Related Research Articles
Gudit is the Classical Ethiopic name for a personage also known as Yodit in Tigrinya, and Amharic, but also Isato in Amharic, and Ga'wa in Ţilţal. The person behind these various alternative names is portrayed as a powerful female ruler, probably identical to Māsobā Wārq, the daughter of the last Aksumite king, Dil Na'ad, mentioned in an early Arabic source. She is said to have been responsible for laying waste the Kingdom of Aksum and its countryside, and the destruction of its churches and monuments in the 10th century AD. If she is the same as the Tirda' Gābāz in other Ethiopian sources, she is also said to have attempted to exterminate the members of the ruling dynasty. The deeds attributed to her are recorded in oral tradition and in a variety of historical narratives.
Operation Moses was the covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews from Sudan during a civil war that caused a famine in 1984. Originally called Gur Aryeh Yehuda by Israelis, the United Jewish Appeal changed the name to "Operation Moses".
The Beta Israel, or Ethiopian Jews, are a Jewish diaspora group that lived for thousands of years in the territory of the Kingdom of Aksum and its successor the Ethiopian Empire, which is currently divided between the Amhara Region and Tigray Region in modern-day Ethiopia. After the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, most of the Beta Israel immigrated there or were evacuated through several initiatives by the Israeli government. Historically, Beta Israel lived in northern and northwestern Ethiopia, where they were spread out across more than 500 small villages over a wide territory, alongside predominantly Christian and Muslim populations. Most of them were concentrated mainly in what is today North Gondar Zone, Shire Inda Selassie, Wolqayit, Tselemti, Dembia, Segelt, Quara, and Belesa.
Falash Mura is the name given to descendants of the Beta Israel community in Ethiopia who converted to Christianity, primarily as a consequence of Western proselytization during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This term also includes Beta Israel who did not adhere to any Ethiopian Jewish practices, as well as the aforementioned historical converts to Christianity. While most voluntarily converted, some were also forcibly converted against their will, or felt compelled to convert due to economic hardship and social exclusion in a majority Christian population.
The Desert Fathers were early Christian hermits and ascetics, who lived primarily in the Scetes desert of the Roman province of Egypt, beginning around the third century AD. The Apophthegmata Patrum is a collection of the wisdom of some of the early desert monks and nuns, in print as Sayings of the Desert Fathers. The first Desert Father was Paul of Thebes, and the most well known was Anthony the Great, who moved to the desert in AD 270–271 and became known as both the father and founder of desert monasticism. By the time Anthony had died in AD 356, thousands of monks and nuns had been drawn to living in the desert following Anthony's example, leading his biographer, Athanasius of Alexandria, to write that "the desert had become a city." The Desert Fathers had a major influence on the development of Christianity.
The Qemant are a small Cushitic ethnic group in northwestern Ethiopia, specifically in Gondar, Amhara Region. The Qemant people traditionally practiced an early Pagan-Hebraic religion, however most members of the Qemant are followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. They are historically related to, but distinct from, the Beta Israel.
Sigd, also Mehlella or Amata Saww, is one of the unique holidays of the Beta Israel community, and is celebrated on the 29th of the Hebrew month of Marcheshvan. Since 2008, it has been an official Israeli state holiday.
Religion in Ethiopia consists of a number of faiths. Among these mainly Abrahamic religions, the most numerous is Christianity totaling at 67.3%, followed by Islam at 31.3%. There is also a longstanding but small Ethiopian Jewish community. Some adherents of the Baháʼí Faith likewise exist in a number of urban and rural areas. Additionally, there is also a substantial population of the adherents of traditional faiths.
Christianity in Ethiopia is the country's largest religion with members making up 68% of the population.
Aliyah from Ethiopia is the immigration of the Beta Israel people to Israel. Early forms of Zionism have existed in Ethiopia since the mid 19th century, as shown in the 1848 letters from the Beta Israel to Jews in Europe praying for the unification of Jews. A year after the first letter was sent, Daniel Ben Hananiah and his son were sent by the Kahen to Jerusalem and made contact with the Jewish leaders there.
The history of the Jews in Ethiopia dates back millennia. The largest Jewish group in Ethiopia is the Beta Israel. Offshoots of the Beta Israel include the Beta Abraham and the Falash Mura, Ethiopian Jews who were converted to Christianity, some of whom have reverted to Judaism. Addis Ababa is home to a small community of Adeni Jews. Chabad also maintains a presence in Addis Ababa.
Abba Sabra was an Ethiopian Orthodox monk and the teacher of the children of Emperor Zara Yaqob of Ethiopia. Abba Sabra tried to convert the Beta Israel, but was instead converted by them to Haymanot (Judaism). He is best known for introducing monasticism to Beta Israel, and the tradition of Jewish monks continued down the centuries until the Great Famine of the 1890s decimated their monasteries in Lay Armachiho. He later converted the son of King Zara Yaqob, Saga Amlak, who adopted the religious name Abba Saga.
Christianity in the 4th century was dominated in its early stage by Constantine the Great and the First Council of Nicaea of 325, which was the beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils (325–787), and in its late stage by the Edict of Thessalonica of 380, which made Nicene Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire.
Christianity in late antiquity traces Christianity during the Christian Roman Empire — the period from the rise of Christianity under Emperor Constantine, until the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The end-date of this period varies because the transition to the sub-Roman period occurred gradually and at different times in different areas. One may generally date late ancient Christianity as lasting to the late 6th century and the re-conquests under Justinian of the Byzantine Empire, though a more traditional end-date is 476, the year in which Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustus, traditionally considered the last western emperor.
The Kingdom of Simien, sometimes referred to as the Kingdom of Beta Israel, refers to a Jewish kingdom said to have been located in the northwestern part of the Ethiopian Empire. The existence of such a kingdom somewhere in the Horn of Africa was first mentioned by the traveller Benjamin of Tudela in the 12th century CE.
Henry Aaron Stern was an Anglican missionary and priest of Jewish origin. After converting to Christianity in London in 1840 and studying with the London Society for Promoting Christianity Among the Jews, he dedicated himself to missionary work, especially among Jewish communities in the Middle East and the Beta Israel (Falashas) in Ethiopia.
Haymanot is the branch of Judaism which is practiced by the Beta Israel, also known as Ethiopian Jews.
Giyorgis of Segla, also known as Giyorgis of Gasicha or Abba Giyorgis, was an Ethiopian Oriental Orthodox monk, saint, and author of religious books.
Amda Seyon I's Expansions (1314–1344) were territorial expansions during the reign of Ethiopian Emperor Amda Seyon I. Motivated by religious, commercial, and territorial factors, Amda Seyon's first conquests were Gojjam and Hadiya in 1316, and the forced seizure of the Enderta Province, where there was resistance.
References
- ↑ Stern, Henry Aaron (2013). Wanderings Among the Falashas in Abyssinia: Together with Descriptions of the Country and its Various Inhabitants. Routledge. p. xiv. ISBN 9781136984785.
- ↑ Kessler, David F (2012). The Falashas: A Short History of the Ethiopian Jews. Routledge. ISBN 9781136304484.
 | This biographical article about an Ethiopian religious figure is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |