-
Oral Traditions as Historical Sources in Ethiopia: The Case of
the Beta Israel (Falasha)Author(s): James QuirinReviewed
work(s):Source: History in Africa, Vol. 20 (1993), pp.
297-312Published by: African Studies AssociationStable URL:
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ORAL TRADITIONS AS HISTORICAL SOURCES IN ETHIOPIA: THE CASE
OF
THE BETA ISRAEL (FALASHA)*
James Quirin Fisk University
It is axiomatic that historians should use all available
sources. African his- toriography has been on the cutting edge of
methodological innovation for the last three decades, utilizing
written sources, oral traditions, archeology, lin- guistics,
ethnography, musicology, botany, and other techniques to bring re-
spect and maturity to the field.'
But the use of such a diverse methodology has brought
controversy as well, particularly regarding oral traditions.
Substantial criticisms have been raised concerning the problems of
chronology and limited time depth, varia- tions in different
versions of the same events, and the problem of feedback between
oral and written sources.2 A "structuralist" critique deriving from
Claude Levi-Strauss's study of Amerindian mythology has provided a
useful corrective to an overly-literal acceptance of oral
traditions, but often went too far in throwing out the historical
baby with the mythological bathwater, lead- ing some historians to
reject totally the use of oral data.3 A more balanced view has
shown that a modified structural approach can be a useful tool in
his- torical analysis.4 In Ethiopian historiography some
preliminary speculations were made along structuralist lines,5
although in another sense such an ap- proach was always implicit
since the analysis of Ethiopic written hagiogra- phies and royal
chronicles required an awareness of the mythological or folk
elements they contain.6
Two more difficult problems to overcome have been the Ethiopic
written documents' centrist and elitist focus on the royal monarchy
and Orthodox church. The old Western view that "history" required
the existence of written documents and a state led to the paradigm
of Ethiopia as an "outpost of Semitic civilization" and its
historical and historiographical separation from the rest of
Africa.7 The comparatively plentiful corpus of written documenta-
tion for Ethiopian history allowed such an approach, and the
thousands of manuscripts made available to scholars on microfilm in
the last fifteen years have demonstrated the wealth still to be
found in written sources.8 However, such sources, although a
starting point for research on Ethiopian history, no longer seem
adequate in themselves because they focus primarily on political-
military and religious events concerning the monarchy and
church.
Oral and local written traditions from the various peoples now
included in Ethiopia can provide a partial corrective to the
centrist biases of royal written sources. Research on the Hadeyya,
Agaw, Beta Israel, and Sudanese border- land peoples suggests a
significant new trend in Ethiopian historiography.9
History in Africa 20 (1993), 297-312.
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298 JAMES QUIRIN
Since the mid-1970s, Ethiopians within Ethiopia have intensified
local histori- cal studies in order to write a truly national
history involving all the peoples of the country.'0 Oral
traditions, or other types of oral material such as personal
recollections, have also been used to interpret developments at the
center."
Such an approach is not totally new, although often not
sufficiently rec- ognized. Students at Addis Ababa University
(formerly Haile Sellassie I University) have long carried out
fieldwork that involved the collection of oral as well as local
written sources in order to write their B.A. and now M.A. the-
ses.12 "Traditional" historians had always used a combination of
written and oral traditions."3 The great "father" of Ethiopian
studies in Europe, the seven- teenth-century German Job Ludolphus,
who never visited Ethiopia, depended on oral data from abba
Gregory, his Ethiopian informant, as well as Ethiopic documents.14
The best of the modem historical work on the central state and
church was cognizant of the necessity for a "much closer
investigation of the traditions of the peoples and of the
churches."'5
The elitist or class biases of most written sources are more
difficult to overcome, although significant steps have been made
using land documents,'6 and to a lesser extent the study of prayers
and magical formulae as sources for the "mentalite" of the
people.'7 Oral traditions are essential to overcome cen- trist
biases by providing sources for the peoples of the "periphery," but
I have found them more difficult to use to overcome elitist biases.
In the case of the Beta Israel, the most useful traditions come
from their dominant religious elite, and hence reflect the
interests and interpretations of that group. Nevertheless, Beta
Israel history cannot adequately be understood without this
source.
