortho dox C hurch. 1 0 There is, after all , a great deal of difference between the court culture of the fifteenth centur y and the fo lk beliefs of the nineteenth centur y, and w hile it wo uld be surprisin g if there we re n o conn ections at all between them, one must be careful not to slip too easil y fr o m on e to the o ther. T here m ay be an additional problem with imp osing an anth ro pological approach. As Ad am Go pnik obser ved recentl y in a review entitl ed " Out of Afri ca," it is not so mu ch chat labels m ay cry to tell you m o re than anyo ne really kn ows abo ut D ogon culture, fo r exa mple, but chat they tr y to tell yo u m o re than the Dogon knew them selves . 11 T here is o bviously a deli ca te bal ance if one is attemptin g to explain a culture that will seem exotic to most of those w ho will vi sit an exhibition . While one mu st create some sort of bridge, it neverth eless seem s essential that such a bridge rem ain firml y based in the experience of the traditi on itself. The presen t project has been ver y fortun ate, therefor e, to rely on Ethiopian as well as Euro pean and Am eri can scholars, and it is hoped that it reflects an Ethiopian understanding of the rol e of Ethio pi an art.

7. See H . Cam pbell 1987 . Fo r an int ro du ction to the ph eno menon of Bob M arley and hi s place w ith in Ras tafari ani sm , see T. Wh ite r991. 8. Essen 1963 . 9. Vien na r964(B); Vien na 1964(A). ro . Paris 1992. 11. A. Go pnik 1993.

facing page: T imkat procession in

Gondar (see caption on p. 5).

DREAMING OF JERUSALEM Roderick Grierson

"What has Athens to do with Jerusa lem?" -Tertullian, De praescriptio11e 1

T HE FAMOUS ANSWER OF Tertullian to his own question was, of course, "Nothing!" Throughout the ages, many other Christians have been tempted to agree with the stern Father of the African C hurch, and to try to recover a faith in which the prophetic call of Semitic religion had not been di luted by the wisdom of Greek philosophy. Two of the greatest and most traumatic events in C hristian history, the Iconoclastic Controversy, which disrupted the Eastern Church in the eighth century, and the Protestant Reformation, which transformed Western Europe during the sixteenth century, both represented dramatic shifts in the direction of a Semitic legacy, w hether real or imagined. 2 Among the Eastern churches, however, there were those which actually were Semitic, the Syrians, for example, who preserved the eastern form of the Aramaic language spoken by Ch rist in Palestine and who mounted the most ambitious missionary program in the history of the Church. Syrian monks followed the Silk Road across the steppes of Central Asia and established Syriac as a lingua franca as far east as the China Sea. The most in tensely Semitic of these Christian societies is th e Ethiopian. For most Christians, the claim to constitute the true Israel and inherit the holy city of Jerusalem became a merely eschatological hope, and only one theme among many. In Ethiopia, it became the central fact of life, in Edward Ullendorffs words, "one of the most powerful and influential national sagas in the world. " 3 Perhaps the most detailed and complex analysis of claims to the inheritance oflsrael has been pro vided by Patricia Crone and Michael Cook in Hagarism , a study of the origins of the Islamic tra dition as an attempt to acquire the hol y city and the covenant God made with the patriarch Abra ham. 4 While the authors provide a number of insights into the Oriental churches as early riva ls oflslam, they have little to say about Ethiopia. 5 Thi s is unfortunate, since the Oriental ch urches were invariably under the political domination of the great empires of the region: By zantium, Sassanid Persia , and then the Arab empire and its Turkish and Persian Islamic uccessors . Even aside from the early Christian ambivalence toward th e state, this political dis possession made the claim to any inh eritance in the literal sense impossible. Ethiopia , however, was an empire, a theocracy in which Christian mon arc hs maintained as firm a rule as they could over Christians, Muslims, and everyone else. In addition, the Islamic claim to inherit the promise of God is the assertion of an alternate line of descent, from Ishmael rather than from Isaac. The Ethiopian claim ma y in volve a less radical re interpretation but it is even more audacious. It involves the appropriation of the direct line of descent from King Solomon himself, and the assertion that the presence of God had been broug ht to Ethiopia in the Ark of the Covenant . This presence meant that the Ethiopian emperor ruled in a New Israel , and it gave him a preeminent position among Christian kings , 5

r. T ertullian , De praescriprio1111e, 7.9.

P. Crone 1980. 3. E. Ullcndorff 1973: 64. 4. P. Crone and M. Cook 1977. 5. Ibid.: 16. 2.

fac ing page: Tirnkat ceremony in Aksum. Vast crowds follow a replica of the Ark of the Covenant which is carried in so lemn procession.

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

above even Constantine the Great, who may have possessed hundreds of relics but nothing to rival the Ark. The Semitic inheritance in Ethiopia is a complex and diverse phenomenon, combining historical and legendary material linked with three ancient civilizations: Arabia, Israel and Syria. Attempts to unravel or reconstruct the process by which this identity arose continue to provoke a lively debate on each of these subjects. "The kings of Arabia and Saba shall bring gifts." -Psalm 72.8 Just as Gaul was divided into three parts in the famous words ofjulius Caesar, Arabia was seen by the classical geographers as comprising three separate regions: Arabia Petraea, the rocky plains of the north; Arabia Deserta, the wilderness of sand in the vast Empty Quarter; and Arabia Felix, the blessed lands of the south, where abundant rains nourished the trees of frankincense and myrrh whose fragrance sweetened the winds of the Indian Ocean. Incense was of vital importance in the ancient world.Not only a luxury, it served as a kind of fuel for the machinery of the gods. Without it the ancient rituals could not be performed, and from the inscriptions of the pharaohs to the last of the pagan historians of Rome we hear of the vast quantities consumed and the enormous sums of money required. The incense trade was rumored to have brought the merchants of Arabia great wealth, and the cost of purchasing incense after the long journey by ship or c·aravan was so onerous that a Roman army was sent into Arabia in the hopes of securing an independent supply. As ea rly as 1500 B.C., the reliefs carved in the great temple of Deir el Bahri near Thebes record the most famous of all ancient expeditions, the mission sent by the Eighteenth Dynasty queen Hatshepsut to the land of Punt. The reliefs depict the delight of the ancient Egyptian explorers in their discoveries: ivory , ebony, gold, date palms, giraffes, lions, cheetahs held on leashes, and baboons clan1bering over the rigging of the five ships as they are loaded with treasure for the queen. "Never was the like of this brought for any king who has ruled since the beginning of time. " 6 For centuries, legends of Punt had fascinated Egyptian mariners, and expeditions had set out as early as 2800 B.C. in the reign of the Fifth Dynasty pharaoh Sahure. The inscriptions of Hatshepsut maintain that Punt was known only "from mouth to mouth by hearsay of ancestors" and then make the claim "but I have led them on water and on land , to explore the waters of inaccessible channels, and I have reached the terraces of incense. " 7 This would seem to have been the real goal of the expedition, and indeed the reliefs include scenes in which living incense trees arc carried back to Egypt. The precise location of Punt has remained a mystery. Frankincense and myrrh grew on both sides of the Red Sea, although in later centuries it was South Arabia that was most associated with the luxury trade of the desert. As the Greek geographer Strabo reported in the first century, "All these cities are ruled by monarchs and are prosperous, being beautifully adorned with both temples and royal palaces . . from their trading both the Sabaeans and the Gerrhaeans have become richest of all, and they have a vast equipment of both gold and silver

6. N. Groom r98r: 22. 7. 8.

Ibid. Strabo, Ceographia:

16-4. 19.

articles. " 8 However, the reliefs at Deir el Bahri depict giraffes, and the inscriptions refer to heavy rains in Punt causing the Nile to flood , suggesting that it must have lain on the African side, in the region of Ethiopia. There was, in any case, close contact between the two shores of the Red Sea, and sometime during the fifth century B.C. inscriptions begin to provide evidence for an Arabian presence in northern Ethiopia. The inscriptions are written in a Semitic language known as Sabaic, after the kingdom of Saba in South Arabia, and the use of the royal titles mlkn and mkrb suggest that states had arisen in Ethiopia on the South Arabian pattern. 6

DREAMING OF JERUSALEM

The Semiti c languages are usually di v id ed along geographical as w ell as philological lines into three m ain groups: N o rtheas t, North wes t, and South west, th e last gro up including Arabi c, Saba ic, and th e classica l lan g uage of Ethiopia known as Ethiopic or Geez, fr o m which th e modern langua ges of Ethiopia arc descended rather in th e m anner of the Ro mance languages from Latin . Sabaic and Ethiopic have often been linked , largely for hi sto rical rather than philological reasons , especia ll y because the Ethiopian syll abary of 25 r chara cters is usuall y ass umed to have been develo ped from th e ancient South Arabian alphabet. These characters were al so retained in Ethiopia for monum ental inscription s in Ethiopic, producing a h ybrid usually known as "pseudo-Sabacan." Even though the result would have been unintelligible to most Ethiopi ans and most Arabians, it may have possessed a sy mbolic value b y demonstrating and affirming Ethiopian conn ections with the wealth of the ancient South Arabian kin gd o m s. Ho wever, while it is genera ll y believed that South Arabian culture was brought to Ethiopia, a contro ve rsial theory recentl y proposed b y J acquelin e Pircnn e suggests th e reverse. 9 Assyrian reco rds list the Sabacans as a peopl e in the north of Arabia rather than th e south, and Pirennc suggests that a group ofSaba cans left northern Arabia in th e eighth or seventh century B. C . as the Ass yrians advanced , and fl ed south wa rd. In the sixth or fifth centur y B.C., a second group o f Sabacans crossed the Red Sea to Ethiopia , accompanied b y H ebrews escapin g from Ne bu chadnezza r's capture of Jerusalem. Two centuri es later , th ey also left for South Arabia, ca king with chem the system of writing and the form of architecture th ey had developed in Africa. The proposal, though tantalizing , is difficult to assess, and as Stuart Munro-Ha y has o bserved , 10 Dr. Pirenn e gave us only a single conference paper. In an y case, it wo uld also seem possibl e to adopt a third positi on, in which Ethiopia and South Arabia arc seen as comprising pa rts of a sin g le Red Sea cultural area, without either side assuming a domin ant position, and in fac t this was suggested by Isaac and Felder at much the same tim e. 11 Furthermore, while objects in dicatin g a relationship w ith South Arabi a were once thou ght to demon strate th e presence o f a superior colo nial power, it is now recogni zed that most of them were likely to ha ve been created by Ethiopians themselves, and a more careful o r more subtle anal ys is of their significan ce is th erefore required. Although th e epigraphi c evi dence begin s in the fifth centur y B. C., there is no mention of a k ingdom in Ethiopia in G reek or Latin sources until the second centur y A.O., w hen Ptolem y refers to " Aksum w here the palace of the kin g is lo cated.-" 1 2 Nevertheless, it is clear from ea rlier writers like Strabo and Pliny that a substantial expo rt trade was already conducted fr om Ethiopia, not only in incense, but in ivory , rhinoceros horn, tortoise shell, apes, and slaves. A precise account of items imp orted and exported through th e port of Adulis on the R ed Sea is given in Th e Periplu s of t/1e Erythraea11 Sea, 1 3 a kind of nav iga tional m an ual that is usuall y ass umed to have been written during the first century but that may have been co mposed as lace as the third century . 14 The magnitude of the trade enabled a kingdom of considerable wealth to arise , ruled from the capital at Aksum . The Aksumite kings iss ued coinage in gold, a rare achievement that indicates no t onl y their prosperity but also the demand s of a sophistica ted econom y. At the time, the only other gold currencies in circul ation were th ose of the empires o f Rome, P ersia , and India. The kings of Aksum also raised grea t stelae, so m e o f them a hundred feet in height, the largest m o nolithic monum ents in th e ancient world . No inscription s indicate when th ey were erected o r why, although it is now assumed chat they m ark the graves of the Aksumitc kings. 15 Earlier scholars have connected chem w ith the obelisks ofEgypt 16 or w ith the templ es of India , 17 but nothing similar appears to have been erected in South Arabi a. Originally the stelae seem to have borne the disc and the crescent, the symbols either of the ancient sun and 1110011 gods of South Arabia or of the royal tutelary d eity Mahrem , who was equated in bilingual in scriptions w ith Ares, the Greek god of war. In the fourth centur y A.O. , however, 7

9. J. P ircnn c 1987. ro. S.C. Munro-Ha y 199o( A ): 66. r r. E. Isaac an d C. Felder 1984. 12. E.L. Stevenson 1932: 108. 13 . G.W .B. Huntingford 1980: 20- 2r. 14 . J. Pircnn e 196r. 15 . S. C. Munro-Hay 199o(A): 136. 16. B. Playne 1965: 279ff. 17 . W.H. Schoff 1912: 64- 65 .

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

inscriptions of the Aksumite king Ezana replace the phrases of de vo tion to the pagan gods with the formu lae of Christianity, and his coinage replaces the disc and the crescent with the cross. The conversion to the new faith is confirmed by the contemporary Latin historian Ru fin us, 18 who writes that a trading vessel carrying two young Syrians, Frumentius and Aedesius, stopped at one of the Red Sea ports for provisions. Owing to a treaty dispute between Rome and Aksum, the vessel was seized and all the passengers slain except for the two boys. They were taken to the king and employed at court, Frumentius becoming the royal secretary and treasurer, and after the death of the king serving as regent for his son. Conversations with visiting merchants convinced Frumentius that he should become Christian, and from his position at court he undertook the building of churches. When the young prince had grown and Frumentius had completed his regency, the two Syrians left Aksum, Aedesius for Tyre in order to see his parents, and Frumentius for Alexandria, one of the five great centers of the early Church. There he attempted to persuade the patriarch Ath anasius to send a bishop to Aksum, but Athanasius consecrated Frumentius himself, proclaiming before the assembled bishops, "What other man shall we find in whom the Spirit of God is as in you, who can accomplish these things?" On his return to Aksum , Frumentius spread the faith throughout the kingdom. In contrast to the account in Rufinus, the Ecclesiastical Histo ry of Phi lostorgius seems to assume that a certain Theophilus was i,:esponsible, 19 and ind eed a variety of tradition s survive about the first evangelization of the country . Both Rufinus 20 and Socrates 21 refer to Matthew , Galasios of C yzicus prefers Bartholomew, 22 and Epiphanius of Cyprus suggests Andrew. 2 3 Ethiopian tradition adds a further element by mentioning twin brothers, Asbeha and Abreha, whose names seem to have been taken from two Christian heroes of the sixth century, Ella Asbeha at Aksum , and Abraha across the Red Sea in Himyar. The conversion of Ezana is often compared to th e conversion of the Roman emperor Constantine, but there is a dramatic difference. In the Roman Empire, Christianity had begun among the lower classes of a remote province and after three centuries began to win adherents among the ruling classes in the imperial capital. The conversion ofEzana seems to have been more like the conversion of Vladimir of Kiev in 988 , where the conversion of the ruler began the conversion of his subj ects. As a result, the church in Ethiopia was not subject to th e persecutions that shaped the experience of Christians in Egypt or other parts of the Roman Empire under the pagan emperors. Nevertheless, the kin g see ms to have felt himself to be in a delicate position, and tried to ease the transition from the old faith to the new. Inscriptions in Greek intended for a foreign audience of merchants and ambassadors are explicitly Christian, employing such phrases as "in the faith of God and the power of the Father and the Son and th e Holy Ghost." At the same time, Ethiopic inscriptions refer to God as the "Lord ofHeaven," an ancient Semitic title that most Ethiopians would have understood as that of a pagan deity. The adoption of Christianity brought Aksum into the orbit of Byzantium, a di verse and co mplex world of shifting alliances and temporar y orthodoxies. The conversion of the emperor Constantine, after a cross appeared in the sky before the fateful battle at the Milvian Bridge in 312, had transformed th ~ status of the Christian religion. What had once been regarded as an illegal superstition that threatened the empire beca me the personal religion of the emperor himself, and eventually the religion of the state, consigning the pagan cults to illegality r8. Rufinus , Historia ecclesiastica: r.9 . 19. Philostorgius, Historia ecclesiastica: 3.6. 20 . Rufinus , Historia ecclesiastica: T0.9.

Socrates, Historia ecclesiastica: Gelasios of Cyzicus, Historia ecclesiastica: 3 .9. 23. T. Schermann 1907'. ro8- 9. 2 T.

22.

T.

r9.

in their turn. As a Christian, Constantine found the capital of his empire polluted by pagan temples and sacrifices, and in 330 he established a new Christian capital at Constantinople, destined to survive th e fall of the West to the barbarian armies by a thousand years before finally succumbing in 1453 to th e Ottoman Turks. Constantine's conversion obviously required a complete reappraisal of the significance of th e empire in the Christian view of history, and the biographer of Constantine, Eusebius of Caesarea, produced a synth esis in which the emperor was proclaimed as the heir of both 8

DREAMIN G O F JERUSAL E M

Abraham and Aug ustus, th e thirteenth apostl e, representin g in his person the fulfillm ent of C lassical and Semitic traditi ons. As th e vicar of Christ, the emperor was believed to be res ponsible fo r the defens e of th e empire, w hich in theor y extended o ver th e entire created uni verse . T he rul ers of o th er kingdom s we re accommodated in this system as his spiritual sons. H e was also responsible fo r the purity of d octrin e, and he summoned the grea t councils at w hich bi shops debated the nature of Christ and o th er issues cen tra l to the faith. In a theocracy, doctrinal confo rmit y w as regard ed as of grea t signifi cance for the unity and health of empire, es peciall y an empire of the size and diversit y of Ro me , which em braced peopl es speaking Latin , G reek , Copti c, Syriac, Arm enian , and a host of other languages . Durin g the contro versy provoked in the fo urth centur y by the North Afr ican pri est Arius, w ho claim ed that C hrist was of human rather than di vine nature, the emperor Constantius sent w ord to the Aksumite rulers Ezana and Shaiza na that the consecratio n of Frumentius was invalid , sin ce the patriarch Athanasius w ho had consecrated him w as th e lea ding oppon ent of the Arian d octrin e to w hich Constantius him self subscribed. 24 While th e all egiance of Aks urn was to Alexa ndria rather than to C onstantin o ple and the em peror's claims were ig nored , the claims of religio us affili ati on were beco min g in creasin gly urgent. Along th e trade routes between India and th e M editerranean , the net work o f kingd o m s of th e first and second centuri es had been repl aced by a superpower rivalry between the empires o f Rome and Sassa nid Persia, and religion was to becom e an impo rtant cem ent in the edi fice of their geopo liti ca l ambiti ons. When the Ro m an emperor sent ambassad o rs to brin g the pagans of South Arabia into the C hristian commu nity, he discovered that C hri sti ans and Jews we re alread y resident in the leadin g cities and tradin g centers, including N ajran , w hi ch occupied a fertile oasis at th e junction of the southern ca ra van routes . Th e rivalr y between J ews and C hristian s in Najran is recounted in the Acts of the J'V/artyr Azqir, w hich sur vives in an Ethi opi c version. 25 Th e conflict erup ted aft er the ri se to power ofHim ya rite prince Yusuf Asar, usuall y kno w n as D hu N uw as, a nam e that ma y m ea n " th e Lord of the C url" and refer to hi s lon g hair. D im Nu w as con ve rted to Ju da ism , which he m ay ha ve seen as a w ay to retain his independ ence but whi ch bro ught him. in to confrontati o n w ith an intern ational po wer and its region al all y . At the end of the third centur y, the kin gs of Aksum had assum ed contro l of pa rts of south west Arabia, and in th eir in scriptio ns they began to call them selves no t onl y the kin gs of Aksum but also the kin gs of va rio us states in South Ara bia. Accordin g to the Syriac Letter of

S imeon of Beth A rsham ,2 6 Dhu Nu was ousted th e vicero y installed from Aksum , and , beli eving all C hri stians to be Aksumite age nts, decided to eliminate th e threat. H e attacked the garrison at Zafar and destroyed the church, an event recounted in the Book of th e Him ya rites and confirm ed by inscripti ons .27 The persecu tion of Chri sti ans induced th e B yza ntin e emperor Justin I to w ri te to K aleb , the king of Aksurn , urging him to intervene. T he king respond ed b y makin g preparations for an expedition in abo ut 51 7, w hen he learn ed that Dhu N uwas had ordered th e massacre of all C hristians at Najran. In 5 10 - 20 K aleb overth rew and killed D hu N uwas and bro ught Hirn ya r into the Aksurnite empire, settin g a viceroy on th e thro ne. But onl y fo ur yea rs later a rebelli on occurred in w hi ch an Ethiopi an general kn own as Abraha declared himself to be kin g . Two attempts we re made to resto re Aksurnite cont ro l, but w ith o ut success . Abraha becam e th e so le master of Hirn ya r and Saba, and built a ca th edral in Sanaa as a center of C hristian pil g rima ge in Arabia. A ccordin g to the eighth-centur y Mu slim chronicler lbn Ishaq, the Byza ntin e empero r sent architects and craftsm en to embellish th e cathedral w it h m osaics and m arble. Both Aksum and Hirn ya r we re suspicio us ofB yzantine attempts to invo lve them in the g rea t ga me w ith Sassanid Persia , sin ce the proximity of the Persian arm y could be a more seri o us concern than a common reli gion shared w ith a distant power. Th e qu esti on of allegiance to 9

24 . Th e letter is preserved in

Atha nas ius, Apologia ad impe rntorem Constantiwn, 3 1. 25. C. Co nti Rossini 19 rn . 26 . I. Shahid 1971. 27 . A. Moberg 1924.

AFRI C AN ZION : THE SA C R E D ART OF ETHIOPIA

Constantinople w as to beco m e even m o re problem atic as a result o f the theolog ical dispu tes o f th e fi fth century, especiall y th e continuing debate abo ut the nature o f C hrist. Athan as ius, th e patriarch of Alexa ndri a, had been the great champion o f w hat became th e Orthod ox positi on when he denounced the claims o f Arius that Christ had been m erely human. The First Coun cil ofNi caea in 325 called b y th e emperor Constantin e co nfirmed his rej ection of the Arian claims, and in the follo w in g generati o ns, theologians attempted to d etermin e ho w Chri st mi g ht be bo th human and di vin e. The successors of Athanasius in Ale xa ndria , especiall y the patri arch Cyril , defended the concept of a di v ine nature; their o ppo nents in Antioch , includin g Nes to rius, w ho was appo inted Pa tr iarch of Constantino ple in 428, m aintained that t wo distin ct natures were in volved , o ne di vin e and one hum an . T he Coun cil o f Ephesus in 43, cond emn ed N estoriu s, but the fo ll owers of Cy ril were no t satisfied , and even th o ug h a tru ce was nego tia ted in 4 33, the dispute simm ered o n. An o ther coun cil was summ oned to Ephesus in 449, w here extremists of th e Al exa ndri an part y took control and th e asse mbled bishops w ere terrifi ed b y the presence of fi erce m onks fr o m the Eg y ptian desert w ho dem anded th at th ey acce pt th e teachin gs of C yril. In th e W est, P ope Leo cond emn ed th e coun cil as a latrocinium , a den of thieves, and at a furth er coun cil held two yea rs later at C halcedo n, a compromise formul a was ado pted in w hi ch Christ w as sa id to be " perfect m an and perfect God , two natures w ith o ut ccmfusio n , change, di visio n or separatio n. " 28 T o th e fol lowers o f Cyril , ho weve r, this see m ed to be yet ano th er co mp ro mise w ith Nes tori ani sm , and d espite the attempts of th e successive emperors either to nego tiate a comp ro mise or impose unit y by fo rce, th e Chalced oni an definiti on w as not accepted alo n g th e fr o ntiers o f the empire. In Egy pt , in Armenia , and am o n g large numbers o f the Sy ri ans , th e teachings of C yril we re no t to be questioned , and beca use th e C halcedonian formul a was no t accep ted in Eg y pt, it was no t acce pted in Ethio pia. By th ose who did subscribe to th e C halcedonian decree, th ese ch urches have all been described as " m onoph ysite," a term deri ved fro m the Greek word s fo r "one nature." The C halced onian fo rmula is no t, however, rega rded as justifi ed wi thi n the ch ur ches them selves . T he Alexand rian positio n is believed b y its adheren ts no t to redu ce th e perso n o f C hrist to a sin gle nat ure, but to preserve bo th clements in their appropriate fo rm. W h ile the rej ecti o n of Chalced o n has been seen as a series o f nationalist m ovements d isg ui sed in a religio us ma ntl e, 29 one sho uld be wa r y of claims that th e theo logica l elem ent was no t as impo rtant as contem porary sour ces sug gest. In any case, th e di stin cti on was not onl y anachronistic, it now see m s in creasin g ly obsolete at a time w hen relig ious identit y is emergin g once again as th e touchstone o f cultural all egiance . Alth ough the Ethi opian C hurch remained loyal to Ale xa nd ri a in its hostilit y to C halcedo n , it was fa r fr o m ide ntical in fait h and custom w ith the Copts, as th ey ca m e to be ca ll ed fr o m th e Arabi c wo rd Qibt, signi fy in g "Egypt. " At times, the pa tr iarch o f Alexa nd ria fe lt it necessa r y to attem pt to asse rt doctri nal confo rm it y, as in the eleve nth cen tu ry , w hen the History of the Patriarchs of A lexandria reports th at he sent a letter to the Ethi opians ur gi n g them to abandon w hat he regarded as an excessive devotion to "O ld T estam ent custo m s." 30 "Beho ld an Isra elite indeed. " - J o hn 1.47

28 . Acta co 11 cilio r11n1 oew 111 e11 icor11111 : 2 . l . 2.

29. E.L. Woodward 19 16; A.H.M. Jones 1959. 30. Saw iru s ibn al-Mukaffa 1950, 330 .

T he phrase " Old Testame nt cust o m s" describes a number o f fea tures th at the Ethi o pi an C hurch shares w ith Jud aism. For exa mple, male children are circum cised on th e eighth d ay, a cu sto m found o nl y am ong J ews and Ethiopian C hristians. T he Cop ts, in co ntras t, circum cise m ale children between six and eig ht yea rs of age. The Ethiopi an C hurch also o bserves dietar y laws go verning " clean " and " unclean " animals, along w ith th e regulations for ritu al IO

DREAMING OF JERUSALEM

cleanlin ess, es peciall y regarding sexual relations. It preserv es the institutio n of the " levirate" marriage, in which men marr y their w idowed sisters-in-law in o rder to preserve the inheritance of their brothers. Ethiopian Christians observe the Sabbath on Saturda y as w ell as the usual C hristian Sunday, and construct their churches with a threefold division thou g ht to be modeled on the Temple of Jerusalem. It is possible to exag gerate the extent to which individual customs m ay be based on Jewish models, and indeed Ern st H ammerschmidt has followed M axime Rodin son in rej ecting th e ass umption that the plan of the Ethiopian Church must follow the Temple rather than the early Christian basilica. 31 Nevertheless, the importance of the claim to have inherited the mantl e of Israel cannot be denied. The reason for th e claim , or at least th e most striking manifestation ofit, is found in the trea tise called th e K ebra N agast (G lory of th e Kings) .32 Thi s provides an extended acco unt of th e legend of the Queen of Sheba, an elaboration of the Bibli cal narrati ve in r Kings ro.1-13, which draws on the Old and New Testament and on apocryphal literature like th e Book of Enoch. The Keb ra Nagast describes how the queen, whom it identifies as th e Ak sumite queen Makeda, sets out in search of w isdom and crosses the Red Sea to visit King Solomon in Jerusalem. She accepts his reli gion and bea rs him a son, alth o ug h the narrative is at pain s to emphasize th at the king of Israe l was not drawn to the union through the lust of the fl esh but from a desire to fill the world with sons who co uld spread the true faith of the One God ofTsrael. Indeed , at th e moment of consummation, Solomon sees th e li ght of th e presence of God depart from him and from Israel and pass on to th e new Israel that wo uld be established in Afri ca . The author o r redactor had o bviously set o ut to glorify the Ethiopian monarchy by claimin g that the emperor is the rightful heir of the firstbo rn of Solomon and therefore takes precedence over all the rul ers of the world, including even th e emperor ofByzantium. The True Cross m ay ha ve been preserved as a reli c in Constantinople, but Ethiopia possessed the more ancient and powerful Tabernacle of the Law and the C hariot, the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tablets of the Law given to Moses by God. Its presen ce is explained through the events surroundin g M enelik , th e son of Solomon and Makeda who returned to J erusa lem to be an ointed by his fa th er as kin g of Ethiopia. Solomon sent the sons of the leadin g fam ilies oflsrael to acco mpan y the boy , but fearing that th ey might spend th e rest o f their lives in a remote part of the wo rld and ne ve r see the Ark again, they carried it away w ith them across the Red Sea to Aksum , w ith Menelik dancin g before it just as his grandfather David had danced on the road to Jerusalem. In the Kebra Nagast, the Ark of the ' Covenant is called " Zion, " the ancient Israelite name for the sacred m o untain on w hich God was believed to dwell, and as the central symbol of the Ethiopian identity it is repeated in every church by a tabot, a stone tablet placed in side a wooden chest . In fac t, it is not the church w hich is consecrated, but the tab ot it shelters . This is the focus of Ethio pian worship, and w hen it is ca rried in solemn procession , it is accompanied by singing and dancing reminiscent of both David and his g rand son Menelik. This vision of the transfer of legitimacy from the Old Israel to the New has been of such central importance to the Ethiopian identity that w hen th e Napier expediti on rem oved an imperial manuscript of th e Kebra N agast in 1868, the emperor Yohann es wro te to th e British Foreign Secretary: "There is a book called Kebra Nagast which contains th e Law of th e w hole of Ethiopia; and the names of the chiefs, churches, and provin ces are in this book . I pray yo u will find out w ho has got this book and send it to m e, for in 111 y countr y m y peop le w ill not obey 111 y o rders without it ." 33 The date at which the treatise was composed has been th e subject of some controversy. According to tradition , the Kebra Nagast was translated into Ethiopic during th e reign of Amda Seyon (r 3 I 4- 44), from an Arabi c version th at was itself a tran slation from Coptic. It is said to 11

3 1 . E. H amm erschmidt 1970 : 42- 50. 32. E.A.W. Budge 1922. 33. Ibid.: xxxiv-xxxv .

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

have: been brought to Ethiopia by Coptic monks in 1225, during the so-called Zagwe dynasty, 34 a time when it would have been of the greatest political importance and volatility. The power of Aksum had begun to wane in the late sixth century, and with the rise oflslamic Arabia across the Red Sea, its economic base was undermined. The most valuable account of Ethiopia during the early years of the Islamic era is provided by the Arab geographer and historian al-Yaqubi, 35 who confirms that the Ethiopian kingdom had not been destroyed by Muslim expansion in the Red Sea. Nevertheless, Ethiopian authority had been declining for two centuries, and given the Muslim presence along the Red Sea coast, it is not surprising if the centers of power moved south in the direction of Lake Ha yq. The kingdom revived in the ninth

Taddesse Tamrat r977: r24. AI-Yaqubi: 1883. lbn Hawqal 1964: 56. Taddesse Tamrat 197T I08. C. Bezold r 909: qoff. I. Shahid 1976. J.W. McCrindle 189T 51- 52; W. Wolska-Conus 1968, vol. r: 358 . 4r. Sawirus ibn al-Mukaffa 1943: 118. 42. Abu Salih 1895: 287- 88. 34. 35. 36. 37. 3 8. 39. 40.

century, but this move to the south brought it into conflict with other regional powers, and the tenth-century Arab historian Ibn Hawqal records a war with an unnamed queen of the bar111 alhamwiya. 36 The move south also brought the Christian kingdom into the territory of the Agaw, the largest group of Cushitic speakers, who became the dominant section of the population in the kingdom. In time, even the throne passed into their hands during "the dynasty of the Agaw ," the Zagwe. As members of a different ethnic and linguistic group, the Zagwe seem always to have been regarded by the church hierarchy and the old aristocracy as usurpers, and this accusation of illegitimacy was made in terms of descent from King Solomon. Taddesse Tam rat has suggested that it was during this period, in which Ethiopia was increasingly isolated from the outside world, that a time of intense introspection began, in which inspiration was deliberately drawn from the accounts of social, political, and cultural institutions in the Old Testament. 37 Rather than the legacy of some ancient pre-Christian survival from the Aksumite period , the Semitic emphasis of the Ethiopian Church is a deliberate invention of tradition. If the Kebra Nagast had arrived during the reign of the Zagwe, the court would presumably have exerted considerable effort to prevent its translation, and indeed there is some evidence that it did so. "It came in the days of the Zagwe; and they did not translate it because it says that those who reign, not being Israelites, are transgressors of the Law. " 38 This assertion may simply be part of the tradition itself, and one is tempted to ask why, if the document really had undergone redaction as late as the fourteenth century, the narrative did not continue until the thirteenth century in order to emphasize the restoration of the Solomonic line. That the narrative concludes in the sixth century has been seen as a strong argument for an early date, perhaps sometime in the seventh century. 39 Certainly elements of the tradition were widely circulated in Christian Ethiopia long before the thirteenth or fourteenth century. The story of the Queen of Sheba is referred to by Cosmas Indicopleustes, who visited Aksum just before Kaleb's expedition to South Arabia in 519/20. He mentions that "the Queen of Sheba that is to say of the country of the Himyarites," brought many fine presents to Solomon imported from Ethiopia across the Red Sea. 40 Three centuries later, the History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria referred to " Ethiopia which is a vast country, namely the kingdom of Saba from which the queen of the South came to Solomon, the Son of David the King." 41 By the beginning of the thirteenth century, the Armenian Abu Salih reported that " the Ethiopians possess the Ark of the Covenant, in which are the two tables of stone, inscribed by the finger of God with the commandments which he ordained for the children of Israel ... And the Ark is attended and carried by a large number of Israelites, descended from the family of the prophet David .... " 42 Some of the most dramatic attempts to claim the legacy of Israel do seem to have been deliberate, and to have been linked with the hope that the Zagwe dynasty might be able to establish its legitimacy by employing precisely these symbols itself. In the mountains ofTigre, the Zagwe emperor Lalibela constructed a mystical topography, a recreation of the holy city of Jerusalem. Eleven churches were carved from the living rock with a river flowing between 12

DREAMING OF JERUSALEM

them named Yordanos, after the Ri ve r Jordan in Palestine. The names given to the churches and various other sites indicate the intention to create a new J erusalem . There is, for example, a hill known as "Ca lva r y" under which " the tomb of Adam" is believed to be located. Below it, in a church called "Golgotha" is a crypt containing the "tomb of Christ. " Another hill is known as the "Mount of Transfiguration" and a nearby church of"Bethlehem" stands almost th e same distance apart as the original in Palestin e. While it has been suggested that Lalibela intended to provide an alternative goal of pilgrimage after Jerusalem was captured by Saladin in II 87, the Oriental Churches actually fared rather better under the Muslims than they had under the Latin kingdoms established b y the Crusaders, and Saladin is sa id to have given the Ethiopians the right to a chapel at the Ho ly Sepulcher and an altar at the Church of the Nativity. 43 It seem s more likely, therefore, that the city represents an attempt to secure a connection with the Israelite tradition. The result is aptly called one of the wonders of th e world. The first European visitor , Francisco Alvarez, who described his visit to Lalibela between 1521 and 1525 , exclaimed, " I weary of writing more about these buildings, because it seems to m e that I shall not be believed if I write more ." 44 Even if suspicion remain ed about the usurping d ynasty, the king w ho actually built th e churches has been revered as a saint, and indeed as a type of Christ. H e is said to have been poisoned by a brother anxious to advance hi s own claim s to the throne, and to have fa llen into a dea thly tran ce for three days, after w hich he was restored to life. Before he became king, he is said to have flown n1iraculously to J erusalem, where Christ displa yed the hol y city to him, admonishing that when he ruled over his people, he was to build a second Jerusalem in Africa. Certainly the city became, and remained, a center of pilgrimage. It was said that " He w ho does not make his way to the hol y city ofLalibela is like a man w ho fee ls no desire to see the face of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 45 Indeed the desire to make the final pilgrimage of life from so hol y a spot transformed the city into a vast mortuary, with underground passages fi lled with the desiccated bodies of the faithful. "The desert shall rejoi ce ." - Isaiah 3 5. r The most obvious and problematic of supposedly Old Testament customs was observation of the Saturday Sabbath, which pr_ovoked a crisis for church and state during th e fourteenth and fiftee nth centuries . The di spute arose because of differences between the ab11n and th e secular clergy, who derived th eir authority from Alexandria, and the monastic hol y men , whose authority was personal and charismatic, representing a tradition brought by two groups of ascetics , the Sadqan (Righteous Ones) and th e Nine Saints. The differences were of great significance for Ethiopian history beca use of the relation ship of each faction to the court and the demands imposed on the church by the conquest of non-Christian co mmunities . Monasticism, from the Greek word monachos, m eaning "solitary," is usually regarded as having arisen in Egypt during the late third century, when individual s like Saint Anthon y the G rea t withdrew to the desert to lead a solitary life wrestling w ith demoni c forc es in the wi lderness . Anthon y had been born into a prosperous peasant family, and taking the Biblical co mmandment literally , he sold all that he had and gave the proceeds to the poor. The attraction of this way of life was so great that large numbers of followers flocked to the desert, an d a communal life developed along lines established by a yo un ger contemporary, a former so ldier nam ed Pacomius. The Life of Saint Anthony is attributed to Athanasius, the patriarch of Alexa ndria by whom Frumentius had been consecrated bishop , and it made Anthon y a mod el for subsequent generations. Indeed the fame of the Desert Fat hers became so great that enthusiasts flock ed to Egypt from other parts of the Roman Empire. 13

43. G. Gerster 1970 : 89. 44. Ibid.: 85. 45. Ibid.: 89.

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

The D esert Fathers of Egypt we re no t unique, ho wever, and indeed an independent tradition of ascetic life had arisen in Syria among the bnay qyama (the Sons of the Co venant), as described b y the fourth-c entur y Syriac writer Aphraat, kno w n as " th e Persian Sage," who seems to have been one of them. They lived in small communities dedi ca ted to chastity and an angelic life in which the soul was kep t awa ke for Christ, a condition d escribed by the Syriac poet and th eologian Ephrem of Nisibis. This tradition was late r com bin ed w ith the Egyptian forrns of monasticism brought to Syria by Mar A wgen and his seven t y disciples, and Syria was to beco m e hom e to the greatest of th e athletes of the spirit. Sc. Symeon the Sey lite, for exampl e, abandoned the flesh and ascended into th e sk y, living exposed to the harsh Syrian sun on a pi ll ar forty feet in the air and yet remaining among the people w ho gathered below him to seek his adv ice and intercession. By their determin ed w restlin g w ith th e flesh and their impla cable renunciation of the natural life, th e hol y m en were believed to ha ve entered th e rea lm of th e angels. They were regarded as the living dead , a dram ati c emb odiment of the "locus of the ho ly," 46 the point at which hea ven and ea rth are believed to meet. Ethiopian tradition , especiall y the Synxari11111, chronicl es the arrival of the Nine Saints in the lace fifth century, and alt hough the record is not clear, it is th o ught tha·t these we re Syrian ho ly men fleeing persecution by Byzantine authorities w ho imposed the Chalcedonian fo rmul a b y force. Indeed , it has been sugges ted th at the arrival of the holy men ma y have been part of a carefull y plann ed program developed b y opponents of C halcedon in Alexandria and Aksum who were an x ious to strength en the position of the "monoph ysice" church. Despite the claim ofRufi nu s chat Frumentius spread C hristian ity throughout th e Aksumite kingdom, it is likely th at new religion was largely confined to th e Red Sea port of Adulis and th e caravan routes th at conn ected it to the capital. The Nine Saints found ed a series of monasteries through ou t the region of Tigre, and the greatest of these was D abra Damo, estab lished b y the most famous of the Nine, Abba Za- Mikael, kn own as Araga w i. For centuries Dabra Damo was to remain one of the most importan t centers of learning in the em pire. It has been claimed that Ethiopian literature rea ll y begins w ith th ese Syrian monks and that th e language of the Ethiopic Bible contains Sy riac elem ents brought to Ethiopia by them . Arthur Voobus, for example, insisted chat Syrian monks wou ld have tra veled w ith Syri ac rather than Greek Bibles, and cla imed that Biblical quotations found in Ethiopian patristic litera ture were evidence of one of the ea rliest Syriac translations. 47 V oobus was rather obsessed wi th discovering lost "Old Syriac" quotations, ho weve r, and without any firm kn owledge of th e Syriac manu script trad ition, the Ethiophm m anuscript tradition, or the way in w hi ch the translators of the time set about their task , it was frankly impossibl e to m ake such claim s. Fortunately, criti cal editions of both Syriac and Ethiopic versions arc now beginnin g co appea r, and it seems likely that th e ea rliest Ethiopic trans lations were ac tu all y made from the Gree k. Syriac and Coptic influen ces arc also likely , b ut mu ch of w hat has been ch o ught to be Syriac may have entered from later Arabic versions . 48 In the following centuries, holy m en continued to play an essential role in th e spread of the C hri stian faith, an acti v ity of the greatest importance as the emperors added new lands through conquest. The rivers and m ou ntain s of Ethiopia crea ted grea t natural obstacles between the

46. P. Brown 1973. 47. A. Viiobus 1954: 253ff. 48. R. Zuurmond 1989.

va rious regions , contributin g to a marked ethnic, linguisti c, and religious diversit y. The nomadic court of the m edieval period was one way of attempting to overcome regional isolation, although its arr iva l was no doubt regarded w ith ho rr or b y most of the popul ation because of the finan cial burdens it imposed , and it may ha vc been a grea ter success at elimin atin g regional threats th an promoting national unit y. While a shared culture was necessary for effective rule, the ab1111 and the secular clergy pla ycd ver y little role in this, owin g to th e custom of sending abuns fr o m Egypt. Few Egyptian m onks

DREAMING OF JERUSALEM

of any ability or ambition would have been enthusiastic about the idea of spend ing the rest of their liv es in a strange land far from the mon as teries or the great churches of th e Copts. In fact, th e Egyptian hierarch y occasionall y seems to have rega rded the position as a pl ace of exile for troubl eso me monks. In an y case, th e differences between Ethiopia and Egypt co uld mean that even the n1ost gifted Eg yptian could have difficulty adjusting to his new circumstances. He wo uld ha ve been raised in a Christian minorit y subservient to Muslim overlord s, and it co uld be difficult to set aside fears for the communit y in Egypt at a time w hen Ethiopian emperors we re pursuing vigorous policies against th eir Muslim neighbors. Even aside from the personal qualities of th e ab,ms, the long and difficult j o urn ey between Egypt and Ethiop ia, and th e necessity of persuading the Muslim autho rities in Egypt to all ow the Coptic patri arch to appoint a successor, often meant that years could pass between th e death of o ne abun and the arri va l of the next. As a result, the surviva l of th e Ethiopian C hurch co uld be placed in jeopard y . On ly the ab,m was permitted to consecrate bi sho ps and th ereby ensure an adeq uate suppl y of clergy. In the tenth century, the History o.fjhe Patriarchs of Alexandria reco rds a letter written b y the Ethiopian emperor to th e king of Nubia: "I have menti oned thi s to yo u , my brother, in fear th at the Christian reli gion might pass away and cease among us. Six patriarchs ha ve sa t on the throne and have not paid attention to our lands , which arc abando ned w ith o ut a shepherd. Our bishops and priests are dead and our churches are ruin ed. " 49 In such circumstances, the hol y m en rose to unusual prominence, especially durin g the fo urteen th century, once the Solomonic dynasty had been restored . Whil e the m o nas tic movement may have begun in Egypt amon g peasants, most of the the grea t hol y m en of Ethiopia appear to have been of aristocratic origin. Following the model of Kaleb , w ho is sa id in the Kebra Nagast to ha ve retired to a monaster y after his ca mpaign s fo r the fa ith , it became a traditi on in Ethi opia for th ose who abandon ed a politi cal ca reer to enter m o nas tic life. As a res ult, yo un ger m embers of ari stocratic families, w ho could not themselves inherit, often chose mo nas tic careers as an alternative. This choice beca me even more attrac ti ve after the restoration of the Solomonic dynast y, when the emperors attempted to exert cen tral con trol over regions that had previously m ai ntained a consid erable degree of independence. One of the essential techniques of centra l control was th e traditional system of land tenure know n as gull, in which land was granted by the em peror on a persona l basis, w ithout hered itar y rights. This meant that the emperor possessed the means to rewa rd those whose behavior plea sed him and punish those w hose behav io r did not. In a wo rld in w hich such absolute and co mprehensive authority was dispensed from the throne, th e ho ly m an w as virtually the on ly independent force. Hi s auth ority was based on ascetic prowess, on a position o utside the social o rder won by a disp lay of spiritual courage. It was not his relations hip w ith the emperor but hi s relationship with God which gave him his power. Such independence meant that th e hol y man could easily become a focus of regional iden tit y, and the m onasteri es therefore provided a career fo r members of the region al nobility who wo uld otherw ise have been restricted by the growth of Solomonic control. The contro ve rsy regarding the Saturday Sabbath exploded in the midst of such ri va lri es . It had been ga th erin g for some tim e, and in th e Collectio11 of Ca11011s of lbn al- Assa! , compiled in 1238, th e auth o rities in Egypt specifi ca ll y rejected it as a Jewish custom. 50 When the ab11 11 and the secular clergy uph eld th e positio n of Alexan dria and attempted to elimin ate the Sabbath, they were opposed by the m onk Ewostatewos, w ho was born to a noble family arou nd r 272. At an ea rly age he had entered the monastery of his uncle an d w as made deacon and ordained priest. Within a few years, he left the monastery and began to gather his own di sciples. When he em erged as the champion of the Sabbath, the hostility of the church hierarchy became so intense that he left Eth iopia for a length y soj o urn in Egy pt, Jeru salem , and finall y Armenia. The controversy beca me particularly threatening for the established church after the 15

49 . Sawirus ibn al-Mu kafa 1943: 171-72 . 50. J. Muyser r937.

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

Ewostatewosites were excom municated and so prevented from acqu iri ng ne w priests, because they simply evolved their own organization in defia nce of the rest of the church. T he ab1111 requested the help of the emperor Dawit, but in view of th e support that the m ovem ent was gaining, Dawit refu sed to tolerate further persecution. In stea d he atten1pted to find a comprom ise in which the Ewostatewosites were allowed to occupy churches and m onas teries that had been taken from them and to establish new co mmunities. At the sa m e time, the Alexandrian position on the Sabbath was to be kept at all o ther churches and at th e court. As w ith most attempts at co mp rom ise, neither party was sa tisfied, and the position of th e ab1111 was seriously weakened by the tolerance the emperor was prepared to displa y to ward th e dissidents. The controversy wa s only reso lved during the reign of th e emperor's grandson Zara Yaqob, w ho favored th e Ewostatewosites and was anxious to avoi d a more serious schism. H e therefore made his peace with them and began to address th e question of the Alexandrian party in a diplomatic manner. In 14 50 he convened the Council ofDa bra Mitmaq , at which the Egyp ti an bishops formall y authorized the observance of th e Saturday Sabbath and the Ewostatewosites agreed to receive hol y o rd ers from the Egyptian prelates . Despite his success in resolving the Ewostatewosite crisis, Zara Yaqob 's own reign was disrupted by a second grea t contro versy . A learned and skillful theologian himself, the emperor was concerned to establish unit y of belief, especially at a tim e w hen the success of his military ca mpaigns was placing large numbers of infidels w ithin his borders and threatening to fragment the teachings of the C hmch. As he wrote in his trea tise Mashafa Birhan (Book of Lig /11 ), "O ur country Ethiopia is surrounded b y pagans and Muslims in the east as well as in the wes t." 51 He therefore promoted a cult of th e Mother of God as a new focal point for Ethiopian worship, w hi ch had an enormous impact on Ethiopian spirituality and Ethiopian art. No icons sur vive from before his reign, and it seems likely that they were introdu ced by Zara Yaqob as part of th e cult.

5r. Zara Yaq ob 1964: 15r. 52. Quoted in Getatchcw H ai le

1983(B): 99- roo , n. 33. 53. Taddesse Tamrat 1966: ro8. 54 . Quoted in Getatchew H ai le 198o(C) : 227 .

The cult had in fact first appeared during the reign of hi s fa th er, Dawit, along w ith the first translations of th e T aamra Maryam (J\1iracles of Mary), but it was greatl y promoted by Zara Yaqob, who beli eved himself to owe his life to her. As a child conceived through prayers an d vows offered to Mar y, he had been dedicated to her as soon as he was born , and marked w ith a brand on his bod y . H e believed himself to be her slave, and ca ll ed on his subjects to see themselves in th e same way: "Now listen , all yo u Ethiopians, m en and women! You are slaves of M ary, who received yo u as a tithe so that you might be her gift from her son. Always take refuge with her, beca use she is capable of saving you from all evil." 52 The cult was resisted by the followers ofth{i11onk Estifanos, who was born in th e last years of the fourteenth century to a noble family in the northern pro vin ce of Agam e. He was given a religious education and was m ade a deacon at the age of eighteen . H e then began to ga ther followers who were kno w n for their opposition to the m onarchy . Although th eir enemi es frequently charged them w ith refusing to venera te the Mother of God, their opposition seem s to ha ve been directed toward the imperial nature of the cult rath er than its object. Indeed , w hen Estifanos was summoned to court , he seem s to ha ve pushed for a separation of church and state in a way that would have been very alarming to the Ethiopian establishm ent, and announced that he did not admire th e king for his Israelite birth , but would prefer to respect him as a C hristian king of a Christian peopl e. 53 After the success of the Council of Dabra Mitmaq, Za ra Yaqob was not about to to lera te another threat of schism , and acco rding to the chroni cles of the time, he severely tortured Estifanos and his followers "a nd ca lled them enemies of M ar y, telling the peopl e that they were like the Jews, beca use of their refu sal to prostrate them selves before the king. " 54 There was no immediate resolution of th e problem. Estifanos died in exile, and the vehem ence of imperial propaganda made an y kind of reconciliation extremely difficult. It ma y be that only th e shock 16

DREAMING OF JER U SALEM

o f the Mu slim in vasion was suffi cient to heal the w ounds and establish the unit y o f th e C hurch o nce m ore. The threat to the Church p osed b y th e Muslim in vasions of Ahm ad G ran and Amiz o f Ada!, in th e I 530s, was so immediate and so intense th at an y differen ces could b e for go tten . A third g roup in w hi ch the monas ti c m ovem ent seem s to have grow n at a time w hen imperi al power w as ex p anding is p erh aps the m ost fas cinating of all , th e Beta Esrael (House of Israel), kn own in Ethio pia as th e Falash a (Exiles) and in the W est as th e " Black J ews." Th e Falasha cult comprises a mixture of paga n , J ewish , and C hri stian elem ents , and since th ey did no t kn ow an y o f th e relig ious law promul ga ted after th e Pentateu ch, su ch as th e Mid ras h o r th e Ta lmud , it is som etimes su ggested that they preser ved an arch aic form o f Judaism datin g from befor e th e B ab ylonian exile. Ign azio G uidi b elieved th at th ey were th e descendants of th e Jewish ga rrison at Eleph antine in Egy pt , 55 w hich H erod o tus reports as ha vin g revolted owing to th e len g th of their term of dut y . 5 6 Ullendo rff sug ges ted that th ey we re th e descendants of Aksumites w h o resisted con ve rsio n to C hristianit y and th at th ey p reser ved Jud aic custo m s that were established in South Arabia and b rou ght to Ethiopia. 57 T hey refl ected the religious syncretism o f Aksum , an d the influen ce o f C hristianity on th eir cu lt was made all th e easier b y the " Ol d Testam ent" custo m s of the E thiopian Cliurch. T h e in stitution o f m on as ti cism is n everth eless ver y surprisin g , given J ewish h ostilit y to this fo rm of asceti cism , and it has th erefo re also been suggested that the Beta Esrael sim p ly rep resent the most extrem e Judai zin g tendenc y w ithin Ethio pian C hristianit y. Unpublished Falash a texts apparently supp ort th e view th at th e tra dition is pri ma ril y th e result o f developmen ts in Et hiopia fr o m the fo urteenth century on wa rd , 58 and th e earliest account of th em in Eth iopian tra diti on is in th e ch ro nicle o f Amda Seyon. It describ es th eir res istan ce to A m d a Seyon , w h o had sent troop s agai n st th em, an d reports th at "ori g inall y these peo ple were C h ristian s, but no w they denied Chri st like th e J ews w h o cru cified H im , and for this reason he sent an arm y to des tro y th em ." 59 Ste ven K aplan sees m on as ti cism arising as Falash a regions came und er stron g pressure durin g th e reign o f Am da Seyon , si n ce it p ro vided a way o f en forc ing an d in vigo ratin g th e iden tit y o f th eir societ y des pite th e loss o f po litical indep en den ce .60 T his was all the more im p o rtant aft er the em peror Y es h aq passed a decree th at d epri ved them of propert y and fr o m w hich th e nam e Fa las ha may derive: " H e w h o is ba ptized in th e C hristian religio n m ay inh eri t th e lan d of his fa ther; oth erw ise let him b e afa las i. " 61 In su ch reli g io us and political disputes between the m o nasti c h oly m en, the emperor, an d th e Alexa nd rian clergy m ay li e th e essential stimulu s fo r th e grow th of Ethi o pian literat ure durin g the fourtee nth an d fift eenth centuries .62 Owin g to th e disasters of th e in v asion b y Grai':t , th e C hurch tried to preser ve and even embrace ever ythin g th at sur vived the con fl agrati on, even though m an y of th e texts had been w ritten as polemics and represented conflictin g doctrines . These contradi cti ons are onl y n ow being explored b y scho lars like Getatchew H aile, as un publi shed m aterial is analyzed throu gh th e Ethiopian Man usc ript Mi crofilm Library, and so m e of the th em es w ill be con sidered in his essay on Ethiopic li te ratu re .

17

55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 6r. 62 .

I. G uidi 1932: 95 . H ero dotus, H istoria: 2.30. E. U llendorff 1968: 117. S. Ka pl an 1988 . J. Pcrru chon 1889: 293 . S. Ka plan 1984: 126- 27 . R. Bassett r882 : 12, ro r. See Getatchew H ail e 198 r (B ).

ETHIOPIA REVEALED: MERCHANTS, TRAV ELERS, AND SCHOLARS Richard Pankhurst

Ancient Greek Perceptions THE ANC IENT GREEKS, w ho in ve nted th e name Ethiopia, u sed the word to refer to the co untr y in h abited b y " burnt," or d ark-skinn ed , people so uth of Egypt. The Greek image of the Ethiopi an s was th at of a remote p eople. In theriinth century B.C., H omer d escribed th em in the

Odyssey as eschatoi a11dro11 , "th e m ost distant of m en ." He stated that they lived "at ea rth 's t wo verges, in sun se t lands and land s o f the ri sin g sun. " Durin g the fifth cen tur y B.C., H erodotu s also obse r ve d th at th e Ethiopians inhabited "the ends of the ea rth," and Aeschylus ag reed that theirs was a " land far off, a nation of blac k m en ," who lived " hard b y th e fountain of the sun where is the ri ver A ethiops." T h e Ethiopians were regarded by th e Greek s as one of th e b est peoples in the wo rld. Homer speaks of th e m in th e Iliad as "th e blameless Ethiopians." H e claim s that they were visited by Zeus, the king of the gods , b y th e god d ess Iri s, w ho went to th eir count r y to participate in th eir sacrifi cial rites, and b y Poseidon, th e sea go d , w ho " lin ge red d elighted" at o n e of their feasts. T hi s th eme was later taken up in the fi rst centur y B.C. by Diodo ru s Siculus, accord ing to w h om H ercules and Bacchus we re both "awed by the piet y" of the Ethiopians, w h ose sac rifi ces, h e claims, were the most accep table to th e go d s. 1

Early Trade Contacts Alth o u g h su ch earl y w rit ers romanticized th e co untr y, o th er foreigners, am o ng th em trave lin g merch ants , were b etter inform ed. Such v isito rs included m an y Egyptians, Indians, and Arabs w h o h ad trad ed w ith the B ed Sea coast of Ethiopia since time immemorial. The reg ion now called Ethio pia was part ofa vas t stret ch o fl and on b o th sides of th e so uth ern Red Sea, part of which th e an cient Egyptians kn ew as the Land of Punt. Egyptian vesse ls proba bl y reached the area as early as the first o r second d y na st y (3400- 2980 B.c .). Such contacts co ntinued for several millennia . This is evident from th e sto r y of th e Egyptian qu een Hatshepsut, who around 1495 desp atch ed fi ve vessels that sail ed so uth in sea rch of myr rh and oth er tropi ca l produce. A reco rd of th e eve nt is preserve d in Egyptian hi erogly phic inscriptions o n a famous temple at Thebes in Upper Egypt. 2 Indi an trad e, w hi ch was facilitated by th e " trade wi nds" blowing eac h yea r in th e Red Sea and Indian Ocean , was also of great antiquity.

i97 4.

It is, n o tw ithstanding, far less wel l documented. 3

*

*

For a useful summary of Greek conceptions of Ethi opia, see D. N. Lev ine 1974: 1-5. 2. See R. K. Pankhurst T96T: 3- 44; id. 198 4. 3. On this trade see R. K . Pankhurst I.

faci 11g page: Abba Grego riu s.

* 19

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

The Coming of Christianity The situation by early Christian times was, however, much clearer. One of the best-informed writers on the area , who seems to have lived in Egypt around the first or second century A.D., and wrote in Greek, was the unknown author of The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Perhaps the captain of a ship, or a customs official, he drew up a very factual and remarkably detailed account of the Red Sea commerce. One section ofhis work describes the trade of the Ethiopian capital of the time, Aksum, which was situated in what is now the north of the country, and gives a considerable amount of data on the commerce of its port, Adu_]e, or Adulis, which lay nearby on the Red Sea coast. 4 The image of Ethiopia was transformed by conversion to Christianity. This took place in the early fourth century after two Greek-speaking Christian youths from Syria were shipwrecked off the Red Sea coast. They were brought to the capital, Aksum, where they met the king, who appointed one of them, Frumentius, as a royal scribe and treasurer. Frumentius spent much of his time working to spread the Christian faith, and later traveled to Alexandria co ask Patriarch Athanasius to appoint a bishop. The prelate asked who was more fitting than Frumentius to hold this post, and accordingly consecrated him as the first bishop in Ethiopia. 5 The coming of Christianity was followed by the arrival of many Christians from other parts of the Roman Empire. The most notable of them were the Nine Saints, who came from Syria and adjacent areas around the fifth century and established important monasteries in the north of the country. This period thus witnessed the establishment of the monastic system, with the creation of church schools, as well as the translation of the Bible and other Christian writings into the Ethiopian language, Geez. 6 One of the effects of these developments was that the earlier conception of Ethiopia as an almost celestial land known only to the gods was shattered. The coming of Christianity brought about important, very tangible religious ties with Jerusalem, a place of pilgrimage for Ethiopians throughout the centuries, as well as with Coptic Egypt and other countries of the Christian Orient. As many Ethiopian pilgrims traveled to Jerusalem, and not a few devout Ethiopian Christians remained there, it became a place of special contact with other Christians from many lands. Such relations are particularly evident in the case of the Armenians. It is quite possible chat the Armenian Mesrop Mashtotz, who lived in Jerusalem in the fifth century, copied several letters of the Ethiopian alphabet when devising his alphabet for the Armenian language . He doubtless saw them in Ethiopic manuscripts in the possession of Ethiopian ecclesiastics who

4. G.W.B. Huntingford 1980; L. Casson 1989. 5. Sergew Hable Sellassie 1972: 97-rn5. 6. E.A.W. Budge 1928 , 1: 152. On

the Ethiopian traditional system of church schools, see E.S. Pankhurst 1955: 232- 66. 7. D.A. Olderogge 1974.

On early Ethiopian contacts with Armenia, see R.K. Pankhurst 1977. 9. J.W. McCrindle 189T 20; W. Wolska-Conus 1968-73. 8.

resided in the city. 7 A number of Armenian manuscripts that were later bound in the Ho! y City are encased in pages of strong parchment taken from Ethiopic manuscripts. The Armenians presumably acquired them from their Ethiopian fellow Christians. 8 An important event in this period of history was a visit to the Aksumite kingdom in the early sixth century by the Egyptian who later became a monk known as Kosmas Indikoplcustes. He included some details about the country in his Christian Topography, where he described it as an integral part of the Christian world, "with churches of Christians ... where the Gospel of Christ is proclaimed." He also produced the first visual record of the realm: a few rough sketches, still extant, which depict an Aksumite traveler, the Aksumite port of Adulis, and several Aksumite wild animals. 9

The Arabs and the Prophet Muhammad Despite increasing knowledge of the country, the old image of Ethiopian piety endured, and it found an echo a century later when the early followers of the prophet Muhammad were 20

ETHIOPIA REVEALED: MER C HANTS, TRAVELERS , AND SCHOLARS

persecuted in M ecca . Their lea der appears to have b een w ell acqu ainted w ith Ethiopia , for as a posthumou s child he had been brou ght up b y his g randfather, Abd al- Muttalib , w ho had often trave led th ere o n business . Acco rding to Muslim traditio n , w hen Abd al-Muttalib learned ofhis d iscip les' diffi culties he ad vised th em to seek refug e in Ethi opia, or Ab yss ini a as th e Arabs preferred to ca ll it. Pointin g acro ss the R ed Sea to the West he is said to h ave spo ken ofit as "a countr y w here n o one is wro n ged , a land o f righteousn ess ." Hi s w isd o m beca m e apparent w h en his fo llowers we re g iven as ylum at Aksum. Their enemies subsequ entl y des patched an em bassy, w ith gifts, d emandin g for cible repatriation of th e refu gees. Asham a ibn Ab ga r (Armah 1), th e rul er o f Aksum at the tim e, is sa id to ha ve repli ed : "Even if yo u we re to o ffer m e a mo untain o f go ld , I would no t give up th ese peo ple who have taken refu ge w ith me ." Wh en th e persecuti on in Arabia came to an end th e refu gees dul y return ed h o m e. T hey did th is w ith th e assistan ce o f th e Aksumite m on arch, w ho p rov ided th em w ith t wo ships. O ne o f the refug ees, Umm H abibah, re turn ed to m arr y Muhamm ad, o n w hich occasio n th e Ak sumi tc king sent her a dowr y. She late r told her husband much ab o ut Ethi o pia , and is said to have give n h im a graphi c d escripti on of th e beaut y of th e prin cipal church in Ak sum. 10 T hi s was th e grea t C hurch of Saint M ar y o f Z ion , in w hi ch Ethi o pian trad iti on claim s th at th e Ark o f th e Covenant is preser ved to th is day . 11 Relations bet ween Muhamm ad and th e peo pl e of Ak sum were said to be cordial , and w hen the king di ed , th e prophet prayed for his so ul.:...--H e subsequ entl y o rd ered hi s foll owers to "leave the Ab yss inian s in peace," thu s exemptin g th em fr o m his jihad or H o ly W ar aga in st un believers. So m e o f the earliest con ve rts to Islam includ ed a num ber o f Ethi opians. Th e best know n o f them was the pro ph et 's d evo ted fo ll ower B il al, w ho ser ved as his first muezzin , ca lling th e fa ithful to prayc r. 12 The Arab hi sto rian al-Yaqubi , who wrote in th e late ninth centur y, gives a fa irl y detailed and ap parentl y auth enti c acco unt o f th e Aksumitc region . Th e n o rth ern coastal strip , he indi ca tes, was b y th en co min g und er in creasin g Musli m influ en ce. Further in la nd , however , lay a powerful C hristian kin gd o m. Al-Yaqubi refers to the Ethiopia n rul er as th e 11ajas/1i, an Arabi c ren derm g o f th e Ethiopian title 11eg11s, or " kin g." Th e ca pital, we arc told , was at Ku bar, w hose loca tion to d ay is unkno w n , and th e realm stretched as far as th e Red Sea coast and includ ed th e island of D ahl ak. Th e pi cture was later confi rm ed b y an o ther Arab w riter, al-M as udi , w h o n o ted in 93 5 that the Ab yssinian ca pital, " Ku ba r," as he called it, was " a grea t cit y and th e sca t of t he gove rn me nt o f the najashi ." T he kingd o m had " man y to w n s and extensive territori es stretchin g as far as th e Ab yssinian sea" and includ ed part o f th e opposite coast of th e Y em en. A third Arab auth o r, lb n Haw qal , w ritin g in 977 / 8 , prov ided th e additi onal inform ati on th at th e G ul f of Aden po rt of Zayla was in possession o f Ab yssinian Christians w ho trad ed peacefull y w ith th e Muslim s o f th e Ye men. H e remind ed his rea ders that Ab yss inia w as a lan d n o t subj ect to th e H oly War. 13 The Arabs were responsible for giving Ethi opia the d es ig nation " Ab yss in ia," b y whi ch it is o ft en kno w n. T his latter nam e, which dated ba ck to earl y A ksumite tim es, had its ori g in in Arab contac t w ith a people ca lled the H abash at, w ho li ved in th e A fr ica n coas tal area immediately o ppo site the Yem en. The wo rd Haba shat was later tran sform ed into habas/1, an Arabic term th at also m ean s " mi xed. " The n ame H abash, in th e course o f time, came to be adopted in many parts of the world , and is found , for example , in English as Abyssinia , in Fren ch as Abyssinie, in G erman as Abyssinien , and in Italian as A bissinia. 14 Over th e centuries, th e inh abitants al w ays referred to th eir countr y as Ethio pia, and have seldom made use of the nam e Abyssinia. As th e official titl e used in ro ya l chronicles and in th e letters of its m o narchs, th e nam e Ethiopia had a special appeal in tha t it was used in th e Bible. T h e designation Abyssinia , on account of its association with the te rm !,abash, seemed b y contrast dero gatory . Althoug h it is rarely u sed , however, /,ab ash is b y n o m eans entirely 21

W . Mu ir 1878 : 74-75, 86, 92, 386; W .M. W att 19 53: 30, 109- 17, 182- 86 . Th e Quran , it is interestin g to note, co ntain s man y bo rrow ings fr o m th e ancient Ethi o pi an langu age, Geez; see A. Jeffery 1938. 11. Fo r a recent popular acco unt givin g one version o f how the Ark ma y have arri ved ,lt Ak sum , see G. H ancock 1992.

IO .

12. W . Muir 1878 : 61 7 . 13. Fo r a summary o f th e acco unts of

al- Yaqubi , al- M asudi , Ibn Ha w qal , and o th er Arab writers, see J.S. Tr im ingham r952: 49-52, 61 - 62. 14. E.A . W. Budge 1928, 1: 120, 130.

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

shunned by Ethiopian s, who when referring to their nation al clothing ma y speak of habasha /ebs, literally "Abyssinian clothing." 15

Medieval Egyptian Contacts Ties between Ethiopia and th e Christians of Egypt, which Frumentius had initiated in the fourth century, were greatly strengthened during th e thirteenth century. Power in Ethiopia at that time shifted southward to Shewa, in what is now the center of the country. There, a new Solomonic d ynasty under Yekuno Amlak emerged, cl aiming descent from Solomon and th e Queen of Sheba. It was customary for the Ethiopians to obtain their ab1111, or metropolitan, from th e Coptic C hurch in Egypt. The latter, though rich and long established, was by then subordinate to the Muslim rulers of the country, upon whom the Ethiopian s were thus dependent for their patriarch. The coming of such prelates from Egypt served not only to keep the Ethiopian and the Coptic Church in the communion, but also to increase Egyptian consciousness of the great Christian neighbor to the south. The flow of the Ethiopian Christian pilgrims , who traveled through Egypt to Jerusalem and the Holy Land , often annually in large groups , was also facilitated. 16 Egyp tian perceptions of Ethiopia were influenced throughout this time by the occasionall y vexed question of th e Nile, which constituted the lifeblood of Egypt. Much of the wa ter and silt reaching that country originated in the Ethiopian hi ghlands. The Egyptians therefore felt themselves dangerousl y dependent on their southern neighbors, who, they feared , might divert the waters of the Nil e. This fear was in fact unfounded, for at the time no one would have possessed the technical ability required for such a vast undertaking. Be that as it ma y, letters and embassies between the two countries were frequently exchanged. Most, like a famous epistle from Yekuno A 111 lak to the sultan Bay bars in 1273 , dea lt with the despatch to Ethiopia of an Eg yptian abtm, but others were concerned with the question of the Nile. Wheneve r the flo w of water reaching Cairo declined , either because of the failure of the Ethiopian rain s or beca use of an increase in vegetation in the Sudanese swa mps, the Egyptians would suspect an Ethiopian plot, and the ,!Jllers of Ethiopia were not a verse to seeking diplomatic advantage from Egyptian anxiety. 17 The Egyptians were interested not only in the Christian empire but also in its Muslim dependencies to the south, east, and west. These stretched over a vast area and included Ifat, Ada], Fatagar, Dawaro, Hadeya, and Bali. One of the first writers to study these territories was an Egyptian courtier , Ibn Fad] Allah al-Umari (d. 1349), who learned about them from Ethiopian Muslim s visiting Cairo and who left a valuable account of their geography and economic and political life. 1 8

The Kingdom of Prester John and the Council of Florence r5. A. d' Abbadie r88r: 9; I. Guidi r90 1: 7; T.L. Kane r990: r4. r6. E. Cerulli 1953-57 , vol. r: r- ro8. r7. On Ethiopian-Egyptian relation s, particularly with regard to th e, Nile, see Taddesse Tamrat 1972: 256, 261-62; E.D. H echt 1988. 18. M. Gaudefroy-Demombynes 1927 : 1- 39. r9. E. Ce rulli 1953- 57, vol. r: r6, 3 r33, 36-37, r19- 21.

Medieval European kno w ledge of Ethiopia meanwhil e owed much to the arrival in Jerusalem of a steady influx of Ethiopian Christian priests, monks, and pilgrims. Their importance was recognized in 1189 by the sultan Salah ad- Din, the Muslim Ayyubid ruler of Egypt, better known in the West as Saladin. After driving the Latin clergy from the Holy City , he granted th e Ethiopians the Chapel of th e Invention of the Cross in Jerusalem and a station in the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlchem. 19 News of the Ethiopian presence in the Holy Land , and of the Christian country from which th ey came , du ly percolated to Europe. This ga ve rise to the beli ef that Christian Ethiopia might prove a useful ally in the Crusades against Islam then und er way. One of the first Europeans to 22

ETHIOPIA REV EAL ED: M E R C HANTS, TRAVELERS, AND SCHOLARS

urge the advantages of such an alliance was G uillaum e Adam, a Domini can monk who had visited th e island ofSocotra in the Gulf of Aden , and made severa l attempts to enter th e remote Christian empire. In 1317 he drafted a plan for the kin g of France in w hi ch he argued th at it wo uld be possible to eradicate the Saracens w ith Ethiopian coo peration. Elaborating on this idea in 13 32, he drew th e attention of the French monarch to the existence of a strong Christian peo pl e inhabitin g " th e mountains in the direction of Egypt," a phrase evidentl y referrin g to Ethiopia. 20 The idea o f a grand C hristian alliance against Islam was reinforced b y the legend of Prester John , which had been circulating in the W est since the thirteenth centur y . It held that there was a powerful C hristian rul er in India, or somewhere in that region , who was determin ed to liberate th e H o ly Sepulcher from the infidel. This belief found ex pression in a fi ctitious letter chat gained extensive currency at the time. In it the m ys terio us monarch , Prester John, extended a cordial in vitation to the rul ers of Europe to enter his service, and promised in return that his Euro pean supporters would receive high administrative o ffi ce and large estates . 2 1 Such im agi nar y offers attracted considerable interest in Europe, where th e supposed epistle of Prester John was translated into several lan g uages . Strenuo us efforts we re made to locate th e fab ulous rul er, but when th ey m et w ith no success th e belief in an Asian Prester J ohn was aba ndoned. It w as replaced b y the idea that the j.xnaginar y monarch was none other th an th e C hristian emperor of Ethiopia, whose existen ce had by then been long attested. Conta cts between Ethiopia and W estern Europe drew appreciab ly closer in the late fou rteenth and earl y fifteenth centuries. A Florentine trader, Antonio Bartoli, is believed to have entered the countr y some time in the 13 90s, and a Sicilian, Pietro Rombul o, in 1407. The latter spent no less than thirt y- seven years in th e countr y before being despa tched b y its ruler o n a mission to India and C hin a. Rombulo later return ed to hi s homeland , with an Ethiopian priest, Fere Mikael , as part ofa four-man embassy from th e emperor Zara Yaqob (r. 1433 - 68). The first official European embassy to Ethi opia had meanwhile been sent from France b y the Due de Berry. It consisted of a N ea politan ca lled Pietro, a Frenchman, and a Spaniard. Pietro ma rried an Ethiopian, returned to Europe, and attempted to set o ut for Ethiopia again in 1432. European awareness of th e countr y, w hi ch owed much to the reports o f Rombulo and Pietro , was heightened w hen news spread th at an Ethiopian delega ti on was to attend the Council o f Florence in 1441. The embassy consisted , it later transpired, of no more than two mo nks, w ho had been sent not from Ethiopia but from th e Ethi opian comm unit y in J eru sa lem. Their arrival was noneth eless important in further diffu sing knowledge about their di sta nt countr y. Other European maritim e powers were by this time also much interested in Ethiopia. T he Venetians, w ho were the commercial ri va ls of the Egyp ti ans, sought in particular to develop com m ercial contacts with the regions to the south. The rulers of Spain and Portugal were also awa re of possible advantages to be drawn from contact with Ethiopia. Alrea d y in 142 8 Al fo nso, the king of Aragon, had received a letter fr om the emperor Yeshaq proposing an alliance against Islam, to be cem ented by a double dynastic marriage. T his failed to materialize, but Alfo nso subsequentl y despatched a message to the em peror Za ra Yaqob in 1450 offering to send him a number of skilled crafts m en , whom the Ethiopian monarch had requested .2 2 The extent of European knowledge of Ethiopia early in the second half of the fift eenth century is appa ren t from the detailed data fo und on two of the principal m aps of the peri od. The first was the no table Fl orentin e map Egypt11s Novelo . Produced aroun d 1454 under the supervisio n of the painter Pietro del Massaj o, it probabl y owed much to in form ation obta in ed fro m the Ethiopian del egates to the Council of Florence thirteen yea rs ea rli er. The second was the even m ore famous Mapparno11do design ed in 1460 b y Fra M auro , who expressly states that he o wed mu ch to Ethiopian ecclesiastics. The latter were probably members of the co mmunit y in 23

20. Taddesse Tamrac 1972: 252. 21. V. Slessa rev 19 59: r-3 r; E.

Ullendorff and C.F. Bcckin g ham 1982: I-TT; R. Sil verberg 1972. 22 . Taddesse Tamrat 1972: 254, 25759 , 264- 67; R. Lefevre r965; id. r967- 68; S. Tedeschi 1974.

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

Jerusalem , some of whom from time to time made their way to Venice. Several later attracted the attention of a Venetian scholar, Allesandro Zorzi , who interviewed them between r 5 19 and I 524 and produced valuable itineraries of the routes they had taken to and from their native land. 23 The opening of contacts between Ethiopia and the West resulted meanwhile in the establishment in the country of a small but culturally important foreign com.m.unity , mainly from Venice, Naples, and Genoa. Prominent among them were two Venetian artists, Nicolo Brancaleon and Hieronomo Bicini, who deserve mention in any history of Ethiopian art. 24

The Portuguese and the Jesuits The Ethiopian Christian state in the early sixteenth century faced two major threats. The first , and more general, was the expansion of the Ottoman Turks around the Red Sea. The second was the increasing power of the Muslim state of Ada! , a territory to the east ofShewa. Its rulers, because of their relative proximity to the coast, were beginning to gain access to firearms. The Ethiopian monarch of this time, the emperor Lebna Dengel (r. 1508-40), was then a minor. Power therefore rested in the hands of a regent, the redoubtable empress Eleni. The daughter of Muhammad , the Muslim ruler of Hade ya, southwest of Shewa, she had becom.e a Christian to marry Zara Yaqob , the great grandfather ofLebna Dengel. Despite her Muslim origins, she was worried by the growing power of the Turks. In 1509 she therefore despatched an Armenian merchant called Matthew with a letter to Manocl I of Portugal proposing a defensive alliance against them.

23. O.G.S. Crawford 1958: 13 , 16-20, 194- 204. 24. R.K. Pankhurst 1961: 70 , 72, 28992; S. Chojnacki 1983: 533; D. Spencer 1989. 25. C.F. Beckingham and G.W.B. Huntingford 1961. 26. R.S. Whiteway 1902.

Because Matthew was an Armenian, and obviously not an Ethiopian, his credentials as the imperial envoy were not easily accepted by the Portuguese. He accordingly ran into many difficulties. Manoel, however, eventually decided to send him back to Ethiopia, with a Portuguese diplomatic mission. Led by Duarte Galvan, an old man who died on the journey and was replaced by Rodrigo de Lima, it landed at the Red Sea port of Massawa in 1520 and duly proceeded to the court ofLebna Dengel in Shewa. The monarch had by then come of age. A proud young man , he felt confident that he could contain all his enemies and saw little interest in the Portuguese alliance earlier proposed by his regent. He therefore kept his visitors in the .,/ country for some six years, without concluding any alliance with them. This protracted stay was of immense importance, for it enabled the chaplain of the mission, Francesco Alvares, to write his memoirs, which were entitled Verdadera Informa,am das terras do Preste Joam das Indias ( Truthful Iriformation about the Countries of the Prester Jo/1n of the Indies) and w ere published in Lisbon in 1540. Alvares , a kind and sensible man, wrote in a simple and lively style, vividly describing most aspects of the political, religious, and cultural life of the country. One of the most interesting sections of his book is devoted to the remarkable rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, in the province of Lasta, on which he was the first foreign traveler to report. His detailed account of the Christian empire he had seen is the more valuable in that it was written immediately before the invasion in r 527 of Ahmad Gran, the Muslim ruler of Ada!, which was greatly to weaken the state that Alvares had so painstakingly described. 25 The subsequent defeat of Gran and his death in battle in r 543 owed much to intervention by a Portuguese force led by Cristovao da Gama, son of the famous Vasco. One of his companions, Miguel de Castanhoso, subsequently wrote a useful account of the campaign and of the country in which he and his comrades had fought. 26 As a result of this victorious involvement in Ethiopian affairs, the Portuguese and their Spanish neighbors became keenly interested in the country, and conceived the idea of converting it from its traditional Orthodox faith to Roman Catholicism. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society ofJesus, volunteered to go to Ethiopia in person, and although he never 24

ETHIOPIA REVEALED: M ERCH ANTS , TRAVELERS, AND SCH OLARS

went, the Jesuits were entrusted b y th e Pope with the task of conversion. A J esuit 111i ssion led by Andre de Oviedo accordingly landed at th e coast in 1 55 7. Five days later th e Turks occupied M assawa, constituting a for111idable barrier to furth er co111111unicatio n. 27 Despite this enfo rced isolation, Ethiopia was b y n ow relati vely w ell-kn own to European schol ars. Thi s is evident, for example, in th e fa111ous map of A braha111 Ortelius Presbiteri

Jo/1 a1111is, sive Abissinorum imperii descriptio, w hi ch was first issued in 1573. Dedicated to David, the "son of Pres ter John ," it appeared as an additamentum, or supplement, to the Theatn1111 orbis terrarum of 1570, and was then included in all later editions. 28 Notwithstanding th e Turkish blocka de at th e coast, another Jesuit , Pero Paes , su cceeded in entering the co untry in 1603. B y hi s missionar y ac ti vit y, and the attracti ve offers of 111ilitary support from Spain, h e won the favor of th e em p eror Za Dengel (r. 1603-4) and subsequently of hi s successor, the e111peror Susneyos (r. 1606-32). T he latter attempted to convert the co untr y to R oman Catholicism b y force, but this led to re bellion and civil war. Susneyos was obliged to rein state the Orthodox faith, after w hich he ab dicated in 1632 in favor of hi s son Fasiladas, who immedi ately exiled the Jesuits from hi s capital and later from the entire co untr y . Although it was short-li ved , the J esuit prese nce was of major importan ce. With th e support of the emperor, the missiona ries tra veled w idely throu g hout the empire and produced ve ry useful annual reports on their activities. Several J es uits, notabl y Man oel de Alm eida , 29 Jeronimo Lobo, 30 and Manoel Barradas, 31 also wro te detailed acco unts of th e land , its people, and th eir social, religious, and cultural li fe; w hil e Pero Pa is penned a ver y cred itab le history of the co untry. 32 The writings of th e J es uits, which describe the situation in the aftermath of the wa rs of Ahm ad G ra11. , were just as informati ve, althou g h perhaps not so am u sin g ly w ritten, as those produced by Al va res durin g th e golden age of the e mpire a centur y earlier.

Abba Gregorius and Hiob Ludolf Throughout this time a steady stream of Ethiopian Christians continued to tr avel abroad on pilgrimage, often b y way of Egypt and mainl y to the H o ly Land, but also to Rome. In the latter city th e Hol y See purchased a house for them in r 539 . Later known as Santo Stefano d ei Mori, it was situated just behind Saint Peter's. The Ethiopian presence in Ro111 e proved of con sid erab le i111portance to scholarship. In 1649 Hiob Ludolf, a yo ung G erman deeply interes ted in lin g uistics, traveled there in the hope of ex tending his knowledge of the Ethiopian classical lang u age, G eez, which up to then had been studi ed only from books. Learning that th ere were four Ethiopian s in the city , he lost no time in making their acqua intan ce. " I addressed th em," h e later recalled , "and acquainted th em how desirous I was to lea rn the Ethiopi ck language. T he y surro und m e, and wonder, and at length demand the Reasons; to w hi ch , bein g h ard , th ey return the Answer: that th at co uld not be done ou t of Ethiopia , for it was a thin g of great Labour, and much Time ; that there was indeed o n e Gregorius there, a very Learned M an (whom they sho wed me), but that h e neither und er stood Latin nor Itali an." The Ge rman replied that he " desired that th ey wo uld o nl y resolve so me Doubts," and "sa tisfy" his "Difficulties," for he had "a lread y acquired th e Rudin1ents of that Language." At this point , Ludolf co ntinues, G rego rius , " und erstanding from his Companions what I desired, immedi ately r~n s in, and fetches a great Parchment Book, cu riou sly writ, an d bids me read .... At this the y co uld not ab stain from Laughter, especia ll y Grego rius.. . . But w hen I went about to interpret , they turn ed th eir Laughter into Admiration , scarce believing that that Language, which seemed so diffi cult (as th ey said) to th e Fathers of the Society (that is, the Jesuits), who abode so lo ng in Ethiopia, could be learned wi th o ut a Master." Thus began one of th e most rem arkable of scholarly association s. As Lud o lf recalls: " I daily 25

27 . C.F. Rey 1979: 205-6, 208; P. Ca raman 198s: 10- 15, 68. 28. R.V. Toole y 1969: 88- 89. 29. Reproduced in C. Beccari 190517 , vols. 5-7 . For translated excerpts in Eng li sh sec C.F. Beckingham and G.W .B. Huntin gford 1954. 30. D. M. Lockhart 19 84. 31. Reproduced in C. Becca ri 190517, vo l. 4. 32. P. Pais 1945. Also reproduced in C. Beccari 1905-17 , vo ls . 2-3 .

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

visited Gregorius: But at the beginning we did not converse; for he understood no European language besides the Portuguese, and that I had not learned. He was then beginning to learn the Italian: So we did a long time confer by an Interpreter ... and at last began to discourse imperfectly ourselves. Afterward we spoke in the Ethiopick, which neither of us had ever spoke; for among the Habessins the Amharic Dialect is used in speaking ... the Ethiopick only in writing. Concerning speaking the Ethiopick, I had not so much as dreamed. So that we were forced , that we might understand each other, to use a Tongue to which neither of us had been accustomed. " 33 Ludolf was fortunate in winning the friendship of Gregorius, who proved to be both well informed and a scholar of integrity. Old enough to be Ludolfs father, he was an important source of linguistic and other information, and added significantly to what his young friend could glean from the writings of Alvares, the Jesuits, and others. 34 The help of the learned Ethiopian enabled Ludolf to publish the first Geez grammar and dictionary, the Grammatica aethiopica, and the Lexicon aethiopico-latinum, both in 1661. He also wrote one of the finest histories of the country, the Historia aethiopica of r681, along with an important Commentarius in 1694. Later, he wrote the first Amharic grammar and dictionary, the Grammatica linguae amharicae and the Lexicon amharico-latinum in 1698. Because of the importance of these works, their illustrious author has been referred to as the founder of Ethiopian studies in Europe. 3s

Isolation from the West After the expulsion of the Jesuits in the early seventeenth century, the rulers of Ethiopia cut themselves off from the West. The emperor Fasiladas went so far as to order the execution of any Catholic priests entering the country. The result was that there is only one Wes tern account of this period of any interest, and even that may be imaginary. The book purports to be by an Italian called Giacomo Barrati, who penetrated only the periphery of the country. 36 Ethiopian diplomatic contacts with the East were on the other hand greatly expanded. Missions led by an Armenian named Murad made their wayfrom the Ethiopian capital at Gondar to India, Persia, and the Dutch Indies. 37 In an effort to consolidate such relations, the Ethiopian rulers of this time despatched various gifts, including elephants and zebras, the latter being regarded as objects of great wonder in Asia, and at least one rhinoceros. An envoy from the Yemen, Hassan ibn Ahmad al-Haymi, likewise made his way to Gondar, where he was courteously received by Emperor Fasiladas in 1648. 38 The rulers of the East in this period were thus in much closer contact with Ethiopia, and therefore better informed about it, than those in the West. So, above all, were Armenian merchants who continued to trade and travel between the country and the outside world. 39 33. H. Ludolf1682. 34. On the life of Ludolf, and his role in Ethiopian studies, see C. Juncker 17ro; E. Haberland 1969; and E. Ullendorff 1973: 9-1 r. 3 5. For bibliographic details on the works of Ludolf and other writings on Ethiopia from this period, see G. Fumagalli 1893. 36. G. Baratti 1670. 37. E.J. van Donze! 1979. 38. E.J. van Donze! 1986. 39. O.T. Topouzian 1974. 40. S. Johnson 1759.

Samuel Johnson and James Bruce Despite its isolation from the West, interest in Ethiopia engendered by the writings of the Jesuits continued well into the eighteenth century. One of those influenced by their works was Samuel Johnson, the future lexicographer. When he went down from Oxford in 1732 without any money, he earned a first commission of five guineas by translating a French version of the memoirs of Lobo into English. Retaining his interest in Ethiopia throughout his life, in 17 59 he made it the setting of his famous novel The Prince of Abyssinia: A Tale. 40 The first page bore the somewhat different title The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia, for which reason the work was overnight referred to as Rasselas, the name by which it is known to this day. As the country where the Nile had its source, Ethiopia attracted the attention shortly

26

E THIOPIA REVEALED: M E R C HANTS , TRAVE LE RS , AN D S C H OL ARS

after wa rd of a Scottish laird,J am es B ru ce of Kinn aird , w ho m ad e it hi s ambiti on to " discover" the source o f th e ri ver. H e did this despite the fact that the source had been visited , and described , b y the J esuits a century and a half ea rli er , and had of co urse been kn own b y the local inhabitants sin ce time immem o rial. B ru ce landed at Massawa in 1769 and spent the next few yea rs in the Ethi o pian interi or, m ainl y at G o ndar. During his residence and travels he d elved d eepl y into Ethio pian histor y and traditio n, and too k copi ous notes o f w hat he saw and hea rd. On eventuall y returnin g to his native Scotl and and attempting to describe hi s di scoveri es in Ethiopi a, he fa ced an atm os phere o f disbelief. At one dinner pa rty he was asked w hether there were an y mu sical instrum ents in Ethi opia, and w hen he replied th at he rem embered seein g a lyre, the w it Geo rge Selwy n w hispered to his neighb or: " I am sure there is one less sin ce he ca m e out of th e country. " Undeterred b y such skepti cism Bru ce proceed ed to dictate his m emoirs to an am anuensis, and thus produced one of th e m ost impo rtant , and read able, travel books o f all time. Thi s was h is fa m ous fiv e- volum e Travels to Disco ver the So urce of the N ile, w hich appeared in 1790 . It w as later translated in to Fren ch and w idely reprinted bo th in toto an d in num erous abridged ve rsio ns. 4 1 T he Trav els, th ough in places opini o nated , po mpo us, and gossipy, was va luabl e in th at it mad e Et hiopian society ali ve and real fo r Eu ropea n rea ders. The auth o r presented the publi c o f the day w ith a vivi d acco unt of the Gondarin e empire, w hich was then in a state o f d ecay . H e also introdu ced his read ers to the Ethi opian roya l chroni cles, w hich until then had been k nown onl y throu g h J es uit w ritin gs in Portug uese, and hi s w ork was influential in that it continu ed to be read throu g ho ut m an y generati ons. 4 2 Although Bru ce was the principal traveler of the peri od, he was preceded by th ree o ther no tabl e visitors. T he m ost important o f these was the French physician C harl es P oncet, 43 w ho visited Go ndar at the en d of the seventeenth centur y and trea ted the emperor Iyasu I fo r a tro ubl eso m e skin co mplai n t. The o thers were the Czech mi ssio nary Rem edius P ru tk y 44 and an Ann enian j eweler , Yohann es T o vm acean, 4 5 both of w ho m made th eir wa y to G ondar in the m iddle o f the eighteenth centur y and w rote interestin g acco unts of th e capi ta l.

4 1. J. Bru ce 1790. 42. O n Bru ce's life see J.M. Reid 1968 . 43. See "The Journ ey of Charles

Poncct from Cairo in to Abyssinia and Back," in W . Foster, ed. 1949 : 89- 165; S. Tedeschi 1966. 44. J.H. Arrowsmith-Brow n 1991 . 45. V. Nc rscssian and R.K. Pankhurst

Th e Early Nineteenth Century T he earl y nineteenth centur y witn essed the arri va l in Ethio pia o f a number of travelers fro m Wes tern Europe, w ho con tributed grea tl y to fo reign kn owledge of t he countr y. 4 6 Som e o f the ea rliest cam e fr o m B ritain and to a lesser exten t Ge rman y an d Switzerland , o th ers fr o m France, and o ne from Belgium. At least ten B ritish travelers of no te visited the coun try in this peri od. Six of them., Henr y Sa lt, 4 7 N athaniel Pearce, 48 W illiam Coffin , 49 J oseph W o lff, 50 Mansfield Park yns, 51 and W alter Plow d en , 52 wro te abo ut Tig ray and the no rth of th e count ry . T wo o thers, C harles Jo hn ston 5 3 and William H arri s, 5 4 th e lea der o f a mission lad en w ith p resents fr o m the B ritish East India Co mpan y, descri bed Shewa. The indo mitable C harles Beke 55 traveled to Gojjam in the west, w hile the fam o us Orientali st Richard B urton , 56 best kn own as the translato r of the T housand and One N ights, spent ten bri ef but m em orabl e d ays in the wall ed cit y o fH arar in the east . Fore mos t am o ng the Germa n travelers was the ren owned scienti st Ed ouard R i.ippcll. 57 He was foll ow ed b y the nobl em an A. vo n Katte 58 and b y th e Protestant mission aries Karl Isenberg and Lud w ig K ra pf, both of w hom we re empl oyed by the C hurch Missionary Society in Lo ndo n. 59 These fo ur Ger ma ns bet ween them covered a w id e stretch o f territor y. A Swiss m issio nar y, Samuel Go bat, 60 m ean w hil e tra veled from T i gray to Go ndar, and later co nceived

27

1982 . 46. O n thi s travel literatu re in

47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55 . 56. 57 . 58. 59. 60.

monograph form , sec R.J. and R.K. Pan khurst 1978. On nin eteenth-centur y peri odical stu dies, see H. G. Ma rcus 1972 . For Salt 's re ports see G. Ann esley 1809; H. Sa lt 18 14. N . Pearce 183 r. Coffin 's wri tings are in cluded in N. Pearce 1831. J. Wolff r839 . M. Parkyns 1853 . W.C. Plowden 1868. C. J ohn ston 1868 . W.C. Harris 1844. C.T. Bcke 1846. R. F. Burto n 1856. W.P. S.E. Riippell 1838-40. A. von Kan e 1838 . C.W. Isenberg andJ.L. Krapf 1843; ].L. Kr apf 1867. S. Go bat 183 4.

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

the idea of despatching to the country missionary craftsmen, who would not only preach, but also help the rulers of the country in various technical matters. France meanwhile was represented by the bizarre Saint Simonian missionaries Edmond

6r. E. Combes and M. Tamisier 18 38 .

62. 63. 64. 65. 66.

On the Saint Simonian travelers , see also R. K. Pankhurst 1969; and on French travelers of the period in general , see G. Malecot 1972 . A. d ' Abbadie 1868; id. 1898. P.V.A. Ferret Galinier andj.G. Galinier 1847- 48. C.F.X. Rocher d'Hericourt 1841 ; id. 1846. T. Lefebvre 1845- 48. E. Blondeel van Cuelebroeck

1838-42. 67. H. Salt 1809. 68. W.P.S.E. Riippell 1826-31; id. 1835-40; id. 1845; id. 1869- 73. 69. C.W. Isenberg 1841; A. d' Abbadie, T 881. 70. For reproductions of these and

71.

72. 73. 74. 7 5. 76.

77. 78.

79.

other early engravings, see R.K. Pankhurst and L. Ingrams 1988. These travelers came from various countries. On the Germans see Bairu TaAa 1981; and on the Russians see C. Zaghi 1972. P. Paulitschke 1888. L. Robecchi-Bricchetti 1896. A. Cecchi 1885-8 7. J. Borelli I 890. F.J. Bieber 1920- 23. J.T. Bent 1894. On the emperor Tewodros, and his dispute with the British government, see P. Arnold 1991 ; Yacob Beyene, R.K. Pankhurst, and Shiferaw Bekele 1990: 3- 243. On Tewodros's library and its fate, see R.J. Pankhurst 1973; id. 1989. The bulk of the Magda la manuscripts brought to England are catalogued in W . Wright 1877.

Combes and Maurice Tamisier, 61 by the learned brothers Arnaud and Antoine d'Abbadie, 62 by two naval officers, Pierre Ferret Galinier and Joseph Galinier, 63 by the a·dventurer Rochet d'Hericourt, 64 and by an important scientific mission headed by Theophile Lefebvre .65 Most of these Frenchmen traveled widely throughout the country, although Rochet d'Hericourt confined his interest mainly to Shewa. A single Belgian, Edouard Blondeel van Cuelebroeck,66 also visited Ethiopia, and devised a scheme for the colonization of the country. The above travelers were all in one way or another memorable. Henry Salt, for example, drew fine sketches that were turned into memorable engravings. 67 Riippell laid the foundation for the study of Ethiopian botany and natural history. 68 Isenberg, and later Antoine d' Abbadie, produced valuable Amharic dictionaries, the former in English and the latter in French. 69 Lefebvre's mission compiled a six-volume scientific report of unparalleled importance, with two fine atlas vol um.es. 70 Parkyns wrote a delightful, and culturall y very significant, volume of remm1scences. These early-nin eteenth- century travelers were followed in the ensuing decades by many others, some of whom made their way further to the south and west. 71 Such travelers, to cite but a few examples, included the Austrian explorer Philipp Paulitischke 72 and the Italian Luigi Robecchi-Bricchetti , 73 both of whom visited Harar; an Italian geographical mission, which traveled from the port of Zayla to the frontiers of Kaffa; 74 and the Frenchman Jules Borelli 75 and the Austrian Friedrich Bieber, 76 both of whom also made their way to the southwest. Another traveler of note was the Englishman James Theodore Bent, 77 who wrote about Aksum and its environs. His book, aptly entitled The Sacred City of the Ethiopians, appeared in 1894 and gave a valuable account of Aksumite antiquities.

The Coming of Ethiopian Manuscripts to Europe The external image of Ethiopia had meanwhile been enriched in the second half of the century by the arrival in the West of a sizable number of hitherto unknown Ethiopian manuscripts. Many of them came quite fortuitously as a result of the dispute between the reforming emperor Tewodros II (r. 1855-68) and the British government. Angered tlkt a letter he addressed to Queen Victoria was never answered , Tewodros detained a British consul and several other Europeans. The British government at first attempted to accommodate his wishes, even going as far as despatching to Massawa some craftsmen he had requested. Negotiations between the two parties later reached a deadlock , and the British responded by despatching an armed expedition against the mountain citadel at Magdaia, better known abroad as Magdaia. There the Ethiopian troops were easily defeated by British weaponry, whereupon the emperor committed suicide rather than fall into the hands of his enem.ies. 78 The British troops then looted the capital, and carried off from the Church ofMadhane Alam, and elsewhere, well over three hundred manuscripts. These were deposited in the British Museum and several other libraries in Britain, and proved of seminal importance to European scholarship on Ethiopia. 79

Foreign Scholars: August Dillmann, Enno Littmann, Ignazio Guidi, Carlo Conti Rossini, and Ernest Wallis Budge The second half of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth witnessed a remarkable renaissance of Ethiopian studies abroad. This owed much to the endeavors of a number of notable European scholars who devoted their lives to the study of Ethiopian

28

ETHIOPIA REVEALED: MERCHANTS, TRAVELERS, AND SCHOLARS

language and hi stor y . They laid th e basis for the scientific stud y of the co untr y that has continued to th e present day. Space permits us to tell of only fi ve , although these arc perhaps th e most important. The first, and probabl y the most illustrious, was August Dillmann , a German lingui st wi th a profound interest in Ethiopian history. Described as a "second Ludolf," he was the auth or of an excellent Gecz grammar, the Cran1matik der iithiopische11 Sprache, published in 1857, wh ich was later translated into English. He also produced a comprehensive Geez dictionary , th e Lexicon li11g11ae aethiopicae, and several valuable studies of ancient and medieval history . 80 Anoth er German student of Ethiopian cultu re, who rose to promin ence a generation or two later, was Enno Littmann, one of the first foreign scholars to carry out extensive research in the country itself. He was th e leader of the early twentieth-centur y Deutsche Aksum-E x pedition , which laid the fo und ation for later Ethiopian archeology through its excavations at Aksum. The results of the expedition were published in 1912 in an impressive four-volume report. Also interested in oral history, Littmann collected traditions in W estern Eritrea, which appea red m his fiv e- volum e P11blications of the Prin ceton Expedition to Abyssinia of 1910 to 1915. In addition , he edited and translated several historical te x ts in Gcez and wrote a number of studies on Ethiopian legends of the Queen Sh eba, an cient Ethiopian relations with India , and other historical matters. 8 1 The first Italian scholar of Ethiopian affairs, Ignazio Gu idi , had meanwhile emerged . Aided by a trustworth y Ethiopian in formant, Dabtara KeAa Giyorgis, he compiled a rem arkabl y co mprehensive Amharic-Italian dictionary, th e Vocabolario a1narico-italia110 of 1901. H e also edited and tran slated many notable Geez texts , including the Fetha Nagast, or traditional Ethiopian penal code, several lace-seventeenth- and early- eighteenth- centur y royal chronicles, and part of the Eth iopi an Synaxarium, comprising li ves of the saints. In addition , he wrote on numerous aspects of Ethiopian ecclesia stical and secular histor y. 82 A second Italian scholar of note was Carlo Conti Rossini , a government offi cial who

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ETHIOPIAN MANUSCRIPTS AND PALEOGRAPHY

3. From the middle of the fifteenth until the middle of the sixteenth century the scribes wrote more rounded characters, creating a pleasing cursive appearance (fig. 4). At the same time, they could be careless in the execution of their task and tended to compress the forms. The strokes at the top of the characters w hich slant diagonally from lower left to upper right form an important feature of the script of this period. The tendency described earlier to produce broader and more compressed letters continued in this period. As a result, we may tentatively label this style as "square script." In this century a first movement toward standardization can also be detected, initiating a development that was to gain momentum in subsequent centuries. At the same time the marginal reading signs and separators so characteristic of the first period decline in quality and finally disappear, but the number of decorative ornaments in the manuscripts increases dramatically. 4. The fourth great period in Ethiopian paleography is to be defined from the middle of the sixteenth until the second half of the seventeenth century. During this period considerable changes occurred. The signs again become more regular and uniform (fig. 5). They return to a slender form produced with a finer pen and at times they might even be termed fragile. The characters all tend to have approximately the same height, and the downstrokes are parallel to

Fig. 4. Vatican City, Biblioteca Vaticana: Aeth. 5.

each other and set at a steeper angle. As a result, more characters than ever before can be packed into each line. In this period the shape of the codices also begins to change into a square. This

fine. This very clear script of unparalleled uniformity, occasionally bordering on monotony,

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MARYAM SEYON: MARY OF Z ION

I

Cross Pendant Pro venance unknown , fift eenth century Silver gilt 4-rg x 3f in. (ro.3 x 8 cm) Church of the Archangel Gabriel, Tegre

pendant cross ma y ha ve been introduced during the reign of the empero r Zara Ya eqob. However, portraits of the Lord, M ary, and the saints had lon g been popular subjects of Ethiopian wall painting and manuscript illumination.

2

Miracles of Mary ( Taammera Maryam)

An incised gilt fi gure is draw n on each side of this cross pendant. On on e side, Mary holding the Infant Christ is inscribed " Mary w ith her Son." She is M ary , the Mother of God. On the other side, the woman with the halo is inscribed "By the power of Zion"; she is Mary, th e Moth er Church. The cross, which is m ade to be worn, can be dated to the mid-fifteenth cencury. The emperor Zara Yaeqo b introduced the mandatory cult of Our Lady Mary to the Et hiopian C hur ch and encouraged the faithful to wear an icon or portrait of M ary. Fifteenth-century Ethiopian literar y sources mention the wearing of an image of Mary on one's chest but do not stipulate the icon. Few exa mples of pendan t crosses of this kin d rem ain. An Ethiopian silver-gilt cross of similar form (fi gs . 3 and 4) can also be dated to the mid-fifteenth centur y. One side of this cross depi cts God the Father surrounded b y the Four Beasts of Heaven ; the other sid e depicts Jesus Christ the Son in th e arms of hi s mother, M ary. The art form of a portrait or icon upon a

T he present manu script of the Mira cles of Mary, produced at the palace scripto rium of th e emperor Da w it (r. 1382-1413), is decorated w ith seven full-p age miniatures of O ur Lad y Mary. Each miniature introduces a major section of tex t, and th e initial page of each section is beautifully decorated w ith a headpiece, a rectan gular bar filled w ith interlaced bands of color from which rise and fall arabesques ropped b y finial s in the shape of a cross. The sto ri es of Our Lad y Mary, known collecti vely as the Miracles of Mary, received pictorial decoration in Ethiopia only rarel y un til the seventeenth century, w hen th e manuscripts that we re produced for royal an d noble patrons were lavishl y illustrated with narra tive images. Most of th e miniatures of

Fig . 3 Silver-gilt cross pendant showing Ma ry w ith her Son. [Photo by M. Heldman

Fig. 4 Silver-gilt cross penda nt showing God the Father. [Photo by M. Heldman © 1993]

Central Ethiopia , early fifteenth cen tury Gold on parchment , wood end boards Church of M ary, Amb a Geshen

Cat. 2 Miracles of Mary. [Photo courtesy of Diana Spencer] the present manuscript ha ve no narrative content. Even the Annunciation , w hich does illustrate a Gospel sto ry (Luke 1:26- 38), emphasizes the statu s o f Our Lady Mar y as the M other of God as much as her role in the events of the Incarnation. The miniature of Mary prayin g w hile Christ raises His apostle Matthias presents a narrative, the precise tex tu al source of w hi ch is unknown. All the ico ni c miniatures of Our Lad y Mary w ith her Beloved Son depi ct a prayin g figure identified as N egus Dawit, the Ethiopian emp eror for w hom th e Miracles of Mary was fir st tran slated from Arabic to Geez. As a devo tee of O ur Lady Mary , he prayed dail y before her icon. 1 Acco rdin g to an acco unt o f a miracle of Our Lad y Mary, a foreigner , probably a Cope who was employed at Dawit's scriptorium as a translator of texts fr om Arabic to Geez, m ade the gold paint for embellishing the hal o, dress, and name of M ary in each of these miniat ures. When he failed in m aking a second batch of go ld paint, prayers to Our Lady Mary reso lved th e prob lem . 2 The paint beca m e lumin o us, and the illuminatio n of the Miracles of Mary was completed. The opulent head pieces that embellish th e text pages are some of the ea rliest datable exa mples in Ethiopian manu scripts.

~ 1993]

91

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

MINIATURES Presentation of Mary to the T emple; Annun ciation; Flight to Egypt; Holy Family at Qwesqwa m and the fate of Y osa; Crucifixion; Saint John the Evangelist with Prochorus; Death of Our Lady Mary; Bishop Cyriacus; Bishop Basil; Our Lady Mary with the Infant Christ; Saint John th e Evangelist.

Comparisons suggest that they derive from the illuminated headpiece of Islamic manuscripts, which were used as a model for Christian Arabic manuscripts, one of which probably supplied the inspiration for the present ornament. MINIATURES Miniature 1: Our Lad y Mary with her Beloved Son. Miniature 2 : Our Lady Mary with her Beloved Son. Saint Michael. Saint Gabriel. Negus Dawit, whose faith is strong. Miniature 3: Our Lady Mary with her Beloved Son . Saint Michael. Saint Gabriel. Neg us Dawit, crowned b y the faith of the Trinity. Miniature 4: Our Lady Mary with her Beloved Son. Saint Michael. Saint Gabriel. Negus Dawit, who lo ves the Lady [Mary]. Miniature 5: Our Lad y Mary with her Beloved Son. Saint Michael. Saint Gabriel. Negus Dawit, whose faith is pure. Miniature 6: How Our Lady Mary prayed. How Our Lord Jesus Christ raised His apostl e Matthias. Miniature T How Gabriel announced to Our Lad y Mary . r. Getatchew Haile r9 83(C): 3 r. 2. E. Cerulli 1943'. 89- 90. SELECTED REFERENCES

Heldman, M. E. (forthcoming) . Spencer, D. 1967.

3

Homiliary in Honor of Our Lady Mary (Dersana Maryam) Central Ethiopia, 1400-1 4!0 Parchment, leather-covered end boards I 1fi X Sf in. (30 X 22 . 5 cm), 2 5 I ff Church of Bethlehem , near Dabra Tabor

Full-page miniatures introducing the individual homilies decorate this collection of homilies for feasts of Our Lady Mary. The bishop Cyriacus of Behensa is the author of the homil y on the glory and mourning of Mary (Laha Maryam), which is recited during the services of Good Friday. 1 His portrait and the miniature of the Crucifixion accompany his homily. A portrait of the bishop Basil of Caesarea introduces his homily on the dedica tion of the Church of Mary. It is recited on 21 Sane Gune 28) , the feast that commemorates the consecration of the churches of Our Lady

92

1. M. A. van den Oudenrijn 1959. 2. C. Conti Rossini 1912: 463- 65 . SELECTED R EF ERENCES

Chojnacki, S. 1983, fig. 5. Jager, 0. A. 1957, pis. 3, 6, 9, 12 , and 15. Leroy, ]. 1967 , pis. 12 and 13.

4

Cat. 3 Homiliar y in Honor of Our Lady Mary .

Mary . The homil y on the dea th of Mary b y Saint John the Evangelist is accompanied by the miniature of her body surrounded by Christ and the apostles and by a portrait of Saint John dictating the homily to his discipl e Prochorus. An episode from the homil y of Theophilus, patriarch of Alexandria, is the subject of another miniature. The homily is recited on 6 Hedar (November r 5), the feast of Our Lad y Mary and the Infant Christ at Qwesqwam. 2 The miniature depicts Yo sa, the son of Jo seph, who came to Qwesqwam to warn the Holy Family of Herod's anger. The Child told him to sleep with his head placed upon a rock for a pillow, and immediatel y Yosa died. His soul went to heaven , and he was buried at Qwesqwam. The miniatures are identical in style with those of the Miracles of Mary (cat. 2) and the Octateuch and Gospels (cat. 67) which were produced for the emperor D aw it. The presen t manuscript can therefore be attributed to his palace scriptorium as well . Like some of the frontispiec e miniatures of his Gospels, the miniature of the death of Mary derives its composition from a Byzantine model. These M arian homilies reflect Dawit's personal devo tion to Our Lad y Mary. Like the Miracles of Mary and the Octateuch and Gospels, they were probably made for his personal use.

Our Lady Mary, Apostles, Saint George, and Saint Theodore Fere Seyon (?) Central Ethiopia, 1445- 80 Tempera on gesso-covered wood panels I7f;\- x 12ft' in. (44 x 31.3 ) closed Institute of Ethiopian Studies, no. 3980

Our Lady Mary, inscribed "Mary w ith her Belo ved Son ," and the archangels Michael and Gabriel are acco mpanied by the apostles and equestrian saints Theodore and George in this devotional image. The apostles are inscribed. From left to right , th ey are "Peter and Paul "; "James and John" ; " Bartholomew" ; " Andrew"; " Philip"; " Thaddeus" ; " N athaniel "; "Thomas"; "James , son of Alpheus" ; "Matthew"; and "Matthias." The engaged fram e is deco rated with simulated inset gems in the form of slightly recessed panels painted blue. Two different arabesque designs decorate the reverses of the panels, indicating that the icon was not intended for perman ent display. It was very likely carried befo re the congregation during th e ritual of veneration or temporarily displayed on a stand. Sometim e after the two panels were painted, holes were cut into the top corners of each one, probably so that the icon could be suspended on the wa ll of the church. The present diptych can be attributed to Fere Seyon. The style and th e iconographic program are almost identical with those of the triptych which is attributed to him (cat.

MARYAM SEYON: MARY OF ZION

5), and in both the treatment of drapery fo lds and hems and the style of the figure, it is close to the only extant panel w hich is signed by him (cat. 76). None of the icons attributed to Fere Seyon is identical with another. If a certain motif is repea ted, it is presented in a different context. Where Fere Seyon's triptych in Addis Ababa also depicts Mary offerin g the sprig of flo wers, the present dipt ych combines this motif w ith that of the Child ca ressin g His mother's chin, a gestu re that Fere Seyon borrowed from a European devo tional image. In W es tern European tradition , thi s gesture signified ero tic communication , and in th e rea lm of religious art , the gesture signified that Christ is the Bridegroom and M ary is the Bride of Christ. The identification of Mary as the Bride of C hrist is based upon Christian interpretations of the So ng of Songs in the Old T estament. 1 The motif of the Child caressing His mother's chin ma y have been int roduced to Ethiopian painting w ithout its symbolic meaning, which might explain why it appea red relati vely rarely . In contrast, the motif of M ary's offered sprig of fl owers, bo rrowed from an Italian devotional image, was recogni zed as a Marian sy mbol 2 and became quite popular. The sprig of flo wers refers to a verse for Sunda y in the Praise of Ma ry (W eddase Maryam) : " Mary, yo u are the flower of delicious perfume which has blosso m ed from the tree of Jesse." By referring to the prophecy of Isaiah (1 r: r) " a bud shall blosso m," it symboli zes the Virgin Birth. The symbolic flow er frequ entl y appears in fifteenth -century Ethiopian icons of M ary. The arabesqu e design that overlays M ary's headcover and halo may be a symbol of her status as Queen of Hea ven. Altho ugh no o ther icon att ributed to Fere Seyon sho ws her wea ring a diadem , a few Ethiopian icons datable to the seco nd half of the fift eenth centur y do show Mary wearing a crow n. Popul ar Marian devotions, such as the Praise of Mary and the Cate of Light, do not employ Queen of H eaven as an epithet of M ary ; however, several homilies of the empero r Za ra Yaeqob refer to Mary as "Queen of Heaven and Earth," " Queen of the Ap ostles and Mart yrs," and "Queen ofus all. " 3 As the monk Fere Seyon was a painter for th e roya l co urt , the iconography of Mary wea ring a

crown may have been deve loped w ithin the context of Zara Yaeqob's patronage. Nevertheless, it was not until the eighteenth cen tury that Ethiopian artists commonly depicted Our Lady Mary wearing a royal crown (cat. 14). L. Steinberg 1983: 110- 15. M. E. H eldman (forth co ming). 3. Getatchew Haile 1991: 3- 4, 29, 32. I.

2.

SELECTE D R EFERENCES

Held man, M. E. (forthcoming). Paris 1974, no. 102.

5

Our Lady Mary with Her Beloved Son, the Ancient of Days, Prophets, Apostles, and Saints Fere Se yon (?) Central Ethiopia, 1445-80 Tempera on gesso- covered wood panels 24fi x 40"f6 in. (6 3 x !02 cm) open Institute of Ethiopian Studies, no. 41 86

Each of the three rectangular panels is carved w ith an engaged frame. The w ing panels are cut with not ched outer edges so that the y fit tightly when th e triptych is closed, which very likely contributed to the fin e state of preservation of the interior surfaces. The reverse of the central panel is painted w ith a cross framed by an arabesque border; the closed wings are painted with an identical design. Our Lady Mary, insc ribed "Image of Mary with her Beloved Son," is fl anked by the archangels Gabriel and Michael and the apostles Peter and Pau l. The archangels beneath are in scribed "Rufa el," "U rael," " Fanuel," " Saquel," and "Ramuel. " The right w in g is do min ated by a representation of Daniel's vision of the Ancient of Da ys (Beluya Mawael), at the four corners of which are the Four Beasts , inscribed "Face of a Man ," "Face of an Eagle, " "Face of a Lion ," and " Face of a Bull. " Both Ezekiel (1 :ro-11) and SaintJohn the Evangelist (Re velation 4:6-8) saw Four Beasts around the throne of God. The prophets, w ho gaze up ward , begin in the second register w ith a fi g ure who ma y be Isaiah , follow ed by Daniel, Ezekiel , and

Moses; below are Habakkuk or Enbaqom , Nahum, Jeremiah, and Amos. The mounted so ldiers Saints Victor and Theodore, joined by Saint George in the opposite wing, gaze toward O ur Lady Mary and the Infant Christ. The left wing is crowded with rows of half-leng th portraits: the Twelve Apostles; the eva ngelists; James, brother of Our Lord and first bishop of J erusalem; and two indigenous Ethiopian saints, Takla Haym anot and Samuel, wearing the monastic ca p (qo b). The standing figure beside Saint George is Saint Alexius, or Gabra Krestos ("Servant of Christ"), as he is known in Ethiopia. All but him look tow ard Our Lady Mary with th e In fant Christ. Takla Haymanot (d. c. 1313) found ed the monastery of Dabra Asbo, endowed and renamed Libanos by the emperor Zara Yaeqob. Samu el (d. c. 1379) is the fo und er of Dabra H allelu ya near Aksum, a monaster y generou sly endowed by the emperor Da wit (r. 13 82-1 413 ). The foundations of these two hol y ascetics became wealth y and po werful by vi rtue of their royal endowments. The presence of the holy men was intend ed to sugg es t that contemporary indigenous monastic leaders supported the recently introdu ced cult of Mary as Intercessor. While the figure of Our Lad y M ary dominates the devotional image, the other figures reflect the statements of the empero r Zara Yaeqob co ncerning the appearance of God and the role of Our Lady M ary in th e even ts of th e Incarnation. He wrote that because of Our Lady Mary, the apostles saw with their bodily eyes the Son of God, whom the prophets had seen only with spiritual eyes . 1 Therefore, while the prophets gaze up wa rd at the vision of the Ancient of Days, th e apostles and saints gaze upon Our Lady M ary with the Infant Christ. l.

Geratchew Haile 1992: 99-103.

SEL ECTED REFERENCES

H eldman, M. E. (forthcoming). Paris 1974, no. 101. Stuttgart 1973, no. 2.

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AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

who became man in order to redeem humanity. Fere Seyon nearly always depicted the archangels Michael and Gabriel holding the swords of Ethiopian nobles, as if they were attendants at the heavenly court, yet the present icon depicts the archangel Gabriel with an axe. In this rare instance, neither the axe nor the sword seems to refer to aristocratic status. Rather , both appear to be symbols derived from the theological tract

On the Agreement of the Eighty-One Canonical Saiptures, by the emperor Zara Yaeqob, the champion of Our Lady Mary . "The sword of the Gospel" and "the axe of the Law" are vivid metaphors which he introduced in his condemnation of those who would bring separation between the Old and the New Testament. 2 Further, he emphasized the status of Mary , who gave birth to the One whom the prophets prophesied, the One in whom the Law was fulfilled. In its depiction of Mar y with her Beloved Son , flanked by the archangels carrying a sword and an axe, th e icon is a visual transcription of Zara Yaeqob 's praise of Mary , who brings together the Old Testame; t and the New Testament, the Law and the Gospels. The pursed and slightly parted lips of the Child, and His curly black hair, rendered by rows of perfectly shaped spirals, exemplify the elegant draftsmanship of Fere Seyon . r. M. Daoud and Marsie Hazen ,954: 67, sect. 104; 87 , sect. 80. 2. Gecatchew Haile r992: 114-,7.

Cat. 6 Our Lady Mary with Her Beloved Son and Archangels. [Photo by M. Heldman © 1993)

SELECTED REFERENCES

6

Our Lady Mary with Her Beloved Son and Archangels Fere Seyon (?) Central Ethiopia , 1445- 80 Tempera on gesso-covered wood panel 23 x 22i in. (58.4 x 57.8 cm) Private collection

The right-hand panel of a diptych, this icon of Our Lady Mary holding the Infant Christ and flanked by the archangels Michael and Gabriel presents a tender portrait of a mother and her child. However, various iconographic details and extensive inscriptions create a theologically complex devotional image. Mary 's dress is inscribed "Saint Mary ," and on the shoulder of the Infant Christ is written

94

" King of Kings, Lord of Lords." Gabriel's collar is inscribed "Gabriel " ; on the handle of his axe is written "Angel who holds the axe." Michael's framed disk, inscribed "Spiritual Mirror ," bears the following passage: "Michael the arch[angel] says , 'Holy is God the only Father, Ho! y is the Word of God the only Son, Holy is the Paraclete the only Holy Spirit Who sanctified us, blessed us , and gave us eternal life."' This is the Eucharistic prayer in the anaphora of the apostles and the anaphora of Our Lord, 1 the two Ethiopic liturgies in use during the reign of Zara Yaeqob. The officiating priest recites this prayer over the Eucharistic bread, which becomes the Body of Christ. The Infant Christ is both King of Kings and Christ the Redeemer, Son of God

Heldman, M . E. 1984. - - - · (forthcoming).

7

Our Lady Mary with Angels, Apostles, Saints, and Prophets Lake Tana (?), second half of fifteenth century Parchment, wood handle 38-r\- x 6} in. with handle (98 x 15.5 cm) Dabra Tana Qirqos, Lake Tana

The parchment portion of this large fan with wood boards and handle consists of thirty pleated panels. Each panel is painted with a standing figure, bordered above and below by a design of interlacing bands of color and

MARYAM SEYON: MARY OF ZION

Cat . 7 Our Lady lv1.ary with Angels, Apostles, Saints, and Prophets.

arabesque finials. When opened, the fan makes a wheel, at the apex of which is the Virgin orans flanked by archangels, a seraph, a cherub , the apostles to her right , and Old T estament leaders to her left. All figures are identified by inscription. From left to right , they are "Saint Nathaniel " ; "Saint Anthony the Hermit"; " Saint Stephen the Deacon"; " Saint Thaddeus" ; "Saint Matthias"; "Saint J ames , the brother of Jesus" ; "Saint Matthew"; "Saint Thomas" ; "Saint Philip " ; " Saint Bartholomew"; " Saint John"; "Saint James"; "Saint Peter" ; "Saint Paul"; "Saint Andrew"; "the archangel Michael" ; " Our Lady Mary" ; "the archangel Gabriel"; " Seraph"; "Cherub"; " the archangel Saquel"; " the archangel Ramuel"; "the archangel Raphael " ; " Moses," with the Law; " Aaron the Priest, " with a censer; "Joshua" the ' military leader, with a sword; " Abraham"; " Isaac"; "Jacob " ; and " Abba Macarius. " The omission of Saint Qirqos suggests that this icon was not made for the Church of Saint Qirqos at Dabra Tana. The portrait of Saint Stephen the Deacon , a popular saint in the Ethiopian Church, does not necessarily suggest a connection with Daga Estifanos at Lake Tana. The style of figures and the rich interlace ornament (harag) display connections with the style of miniature painting that had been developed by the last quarter of the fifteenth century at a major Ewostatewosite monastery , perhaps Dabra Maryam Qwahayn. 1 The shape of the lips, the elegance of the archangels, the high forehead o f Saint Paul, and the tight , even ripples of the hem of Mary's dress are all characteristic of the style of Fere Seyon (fl. 1445-80). The Virgin orans as intercessor (fig. 5) appears in manuscript illumination of the fifteenth century.

In pleated form and decoration, the present icon can be compared with a Carolingian liturgical fan, the flabellum ofTournus. 2 Extant examples of liturgical fans are the metal disk type , about thirty centimeters in diameter, and the pleated parchment variety, fewer of which survive. 3 By the sixth century, the use of fans in the Eastern Churches to prevent flies from settling upon the sacrament was well attested. 4 Although the use of the liturgical fan (rnaraweht) 5 in the Ethiopian service has not been clearly documented , the transformation of a fan that was actually used into this large form does indicate that the liturgical fan itself was still in use during the fifteenth century. The present oversized fan was created for

use as a liturgical icon in response to the mandatory veneration of Our Lady Mary which the emperor Zara Yaeqob had introduced in the 1440s. The prayer inscribed above the figure of Our Lady Mary at the top of the fan, "Our Lady Mary, the Mother of God, may her prayer and the prayer of all the saints protect us," echoes the litany of the anaphora of Our Lady Mary. 6 This remarkable form was briefly popular during th e second half of the fifteenth century. A similar icon fan , decorated with figures in the Ewostatewosite style, is at the Church ofDabra Seyon in Tegre, 7 and a fragment, now in a private collection, is decorated with figures in the Gunda Gunde style. 1. M. E. Heldman 1989: 5- 8. 2. D. Gaborit-Chopin 1988; K. Wessel 1971. 3. R. B. Green 1951. 153- 55. 4. M. Mundell-Mango 1986: 151- 54. 5. W. Leslau 1987' 477.

6. M. Daoud and Marsie Hazen 1954: 105, sect. 9- 14. 7. G. Gerster 1970: pl. 45. SEL ECTED REFERENCES

Essen 1963, no. 552.

Jager, 0. A. 1957, pl. 4. U N ESCO 1961: 14.

8

Our Lady Mary with Her Beloved Son and Saint Peter Central Ethiopia, second half of fifteen th century Tempera on gesso-covered wood panels 7-}i x I I in. (20.1 x 28 cm) open Institute of Ethiopian Studies, no.4117

The central panel of the present triptych , inscribed " Mary and her Beloved Son," reflects the sty le of Fcrc Se yon' s signed panel

Fig. 5 Mary at Prayer, British Library, Or. r 3 r 56 , f. 62v. [By permission of the British Library]

at Dabra Daga Estifanos (cat. 76). A solemn portrait of Saint Peter, holding a large book in his hands , fills the left panel. The right panel, which is missing , probabl y showed Saint Pau l, as he and Saint Peter played a central role in founding the universal apostolic Church, of which Mary is a symbol. The theme of the nursing Virgin is linked to the oeuvre of Fere Seyon, although it is otherwise uncommon to Ethiopian icons of Our Lad y Mary. Mary 's arabesque crown can

95

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

interest in the teachings of the Church of Rom e and the reli gio us art of Europe. The inscripti on "Our Father Peter, Rock of the Faith " deri ves from Matthew r6: r 8: " You are Peter, the Ro ck; and on this rock I will build my church .... " Th e insc ription was not inten ded to make reference to papal claims of jurisdi ctiona l suprem acy. 5 1. A. Cameron 1978: 82-85. 2. B. Evetts 1974: 442. 3. K . Michalowski 1967 , p is. 64 and 65. 4. Getatchew H aile 199 1: 3- 4, 29, 32. 5. J. Meyendorff 1974: 97- 99.

SELECTED REFEREN CES

Heldman , M. E. (forthcoming) .

9

The m and atory veneration of Our Lady M ary in trodu ced b y th e empero r Zara Yaeqob included a procession of the im age of Mary before the congregation. H er po rtrait appeared not only on panel paintings, but on painted fans (ca t. 7) and incised crosses such as this one. Processional crosses are carried today much as th ey were in the ea rl y six teenth cen tur y, w hen Francisco Al va rez observed that church se rvices we re concluded w ith a procession in w hi ch four or fiv e crosses are ca rri ed on po les. The cross is carried in the left hand because a censer is carried in the rig ht hand .4 An insc ripti on nam es a mona sti c, Ahuna Maqareyos, as the donor of this cross.

Processional Cross

E. Moore 1989 : I 12. M. E. Heldman (forthcoming) . 3. Geta tchew H ai le 1992: 201. 4. F. Alvarez 1961: vol. 1, 77. I.

2.

Fig. 6 Mary with Her Beloved Sou , In stitute of Ethiopian Studies, no . 7 159. [Ph o to by M alco lm Varon , NYC © 1993] be co mpared with the deco rative arabesq ue di adem o f Fere Seyon 's Marian dipt ych (cat. 4) and with devo tional images that refl ec t his sty le, for exa mpl e a small painted panel in the co llect ions o f the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (fi g . 6) . Altho ugh Mary crow ned as Queen of H eaven was associated m o re w ith th e C hurch of Rome, this id entit y was not excl usive to it . 1 J am es, patriarch of Al exa ndria (819- 30) , had a vision of Mary wearing a g rea t crow n. 2 Mary wears a crown in th e grand Nativity mural of Faras Cathedral, a major m onum ent of m ed ieva l Nubia. 3 Se ve ral homilies of the emperor Za ra Yaeqob , w hi ch are co ntempora r y w ith the present icon , refer to M ary as "Queen of H eaven and Earth ," "Queen of the Apostles and Martyrs," and "Queen of us all. " 4 In the broades t sense , the style and ico no graph y of this icon , w hi ch ca n be assigned to the second half of the fift eenth centur y and placed within the circle o f Fere Seyon , exe mplify th e impact o f Za ra Yaeqob's thought upon Ethiopian paintin g. Not onl y did he introdu ce the cult of M ary an d promote the veneration of her icon , but his vision of C hristian uni ve rsalism , refl ected in hi s attempts to es tablish dipl o mati c relations w ith European powers, fostered an

Central Ethiopia, second half of fifteenth centur y Silver, gold bosses r2fi x Sk in. (32.6 x 20.7 cm ) Institute of Ethiopian Studi es, no. 4142 This is typical of an unu sual t ype o f processional cross produ ced during the fifteenth century. 1 Such crosses are cut from relativ ely thin sheets of silver or brass (never bronze), and areas of pierced wo rk are limited to the framing arabesque and interlace design s. At th e co re is a short-armed cross, the broad sur face of w hich is in cised w ith icon ic portraits. This cross is rare because the arabesque frame is decorated w ith gold bosses fastened w ith sil ver ri vets. The shaft and lower arms, like the cross itself, are formed from sheets of silver. Incised on the obverse of the present cross is a half-length portrait of Mar y nursing the Infant Christ, inscribed " M ar y with her Belo ved Son," w ith the archangels Michael and Gabriel ho ldin g sword s; o n the reve rse is an incised portrait of Saint Geo rge riding his horse and carryin g a spear w ith a cross on the handle. Mary and Saint George became a popular combination in Ethiopian devotional images after they were given credit for bringing victory to th e emp eror Zara Yaeqob over the sultan Badlay of Ada! on Christmas Da y, 1445. 2 In a stor y of Our Lad y Mar y w hich was co mp osed during the reig n of Za ra Y aeqob, she exp lains to the child w hom she ha s restored to hea lth: 3 "George follows me always. H e never parts from me w hereve r I go. I send him all places fo r help. "

SELECTED REFEREN CES

Moore, E. 1971: 35- 36, fig. 24. Paris 1974, no . JOO. Stuttgart 1973, no. 43 .

IO

Our Lady Mary Journ eying to Qw esqwam Central Ethiopia C'), ea rl y sixteenth centur y Parchment roi x in. (27 x 21 cm ) British Librar y, Or. 641 , f. 18or

8±

A se parate painting of Mary on parchment, in scribed " Image of Our Lady M ary Journ ey in g to Qwes qwam," ha s been inserted into a manuscript of the Miracles of Mary. M ost of the pa ges of this bea utifull y co pi ed m an uscript we re pro duced durin g the reign of Fasiladas (r. 1632- 67); the remainder of th e text was co pied for the emperor Yohannes I (r. 1667- 82). A prayer for Yo hannes and the empress Sa bia Wangel is w ritten on the reve rse of th e miniature. 1 For this reason, it see m s lik ely that th e painting, originally a se parate devo tional image on parchm ent, rather th an th e more usual wood pan el, was included in the Miracles of 1vfary at the order of the emperor Yohannes. Single icons on parchm ent are not co mmon , although the se11s11I , a " chain " of ico ni c ima ges o n a parchm ent st rip, does indicate that icons we re painted o n parchment .

MARYAM SEYON: MARY OF Z ION

The miniature appears to date to the early sixteenth ce ntury. The pose of the two figures, especiall y the tender embrace and th e mann er in which the left hand of Mar y hold s the Child, reflects a Byzantine icon known as th e Mother of God of T end erness. Mary 's lo ng , uncovered hair is ty pi ca l of northern European iconographic traditions of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, and can be compared with a painting of the Virgin and the Child by Qu entin Massys. 2 During the early sixteenth centur y, there were many contacts between Ethiopia and th e rest of th e Christian world , and th ese contacts are reflected in Ethiopian religious art of th e period. Especially during the sixteenth century, depictions of Mary which follow the iconography of the Moth er of God of Tenderness were associated w ith the pilgrimage site at Kuskam in Egypt, known as " Qwesqwam " in Ethiopi a, where the Hol y Family is sa id to ha ve rested. A mini ature in the early fourteenth century Gospels of Krestos Tasfana (cat. 65) includes a similar image accompanied b y a mu ch lon ger inscription: "How going tow ard Dabra Qwesqwam Mar y we pt for her B elo ved Son d uring the journey and ho w Salome help ed her; Joseph , how he wept with her." Both images in vite the viewer to co ntemplate the difficulti es encountered by the Hol y Family during th eir ex il e in Eg ypt. Th is is th e theme o f the po pular Ethiopian homily on Qwesqwam which is attributed to T heophilus, patri arch of Alexandri \ 3 1. J. Leroy 1962(A): 8 1. 2. E. Panofsky 1953, vol. 2, fig. 490. 3. C. Conti Rossini 19 12. SELECTED R EFERENC ES

Cerulli, E. 1943: 206- 10. Leroy , ]. 1962(A). Meinardus, O.F.A. 1965: 28-29. London 1978, no. 71. Wrig ht, W. 1877, no. 80 .

I I

Our Lady Mary with Her Beloved Son, Michael, and Gabriel; Saints, the Crucifixion, Christ Raising Adam and Eve, and the Covenant of Mercy

Gondar, late seventeenth century T empera on gesso-co ve red wood pan els 5a X 4ti in. (14 .5 X I 2.3 cm) closed Institute of Ethiopian Studies, no . 33 87

One face of the present double-sid ed pendant diptych opens to reveal Mary and the Infant Christ, in sc ribed "Our Lad y Mary w ith H er B eloved Son," flank ed by the archangels Mi chael and Gabriel. Mary is accompanied b y Saint George, her companion in iconic programs since the fifteenth century . In her role as Mary of Zion, the Mother Church, she is also acco mp anied b y the Twelve Apostles , arranged in chiastically colored pairs. Just as Mar y is the Mother Church, so are the apostles th e foundati o n of the Church. The opposite face opens to depict Ethiopian sa ints and three Christological scenes: the Crucifixion, Christ Raising Adam (in scribed "Our Father Adam ") and Eve, and the Covenant of M erc y (Kidana Mehrat). The inscription reads " How H e gave th e Covenant of Mercy to Hi s mother." The im age of Mary and Christ sea ted together with joined hands sy mbolically signifies the promise of C hrist to answer the pra yers of tho se who make supplications in th e name of Hi s moth er , Our Lady M ary. The granting o f the Covenant is celebrated as a m ajor Marian feast on 16 Yakkatit (February 23) . Beside C hrist and Mary stands Gabra Man fas Q eddus (Se r va nt of the Hol y Spirit), th e famou s hermit whose sanctity tam ed the wi ld beasts. In the upper register, beginning at th e left, are inscribed portraits of Takla H ay manot , Ewostatewos, and Samuel. On th e o pposite panel are depicted several of the Nin e Saints, the legendary group th at is said to have brought m onastici sm to Ethi o pia in the late fifth century. From left to ri gh t, the y are Liqanos, Pantalewon (?), and Garima (in scription illegible). Abba Kiros, who is also depicted, was not one of th e Nine Saints. The present icon is larger than a pendant diptych actually m ad e to be worn on one's chest, and in the range of its painted images it is closer to the programs of monum ental painting than to th e design o f mo st devotional images. The exterior faces of the diptych panels, like the smaller bilateral pendant diptychs of the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century, are carved with a centralized cross design that reflects th e

carved design s of contemporary wood altar tablets. 1 As the consecrated altar tablet is too holy for the gaze of profane eyes, the histo rical development of these designs has never been tra ced. It seems lik ely that they " ·ere first developed for the altar tabl et, or for deco rated book covers, and then transferred to the realm of th e icon. This is another exa mple of h ow the art of th e icon borrowed from oth er forms of sacred art. 1.

J.

M. Hanssens and A. Raes 19 5 1: 43 5-50.

SELE CTED REFER ENCE S

Paris 1974, no. 128. Stuttgart 1973 , no. 18.

12

Miracles of Mary (Taamera Maryam) Gondar, second half of seventeen th century Parchm ent, wood end boards Dabra Warq , Goijam

Numerous illustration s and ico nic miniatures that represent the major fea sts of Mary , and sy mbolize her role as intercesso r for those who invoke her nam e in pra ye rs , are contained in the present collection of the Miracles of Mary. These include the enthronement of Mary beside Christ in H eaven and th e Co venant of Mercy (Kidana Melirat). T he narrative miniatures foll ow the text of the story whi ch they illustrate, and after rea din g the wo rd s of each passage, the faithful wo uld then " rea d " the illustrations . The depi ction of the story of the bishop of Rome shares a page with four lines of text , the concluding lin es of the story . Three successive episodes of th e story are combined in thi s singl e miniature. On th e left is depicted the bishop offering holy communion to the fai thful ; in the foreground is the devo ut woman who kissed his hand as she received co mmunion. Overcome by a sinful thought, the bishop cut off his hand . This episode is depicted at the center bottom of the page. Th e last episode of the story fills the right half of the composition. Mary , feeling compassion for the bishop, miraculously m anifested herself from her painted image and joined hi s severed hand to his arm. Such mark ed interes t in narrative miniatures, in images that tell a story, typifi es

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AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

the art of the Later Solomonic period; it may have been stimulated by the lay royal patrons who sponsored the art of the monas teries. The great monastic centers at Dabra Libanos and Dabra Hayq Estifanos had been destroyed during the sixteenth century, and m ajor monastic establishments had moved to the environs of Lake Tana and Gondar, the new capital, where they were supported by the monarchy. This is one of a group of manuscripts of the Miracles of Mary which are lavishly decorated with miniatures in the First Gondarine style. These manuscripts share a related cycle of illustrations. Each image follows, but does not copy, an Ethiopian archetype that may have been created at Gondar during the reign ofFasiladas (163267). The style of the present manuscript is closely associated with the patronage of the Gondarine monarchy. The location of the workshop in which these miniatures were produced is unknown; however, it seems likely that Gondar was the site. Priests from Dabra Warq say that it once was an important center where books were copied and illustrated for Gondarine kings. The name of the original owner of the manuscript has been erased and repl aced with the name "Enbaqom." SELECTED REFERENCES

Anneguin, G. 1972.

13

Our Lady Mary with Her Beloved Son, Kwerata Reesu (Christ with a Crown of Thorns), and Saints Gondar (?), late seventeenth or early eighteenth century Tempera on gesso-covered wood panels (and two-piece leather carrying case) 6ft x SH, in. (17 x 22.7 cm) open Institute of Ethiopian Studies, no. 3492

The central panel is filled with a portrait of Mary seated on the throne , inscribed "Image of Our Lady Mary with her Beloved Son," flanked by the archangels Michael and Gabriel. The left panel, divided into two registers, depicts a copy of the imperial palladium known as the Kwerata Reesu

Fig. 7 Cahra Man/as Qeddus and the Crncifixion, Institute of Ethiopian Studies , no. 3794. [Photo by Malcolm Varon, NYC © 1993] (incompletely inscribed "How Our Lord"), and Saint George spearing a dragon (inscribed "Image of Saint George"). In the upper register of the right panel are the holy hermit Ga bra Manfas Qeddus I and Arsenius, an Egyptian monastic saint. 2 Although the cult of Gabra Manfas Qeddus had become popular in Ethiopia, the presence of these two hermit saints suggests chat chis personal devotional image was created for a monastic patron. Such elements in the drawing as the elongated necks and oversized hands may initially divert attention from the brilliant artistry of this painting. Judiciously placed bands of background color and the inspired treatment of pattern , such as the red drops of blood that appear on Christ's face, beard, hair, and blue mantle, or the checkered border of Mary's throne , create an impressive setting for the holy figures. The triptych presents a dramatic visual focus for spiritual devotions. A small pendant double diptych in the collection of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies can also be attributed to the painter of the present icon (fig. 7). The painter's oeuvre was not limited to panel painting, for some of the miniatures in a manuscript of the Miracles of Mary in Paris 3 can be attributed to the same artist. 4 The small scale of this triptych

suggests that the painter was a miniaturist by training. Our Lady Mary's general iconic type follows the Virgin of Santa Maria Maggiore (fig. 2) , the icon in Rome whose likeness had been disseminated throughout the world by Jesuit missionaries. Portuguese Jesuits brought it to Ethiopia perhaps as early as the late

Fig. 8 Child wearing a necklace of cowrie shells. (Photo by M. Heldman © 1993]

MARYAM SEYON : MARY OF ZION

Fig. 9 Bab y-carrier decorated w ith cowrie shells. [Photo b y M . Heldman © 1993]

device th e effi cacy of w hi ch for infants and small children is still recogni zed in rural Ethiopia (fi gs. 8 and 9). Th e cow rie sh ell, like the shell up on w hich Venus was ca rri ed to th e seashore, is sy mbolic of feminine generative po wer. 5 The red -and - w hite checkered thron e of Our Lady M ary ca n be co mpared w ith the dark-and-li g ht checkered pattern that decora tes the entrance to the Ho ly of Holies in many Ethiopian churches (fig. ro). Thi s simple motif, like the arched w ings of the archangels, ma y sugges t the well-know n Old T es tament metaphor of Our Lady Mary w hich is repeated in the Ethiopic Praise of Mary: "You are the tabernacle w hi ch is called the H oly of Holies. " 6 The pleated edge of Mary's w hite veil fo ll ows th e portrait of M ary in the murals of the Church of Saint Anthony in Gon dar, 7 founded b y the emperor Yohannes I (r. 166782) . The patch es of color on the faces indicate close ties with the First Gondarine sty le. A date of the last third of the seventeenth cen tury, therefore, o r the ea rl y decades o f the eighteenth century, is suggested.

sixteenth century. The Infant C hrist ca rries a Dove, the motif which had b een introduced co Ethiopian painting by Fere Seyon in th e mid-fifteenth century, and H e wea rs a neckla ce of cowrie shells, an apotropaic

1. E.A.W. Budge 1928(A), vol. 3: 755- 72. Ibid.: 885- 87. 3. Bibliorhegue Nationale, Paris, Abb. 114, ff. 9 1v- 92r. 4. C. Conti Rossini , 9 12- ,5 ( 19 12): 66-72 ; S. C hojnacki t983, fig . 142. 5. A. A. Barb 1953' 204-7. 6. B. Velar 1966: 294- 95. 7. j. Leroy 1967 , pl. 21. 2.

SELECTED REFERENCES

C hojnacki , S. 1983, fig . r 12.

14

Our Lady Mary at Dabra Metmaq

known as th e kabaro, are still used today (fig. r r). The heavy two-tiered crown of Mary is identi cal w ith the imperial crown of Iyy asu II, and the emp ress Mentewwab wears such a crown in the portra it that adorns the wall of the church she founded at Lake Tana, Narga Sellase. 2 T h e blue cape of Mary suggests a patterned cut-velve t fabric. An id entical fa bri c design , cir cul ar m edalli on s filled w ith a fl o ral patte rn , decorates the costume of Christ Enthroned in a wa ll painting o f the C hurch ofWayna Daga Ru fael near Lake Tana. 3 Unlike m any Ethiopian triptychs, w hich presen t several loosely related themes, this tripty ch represents just one: the app earance of Our Lad y Mary at Dabra Metmaq. The cent ral pan el is inscribed "Our Lady Mary at Dabra Metmaq." T h e upper register of the two side pan els is in scribed " H ow priests and chaste virgins praise her"; beneath , the angels, in sc rib ed "How th e an gels bow down before her ," and Saints Geo rge, M ercuriu s, and Theodore, inscribed " H ow th e martyrs bow dow n before her," prostrate themselves before h er. T he inscrip tions and the visual im agery of the tript ych present the mira cle as it is related in the Ethiopian Synaxa ry . The reading for 21 Gen b ot (May 29) describes how all C hristian com mu nities celeb rate the fes ti val of th e ap pearance of Our Lad y Mary at Dabra M et m aq as she was sea ted upon light in a circle in the cu pola of the church. The archangels appeared, and the martyrs appea red , Saint Mercurius m o un ted upon a black horse , Saint Theo dore upon a red horse. Saint Geo rge descended from his horse and they all bowed before her. 4 The account of the appearance of Our Lady Mary at Dabra Metmaq in Ethi o pi c co ll ect ions of the Miracles of Mary adds that Sa int George rode

Gondar, after 1730 T empera on gesso-covered woo d panels 14± x I2ti in. (36.2 x 32.3 cm) closed Institu te of Ethiopian Studies, no. 4 r 44 T he heavil y m odele d faces, th e back gro unds that shade from yell ow to green or red, and the sump tuous costu m e of Our Lady Mary are typical of later Ethiopian painting, known Fig . ro Entrance to the sanctuary in a mo dern church at Senafe . [Ph oto b y M. Heldm an © 1993]

as the Second Gondarine style . Also typical is close attention to veristic deta il. T he sistra and the liturg ica l drums 1 are ca rri ed b y the priests and nuns; the sistrum and the drum ,

Fig . r r Priests playing the kabaro and sistrum. [Ph oto b y M. Heldman © 1993]

99

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

a w hite horse and Saint Theodore rode a red horse, just as th ey were de pi cted on their icons. The ri g ht hand of Our Lady Mary is raised, blessing those who prai se her , while

I

5

Our Lady Mary with her Beloved Son, Archangels, and Suppliant

her left hand holds a large handk erchie f. the custom for th e faithful , at the m om ent the vision of Mar y appeared, to remove th eir caps, crow ns, and hea dco vers and th row

Gondar , after 173 0 Temp era o n gesso- covered wood panels r6 x r Sf in. (40.7 x 48 cm) open In stitute of Ethiopian Studies, no. 3 574

them hi g h into the cupola. One year a Our Lad y M ary and the Infant Christ are

cupo la and Mar y took it in h er hand . 5

depicted on the centra l panel of th e present

The triptych co mbin es two events: th e

triptych w ith a suppliant, an unn amed

ritu al that co mmemorates the miracle at

nobleman , at the fee t of Mary; standing

Dabra M etmaq, in which priests and nun s

archangels flank the m o th er and her child.

carry sistra and drums, and the miracle itself,

The image of Mar y d e parts from the usua l

in which Mary appeared in a cir cle of light.

iconograph y o f this period, w hich follows the

4. 5.

M entewwab 's names was Berhan M ogasa, The ico n presents a florid examp le o f th e Second Gondarine st y le, a trend that was supported by the e mpress M en tewwab . Th e garments of M ar y and the archangels are ca refu ll y rendered cut-velvets , bro cades, and

se rvan t threw her handkerchief up into th e

2. 3.

consider ed b y Ethiopians . In fact, one of "Light of Grace."

Acco rdin g to the story of the miracl e, it was

1.

p unnin g or one-upmanship, for names and their m eanings were and still are serio usly

M. Powne 1968: 15- 16. G. Annequin 1975: 98. E. Hammerschmidt and 0.A. Jager 1968, fig. 25. E.A.W. Budge 1928 (A), vol. 3: 9 17- 18. E. Cerulli 1943: 195- 99.

po rtrait of the Virg in of Santa Maria Maggiore in R ome (fig . 2). H ere, Mary is depicted holding th e Infant C hild to her cheek , a pose w hi ch in Ethiopian painting is associated w ith the iconograph ic type of "O ur Lad y M ary at Qwesqwam ." Qwesqwam is th e site in Egypt w h ere the

SELE CTED REFERENCES

Paris 1974, no. 157. Stuttga rt 1973, no. 21.

Holy famil y was sa id to h ave lived in exi le. The present icon is probably intended to reca ll a de vo tio n al im age at the e mpress Mentewwab 's C hurch of Qwesqwam at Dabra Sahay o n the outskirts of Gondar , w hose altar tablet was dedicated to Our Lady Mary at Qwesqwam , accord in g to the R oya l Chronicle. 1 M entewwab was d evoted to the cult of Mary at Qwesqwam , and she gave the name Dabra Sahay, " Mountain of the Sun," to the si te at w hich thi s church was built. Evidentl y her inten ti on was to rival the church on the o utskirts of Gondar which the emperor Iy yasu h ad named Dabra Berhan, " Mountain of Light. " The name Dabra Sa hay was m ean t to sign ify more than verbal

!00

print fabrics; the cloth of honor that hangs behind Mary is blue brocade, deco rated w ith a fl eur-de-li s pattern. Such focus upon lu x ury fabrics t y pified the patronage of M entewwab . The icon of Our Lady Mary which was created for the Church of Qwesquam at Dabra Sahay was made not only with paint but w ith applied luxury fabric s ("silk with threads of go ld and sil ver") . It d epicted Mentewwab " taking refuge before the Virgin. " 2 The icon ofQwesqwam at Dabra Sa hay is n o t extant, but a mural at the C hurch of Narga Sellase at Lake Tana d ep icts M entewwab as a suppliant before Mary. 3 Fabrics depi cted in the present icon are as o pulent as th ose in the description of the ico n o f Qwesqwam at Dabra Sahay. Even th e motif of the archangels offering a b o uqu et of flowers to M ary follows Mentewwab' s icon of Mary on the wa ll s of Narga Sellase. The frame of the triptych is constru cted of molding w ith miter joint corners, and can be com pared w ith a similar fram e of an icon in the co llecti o n s o f the In stitute of Ethiopian Studies (cat. 119). Although the two seem to be of the same d ate, they do not appear to be by th e same painter. Gu idi 1912: 96. Ibid.: rn6. 3. j. Leroy 1967, pl. 40. 1.

2.

AKSUMITE COINAGE Stuart C. Munro-Hay

AN EXCEPTIONAL FEATURE OF THE Aksumite kingdom was its coinage. No other sub-Saharan African state issued its own independent coinage in ancient tim es~indeed no ocher African state at all, since those in North Africa (Libya and Mauretania) fell under Roman dominion. Almost no ocher contemporary state anywhere in the world could issue in gold, a statement of sovereignty achieved only by Rome, Persia , and the Kushan kingdom in northern India at the time of Aksumite power. The simple fact of Aksum's coin production over several centuries bears witness to the cultural and economic development of the state . Coinage is also the only medium to survive, apart from some categories of archeological finds like pottery, in which we can observe some of the artistic trends current in Aksum at the time. Aksum commenced its coin issues at the end of the third century A.O. Trade lin ks with the Roma n world, South Arabia , India, and Ceylon had doubtless made ic seem worthwhile for the Aksu mite kings to issue th eir own coinage . This would have replaced th e foreign coinage that appears, from information given in the mid-first-century guidebook called The Perip/11s of the Eryth raean Sea, to have been used previousl y by foreign merchants at the Aksumite port of Adu lis. The kings of Aksum struck coins of gold, silver, and bronze. Issues in the lesser metals, uni quely, were sometim es overlaid with gold on important symbols like the cross, the crown, and the royal head. The names of about twenty otherwise totally unknown kings of Aksum are preserved on their coinage, which thus constitutes a vital element in any attempt to reconstruct Aks umite chronology. The coinage spans the period between approximately A.O. 270- 90 and the seventh century, w hen Aksumite power began to wane. The weight of the coinage appears to have been closely linked w ith th e Roman system, and the heaviest Aksumite gold coins were equal to the Roman ha lf-aureus. As the Roman system changed, so the Aksumite system followed, settling fina ll y on a weight of about 1 .60 g, the weig ht of the Roman tremissis after th e mon etary reform s of Constantine the Great. Later the Romans produced a lighter tremissis , but Aksum remained w ith the heavier type, perhaps to offset another feature of the coinage, its debasement. While there seems to have been an interest in maintaining a similar weight system, Aksum failed to retain the purity of gold that made Roman coinage so reliable. The first kings issued coins of reasonably high gold content, but by the reign ofEzana in the mid-fourth century, the percentage of go ld had already fallen from the 90s to the Sos. It may be been this which caused the Aksumite ruler contemporary with the reform of Theodosius I, around A.O . 3 83, not to fo llow the weight reduction to about r. 5 r g. Fifth- and sixth-century rulers issued coins with percentages of gold in the upper 6os and 70s, the lowest gold percentage recorded so far during the reign of Kaleb being 64.2 percent. After him, the percentage levels for rulers like Ella Gabaz and Joel sank to the early 50s. Gold coins ofiathlia, w hich is probably a badly written rendering of the royal name Hataz , known from the silver and bronze coinage, have not yet been measured, but on the basis of inspection appear to be a very pale gold that doubtless contains a JOI

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

heavy admixture of silver. This debasement, although it would have been profitable to the issuers at first, must eventually have struck a profound blow to the confidence of users, and may have contributed to the collapse of the monetary system in the seventh century. The symbolism of the coinage was of crucial importance in a world where such mobile items formed an excellent medium for propaganda . Endubis, the first king of Aksum to issue coins , established the general outlines of style which were followed fairly closely by his successors. The primary image was that of the king himself, the absolute ruler claiming divine affiliation. From the time of Aphilas, the successor ofEndubis, the kings can be seen on the obverse of the gold pieces, wearing the elaborate high Aksumite tiara supported on a little colonnade of columns. Above their heads are the divine symbols, the disc and crescent. Since the kings call themselves, on their surviving inscriptions from the pagan period, "Son of Mahrem," perhaps it is this deity that the symbols represent, or perhaps the whole Aksumite pantheon is symbolically invoked by them. The cross succeeded to this predominant position with the conversion ofEzana, probably around A.D. 330. The kings are dressed, as the half-length profile busts show, in fringed robes and wear necklaces, bracelets, armlets, and probably finger-rings. They hold a sword, a spear, or in Christian times, a hand cross. The bust is framed by two stalks of wheat, doubtless representing one of the vital crops on which the prosperity of Aksum depended. Apart from an early type of Aphilas, only Gersem, one of the last rulers to issue coins, replaced the profile bust with a frontal image on his gold coins. Perhaps under Byzantine influence , this was to become common on the silver and bronze. As a way of emphasizing the importance of the royal position in the state, the king was also represented on the reverse of the gold coins; such a double representation of the royal image is almost unique in world coinage. On these examples the king does not wear a tiara but a sort of close headcloth or helmet. Endubis alone, the founder of the series, was depicted wearing this type of headgear on both the obverse and reverse of his gold pieces, without the tiara. On silver and bronze coins, this headcloth image is the norm for the obverse; a variety of designs appear on the reverse, although in the later series tiared heads begin to appear on the obverse of the lesser metal pieces as well. Aphilas, or perhaps the master of his mint, was evidently an innovator. He experimented with fractions and a number of different designs. His gold coins introduced a tiaraed bust, a facing bust on a half-weight issue, and a tiny one-sixth(?) aureus piece, with an anepigraphic obverse and a legend occupying the entire space of the reverse. He issued two weights of silver, one with gilding on the royal bust, and three different weights of bronze. Such variety seems to have proved unnecessarily complicated, however, and later kings issued fewer types. The phenomenon of gilding may have been instituted to raise the value of the coins oflesser metals or perhaps to encourage by its opulence the use of coinage in the remoter reaches of the kingdom. In the central area, royal payments for services could distribute coin, and demands that taxes be paid in coin could also force its acceptance. But in less accessible areas, barter would have remained the customary method of exchange, and some other inducement may have been required to promote the use of coinage. At Adulis or at other market centers, foreign coinage was of course already used. Whatever the case, the difficult and expensive technique of gilding , which Aksumite coinage alone employed, persisted almost from beginning to end of the series. Perhaps the most characteristic reverse motif on silver and bronze coins after the conversion ofEzana is the cross. Ethiopian art has exploited the form of the cross to a high degree, but on these coins some of the earliest developments can be seen: Latin and Greek crosses, crosscrosslets, diamond-centered crosses inlaid with gold, and other variants. It seems almost certain that the ·Aksumite kings were the first Christian rulers to display the cross on their coins, sometime not long after 102

A.D.

3 30.

AKSUMITE COINAGE

The legends on the coins are at first in Greek, on all three m etals. Later there is a gradual change. Geez comes to predominate on the lesser metals, while Greek is retained for the gold , an indication of its status in the international trade of the time as the lingua franca of the Roman Orient. Wazeba alone of the early kings employed Geez on his gold and silver. On bi-regnal iss ues ofWazeba and Ousanas, the obverse ofWazeba with its Geez legend contrasts with the Greek on the reverse of Ousana, and possibly these two kings reigned together. The king M HDYS (his name is known only in unvocalised Geez) appears

to

have been the first to use

Geez on the bronze, issuing a coin with a legend apparently following the famous vision of Constantine the Great: "In hoc signo vinces" ("By this sign you will be victorious"). On one silver issue ofloel, in the sixth century , the two languages are combined, Geez on the obverse an d Greek on the reverse. The kings proclaimed messages to their people through the potent medium of the legends on coin s. Some of the earliest Christian examples, very probably issued by Ezana himself, show the cross in the center surrounded by the words "May this please the people," doubtless a form of con ve rsion manifesto. Other legends declare " By the grace of God," or "MHDYS, by this cross he will conquer," and later messages read "Joy and peace to the people," "Christ is with us," or "Mercy and peace." R are diversions from the royal busts and crosses are found on two types with an architectural reverse . One type , with the reverse legend "Za-ya Abiyo la Madkhen," perhaps issued by Wazena, shows an arch supported on double columns and sheltering a gold-inlaid cross. The econd , of Armah, depicts the columns supporting a central gold-inlaid cross, flanked by two ochers, with a key-shaped object under the arch. These pieces may refer to the conquest of Jerusa lem by the Persians in 614, alluding either to Calvary or to the Holy Sepulcher. T he later gold issues, of the kings Allamidas, Ella Gabaz, Joel, Hataz/Iathlia, Israel, and Gerse m, are thin-flanned pieces, with degenerate Greek legends and badly cut dies. By the sixth century, after the famous expedition of Kaleb to the Yemen, a campaign that may have req uired the production of a large number of gold issues to pay the troops, the great days of Aks um were over. This is reflected in the coinage itself. It is difficult to b e specific, but it seems ,·ery likely that the coinage continued until Aksum ceased to be the capital of the Ethiopian kin gdom, probably around 630. In the upper levels of many of the great structures in the city , or in squatter rooms built around their ruins, coins of the later kings abound. Whatever it was that bro ught the end of Aksum as a capital, the coinage failed to outlast the city itself. The Persian con quest of the Yemen around 570, their attacks on Roman Egypt and Syria some fifty years la cer, and the rise of the Arabs after 630 were all events which must have helped drstroy the Red ea trade that had made Aksum wealthy and powerful. It may be that overuse of the land aro und Aksum, along with changes in climate, left the hinterland unable to support a large pop ulation any longer, compelling the Ethiopian kings to depart for more fertile districts. With the fa ilure of the Red Sea trading system and the eclipse of their international position, they no longer needed to issue coinage. The capital and the monetary system were abandoned together.

."\-ote for following catalogue entries: The conventional abbreviations used by numismatists for the metals are as follows: AV , gold; AR, silver; AE, bronze . These are derived from the Latin names fo r these metals.

103

SELECTED REFERENCES

Munro-Hay, S. C. Munro-Hay, S. C. Munro-Hay, S. C. Munro-Hay, S. C. Oddy, W. A. , and 1980 .

1984(A). r984(B). 1991: 180-95. Forthcoming. S. C. Munro- Hay

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ET HIOPIA

r6

Endubis AV

I

Late third centur y Gold 15111111 British Mu se um 1989-5- 18-1, M-H 45 Several internal fea tures o f the co in age make it virtually ce rtain that Endubis was the first kin g of Aksum to issue coined m oney . Am o n g these features are the weight, the purity of the gold, the raised relief o n all metals, and th e general design. In ad dition , a com pari so n w ith the weight of the Roman aureus suggests that these co in s were produced so m ewhere between 270 and 290, and represented the equi va lent to h alf a Roman aureus (o ne- sixtieth of a pound of go ld , with a theoretical weigh t of 2.72g) . The kn own go ld w eights of Endubis ra nge up to 2.81g, perhap s reflecting th e practice of minting a given number of pie ces from a pound of gold , a process which results in so me sli g htl y over weight and some slig htl y underweig ht pi eces. End ubis began the coin age w ith a mod est set of types: one of go ld , one o f sil ve r, and one of bronze (o r co pper - no anal yses have yet been mad e) . All arc very simi lar in design , th e go ld being distinguish ed o nl y by the two wheat stalks which flank an d surro und the bust of the king o n bo th faces. T he king , wea ring the so- called hea dcl o th (it appears to be a cloth bound over the head with a tie or ribbon visible at the rear), is shown fac ing to the right o n both faces of the coin s, doubtless an assertion of his preeminent position as the head , indeed the e m bo diment , o f the sta te. While this double representati on is ve r y unusual on any other co in age, it was stand ard for the enti re Aksumite series, the on ly dev elopment being that for th e go ld co ins issued after Endubis, the o bverse h ead wears the royal crown instead of th e headclo th. The disc an d crescent, prom in entl y di spla yed at 12 o ' clock on both faces, almost certainl y refers to one or all of the deiti es in the Aksumite pantheon, and after the

104

conversion ofEzanas around 330 it was replaced b y th e cross. With thi s co in we have the essentials of w hat Endubis must have con sid ere d desirable to present to the o utside wo rld , as well as to hi s own peop le: his own supreme sta tus as king o f Aksum; th e ea rs of th e gra in , which was a source of prosperity to the count r y; and the religious sy mbol s, w hich would also have reiterated hi s own se mi-di vin e rank. Man y as pects of the origin al d es ign became permanent features of th e se ries; even the " portrait " of the king rem ained un cha nged for centuries . The legend was in Greek, no doubt a result o f the raison d' etre fo r the co in age, the enhancing of trade on the Red Sea route. It simpl y reiterated the supreme position of Endubi s b y d etailing his name an d titles: " Endubis, King of the Ak sumites , Man of Dakhu." This la st, written in G reek as BI S I DAKHU, derives from the Geez wo rd beesya ("Man of. ... ") , and is of uncertain sig nifi cance . It has been su ggested that it is some so rt of clan name , perhaps deriving from the king' s maternal clan, sin ce it differs for each king. It may also have been a regiment name, since so me of the militar y grou ps kn own from in sc riptio ns bear design ation s similar to these Bisi- names. It ma y even represent both, if the regiment names ori gi n ated from th e clan names.

accompa nied only by the disc and crescent symbo l. The head and shoulders type of bust was employed , an d there was no legend. On the reverse, however , the sli ghcl y abbrev iated legend "Kin g Aphilas" (on ly the final letter is mi ssin g) filled the entire field . Th e coin is fairly frequentl y fo und ; indeed , it is by far th e m ost common of the gold pieces of Aphilas , and it would seem probab le that it was intended as a gold pi ece for common use. The fact that , at least as far as present ev idence indi cates, no furth er issues were produced ei ther of this weight or of th e half- weight piece described below , may imply that des pite the attempt to sp rea d th e use of the gold in sma ller units, only large pi eces were in the end worth producing. The mintin g of the gilded sil ve r (cat. r8), a furth er in novation of Aphilas , may have had somet hin g to do with thi s. A unique half-weight go ld coin of Aphilas is also known (AV 3, M - H 50) (i llu s. below) , the on ly hal f- weight gold piece so far fo und fo r the entire Aksumite series. This co in has a

Aphilas AV r

number of unmual features , alth ough the general id ea of a hea d with a tiara on th e obverse an d with a headcloth on the reverse is reta in ed . Ho wever, the obverse di splays a fac in g bust, an d the crown is lo wer than th e high tiara, a style often seen later until th e

c. 300 Gold 7 111111 British Museum 1989- 5- 18-7, M-H 48

end of th e series . The w heat sta lks h ave also been om itted, and on both sid es the legend has been abbreviated, as on two sil ve r types of Aphilas . On the obverse, the king ho lds upri ght w hat appea rs to be a swo rd or a

~

17

a flan to sh ow very mu ch detail , so the comprom ise was reached of placing the royal bu st, wearing th e hea dcloth , on the obverse

•"'I,

,, ·~

With Aphilas, w h o appears from the coinage to have been the successo r of Endubis, a period of vigorous experimentation began, both with th e d enomination s and with the design of the co in s. One innova tion of his reign was the tin y go ld piece exhibited h ere, apparently representin g, at aro und o.30o.3 4g, one- sixth of the weig ht of the large go ld pieces stru ck b y Endubi s (cat. 16). The coin was ev id entl y stru ck on too small

spear. T he largest go ld piece of Aphil as (AV 2 , M-H 49) (illus. below) is similar in weight and flan to that of Endubis but abandons hi s predecessor's plain basic design , instea d elab ora tin g the royal bust, particul arl y o n the obverse, by including a number of item s of the roya l rega lia. The m ost promin en t fe acure is the Aksumite tiara , a hi gh crown w hich can be see n on the best pieces to consist o f a

AKSUMITE COINAGE

co lonnad e of miniature pillars, with capitals

for trading purposes, b y making it obv ious that the coins had a rea l, rather than a m erel y

and bases, supporting four ele m ents which rather rese mble the atef-crown of th e Egyptian and M eroitic kings . Behind the head still appears the ribbon seen on the headcloth, triangular or rounded in shape.

re presen tational, va lu e . It mi g ht ha ve bee n done to avoid the issue of large r, heav ier ,

r8

Aphilas AR

2

silv er pieces, whose weight is usually well over twice that o f the gilded issu es, if silv er was a rare m eta l in Ak sum at that period . No

c. 300 Silver I 2 111111

British Mu seum 1989- 5- 18-13, M - H 52

doubt th ere was an awa reness of the artistic and iconographi c side of things as wel l. The king appeared h aloed in gold, an indi ca tion of his wealth as well as an impressive portrait. Possibly, too , thi s was considered a better way of produ cin g co in age w hi ch could

This seems co hint that perh aps the headcloth was still retain ed as a paddin g for the tiara,

Until very recently , o nl y two si lve r issues of

circulate as fractions o f the gold pieces,

w hich wa s doubtl ess made of precious metals

Aphilas were kn own , but a third has now been pub lished. 1

go ld itself. In t his case, th ese coins might hav e

and therefore quite hea vy; n o Ak sumite crown has ye t been found , but the sil ver

of the Aphilas sil ver issues is the g ild ed type.

carnelian-studd ed crowns of their so m etime vassals , the Noba kings , ha ve been recovered

On the obverse is the royal bust, hea d and shoulders only, wearing the headcloth with a

The commonest, and the most interesting ,

fro m tombs at Ballana and Qustul in Nubia.

triangular ribbon behind. The disc and

The royal bust on these Aphilas pi eces is extended downward to the base of the coin,

crescent sy mbol appea rs at 12 o'clock, with

without the necessity of mimin g fractions in been issu ed later in the reign of Aphilas, after the abandonment of the gold fractions described in the prev io us entry.

and the simple draped head and sho ulde rs

an abb reviated legend stan din g for "King Aphilas. "

bust of the Endubis ty pe is developed to incl ude the arm . The king h o ld s a short stick o r scepter on the o bverse, and a bunch of

sa m e type as th at o n the obverse, set in a circle. Considering its size, the die-cutters

large mod ul e piece (AR 1, M-H 51) (illus. above) , which resem bled the silver type of

droo ping st rands terminating in dots on the

seem generally to ha ve made a goo d job of

Endubis, except that so me of the letters of th e

reverse . This laner motif po ssibl y represents

the work. All the main features are perfectly

legend appea r beneath the bust, and the

fru it on a branch, or perhap s a fly w hi sk , an

clear; even the minu scul e lin es above the

recently published third type, o f the sa m e

item of regalia kn ow n from m ed ieva l

fo rehead, w hi ch represent stretch marks on the hea dcloth or perhaps so m e sort o f

weig ht as the gilded pi eces .

descriptions of the royal coronations of the kings of Ethi o pi a at Ak sum. One of the later accounts of the coronation of an Ethiopian rule r at Ak sum m entions that two great

On the reverse is a tiny cent ral bust of the

nob les assigned co acco mpany the king

BASILEUS (K in g laphilas) . This is the only issu e of A phil as to add the extra I at th e

w hat the tiny im age on the co ins represents.

consider ed to rep resent a wo rd break , except that it does n ot occur at the beginni ng of

basile11s. How ever, the most remarkable thing about this issue is the gilding. A thin sheet of gold

rega lia are commo n in Afri ca n monarchies. So m e of the co in s of thi s type show an

Sometim es, if not cleanly ap pli ed, the gold

of future Ak sumite issues b ei ng either plain o r beaded circl es .

S. C. Munro-Hay 1990.

beginning of hi s name. It might be

purporting to date from r 225 , during the reig n ofLalibela, and such ite m s of royal

o uter border in a flo w ing guilloche pattern. Th is was never used again, the o uter borders

1.

aigrette, are visi bl e . Outside th e circl e runs the legend , w ith the disc and cresce nt symbo l at 12 o ' clock. T he legen d reads IA PHIL AS

carr ied oliv e branches co be used as fl y w hisks, and it is not impo ssible that this is The title aqabe tsentsen (Keeper of the Fl y W hisk) is kn own from a land grant

The other Aphilas sil ver issues in cluded a

I9

covers the roya l bust inside the inn er circl e.

Aphilas AE r C. 300

Bronze 17.5 mm British Museum 1873, M-H 53

spread s in places over so m e of the Icners o f the legend. What led Aphilas co em plo y this costly and diffi cult procedure on hi s silver can on ly be conj ect ured, but w hatever the moti ve was, it was one w hi ch la sted ; go ld was

an d sil ver, three separa te issues. All three ha ve

ap plied to sil ver or bronze coins throu g hout

features in their desig n w hi ch were no t much

virtuall y the entire period of the co in issues . It

used on th e co in age of later king s.

might hav e been designed simpl y to

Two o f th e Aphilas bronze types have facing bu sts on th e obverse . The m ost

enco urage use of the coinage lo ca ll y , in ad dition to the interna tional use of the gold

The bron ze of Aphil as includ es, lik e his gold

unu sual piece, ex hi bited he re, is known from

105

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

a single exa mpl e in the British Museum . It is by far the heaviest Aksumite coin kn ow n , with the high relief 4mm thick . It weighs 4.83g but must have been even heavier originally, since it is now rather worn as well as pierced with a hole. The other type (AE 3, M-H 55), except for the obverse facing bust, resembles the heavier silver issue of Aphilas (AR l, M-H 51) in design as well as weight. The AE 2 type of Aphilas (M-H 54) differs little from the single known bronze issue of Endubis. However, the legend "Aphilas King of the Aksumites, Man of Dimele" is broken in the middle of the word AKSOMITON (of the Aksumites) and continues on the reverse. The rev erse is unusual in that it does not depict the king again, but instead replaces hi s image with a single ear of w heat, w hich occupies the whole field. Along w ith the use of two wheat stalks as a fram e for the king 's bust on the gold, this may be a tes timony to the importance of the crop to th e Aksumite eco nom y. Some years later, and from the number of issues we might assum e that Aphilas had a considerable reign , perhaps spanning the later years of the third and the early years of the fourth centuries, Ezanas also employed thi s design on a bron ze piece issued during his pagan period (before c. 330).

20

W azeba/Ousanas AR

However, a number of bi-regnal issues with Ousanas ha ve been found , w ith Wazeba in the chief position, perhaps indicating th at he was the paramo unt ruler but had invited a colleague or a son to rule with him, a method not long since adopted in the Roman world by Diocletian w ith the Tetrarch y. Such a stratagem mig ht theoreticall y ens ure troublefree succession. Although at this sta ge of our knowledge proof is impossible, we might imagine that Wazeba succeeded Aphilas after the latter had enj oyed a length y reign, and that his du al reign w ith Ousana s was instituted to reli eve the burden on a single aging ruler as well as to ensure continuity. It does not seem likely that these coins resulted simply from an accidental striking at the mint, since there are several exa mpl es known from different dies. The dual-reign coins have another unusual feature, in that they are also bilingual. This is because all Wazeba's coinage so far known was issued w ith Geez legends, w hile Ousanas, like all the other ea rl y coin-issuing Aksumite kings, used only Greek. The silver issue of Wazeba is an almost exact copy of the gilded issu e of Ousanas, exce pt that it lacks the gilding, and as on the single known gold piece of Wa zeba, the lang uage used is Geez. On the gold piece his beesya- name is written Zagalay . There is also a monogram representing the letters WZB. On the silver issue, the legend reads only " King Wa zeba" on the obverse and " Wazeba King of Aksum" on the reverse.

N ever again were the details so clea rly executed, although even b y this time the heavier relief of the coins of Endubis and Aphilas had been abandoned. It m ay be that to commence the series Endubis had imported expert die-cutters, perhaps from Alexandria , w here the current coinage rese mbled that produced at Aksum. Others m ay have followed, but even by the next reign , that of Ezanas, a degeneration of quality in the diecutting had begun. Ousanas, whose name might stand for Wazena in Geez, issued a number of va riants on the basic Aphilas large-module gold type, with some minor additions. The variations between types consist mainly of changes in the arrangement of letters. Additional features w hich are visible are the spikes included on the tiara, th e armlets and bracelets on the king's arms, and a number of dots which appear either at the juncture of th e wheat stalks or around the disc and crescent symbol. There can be as m an y as six of these, perhaps rep resenting lesser divinities in the stellar pantheon. The bust of the king on the obverse can be very elegant, with much of th e detail of the crown and the king 's jewelry clearly visible. Like Wazeba , and Ezanas on hi s pre-Christian issues, the king ho lds a long spea r. With the introduction by Ezanas of an inner beaded circle on his Christian gold issu es (cat. 25) , the royal busts beca me more compressed, and such details could no longer be included.

I

Earl y fourth century Silver 13 mm British Museum 1989- 5-1 8- 37, M-H 66 21

It is tempting to regard W azeba as an ephemeral ruler, briefly a successo r to Aphil as and perhaps co-regent with Ousanas. Only one gold piece of his is known to date (AV T, M-H 67) , in the Cabinet de M edailles in Paris (Bibliotheque Nationale N.3.458) , and although his silver issue is quite co mmon , no bronzes in his name survive. Altogether, Wazeba is not nearly as well rep resented by the coinage as any of his predecesso rs or successors. 106

Ousanas AV

I

Earl y fourth century Gold 16 mm British Museum !925- u - 12-1, M-H 56-58 With the gold of Ousanas, or perhaps with the unique Geez gold piece of Wazeba (see under cat. 20), the Aksumite die-cutters reached the zenith of their achievement.

22

Ousanas AR

2

Earl y fourth century Silver 15 mm British Mu seum 1989-5-TS-15, M-H 60 The large-module silver coins of Ousanas are the last of the series at this size, subsequent sil ve r coins being smaller with tou ches of gilding. The large sil ve r, of two types

AKSUMITE COINAGE

distinguished by small variants in the legend, are very plain pieces, both faces showing a head and shoulders ro yal bust , the king wearing the headcloth and acco mpanied by the disc and crescent at 12 o'clock and a Greek inscription: "Ousanas King of the Aksumites, Bisi Gisene." There appear to be different styles of workmanship in the preparation of these coins, perhaps because experienced die-cutters who might have been trained in Alexandria were giving way to less efficient lo cal trainees. A variant of this type sho ws the o bverse bust extending to the base of the coin (AR 4, M-H 62 ).

23

Ousana (Ousanas) AR r Earl y fourth century Silver 15 mm British Museum 19 89- 5-18-28, M-H 65

A number of the Ezanas issu es (two silver and one bronze), as well as this exa mpl e in silver of Ousanas, show no religious symbol. O therwise, such an omission occurs on no other Aksumite coin issu es during the entire senes. The issue of Ousanas is of undistinguished design, both obverse and reverse showing only the royal bust wearing the headcloth inside an inner and outer circle. The name O usana, or much more rarely Ousanas, ap pears on th e obverse, and the abbre viation basileu or va ri ants meaning " kin g" on the other. Ho weve r, the interest of the coin li es in its omission of the religious symbols. It see m s va lid , in view of the preeminent position accorded to such symbols in all other cases, to consider that this omission represents so mething of importance to the rulers co ncerned. Since Ezanas, as his coins and inscriptions show, converted to C hristianity, there was eviden tl y a good reason in his case. But what of Ousanas' The well-known story of th e Syrian Greek, Frum entius, who rose from captive

statu s to that of royal secretary and treasurer under Ezanas's father, and then to virtual ruler of the countr y under the regency of the queen-mother, may have had further ramifications. When the regen cy ended and the young kin g succeeded to full power, Frumentius went to Alexandria, w here the patriarch Athanasius consecrated him first bishop of Aksum. Is it possible that even in the time of Ezanas's father moves had been made in the direction of Christianity? The qualities of Frumentius had impressed the king, probably Ousanas Ella Amida, and earned him those positions of high trust and even intimacy to w hich he was promoted. Perhaps royal interest in Christianity had already begun , or even grown to such an extent as to be refl ected in this unusual omission of the disc and crescent sy mbol on the coinage. The primary source for the tale of Frumentius's strange histor y, Rufinus of Aquileia, who claimed to have heard it personally from Frumentius's com panion , Aedesius of Tyre, did not m ention anything that might allow us to believe such a possibilit y. However, he did not actually mention th e conversion of Ezanas either, w hich is kn own to ha ve taken pl ace from lo cal sources, Aksumite coins and inscription s. It is only this one coin issue w hi ch m akes the suggestion a possibility, bur coins are themselves a primary source, and what was depicted 011 them was carefull y selected. If Ousanas did ind eed manifest an interest in Ch ristianit y, the regency must have seen a temporary reversion to the old symbols, sin ce Ezanas issued a whole series of coins bea ring the disc and crescent before making the official change to the cross.

the name and legend written in Greek and with the disc and crescent. The silve r ty pe exhibited here follows closely the preceding silver of Aphilas, Wazeba, and Ousanas, although rarely if ever equaling the ea rlier issues in techni cal acco mplish ment. The disc and crescent sy mbols remain prominent on bo th faces of the coin, and the legend is in Greek. The pagan gold issue of Ezanas, the last of th e pagan gold series, was very similar in design to the go ld issues of Ousanas, who ma y very well have been his father, the king named as Ella Amida on Ezanas's own inscriptions and known in Geez tradition as Ella Allada. Proof of this identity may well res t in the inscription published by th e Deutsche-Aksum Expedition, w hich includes the phrase B'S ... SNM afrer the name Ella Amida. 1 Enno Littmann, the leader of the ex pedition , id entifi ed the king concerned as Ezanas; however, the letters in the king's Bisi- nam e precl ud es this identification , as the Bisi- nam e of Ezanas is well-know n both from coins and inscriptions as Alen (A lene) or H alen. The only possibility among all the known Aksumite Bisi- names is Gisene, the Bisi- nam e of O usanas on hi s coins. Further study of the inscriptio n at Aksum m ay no w be possible, an d sho uld resolve the problem. I.

25

E. Littmann et al. 1913 , vol. 4, no. 8.

Ezanas Christian AV

I

Mid-fourth century Gold 15 mm British Museum 1921-3-16-1, M-H 81-82, 84-8 5

24

Ezanas pre-Christian AR

I

Mid-fourth cen tur y Silver 12 mm British Museum 1968-4-1-3, M-H 72 Before his conversion , Ezanas issued coins in gold, silver, gild ed sil ver, and bronze, all w ith

Some time befo re the Aksumites implemented the change of weight, following th e ex ten sion of the monetary reform of 309 by the em peror Constantine the Great to the Eas tern Roman Empire in 324, Ezanas issued a new gold series w ith overt Christian sym bolism. The traditional date given in the Ethiopian chronicles for the conversion of

107

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia is abo ut 330-33, close en o ug h to the ch ange of the coinage to be credibl e. If a fe w

included in the legend . It is re placed b y a motto , an inclusion which later beca me

se ries, at Meroe in the Sudan ; at seve ral pla ces in Israel, including Jerusalem and Caesarea; in Egypt; and at Baalbek in the Lebanon.

yea rs elapsed before the developm en ts in th e

popular on coins with royal nam es as well.

Roman monetary system were suffi ciently

Since the first of these mottoes is in the form

impl em ented to be adopted by the kings of Ak sum, we have a date for this issue which is very clo se to the date established b y tradition.

of a manifesto announcing the conversion to Christianity, the silve r and bronze coins which carried it ma y well h ave b een issues of

The cross appears in four pla ces on the new issue. Attempts to dismi ss these crosses as

Ezanas him self, o r pe rh aps of an ea rl y successor of his su ch as Eon (ca t . 27) .

"spa ce fillers" can be ignored, since a unique Christian bron ze coin of Ezanas (AE r , M-H

Inside t wo circl es , the obverse of the anonymous sil ver de pi cts the image of the

83) show s a single unmistakable cross above

king wearing the headcloth. A brief legend ,

the kin g's head at

reading BAKH ASA, appears here for the first time. It has not bee n sa tisfa ctorily interpreted , but may be an abbreviated form

12

o ' clock , repla cing the

di sc and cresce nt. A new fea ture (or nearly n ew, sin ce it appears in an incomplete form o n the reverse of the single known gold coin of W azeba) is the inner b ea ded circle dividing th e roya l bu st and the frame of wheat stalks from t he legend. This continues through o ut the remaining series, except for a few issues durin g the fifth and probabl y the early sixth ce ntur y and one gold issue of Joel. Among the gold issues of Ezanas is one o f

of Basileus Khabasin on (King of the Habashat), since this title, th e origin of Abyssinia , the anci ent and attractive but now disused name for Ethiopia, is th e one used in Arabian in scriptions . There the kings are referred to as "Najashi of Aksum and H abashat. " Najashi is the Arabi c rende ring of th e Ethiopic negus (king). It is ce rtainl y a ·possible explanation , but on later gold co in s a full er form of the

1.

2.

27

S. C. Munro-Hay r984 (A): 87. Ibid.: 99.

Eon AV

I

La te fourth century Gold 16111111

British Mu seum 1915- 1-8-78, M-H 88-89 The coin s of the king called Eon Bisi An aap h have often been attributed b y an altern ati ve reading to " Anaafeon," but it see m s clea r th at

th e postreform weight, with th e name

legend reads BAS SIN BAKH ASA; in this

the letters designate the Bisi- title of th e king

written as Ezana, not Ezanas. The style is exactly the same as the Ezanas issue of the

issue, there is never a B in th e last triplet, as

as on the coins of Endubis, Aphilas , W azeba ,

there should be if " Haba sh" were meant ,

Ousanas, and Ezanas.

prereform weight, with the inn er bea d ed circl e. The m ea n gold content of th e pagan,

although it does appear o n so m e of the silver

Eon is known only from his gold coin issu es, many n ew examples of which ca m e from the al-Madhariba hoard. 1 The co in s

prereform, and postreform issues is ex tremely close, m aking it impossible to identi fy th ese co in s as e m anating from separa te kings dating to later centuries, as so me scholars w ho were un w illing to admit the early conve rsion of Ak sum to Christianity have tried to suggest.

coins. The reverse of th e coin is both inno vati ve and impressive. A Greek cross, w ith a

seem from their sty le to be ver y cl ose to

hollowed central cross shape ca refull y fill ed w ith gold and surrounded w ith a beaded

so m e o f the gold issues of Eza na s, certain o lder features such as the four-element tiara

circle, occupies the central fi eld. Around it is a Greek legend reading " May this please the country." The " thi s" of the legend certainly

sur vivin g on so m e dies , along with the use of the Bisi- titl e.

refers to the elaborate central cross, and the coin thereby comprises so m ething of a political m anifesto . At the same time, it seems, an anon y mous bronze coin 1 of ver y similar type was issued. 26

Anonymous Issue AR

It differs only in that th e obverse in scription reads basileus (kin g) and the re ve rse cross is not gilded. Along w ith a secon d , rather later,

2

Mid- to late fourth century Silver I 4 mm British Museum 1989-5-18-59, M-H

86

anonymous bronze issue 2 bearing a gilded dot in the center of th e cross and a tiaraed royal bust with the legend BAKH ASA on the obverse, this is the commonest of all Aksumite issues. So many of these coins have

At so m e point during the mid- to late fourth century a new feature appears, the issue of

been found , hundreds as co mpared to mere dozens of other iss ues, that it see ms likel y they each remain ed standard issues for more than one reign. Exa mpl es of thi s t y pe also

anon ymous coins. The nam e of the king , w hi ch would of course ha ve been well-

traveled , or at least were co pied ; they ha ve been found , most unusually for the Aksumite

known to co ntemporar y Ak sumites , is not

ro8

o r the triangul ar ribbon behind the head

Eon's coins seem to be the first on which th e still-uninterpreted legend BAS SIN BAKH ASA appears , although part of this legend appea red o n the anonymou s sil ver issue (cat . 26). An alysis of the gold con tent of Eon's go ld co ins seem s to confirm his pl ace just after Ezanas. 2 1. 2.

S. C. Munro- Ha y 1989(A): 90- 92. W. A. Oddy and S. C. Munro-Hay 1980.

AKSUMITE CO I NAGE

28

Ouazebas AE

I

Late fo urth to ea rl y fifth centur y (?) Bronze 17 mm British Museum 1969- 6-24-8, M -H 9r

29

MHDYSAEr Late fo urth to earl y fifth century Bronze 15 mm British Mu seum , 1989-5-18-2 49, M-H

th eir coin production. Until recentl y, it was thought that Eon produced on ly gold , using anonymous silver and bron ze issues fo r his other m etals, and that Ouazebas and MHDYS, on the co ntrary, iss ued only bronze co in s, usin g anonymous gold w ith the legend BAS S IN BAKH ASA . H owever, new di scoveries have shown that we still do not ha ve the entire seri es, an d that w hat we do ha ve is very con fu sing to interpret.

94

The bronze issue of Ouazebas, which from the number of surviving examp les known see m s to have been ex tensiv e, introduced a new feature to th e bronzes: a hal o of gold aro und th e king 's head on the reverse, similar to that already seen on the silver of Aphil as and Ousa nas. Unfortunately, because of th e conditions in w hi ch man y of th ese coins have been buried, the prevalence of bronze disease mea ns th at it is quite rare to come across specim ens in good condition , although the adherence of the gold is generall y very good. The obverse of th ese coins shows a bust of the king between two barley stalks, as on th e gol d Aksumite issues, w ith a cross at r 2 o'clock and the legend "Kin g Ouazebas" written in Greek . On the reverse , a small er roya l bust enclosed in a circle is backed b y an overlay of gold. The legend, runnin g around chis circle, begins w ith a cross at r2 o'clock fo llowed b y the Greek ph rase " Ma y this please the co untr y," th e same lege nd as on the anon ymous sil ve r coins and the two anonymous bronze issues noted in entry 26 . Coins of Ouazebas were fo und associated w ith the fallen fragments of the great stele at Aksum, a juxtaposition w hi ch ma y indi cate tha t the stele fell during hi s reig n, possibl y in the late fourth or ea rl y fifth century. 1 1.

S. C.

The nam e of thi s kin g is not known from any so urce other than hi s Geez coin s, w hich in clude no voca lization in th e script. His name might be pronounced so m ethin g like Mehad eyis. T he obve rse of MHDYS coins show him wearin g the headcloth, enclosed by whea t stalks as on the gold issues. Above is a cross, breaking the legend " MHDYS King of Aksum. " Wazeba (cat. 20 ) and MHDYS w ere the on ly kin gs before Kaleb to issue coins w ith Geez legends . On th e reve rse is a new featu re for the bronze issues, a Greek cross with a small punched central hole filled w ith gold. T he cross is surro und ed by a bea ded circle , outside w hich ru ns the Geez legend " By this cross yo u shall co nquer. " This is an almost exact translation of the famo us motto of th e emperor Constantin e the Great, w ho saw in a visio n before the battle of th e Mil vian Bridge a cross with the words In hoc signo vinces (By thi s sign yo u w ill con quer). This is the ea rliest kn own use of the Geez word masqal (the cross) . In so me rare cases th e punctuation marks arc visible o n the legend (illus. below).

A silver type of MHDYS (AR r , noted in M-H 93, but on ly known at that tim e from casts [illus. abo ve]) w hich had been regarded as suspect has now been authenticated, an d a new bronze co in has recentl y been di scovered, 1 ap paren tl y interm ed iate between th e anonym ous BAKH ASA sil ver (cat. 26) and MHDYS. The obverse is exactly the same as the anonymo us sil ver issue, but the reverse is new to the series. A gol d-inl aid cross stands betw een two whea t stalks, surro unded by the retrograd e legend " Ma y chis please the co un try ." This o pportune find helps to confirm th at so m e of the fe atures w hich were thought to be too unu sual for the MHDYS sil ver to be genuin e ca n be attested on an earlier bronze coin , of whose auth enticity there is absolutely no doubt. A furth er recent discovery by Dr. B. Ju el-J ensen is of a sil ver co in with close rese mbl ances on both faces to the MHDYS sil ve r, but w ith the roya l name broken off (illus. below ). The coin seems gen uin e enough , and the fo urelement tiara wo uld presumably pl ace it not later than th e tim e of Eo n.

Munro-Ha y 1989(B ) : 15 1.

Man y exa mples of the MHDYS bronzes have been overstru ck by th e second bro nze anony m ous issue noted in entry 26 , showing th at these anon ymous issues were probabl y direct successors to those of MHDY S. It is impossibl e to be certain about the seq uence of the kings MHDYS , Ouazebas, and Eon Bisi Anaaph, apparentl y close successors of Ezana s, and th ere are very puzzling features abo ut

As an incid ental co mment, these coins, and ind eed all the succeeding ones, preclud e the th eory that th e conversion of Ezanas was not perm anen t in the Ak sumite royal ho use. One need on ly loo k at the coins to see an unbroken series of un equivocally Christian m ottoes and sy mbol s, proving beyo nd doubt

109

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

that the Aksumite kings, once converted, remained Christian. Possibly, indeed probably, the court conversion long preceded that of the entire country. The coins , like the Geez hagiographies, indicate that when Christian missionaries such as the Nine Saints came to Ethiopia to work in the remoter countryside, they were likely to have met with royal sponsorship rather than indifference or persecution.

basileus is always missing. This of course associates the coins with the silver issue which also bears the name Ebana (cat. 3 r). The obverse legend contains the mysterious letters BAS SIN BAKH ASA noted in entry 27 on the coins of Eon, and on some anonymous gold issues as well. 1. See S C. Munro-Hay 1989(A): 93- 94. 2. A. Anzani 1926.

1. B. Juel-Jensen 1991: 39.

31 30

Ebana AV

Ebana AR

I

Fifth century Silver rs mm British Museum 1968-4-r-5, M-H 97

I

Fifth century Gold r7 mm British Museum 1904- 4- 4-r, M-H 95-96 The gold coins of Ebana were minted in a large number of types with minor variations of style or different letters or symbols, perhaps mint marks, placed above the king's head. Ebana was probably an immediate successor of Eon, or perhaps even rule d conjointly with him. As his gold coins are by far the most common of all Aksumite gold, and were produced from many different dies, it may be assumed that he reign ed for a considerable time. The discovery of the alMadhariba hoard, which alone contained 538 examples of Ebana gold, has allowed some interesting die-link comparisons to be made. 1 In the works of Arturo Anzani , the father of Aksumite numismatics, and a number of other scholars, 2 the royal name was read Esbael or Esbana, owing to uncertainty about the interpretation of the Greek letters. By the time of Ebana, the clearer writing of the earlier coins had changed to a more cursory style, in which the letters S, B, and E were often written the same, as were the A and the L. However, it seems that the four sets of three Greek letters which make up the reverse legend were intended to be read as Ebana Basileus (King Ebana) , although the i of I IO

One of Ethiopia's notable contributions to artistic form is the development of a number of elaborate themes based on the cross. On the coins, as well as on painted, applique, or stamped pottery, some early versions of the multiform cross can be seen. An elegant version occurs on the silver issue of Ebana, dated from his position in the coin sequence to the fifth century. One silver coin of his was found at the site of the ancient capital of the kingdom of the Hadhramawt, in the Yemen , the only recorded find of an Aksumite silver coin outside Ethiopia itself. Ebana's silver issue, often overstruck on the anonymous silver type noted in entry 26, was formerly thought to be the first of the Aksumite silver showing the tiara which Aphilas had first displayed on the gold. With confirmation that a previously suspect silver coin of MHDYS is in fact genuine, the introduction of the tiara on silver coins can be attributed to him (cat. 29). The crowned bust of the king and the legend EBANA appear within an inner beaded circle. The reverse of the coin employs the style of cross called the cross-crosslet. The central lozeng e-shaped area is inlaid with gold, and each of the four equal branches ends with a cross. In a way, it is the logical development of the four crosses in the legend of the gold coins of Ezanas and his successors, combined

with the large central cross of the anonymous silver and bronze issues. The small crosses break the legend, which reads basileus (king), written in pairs of letters. Oddly enough, in view of the spelling mistake on the gold type above, the order on all the dies is wrong. It is usually BS AS IL EU, and one reads BS IL SU SE. None has yet been found reading correctly BA SI LE US. Dr. Bent Juel-Jensen, a specialist in Ethiopian manuscripts as well as Aksumite numismatics, has pointed out that one of the coins issued in England during the late eighth century by the king Offa of Mercia has a reverse which bears a very close resemblance to the reverse of the silver issue of Ebana of Aksum. 1 So close are the two designs that despite the considerable separation in space and time, it is hard to attribute their similarity to pure chance. However, an equally close type is that of the late sixth- or early seventh-century Aksumite king Hataz, whose own design doubtless derived from that of his predecessor Ebana. 1. B. Juel-Jensen 1989.

32

Nezana AR

I

Fifth century Silver 17 mm British Museum 1969-6-24- 15, M-H I I I

The coin shown here, a silver piece of Nezana, adds to the problem of NezanaNezool noted in the following entry. The king is depicted wearing the headcloth and surrounded by the legend Nezana Ba[sileus 1 }. But above his head, in the place usually reserved for the cross at this period and thus in a position of some significance on the flan, is a Geez monogram , in which the letters NZWL can be discerned. These should almost certainly be read, after the name known from the gold type shown below, as Nezool. Whether the ensemble is supposed to

AKSUMITE COINAGE

read King N ezana-Nezool, or King Nezana an d King N ezool, is not kn own. The reverse shows a cross pattee , with a g ilded central boss. The legend, broken by the cross into four parts, is in the form of the motto THEOU KHARI. This is probably an abb reviation of the phrase Th eou Eukharistia (By the grace of God), also used by later kings.

used on all gold issues since Ezanas, and on all subsequent coins excep t for one o f Joel 's two go ld issu es (cat. 42). r. S. C. Munro-Hay r9 89(A): 96- 98.

Ousas/Ousana (Ousanas) AV 33

Nezool AV

I

Fifth century Gold 18 mm British Museum 1969-6-24-1 6, M-H I 13-1 4 The study of the coins of N ezool and the closely associated Nezana (AV 1, 2, 3, AR 1, -H ro8-11) has greatly benefited from the di scovery of the al-Madhariba hoard. 1 Previously all three of the known ty pes of eza na's go ld were represented by unique exa mples . A closely associated anonymous ty pe was known from two exa mples, w hile one of Nezo ol's two types was also unique. ow that a further seventeen co ins of ezana, includ in g a new fourth ty pe, ha ve been discovered along with eight coins of a related anonymous type and forty -three coins of Nezool in th e hoard of Ak sumite and late Roman gold coins at al-M adharib a, considerable progress has been made. It seems that the anonymous pieces are merely a subtype die-linked with both ezana and N ezool, who are also link ed. The sa me dies see m to degenerate between the anony mous issue and Nezana , on the one hand, and the iss ues of N ezool on the other. If these in fact represent tw o kings , not one ru ler w ith alternative names, N ezool would seem to be th e later. The coins of Nezana and N ezool, together w ith certain issues of Ousas/Ousana (Ousanas) (cat. 34- 3 5), all to be dated in th e late fifth and ea rly sixth centuries, temporarily abandoned the inner beaded circle. This was

Ia, 2

Late fifth to ea rl y six th century Go ld 17.5 mm British Museum 1969- 6- 24- 12 Ousana, 1989-5-18-336 Ousas, M-H roo- ro7 The names Ousas, Ousana, and Ousanas appear on a series of gold pieces, so me w ith and some without the inn er beaded circle which first appeared on both sides of the Ezanas Christian issues (cat. 25). Until the discovery of th e al-Madhariba hoa rd , 1 it was very difficult to say whether these co ins belonged to one, two, or even to three kings. B y this time the coins were stru ck on thin fl ans, with a gold content of abo ut 71 to 74 percent. The quality of th e die-cutting had fa llen considerably, and many of the Greek letters had degenerated: A and L are often the sa m e, as are B, S, and E. The gene ral pattern of obverse tiara ed head, wheat stalks, and cross at 12 o'cloc k is retain ed, w ith the headcloth style on the reverse. Some types have what seem to be mint marks above the obverse head. The reverse legend is a C hristian motto: Theo11 Eukharistia (By the grace of God) . Thi rty- six pieces were kno wn altogether w hen the present author produced his catalogu e Th e Coinage of Akrnrn in 1984, but the thirt y-fi ve new pieces from al-Madhariba ha ve now allowed cross- compari so ns and dielinkages w hich seem to establish firmly enough that all the different typ es are ve ry closely connected . The two Ousas types with an inner circl e were found to be link ed with

each other, and one type was linked with the rare gold issue of Ousanas, w hil e th e Ousas type w itho ut an inner circle was link ed w ith O usana. In this web o f connections, there are two possibilities: either Ousas is an abbreviation of O usana (Ousanas), or, just possibl y, there were two contemporary rulers called Ousas and Ousana (Ousanas). The parallel situation of the preceding rulers Nezana and Nezoo l can be cited, but in that instance there is not the close resemb lance of names which could indicate abbreviation . Aksumite onomasti cs is sca rcel y a well-developed stud y, but from the number of other nam es ending in -ana or -anas, it does seem more likely that Ousana (Ousanas) is the royal name. It m ay be the sa me as the Geez Wazena , known from a later bronze issue (cat. 39). Previously none of these nam es was represented in silver, but now a silver type with the nam e Ousanas is kn own. The present author has suggested that thi s was a forerunner of the Nezana sil ve r issue,2 but a stud y of the al-Madharib a hoard indica tes that in fa ct the influ ence was in th e other direction . C lose sim ilarities between coins of th e Ousas/ Ousana (O usanas) series and those of Kal eb make it ve ry likely that this series directly preceded Kaleb. If so , Ousana (O usanas) ma y we ll be Kaleb' s father, Tazena (Thezena , Thiezena) , known from the coins and the one surviving inscription of Kaleb as well as from Geez king lists. r. S. C. Munro-Hay 1989(A): 98- 99. S. C. Munro-Hay 1984( A): 104.

2.

Kaleb AV 1d, 3d First half of sixth centur y Go ld 17 mm British Museum 1929- 11- 7- 8, 19ro12-7- 1, M-H 11 7,122 The long list of royal names from Aksumite coins is keyed into hi story in only two places. I II

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

The first certain identification w ith a known hi storical rul er is chat of Ezanas Beesya Halen, son of Ella Amida (cats. 24 and 25) . He is known not only from inscriptions, but also from a letter sent around 356 by the Roman empero r Cons tantius II to Ai zanas and Sazanas of Ak sum , cited in the writi ngs of the patriarch Ach anas ius of Alexandria. The seco nd is Kaleb Ella Atsbeha Beesya Lazen, son of Tazcna. Whereas Ezanas was apparently fo rgotten by Geez tradition, Kaleb was not destin ed to such ob li vion . Ezana s was subsumed into the legendary brother kings w ho led Ethiop ia to conversion, Ella Abreha and Atsbcha, alth ough these names might conceal his stillunknown Ella- name. Kaleb, whose name is preserved correctly by Geez and Syriac writin gs, was also known throughout the C hri stian O rient under distorted forms of his Ella- name (Helles th aeus, Elesbaan et al. ) as the hero of Aksum 's greatest fore ign adventure, the co nquest of th e Yemen from th e Jewish king of Him ya r, Yusuf Asar Yathar, arou nd s19/20. While it was fa irl y obvi ous chat the tales subsumed under these nam es belo nged to the same period, the concl usive proof that Kal eb and Hellesthaeus cc al. were ident ical had to await the pub li cation of an inscription wh ich gave the king 's full citulary. Kaleb minted a large r number of go ld issues than any o ther kin g of Aksum , although most are merely subtypes with variations deriving from die-cutters' individual tastes o r erro rs. It may be that the need to pay for the Himyarite war was one ca use of chis increased minting of gold. The gold co ntent averages 71 percent. What may be the ea rlies t ty pe (AV 2, M-H II8) closely resembles coins of O usas/Ousana (O usa nas), w ith th e motto Theou E11 kharisria (By the grace of God). le employs, in common w ith another ty pe (AV r , M-H r 16) , the monogram KLB at 12 o'clock on th e obverse, reminiscent of the use of m onogram s on Wazeba's go ld and Nezana's sil ver. T he ocher type, in num ero us va ri ants w ith out th e monogram , includin g the one shown here, emp loys the reve rse legend U I OS T H EZENA (Son ofTazena), a filiacion confir m ed by Kaleb's inscription. The Geez hagiographies and ki ng lists also preserve the name Tazena as that of Kaleb's fa th er. The coinage, however , docs not. We II2

can only presume ch at ifTazena really was a king, he is represented in the series under another name. The most probable is Ousas/ Ousana (O usa nas) (cat. 34-3 5). Just possibly, this in sisten ce on the filiation co nceals a palace revo luti o n, and a need to asse rt legitimacy, but Ezanas also used hi s filiation in inscriptions, although never on coins.

39

W azena AE

I

Sixth centur y Bronze 16.5 111111 British Museum 1989- 5-18-409, M - H 140-1

Kaleb AR

I

First half of sixth century Sil ver 14mm British Museum 1969- 6-24-9, M-H 125 The sil ver issue of Kaleb exhibits no complex crosses or other imagery, merely the two types of royal bust with the tiara and the headcloth. It does, howeve r, include the royal monogram, as on some of the go ld issu es noted in entr y 36-37, and a motto in Geez, "May this please the city," w hi ch m ay be a translation into the local language of the Greek m otto "May chis please th e country" used on the ea rlier ano nymous bronzes. This is perhaps rendered more probable by the fact that Kaleb's very rare bronze pieces bear this Greek motto. These bronzes are exactly the same as th e second of the two anonymous bronze series noted in entry 26, excep t for the rep lacem ent of the word BAKHASA with th e name Kaleb in G reek. After Kaleb, Aksumite power apparentl y began to declin e. His famo us expedition resulting in the conquest of the Yemen and th e installation of a viceroy, Sumu yafa Ashwa, was seemingly the zen ith of Ak sumite hegemony. T he military co up which installed Abreha in the Yem en against Kaleb's wishes around 525 perhaps signaled the beg inning of the end. Kaleb ma y have had a co-ruler, sin ce an inscription of Su mu yafa uses the plural , referring to him self as viceroy for " the najashis of H abashat," and a go ld co in of Kaleb is die-linked w ith one of Alla midas. H owever, it seems that none of his successors could ven ture co co nqu er overseas.

A suggestion chat the Allamidas (Ella Amida) whose coins are die-linked with Kaleb's presu m ed last go ld issue is identical with th e Wazena who issued coins in sil ver and bronze may help to put some order into the very complicated chronology of the later Aksum ite kings.' None of chem are otherw ise known to hi story. The coina ge is the on ly indication we have of their existence, until archeo log y can piece together more of the Aksumite legacy . Wazena issued a great man y bronze co in s, w ith a numb er of small variations in legend and with different mint marks w hi ch arc closely allied to those of Joel (cat . 43). On the obverse, the king appears wearin g the headcloth and holdin g a stalk of w heat or barley sometim es top ped w ith a cross. Whe th er this is an item of regalia, so me sore of scepter, or is supposed to represent a rea l gra in stalk , is not known. Around the rim of the co in runs a Geez legend, broken by the grain sta lk. It has been interpreted to read "He w ho is fitting for the peo ple," but like the Geez legend on Kaleb's sil ver issue (cat. 38), it could be a translation into Geez of th e familiar Greek phrase " M ay this please the coun cry" used on so m an y earlier issues, the last time by Kaleb on his very rare bronzes. If Ella Am ida, w hose coins are die-linked to chose of Kaleb, was rea ll y his co-regent, a system w hi ch mi gh t have been adopted since Kaleb was away from Aksum durin g the Himyar war, such a parallel would be logica l. Conceivab ly, too, this co- regency mi ght exp lain the pattern of the m etal s: Kaleb's ab und ant go ld contrasting to the rare Allamidas pieces, and Kaleb 's rare bron zes contrastin g with the co mmon Wazena type. On the other hand , of co urse, Kaleb may have all owed the second of th e very co mm on

AKSUMITE COINAGE

anonymous types to continue to serve him instead of issuing much bronze. The reverse ofWazena's bronzes depicts a cross, including motifs from those on the silv er coins of Ebana and Nezana (cats. 3 r and 32) . From a central voided and gold-inlaid area , the four main arms of the cross emerge to terminate at the edge of th e coin in further sma ll crosses. This main cross-crosslet also has smaller hammer-headed intermediar y arm s. T he legend , broken b y the cross-crosslet into fo ur pairs of letters, reads ZWZN ZNCS, w hi ch m ay m ea n either " OfWazena, o fch e King" or "O f the King , Za-Wazen."

suggestion s from the ava ilabl e numismatic and in scriptional m aterial. 1 The royal nam e, o r rather epith et, means so m ething lik e "He of th e Cabaz," a word used for a sacred stru cture, perhap s even referring to th e Cabaza Aks11m, a title of the cathedral of Mar y of Zion in Ak sum. In his so le surviving inscripti on , Kaleb refers to his conquests and then says, " I built his Cabaz," alluding perh aps to a church in Him ya r, or po ssibl y to restoration wo rk at the cathedral of Aksum on his return from Arab ia. The coins of Ella Gabaz have hi s name written in Greek letters, w ith the additional

"Kin g of Aksum. " A seco nd ty pe ca rri es a

One uncertain element is th e shape of th e fi ll et-tie on the Wazena bronzes. It is always represented as an oval, in sharp contrast to th e " cail"-like style of later kings such as Joel, Hataz, Gersem, and Armah. Jc remains possibl e that Wazena's coins belong elsew here in the series, perhaps even suppl yin g th e still-

two letters NC, which seem to be an abbreviation of the word negus (king). If this interpretation is co rrect, it is the only occasion when Greek lette rs are used to spell the w ord on th e Aksumite co ina ge . All ocher later Aksumice coins w rite the word "king " in Greek, although in cor rec tl y an d in abbrev iated form. Otherwise, the co ins of Ella Gabaz resemble th e res t of the later go ld of Joel, Israel , " Jathlia" (H ataz) , and Gerse m.

There are several varieties of chis, but all are inlaid with gold. The head of the king is flank ed b y the pendilia -lik e appenda ges also found o n co in s of Jo el and other late Ak sumite kings. Th e reverse is quite new in the Ak sumite

missi n g bronze of Ousas/Ousana (O usanas); but there are problems with chis placing too,2 and the position after Kaleb seems most like ly. The similarit y between the reverse of a coi n o f Offa of Mercia and types o f Ebana and H ataz has been noted in entry 31 . There is also a type of Offa 's silver which uses, o n the obverse, a cross-crosslet design precisely para llelin g th at used b y Wazena. 1.

2.

1.

S. C. Munro-Hay 1984(B) .

desc ribed in entry 39 . Alth oug h there are differences in style between the first two and the last, the co in s are closel y allied in general appearance. On the obverse is a facing bust of the king wearin g a low, so m etimes arcaded, crown.

numismatic reperto ire, and foreshadows a design later used frequently in manuscrip t paintings. A centra l cross, vo ided and inlaid w ith go ld, is encl osed by an arch. T he supp o rtin g co lumns of the arch are double , w ith bases and capitals, while the arch itse lf is shown as a seri es of blocks. On exceptional! y well cut dies, these blocks are shaped rather like skittl es, n arrow ing toward the top an d term in ating w ith a bulbous end (illus. below). This is a fea ture of arches depi cted in Ethiopian m an uscript paintings.

S. C. Munro- Hay 1984(B): 11 7- 18. See S. C. Munro-Ha y 1984(B) for a full discussion.

41

Za-ya Abiyo la- Madkhen Negus AR 2 Sixth cent ury Silver 16. 5

111111

British Mu se um , 1969-6- 2-21, M - H 142-44

40

mono gram consisting of the three letters ACD; just possibly, the y might stand fo r Ella Gabaz, a k ing known from a gold issue (ca t. 40) . The wo rd s " King of Aksum" also appea r on this issue . T h e third type has the obverse legend N egus Wazeua, which see m s to ally this sil ver issue with the bronze ofWazena

Ella Gabaz AV

I

Sixth century Gold IS mm British Museum 1929- 1 I-'7-IO, M-H 131

T he coins of Ella Gabaz em ploy the Ellaname of a king w hose other nam es remain unknown , although it is possible to make

This designation is not a roya l name, but a religious motto apparently meaning " The King who exalts the Savior." There is still considerable confusion abo ut the three silver types which bea r this m o tto , but th e present author ha s mad e an attempt to attribute th em. 1 The first type is d esign ated " anon ymous," since it bears no furth er hint as to the name of its issuer , the obverse legen d simply reading

Around the outside edge of th e coin appea rs the legend. On rare occasions some voca li zation appea rs on th e letters, w hi ch is ve ry unu sual in the Aksumice series. Such voca li zatio n is always partial , neve r co mpl ete. The in terpreta tion of the reve rse design is difficult , b ut th e mention of the Savior in the legend wo uld seem to suggest that a scene in Jerusal em , a frequent place of pilgrimage for Ethi o pian s, is not unlikely. The Church of the H o ly Sepulcher would be one possibility . On sil ver pieces of Armah (cat. 50), th e three crosses naturally suggest Calvary , an d this design m ight represent an amalgamation o f both places. As Jerusalem fell to the Persians in 614, it mi ght be possible that the event an d 113

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

its aftermath have some connection with these Aksumite issues.

of Israel in Berlin , and two of "lathlia" in Addis Ababa, all of which have a very silvery aspect , lead one to conclude that some coins might be even more debased than these readings suggest. It is difficult to believe that such debased gold coins were issued for anything other than prestige, since they cannot have been acceptable as gold pieces.

r. S. C. Munro-Hay 1984(B).

42

Ioel AV

I

Mid- to late sixth century (?) Gold 17 mm British Museum 1921- 3- 16- 2, M-H 133

43

Joel issued a substantial coinage: two types of gold, two of silver, and four of bronze, two of which may simply be the silver struck on bronze flans. His issues show some imagination in the design , with certain features which might indicate Byzantine inspiration. The gold of Joel , except for the omission of the beaded inner circle on the second type, may be taken as a specimen for later Aksumite gold coinage. The gold coins of the king Israel are in fact by far the most common, since the Italian archeologist Paribeni found a pot at the Aksumite port of Adulis containing thirty-two pieces. These were later stolen from the Museo Africano in Rome , and have reappeared in many auctions. The chief characteristics remain the same as with the earlier gold, but the royal busts inside the inner beaded circles on bo th obverse and reverse are very sketchy , and the wheat stalks are drawn in a cursory manner. On the obverse, a cross at 12 o'clock begins the legend, an abbreviated form of " King of the Aksumites": BASIL! AKSOMI. The reverse bears the name of the king, divided into four sections by four crosses. In the case of Joel, these four sections are composed of a single letter each. Generally similar issues are known for Ella Gabaz, Israel, "lathlia" or Hataz (see under cat. 46) , and Gersem. Measured gold content for these coins ranges between 56 and 71 percent, but optical inspection of a gold coin 114

Ioel AR

I

curtailed by Persian expansion. The metropolitan bishops and their entourages, traditionally Alexandrian appointees, also seem to have continued to travel south; the coins with their Christian symbolism and mottoes indicate that the Church remained intact.

Joel also issued another silver type (AR 2, M-H 135) which was similar to one of Gersem's silver types (cat. 48). An example is illustrated here (above) to show the vocalization in the word negus on the reverse.

Mid- to late sixth century (?) Silver 12.5 mm British Museum 1968-4-1-6, M-H 134 The silver type of Joel shown here is unusual in that it is the only bilingual coin in the Aksumite series, since the Wazeba/Ousanas type (cat. 20) was produced by combining dies of other types already in use. The obverse design depicts the king frontally, wearing a sort of cap with a cross on it above the forehead. This may be a frontal view of the headcloth. There are two small pendants at each side, possibly depicting ears or perhaps pendilia in the Byzantine fashion. Certain small symbols, perhaps mint marks, appear at different places on the obverse: crescent, cross, circle, or three dots. The legend, in Geez, reads "King lyoei. " The reverse of this silver type of Joel displays a small cross in a circle, with a goldinlaid center. Around this are the Greek letters ARESEKHU, possibly standing for arese Khristou (By the grace of Christ). A resemblance of style has been noted with coins issued by the Byzantine emperor Maurice around 582- 92, which might help to set an approximate date for Joel's reign. After Kaleb, Aksum may have been in decline, another severe blow coming in the 570s when the Persians seized the Yemen from Abreha's dynasty, which at least paid tribute to Aksum, and expanded to the Red Sea. However, Aksum remained part of the international world. Trade doubtless continued along the old routes, even if it was

44

Ioel AE 3 Mid- to late sixth century (?) Bronze 14mm British Museum 1989-5- 18- 399, M-H 138

This bronze issue of Joel shows another frontal view of the king, this time wearing a low crown decorated with a central cross, and the same pendilia flanking the head as on the silver type noted in the previous entry. Small symbols resembling those on the silver, perhaps batching marks, occur at different places in the field. The legend reads Negus Iyoel (King Joel). The reverse is unusual for Aksumite pieces, being based not on the customary Greek style of equal-armed cross, but on the Latin cross, with a longer stem. This stands in the center of the field, surrounded by the motto " Christ is with us."

AKSUMITE COINAGE

45

Ioel AE r Mid- to late sixth century (?) Bronze 14.5 mm British Mu seum 1989- 5-18-363, M-H 136

Another of loel's bronze issues depicts a profile bust of the king wearing a crown , w ith the legend negus (king) , on the obverse. The reverse bea rs a Greek cross, so m etimes w ith a central boss, with the four letters making up th e nam e of the king interspersed between the arms of the cross.

aban don ed the issu in g of gold was likely to come after those who still minted it. Armah, on the other hand , still has no gold attributed to him, although hi s bronze and sil ver are relatively common. 2 If the identifi ca tion of the Iathli a gold type as an issue of Hataz is accepted, H ataz issued one go ld , two sil ver, and three bron ze types, two of the bronze differing in no way from the silver except for the m etal. The other bronze typ e is described in the following entry. The silver type of H ataz show n here displa ys a frontal crowned bust of the king on the obverse, with the name King H ataz. The king holds a han d-cross in front of his chest. On the reverse is a large cross-crosslet very similar to that of Ebana's silver (cat. 31), w ith a central lozenge forming a fram e for a smaller Greek style cross inside. The legend , interspersed between the cross-crosslet arms just as for Ebana , reads "Mercy to th e people," as does the legend on the extremely rare bronze coins of the king Israel (AE I, M H 150).

coin since the tiny gold issu e of Aphilas at the beginning of the series (ca t. 17). The center of the coin is occupied by a frontal bust of Hataz, his robes depicted by hori zontal lines across the chest an d curving vertica l lines on the should ers. T he king wears a cap-like crown, surm ounted by a cross at the top of the coin. T he crown ha s a band across the forehead containin g three arches, each enclosing a dot. Two pen dilia emerge from the edges of thi s band , a fact which makes it more likely that these appendages are pendants rather than ears, since the latter would emerge below the crown rather than from it. The roya l bust is flank ed by two wheat stalks, and from their stems arise two staves supporting crosses beside the king's shoulders. The reverse depicts a Greek cross wi thin an octagonal frame, surrounded b y the legend " H ataz, King of Aksum." l.

A. An zani r926.

, . A. Anzani 1926. For a general discussion of the position of the later Aksumite kings in the sequence, see S. C. Munro-Ha y 1984(B).

2.

46

Hataz AR

I

Gersem AR

Late sixth century (') Silver 17mm British Museum 1989-5-18-500, M-H 15 7 Since the ea rlier work of Arturo Anzani on Aksumite coins, 1 it has been customary to place the issues of Hataz (sometimes divided between two king s, Hataz I and II) at the ve ry end of the Ak sumite series. However, after careful consideration of styli stic and o ther evidence, it see ms more lik ely that either Gersem , w ho was also expanded by Anza ni into Gersem I and II , or Arm ah reall y belongs in this position. The suggested identification of the gold bea ring the o therwise unkn own name "Iathlia" as the missing gold of H ataz, sin ce the Ethiopian name H ataz may ha ve been rendered as " lathaza" or something similar in Greek, has re moved one of th e main po ints for assigning Hataz a very late date. It was supposed, plausibl y eno ugh , that the king w ho had

I

Lare sixth to ea rly seven th century (?) Silver 17 mm British Museum 1989-5-18-492, M-H 154

47

Hataz AE r Late sixth century (') Bronze 17.5 mm British Museum 1989-5-18-502, M-H 160

This bronze issue of Hataz has a remarkabl y elegant design, although very few perfect specimens survive, and it was this w hich made An zani speculate that there had been two kings called H ataz. 1 The Hataz who coined this iss ue would, acco rdin g to his typology, have been the ea rlier of the two , Hataz I. The obverse is anepigra phic, the first such

Although Armah is often placed before Gerse m in chronological tables, there is no real certainty abou t th eir relative positions in the sequence of coin-issuing Aksumite kings. The later Aksumite kings loel, Hataz, and Gerse m all share an iconographically simple type of silver , repea ted in Hataz's and Gersem 's case in bronze. There is no motto, an d no features other than th e royal busts or perhaps a sm all sy mbol w hich mig ht be a mint mark. The sil ve r issue of Gersem, on a thin flan of very debased meta l, shows litcle ski ll in the prepa rati on of th e dies. On the obverse is a more or less rudimentary half-l ength bust of the king wearing a crown consisting of four 115

AFRICAN ZION: TH E SAC RED ART OF ETH IOPIA

sp ikes topped w ith dots, w ith three inter m edi ate dots representing jewels or so m e other decoration. The pleats of the robe are shown by wave-like cur ve d lines. The king's arm is shown, an d he ho ld s a hand-cross in front of his chest. Th e letters GR SM appear in two groups on eith er side of the bust, indi cating the name Gersem . T he reverse is almost exactl y th e same, excep t that the king wears the h eadcloth, depicted in an extre m ely vestig ial fashio n. As in the case of most of the rulers after Kaleb, the ribbon or knot at the rear of the crown and the headcloth are shown as a simpl e streamer, instead of the closed oval of ear lier times . The ova l h ad itself succeed ed a triangular form used until about the time of Eon Bisi Anaaph. The legend reads NG S (king), and occasionally some of th e letters may be vocalized . In the fiel d on both faces there ma y be a sma ll disc and crescent, or a dot o r circle.

49

Gcrsem AE

I

Late sixth to early seventh century (') Bronze 16111111

British Museum 1989-5- 18- 496, M - H 155

The most co mm on bronze of Gersem seems to b e deri ved directly from a type med by Hataz for o ne of his sil ver and one of his bronze issues . Like the coins of H ataz, it also resembles Byzantine types . On the obverse is a fac in g bust of the kin g, wearin g a crown consistin g of fi ve sp ikes with dots in th e fo ur intermediate spaces . Pendilia hang beside the face. Th e kin g some tim es wears a necklace, and sometimes an arm is visib le. There may be armlets on his u pper right arm, which is folded in front of hi s chest, the han d occasionally h old in g a cross on his left side. Another cross appea rs on the right to balance it. On so m e dies, the folds of th e robes, and th e general shape of th e body w ith the two flanking crosses, are very reminiscent of the bronze type of H ata z (cat. 47). The legend reads Negus Gersem . T he reverse see ms to be derived directly from th e ve ry rare bronze issue of th e king Israe l, 1 and is not unlike so m e of Hata z's pi eces (cat. 46). There is a centra l G reek cross, 116

con tain ed in a di amond- shaped frame composed of dots, with larger dots at three of the points of the diamond, th e fourth meeting the cross represented by the letter t of the word Krestos (C hrist) in the Geez legend "He conquers through Christ ." 1. S. C. Munro-Hay 1984(A ): 150.

50

Armah AR I Late sixth to early seventh century Sil ver 16111 111

British Mmcum 1989-5 - 18- 430, M-H 146 A rath er si mil ar design to the co in s of Za-ya Abiyo la-Madk hen Negus (cat. 41) occurs on the sil ver issue of A rm ah. On the obverse, the king is depicted wearin g a crown an d holdin g a hand-cross, a pose ~ hi ch appears frequently on the later sil ver, and on th e second anony m ous bronze type. There is a w heat sta lk terminating w ith a cross behind the king, resembling the "scepter " held b y Wazena on his bronzes (ca t . 39) . T he Geez legend reads Neg1-1s Arniah. On the reve rse, an other architectural scene is depicted. Two double co lumn s suppo rt an arch , itself crown ed w ith a Greek cross vo ided and inlaid with gold. From th e ca pitals of the columns two add iti onal crosses on sho rt staves em erge to flank the central cross. Under the arch is a curious key- shaped object, also voided and inlaid w ith gold. The legend "Mercy and peace" surrounds the design. Suggestions as to the interpreta tion of the design are given in entry 41 .

SI

Armah AE Ia Late sixth to ear ly seventh century (') Bronze 19.5 mm British Museum 1989-5-18- 448, M - H 147-48

A very co mmon bronze co in , the largest ever produced in Ak sum, was issued by Armah, w h ose silver has been described in the preced in g entry. T he fl an ranges from 17111111 to 22111111 in diameter. The obverse shows a uniqu e rep resentation of the king, full-length and seated on a hi g hbacked throne. The king is depicted wearin g a crown and an ank le-length robe. In his hand he holds a long staff topped with a cross. The Geez legen d reads "Kin g Arm ah. " A number of symbo ls , conjectured to be mint contro l marks or batch marks , occupy various spots in the field , as already seen on coins of Wazena, Joel , and others. Letters an d marks of thi s kind appear erratically in the Aksumite series, some earli er gold issues of Ezanas, Ebana, and Ousana also bearing similar marks above the kin g's head on the obverse . On the reverse is a cross, flanked by two barley sta lk s. T h e cross, like those on the co ins of Za- ya Abiyo la- Madkhen (cat. 41), is voided in the center and inl aid with go ld. It stands on a sho rt stave w hi ch emerges from a ring, from w hich the whea t stalk s also sprin g. The legend appears in two version s; on a few rare exa mples it reads "Joy and peace to the people," but the most common type is "Let there be joy to the people." The reve rse design seem s to reca ll the one alrea dy use d more than two centuri es earli er by MHDYS on hi s si lver issue, and on th e newly discovered anonymous bronze co in noted in entry 29. It may be fanciful to speculate from su ch sli g h t evidence, but there seems to be a differe nt tone to the mottoes in this latest period of coinage. The royal and reli gio us mottoes of th e earlier series now seem to have given way to pleas for m ercy, joy, and peace for the peoples of the kingdom . Possibly the powerful empire built up b y the lon g lin e of kin gs from Gadarat and Adhebah in the ea rl y third cen tur y, aug m ented and maintain ed by Ezanas and Kal eb, was collapsing under outside pressures . The P ersian conqu ests in Egypt, Sy ria , and Palestin e, as well as the Yemen, must have damaged Aksumite trade . Mu slim tradition s state that th e Najashi w ho was reigning aro und 615, w hom they name "Asha m a ibn Abjar" and who ma y h ave been Arm ah himself, suffered from wa rs and rebelli ons . Th e evid ence is tenuous, but it see m s that b y this time the grea t da ys of Ak sum were over, and that the cap ital was soon to be mo ved elsewh ere .

THE HERITAGE OF LATE ANTIQUITY Marilyn E. Heldman

AFTER AKSUM 's LONG HEGEMONY during the period of late antiquit y, ending in the seven th centur y, it seems that th e Ethiopian power centers were consistently shifted ever furth er southward. Ethiopian rulers in the post- Aksumite period still controlled a powerful realm , but the political center was no longer at Aksum . The direct successor of Aksum m ay ha ve been Kuba r, a capita l m entioned by Arab geographers in the ninth and tenth centuries. Its loca tion still remains unidentified today . In the latter half of the tenth century, the Ethiopian kingdom w as apparentl y very nearl y destroyed by the Queen of the Bani al- H amwiyya , but it reco vered to last some 170 yea rs m ore until the advent of the Zagwe d ynasty. T he Zagwe capital was at Roha or Lalibala in Lasta. T he dynas ty lasted from about l 137 until 1270, w hen a new lin e of kings, generally referred to as the Solomonic dynasty, seized power. These kin gs ruled from centers in the pro vinces of Amhara and Shoa . The history of the arts in Ethiopia during this time can be con venientl y di vided into an earl y and a late Solomonic period , the former beginning in 1270 w ith the reign ofYekunno Amlak and con tinuing until the reign ofLebna Dengel (r 508- 40), wi th the yea r 1527 as a watershed. In this yea r Muslim invasions led b y Ahmad Gran of Ada] caused tremendous destruction, and architecture, m an uscripts, an d paintings in vast numbers perished. With the ad vent of the late Solomonic peri od , beginning w ith the emperor Galawdewos (15 40-59), some artistic and cultural ac ti vity would ha ve been able to resume. This period is gen erally held to have ended with the murder of the emperor Iyoas in 1769. The event ushered in the era called Masasint Qudges) , characterized by a weak thron e under the control of powerful region al lords. This state of affairs on ly ceased after r 8 5 5 with the reorganization of the Ethiopian monarchy under Tewodros (1855-68). As the ca pita! of the state that flouri shed in the Ethiopian highland s between th e first and the seventh centuries A.D . , Aksum had retained its hegemon y over the Ethiopian highlan ds and part o f the coastal strip during the period of late antiquit y. Artistic tradi tions from this period re mained viable through later centuries . T he economic and political stature of Aksum was depen den t upon its role in the international trade that mo ved through the Red Sea, to w hich the port of Adulis gave it access. Although neve r part of the Roman Empire, the Aksumite state was the southern o utpost of the Hellenized eastern Mediterranean world. Stuart Munro-Hay has dem onstrated that in bo th its weight and its iconograph y the coinage of Aksum was linked to th e coinage of the Roman Empire, and it therefore stands as a witness to the participation of Aksum in the sophisticated economy of the eastern M editerranean. When the trade routes of the Red Sea shifted durin g the seventh century, the foundation of the Aksumite economy was shattered. The state ceased to mint coins , and Aksum itself was abandoned as the capital of the highland empire. T he decision of the Aksumite kin g Ezana to convert to Christianity in the earl y fourth centur y, a date traditionally believed to be 333, was an event of extrao rdinary significance. It ma rked the offi cial beginning of integration into the wider Christian world. In later centuries, 117

AFRICAN ZION: THE SACRED ART OF ETHIOPIA

even when the economy of the Aksumite empire had contracted, Ethiopians continued to belong and continued to think of themselves as belonging to this wider Christian world. On the coins ofEzana and his successors, the Christian symbol of the cross replaced the pagan disc and crescent. Before his conversion, Ezana had styled himself in monumental inscriptions proclaiming victory over his enemies as "the son of Mahrem," identified in Aksumite Greek inscriptions with Ares, the Greek god of war. After his conversion, however, Ezana styled himself "Ga bra Krestos" (the Servant of Christ).

Figs. 12 and 13 Rhinoceros (top) and ox or bull with a snake. Carved wood panels from the Church of Mar y, Asmara. [Photos by M. Heldman © 1993]

The process by which Christianity grew from the religion of the royal house to become the religion of the Aksumite state is unknown, although the changing role of Christianity within the Roman Empire may throw some light upon the question. The Edict of Milan in 313 had given Christianity the status of religio licita , and thenceforth the emperor Constantine endowed it with his wealth and prestige. Both Constantine and his biographer, Eusebius ofCaesarea, may have envisioned membership in the Church as constituting membership in a Christian world empire, but Christianity did not become the sole state religion until late in the fourth century, and the process of conversion continued long after. There is no reason to assume that either Frumentius, ordained by Athanasius as bishop of Aksum, or Ezana himself had conceived of Christianity in exclusive terms. However, the Aksumite king Kaleb Ella Asbeha, who reigned from about 515 to 540, is said to have gathered "his people" unto God, and this may suggest at least the intention of a national conversion. 1 Traditions recorded in the Book of Aksum 2 credit this same king Kaleb Ella Asbeha with building the great metropolitan cathedral at Aksum, whose altar was dedicated to " Our Mother Zion." In its size, its plan, and its dedication, the cathedral followed the Church of Zion in Jerusalem , which had been built in 340 on Mount Zion, the traditional site of the Last Supper. A pilgrim to Jerusalem in 518 described the church as "Holy Zion, the Mother of All Churches," 3 and the cathedral at Aksum was intended to create a new version of this holy site. 4 Ella Asbeha was also known as Kaleb, 5 a name referring to the Israelite leader who followed the Lord "with his whole heart " (Numbers 14:24- 5), and while another Ethiopian tradition states that it was Ezana who built the Cathedral of Aksum, it is unlikely that either Ezana or Frumentius could have conceived of building a cathedral that was in plan or dedication a deliberate copy of the Church of Zion. It was their contemporary, Cyril ofJerusalem (3 51 - 86), who first taught that the earthly city of Jerusalem was the Holy City, and thereby created a foundation for the development of Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the cult of holy sites there.

I. 2.

3. 4. 5.

6. 7.

Getatchew Haile 1981(A): 34. C. Conti Rossini 19rn. J. Wilkinson 197T 5, 66. M. E. Heldman 1992(A): 226- 27. R. Schneider 1974: 773. M. E. Heldman 1988(A). H. Maguire 1987.

Christianity was more than a sacred text and a set of doctrines. WitJ.i the adoption of the religion came many different elements, including particular literary genres, distinctive architectural forms, specific artistic traditions, and the calendar still used in Ethiopia today. Very little Christian art from the Aksumite period survives. Excavations at the Red Sea port of Adulis have revealed the structural outlines of three oriented churches, following the plan of the basilica but constructed of typical Aksumite materials and techniques. Associated with these churches are fragments of prefabricated marble furnishings carved at one or more eastern Mediterranean quarries. These imported fragments probably date from the sixth century, and similar marble chancel panels and posts may be seen at Constantinople, Ravenna, and in early Byzantine churches in the Negev. 6 Later Ethiopian art suggests that the sixth century was the period when specifically Christian style and iconography was introduced to Ethiopia. Much of the evidence consists of 111.anuscripts of the Gospels , but there are other examples as well. Wooden ceiling panels from the narthex of the church at Dabra Damo and from the now demolished Church of Mary at Asmara 7 are carved with a variety of animals (figs. 12 and 13). They are part of a natural history of the terrestrial world known as "the Lord's estate," a theme typical of Byzantine art of the late 118

THE HERITAGE OF LAT E ANTIQUITY

fifth and sixth centuries . 8 T he animals of these ca rved ceiling panels can be compared with those ca rved upon the ceiling beams in the nave of Justinian 's church at Mount Sinai . 9 During the reign of the B yza ntine emperors Justin and his nephew Ju stini an (5 I 8-27), and again during the reign of Justinian alone (527- 65), the court of Kaleb Ella Asbeha received embassies from Constantinopl e. These were motivated not only by a desire to curb Persian expamion in South Arabia, but also by Ju stinian's uni ve rsa li st theories of a wo rld Christian empire. 10 The Chronicle of John Malalas records that El es boas, as Kaleb was known in Greek tex ts, received luxurious g ifts from th e Constantinopolican court. 11 According to Ethiopian tradition, Kal eb retired around 540 to the M o na stery of Abba Pantalewon , one of the Nine Saints, near Aksum. Wh en he entered m onastic life, he sen t a delegation to J erusalem w ith a crown to be hun g before the d oor of the tomb in the church of the Hol y Scpulcher. 12 Hi s do nation of this crown reveals th e continuity of his devotion to the Holy City, alread y displa yed in the d edi ca ti on of th e ca thedral at Aksum to M ary of Zion. The sixth century also appea rs to have been the period in which Ethiopia received works of art depictin g the holy sites in J eru salem. Alth ough no such wo rks have survived in Ethiopia, the distincti ve three-miniature frontispiece of a gro up of fourteent h-centur y Ethio pian Gospel ma nuscripts fo llows the iconography of pilgrimage sites in J eru sa lem known fr om sixthcentur y pilgrim ampull ae. 1 3 Even though no Palestinian sou venir ampull ae have been excavated in Ethiopia so far, the early Byzantine iconogra ph y of the hol y sites may ha ve been tra nsmitted to Ethiopia b y other media. During the Aksumite period the Greek text of the Gospels was b ro ught to Ethiopi a and translated into Geez. Along w ith the Greek text came a standard method of Gospel manuscript production, as well as th e Eusebian canon tabl es wi th their characte ristic decoration and tholos mi niature, and portraits of the evangelists . The structure of Ethiopian Gospel manu scripts produced before r 500 preserves the trad itions of Late Antique boo k traditio n. The quires of the manuscripts are, w ith a few exception s, quaternions. Each of the Gospels is allo tted a separate set o f quires, and its initi al page is copied upon the first recto leaf of a quaternion. Greek Gospel ma nuscripts from this period are typicall y composed of an initi al quire o r quires w ith prefaces and canon tables, and thi s arrange m ent is also characteristic of Ethiopian m anu scripts produced before I 500. Late Antique techniques of book production, possibly introduced b y the sixth centur y, remain ed a li ving tradition in Ethiopian monastic scriptoria, passing from one generation to the next . By the end of the fifteenth centur y, thi s had been supplanted by innova tion s in Gospel illumin ation and by the simplifi cation of the canon tables. The canon tab le scheme of Ethiopian Gospel books w ith their decoration o f animals and plants provides the most persuasive argument for exchanges w ith an eastern Mediterranean center of Gospel book produ ctio n and illumination during the sixth centur y. T he exchange was probably in the for m of illumin ated Greek Gospels, and perhaps even of prefabricated canon table frames. Canon tabl es arc sets of numbers chat indi cate parall el passages in th e various Gospels. T he firs t tabl e li sts the agreements between all fo ur Gospels, the second cable th e agreements between Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The fo ll owing tab les exhibit vario us other combin ations, until the ten th and final table, w hich comprises a list of passages which appear in only one Gos pel. The entire scheme is the invention ofEusebius ofCacsarea, and includes a prol ogue in the form of a letter from him describing h ow the tabl es we re to be used. The prologue and th e tab les were both presented in a series of architectural frames decorated w ith an im als and plants . The reconstructed scheme of canon tables in ea rl y Greek Gospels consists of two pages of prologue and eight pages of canon tables, or three pages of prologue and seven pages of canon ta bles, w ith a final miniature of a circular temple o r th o los. In the mid-tenth centur y the canon ta bles of G reek manuscripts were extended to ten pages. T he canon cables of virtually all Ethiopian Gospel manu scripts copied before 1500 follow the earl y Greek scheme . 1 r9

8. D. Krencker r9 13 : r82- 98; F. Anfray r965(B ): 13- 14.

9. G. H. Forsyth and K. Weitzmann 1973. ro. W. H.C. Frend 1970: 1 r. 11. E. Jeffreys, M. Jeffreys, and R. Scott 1986: 269. 12. J. Wilkinson 197]: 83, quoting the account of the Acta Sanctorum . 13. A. Grabar 1958.

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