Beta Israel traditions illustrate both their strengths and
limitations. The traditions provide the essential thematic and
chronological framework for their history since only one, brief,
late written chronicle-itself based on their oral traditions-has
been found. 8 Although their clerics were literate and had a re-
ligious literature in ancient Ethiopic (Ge'ez), their history was
kept only orally.
Hence,this case study provides an opportunity to examine the
nature and function of oral traditions in a literate society, and
to compare Beta Israel tra- ditions with Ethiopian and external
written sources. This paper compares such traditions concerning
four episodes in three different historical periods. In the early
fifteenth-century conflict with king Yeshaq, the Beta Israel
traditions are essentially congruent with the written sources; in
the mid-fifteenth century the traditions add information not found
in written documents, but are basically similar. During the
seventeenth/eighteenth-century Gondar era, the oral tradi- tions
contain a great deal of information not available in the royal
chronicles, which essentially ignore the Beta Israel after they
were conquered in the 1620s. Finally, in a mid-nineteenth century
religious conflict involving the Beta Israel, some converts to
Protestantism, and the Ethiopian Orthodox church, the oral
traditions are useful mainly to help provide an internal inter-
pretation of the events from the Beta Israel perspective.
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ORAL TRADITIONS AND THE BETA ISRAEL 299
II
The Fifteenth Century
Both the oral and written traditions suggest that the fifteenth
century was a critical epoch in the history of the group variously
known as the "Falasha," "Beta Israel," "Black Jews," or "Ethiopian
Jews." In the first place, the tradi- tions provide a wealth of
detailed information about this time period that does not exist for
any earlier era. Secondly, the oral (Beta Israel) and written
(Christian) sources are congruent with each other concerning the
significance of the conflict with Yeshaq (1413-1430), and even
concerning the origin of the name "Falasha." Thirdly, in the
mid-fifteenth century, most likely during the reign of Zar'a
Ya'eqob (1434-1468), Beta Israel traditions help interpret the
written information in seeing this time as critical to the
construction of group identity.
A detailed discussion of the controversial origins of the people
and the name "Falasha" is beyond the scope of this paper, but it
was a complex pro- cess occuring over many centuries that cannot be
explained by the simplistic views either that they derived directly
from a "lost tribe" of ancient Israel, or that they were simply
"rebels" or heretics from Orthodox Christianity."9 The oral and
written sources suggest there was a Jewish presence of some sort in
ancient Aksum and that some small groups of ayhud ("Jewish,"
"Jewish group") by the fourteenth century were subject to
proselytization, cultural in- teraction, and warfare with the
Ethiopian state. The term "Falasha" seems to have originated in the
conflict between the ayhud of Wagara province and Yeshaq, and by
the early sixteenth century, this was the common name of the group.
Other names developed, such as "Kayla" in the Gondar area, and
"Beta Israel."20 By the twentieth century the latter had become the
most accepted self-name.This process of an evolving terminology
mirrors key stages in the construction of group self-identity
during the fifteenth century.21 Hence we must begin with analysis
of the traditions concerning relations with Yeshaq.
According to the written chronicles, Yeshaq attempted a "divide
and rule" policy by appointing an ayhud as the governor of two
provinces, and then ap- pointing that man's nephew to watch over
him and report directly to himself. Despite urging by the younger
man, the uncle refused to pay the tribute. Hence Yeshaq came with
an army, defeated, and beheaded him. Yeshaq's lo- cal supporters
among the Beta Israel and others were rewarded with land grants and
Yeshaq had several churches built in the region. Furthermore, the
chronicle states he made the following proclamation:
'May he who is baptized in the Christian baptism inherit the
land of his father; otherwise let him be uprooted from his father's
land and be a stranger (falase).' Since then the [Beta] Israel were
called Falashas [falaschoch].22
Thus these written traditions provide much of the needed
information concerning the conflict with Yeshaq, both in terms of
causes and conse-
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300 JAMES QUIRIN
quences. Together, the documents show there were divisions
within the Beta Israel, as well as in the region in general, both
of which facilitated the con- quest and determined who received
land grants later.
The oral traditions complement these written data. Their wealth
of detail compared to any previous era suggests the fundamental
importance of this pe- riod.23 The oral traditions also recall
splits within the Wagara ayhud, appar- ently between older and
younger members of the ruling family. They recall the conquest by
Yeshaq, the forced conversion and loss of rest ("inherited")
land-use rights, the dispersal of some, and the increased
importance of artisan work by others:
After Yeshaq won the battle he forced the Israelites [Beta
Israel] to be- come Christians. This the Israelites refused to do.
They didn't want to be Christians. Because of that, he declared
they should not have rest land. After that, the Israelites were
called 'falasyan.' That means those people who did not have land.
Because they didn't have land, they were work- ing as carpenters
and builders and the women were doing pottery work.2
Another informant went into more detail about the origins of the
war, pointing out splits within the group, and the dispersal, lost
land rights, and forced conversion that characterized their defeat.
His narration on the name "Falasha" included two versions of its
origins:
Question: Was it at the time of Yeshaq that this name 'Falasha'
began? Answer: Yes.
Question: Was it Yeshaq who gave this name? Answer: Yes, he said
they cannot have land. They will be called 'Falasha.' It is said
[like this], but they were also called Falasha a long time before,
at the time when the Israelites left Israel.
Question: So it was their name before Yeshaq? Is it because they
came from another land that they were called Falasha?
Answer: Yes, the big Gedewon was called Falasha. It means
'people in exile.' After Yeshaq defeated Gedewon, the Beta Israel
were scattered in many places. Question: Where? Answer: They were
in Walqayt, Sallamt, Samen, Gorgora, and [near] here, in Gana,
Qwara, and other places.25
This passage suggests an overlay of two versions of the origin
of the name Falasha. On the one hand, the informant first stated
they were given this name by Yeshaq because they lost their land.
At the end, when he noted that Falasha meant "people in exile," the
example given was not that of exile from ancient Israel, according
to the traditional etymology, but rather exile from their center in
Wagara to surrounding provinces. This detailed explanation of the
name Falasha was accompanied by the bald statement that the name
had
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ORAL TRADITIONS AND THE BETA ISRAEL 301
really originated when their ancestors left ancient Israel, a
statement which would seem to be a later accretion due to the
twentieth-century desire to rein- force such ties.
Hence the era of Yeshaq was a turning point in their history,
marked by the military defeat of the Wagara ayhud at the hands of
an army led personally for the first time by the Ethiopian king,
confiscation of their inheritable land, widespread dispersal to
neighboring provinces, forced conversion, and the probable origin
of the new term, "Falasha."
The rest of the fifteenth century, particularly the reign of
Zar'a Ya'eqob, was also significant in Beta Israel oral traditions
due to their construction of a new "Falasha" identity that began
during this era.26 Since the fourteenth century, written chronicles
and hagiographies indicate attempts made to convert various ayhud
groups. Most of the incidents of conversion recorded in the
Christian hagiographies, such as those carried out by Zena Marqos
and Gabra Iyyasus in the fourteenth century, emphasize its peaceful
nature and point out contributions to Christianity which were made
by the ayhud converts. In addition, a couple of examples of
Christians who joined the ayhud communities are mentioned. 2
But the true significance of these wars and proselytization
efforts for the development of Falasha history only becomes clear
through Beta Israel oral traditions, which provide the internal
view of these processes. These traditions provide the basis for my
interpretation that the change in name was merely the external
reflection of a profound internal process of identity construction.
In an era of intimate ayhud-Christian contact, theological debate,
and political- military conflict, some groups of ayhud responded by
creating a new ideologi- cal-religious identity as well as material
base. The construction of this new identity dates essentially to
the fifteenth century, while the people used it as the basis for
their societal self-defense up to their final defeat early in the
sev- enteenth century, and even up to their formulation of a new
identity beginning early in the twentieth century.
Beta Israel traditions concerning abba Sabra and Sagga Amlak are
most significant in this interpretation. Both were described as
Christians who left their religion and joined the ayhud, bringing
Orthodox texts and institutions which fundamentally restructured
the group they joined. Abba Sabra came from Shawa province to the
ayhud heartland in the northwest and converted to their religion.
Then he established a monastery, taught the people the correct life
based on the orit (Old Testament/Torah), wrote a collection of
prayers and probably other religious books, instituted at least a
part of the religious calen- dar, and established the Beta Israel
laws of purity which called for a high de- gree of separation from
Christian society.28
An alleged son of Zar'a Ya'eqob was influenced by the teachings
of abba Sabra and joined him in his new monastery. One day Zar'a
Ya'eqob sent an army to recapture him, but God hid the whole ayhud
settlement and saved him from discovery. The son thereby acquired
the name Sagga Amlak ("Grace of God") among the Falasha. The king
never did find him and he lived out his life assisting abba Sabra
in teaching the Falasha religion.29
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302 JAMES QUIRIN
The traditions I recorded concerning these two men provide the
most de- tailed information about them yet known.30 But their
stories are corroborated in other sources. Earlier this century,
the Beta Israel scholar, Taamrat Emmanuel, collected oral
information concerning them, as well as other early Falasha holy
men, which was later published.3' In the 1840s, the French trav-
eler, Antoine d'Abbadie also collected traditions concerning these
two, which are brief but congruent with my information.32 Their
names are also recorded in Beta Israel written religious literature
and prayers, sometimes with the two names run together as "Abba
Sabra Sagga Amlak," perhaps because of their close cooperation.33
These written sources only mention the names without in- formation
about the men.
It is clear that details about these two men would not be known
without evidence from oral traditions. By all accounts the
fifteenth century was a criti- cal period in the development of the
Falasha. The institution of monasticism was founded-apparently by
abba Sabra-and many religious books and the liturgy were acquired
from the Christians. Some scholars argue that these fun- damental
Christian elements prove that the Falasha really are simply a
break- away from Ethiopian Christianity. Stated baldly, this view
is too simplistic be- cause both the oral traditions and the
written sources on people such as the Christian monk, Qozmos, make
clear that these renegades from Christianity joined an existing
group of ayhud, rather than creating a completely new en-
tity.1
These events signify that from at least the fifteenth century
the Beta Israel monks created the basis for an increasing degree of
separation from Christian society--despite substantial religious
similarities-that has continued up to the present. This view from
the inside of Beta Israel society would not be possible without
documentation from their oral traditions. The strength of this
traditional chain of transmission, primarily through the monks and
priests, is demonstrated by the continuing vitality of these
traditions up to the 1970s, even among men much influenced by
western Jewish teachings in the twenti- eth century, who generally
had great motivation to deemphasize Beta Israel ties with Ethiopian
Christianity. European Jews such as Jacques Faitlovitch tried to
bring Beta Israel religion more in line with modem Judaism, thereby
seeking to demonstrate ties to ancient Israel and downplay
connections and influences from Ethiopian Orthodoxy. In other
words, although the internally- accepted view of Beta Israel
history by the 1970s saw the group as the rem- nant of a "lost
tribe" deriving directly from ancient Israel, their traditions
transmitted orally--even by those individuals who personally
believed the "lost tribe" view-contain data that support a contrary
perspective emphasiz- ing the significant Christian influences on
the society as recently as the fif- teenth century.
Of course it would be nice to have the specific traditions about
abba Sabra confirmed in a written document from the period! The
closest written documentation that exists shows only a similar
phenomenon, but does not specifically refer to either abba Sabra or
Sagga Amlak. During the reign of Dawit II (1380-1412) the Christian
monk Qozmos left his monastery, joined
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ORAL TRADITIONS AND THE BETA ISRAEL 303
the ayhud, and led a rebellion against his former colleagues.35
One of the many miracles of Mary found in Ethiopian literature
gives the case of a Christian cleric who joined an ayhud community,
but was later captured by an army sent by the Christian ruler. The
ruler executed him and scattered his dismembered body to several
provinces as an example of what happens to apostates. The
congruence of this anonymous tradition, which contains no names,
with the story of Sagga Amlak is interesting, although the editor
be- lieves it refers to someone else in the court of Zar'a
Ya'eqob.36 Maybe a writ- ten life of abba Sabra will yet be found,
as d'Abbadie hinted existed in the nineteenth century.37
The discovery of written documentation would help confirm the
historic- ity of these two men and perhaps clear up some vagueness
and variations in chronology and details present in the oral
traditions, although Ethiopian writ- ten sources, especially
hagiographies, are often quite vague as to dates as well. But even
in the absence of specific written corroboration about abba Sabra
and Sagga Amlak, it is clear that the general phenomenon of some
Christians joining ayhud groups occurred.38 The Beta Israel oral
traditions show the sig- nificance of this phenomenon for the
development of Falasha identity in the fifteenth century. Although
the traditions are often vague, they not only pro- vide more
information than any written sources, but they can be used to
illus- trate an internal view of identity construction.
III
The Gondar Era
Beta Israel oral traditions concerning the seventeenth-
eighteenth cen- turies fill in gaps in the written record. During
the 1620s the Falasha conquest was completed. From that time on
they were virtually invisible in the Ethiopian chronicles and other
written sources, since they were no longer a military threat.
Foreign written sources on this period are also scarce, but of
course the group continued to exist and this important period in
their history would be nearly unknown without oral traditions.
This period (1632-1755) is called the Gondar dynasty in
Ethiopian histo- riography because the city of Gondar was founded
as the capital of the Ethiopian state. Gondar was built in the
center of the area of northwestern Ethiopia that was the Beta
Israel heartland. The city was characterized by great stone
construction. Every important king built his own palace and sev-
eral churches so that Gondar became known as the "city of 44
churches." The buildings or their ruins remain today as impressive
examples of Ethiopian ar- chitecture.39
One of the questions asked about Gondar has been, who built the
castles? Architectural responsibility has been variously assigned
to Ethiopians, or to foreigners such as Indians or Portuguese. The
construction workers, the ma- sons, carpenters, and laborers have
usually been asserted to be simply
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304 JAMES QUIRIN
"Ethiopians" by traditional information, but sometimes the
"Falasha" were mentioned specifically.40
My collection of oral traditions has confirmed that the main
skilled work- ers (masons and carpenters) on the castles were the
Beta Israel. In exchange for this work they received grants of land
and titles from the Ethiopian state. In the Gondar area these
grants began to reverse the trend by which they had been gradually
dispossessed of land during the preceding three hundred years of
conflict. These traditions also give some details on where they
were given these land grants and the names of several individuals
who received titles of azmach ("commander"), azaj ("leader"), or
bejrond ("chief of workers"). Other oral information from the
Amhara in Gondar, including some traditional historians, and from
the Qernant people in the region confirm the important role of the
Beta Israel, although they do not provide details concerning indi-
viduals' names and titles.41
These oral traditions thus provide essential information
concerning the Beta Israel during this period in which they are
mentioned only briefly in sev- eral hundred pages of the royal
chronicles, and where foreign sources are scant. There are some
problems with the information, however, which demon- strate the
limitations of oral traditions. Although the traditions sometimes
assert certain Beta Israel who received land or titles lived during
a particular king's reign, this information is often contradictory
among different infor- mants. Thus a precise chronology is still
impossible to construct, even though we know when each Ethiopian
king reigned. Nor can we equate unequivocally the names of the Beta
Israel who received titles with the multitude of names of royal
appointees given in the chronicles. In some cases the names are
similar and the chronology may be about right, but one cannot be
sure since the royal officials are not identified according to
ethnic group. There is one very likely congruence from the
mid-eighteenth century when, according to Beta Israel traditions,
the main bejrond ("chief of the workers") was named Issayas.42 In
the chronicle of Iyyasu II (1730-1755) Issayas is referred to as
the chief of the carpenters in charge of the construction of the
church of Dabra Sahay Qwesqwam.43
In addition to filling in information gaps, the Gondar data
illustrate the in- creased incorporation of the Beta Israel into
the general political-economic structure, but in specific roles. To
a greater extent than previously, a Beta Israel secular elite
developed. But besides a chronological vagueness, the data have
some other problems. Although the names of several individuals who
re- ceived titles are remembered, details of their lives and
actions are not known. While they were said to have received land
grants, the specific types of grants are not clear.44 My informants
in several locations said they held land as rest ("inherited" land
rights) (before the 1975 land reform act) derived from these Gondar
era grants, but the details are not clear. These problems suggest
some of the limitations of oral traditions also found
elsewhere-that they mainly deal, as do written chronicles, with
developments at the center, but are less clear about local
socio-economic phenomena.
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ORAL TRADITIONS AND THE BETA ISRAEL 305
IV
The Nineteenth Century
Beta Israel traditions concerning a religious dispute in the
1860s further demonstrate the value of oral traditions in
developing an internal view of so- ciety. Superficially, this
dispute was between traditional Beta Israel and some recent Beta
Israel converts to Protestantism, the products of missionary activ-
ity since the 1850s. The main written sources for this dispute are
the mission- ary records, but from the perspective of the Beta
Israel, they provide an inade- quate account.45
From Beta Israel oral traditions and a short, unique written
chronicle that is itself based on their oral traditions, we get a
somewhat different, and broader, view of this controversy. Not only
did it involve Protestant converts and traditional Beta Israel, but
also brought in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Overall, the controversy should be seen in the context of a
broader Beta Israel religious revival since the 1840s.46 According
to their traditions, abba Wedaje, a Beta Israel monk, began to
respond to a general deterioration of the position of the Beta
Israel and attacks on their religion in the 1840s as he "brought
his people back to their religion."47 He was viewed as the
legitimate successor to the great abba Sabra of the fifteenth
century.48
The second phase of the revival was led by abba Simon, the pupil
and successor to abba Wedaje.49 In June 1862 a Beta Israel monk
excommunicated his nephew because he had converted to
Protestantism. The nephew had criti- cized their traditional
practice of sacrifices, asserting that it was not ordained in the
Old Testament. By September Tewodros (1855-68) had become in-
volved by granting permission to baptize the first converts and by
arbitrating the conflict.50
In the hearing before Tewodros the Orthodox Church was drawn
into the conflict as the dispute widened to include a debate on the
nature of the Trinity. The Beta Israel monks were led by abba Simon
while the Church was led by its head, abuna Salama. Also present
were the Beta Israel convert, Webe Beru, and the missionary J.M.
Flad. According to a rather detailed oral tradition, the Beta
Israel argued that their view of the Trinity, which was that "God
is One, not three" was supported in the Old Testament where it
stated that "God cre- ated Adam in his own image" (Genesis 1:27).
In rebuttal the Christians ar- gued, also based on the Old
Testament, that God had said "Let us create man in our image"
(Genesis 1:26), thereby referring to the Trinity. After some fur-
ther discussion, according to the Beta Israel tradition, the king
decided that they, indeed, did not have to convert to
Christianity.5' Although the king's de- cision was actually
somewhat ambiguous, since he allowed the missionaries to continue
work and even gave permission to a new mission group to begin
proselytizing two months later, the Beta Israel are clear that this
controversy had a positive ending, demonstrating a further stage in
their religious revival.52
In other words, from an internal perspective, as conveyed in
their tradi- tions, the Beta Israel felt that this theological
dispute proved the validity of
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306 JAMES QUIRIN
their own beliefs and hence prevented the Ethiopian state from
allowing their forced conversion. Ironically, as in the fifteenth
century they developed these arguments within the Old Testament
context which was also the main support of Ethiopian Orthodoxy.
Most importantly, the internal traditions see the group acting as
subjects in their own right to revitalize their religion and soci-
ety, not simply as objects meant to be converted.
V
Conclusion
In conclusion, these examples illustrate two major strengths of
oral tradi- tions as historical sources: they provide information
otherwise entirely lost from the historical record, and they
provide a view from inside a particular society. This latter
function is particularly important when the group being considered
is a minority or has been conquered and to some degree oppressed by
a larger group or expanding state as was the case with the Beta
Israel- Falasha.
Furthermore, the examples given above illustrate that this
internal per- spective may be as faithful to "what actually
happened" in a Rankian sense as are written records. For example,
despite the great twentieth-century pressures on the Beta Israel to
conform to world Jewish practices, and to see themselves as direct
descendants of a "lost tribe" from ancient Israel, their oral
traditions contain data from an earlier era and perspective. These
traditions demonstrate the fundamental influence of Christian
Orthodoxy on developing the "Falasha" religion and ethnic identity
since the fifteenth century. And such traditions were transmitted
by individuals who personally were committed to increasing the
links with Israel, ancient and modern. Ethiopian written sources
can be no better as a medium of factual content than this.
Nevertheless, weaknesses and limitations in the oral traditions
are also clear. The main problems concern questions about
chronology, nagging doubts about their historicity, and a focus
mainly on their own elites. Did abba Sabra and Sagga Amlak really
live? How do we know for sure that the indi- viduals named in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries really obtained ti- tles and
some kind of land grants when they are difficult to verify
absolutely in written documents? Granted that abba Wedaje and abba
Simon lived in the mid-nineteenth century, how do we really know
what they did to lead a reli- gious revival and what was said
during the religious debate at the court of Tewodros?
There are two types of answers to these questions. On the one
hand, it is important in understanding Beta Israel history to know
what their own view of their past is. Secondly, these Ethiopian
cases show that through a careful col- lection and comparison of
various versions of the oral traditions, and corrobo- ration with
written sources, we can arrive at a high degree of probable
historicity.
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ORAL TRADITIONS AND THE BETA ISRAEL 307
The question of traditions providing an elitist view--even of a
minority and oppressed group--is more problematical. What did the
creation of a new "Falasha" identity in the fifteenth century, or a
religious revival in the nine- teenth century, really mean to how
most Beta Israel lived their lives? What did the apparent land
grants and titles given a secular elite in Gondar have to do with
how the rural Beta Israel blacksmith lived in Wagara, Saqqalt, or
Dambeya?
In any case, the answers to such questions are not self-evident
in any sources, written or oral, but both types must be used. The
written record is not magically clear as to basic facts either. In
Ethiopia some chronicles and some hagiographies are better than
others as historical sources. There is often a closer connection
between oral and written documents than historians who use
exclusively the latter would like to admit. Some chronicles, such
as that of Zar'a Ya'eqob (1434-1468), were not actually written
down until years later; in this case, during the reign of Lebna
Dengel (1508-1540).53 Another chronicle, that of Galawdewos
(1540-1559), the king who finally defeated the sixteen- year
Islamic jihad of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ("Gragn") is more hortatory and
panegyric than a record of history.54 Fortunately, we have other
records of these wars in a detailed chronicle by a soldier in the
Islamic army, and by a member of the Portuguese force sent to
assist Ethiopia.55
Likewise, hagiographies are essential historical sources,
especially for the 1270-1527 period, but again some are better than
others.56 All contain miracles and are laudatory of the saint's
life-that is the reason they were written! They may exist in more
than one version, similar to oral traditions,57 and they may have
been written down long after the saint died."5 They have been used
creatively and effectively as sources for Ethiopian history, but
like any other source they cannot simply be accepted as literally
"true" in the historical "facts" they purport to portray. But they
are certainly "true" in the sense of the image of the saint the
writers wished to present, and they have been used cre- atively as
historical sources.59
Such examples could be multiplied. All historical sources have
limitations as well as strengths. In the case of the Ethiopian Beta
Israel, oral traditions- when used carefully in conjunction with
written data-provide the essential framework for a reinterpretation
of history that is faithful to their noble efforts to survive with
dignity and integrity within the broader Ethiopian and world
context and constraints.
Notes
* Earlier, shorter versions of this paper were presented in the
Fisk Faculty Lecture Series, Fisk University, 25 February 1985, and
at the Tennessee Conference of Historians, Vanderbilt University,
22 March 1986. It is based on research, including fieldwork in
Ethiopia in 1975/76, that contributed to my forthcoming study, The
Evolution of the Ethiopian Jews: A History of the Beta Israel
(Falasha) to 1920 (Philadelphia, 1992). On terminology, see below
and chapter 1. Grants from several organizations have supported
aspects of this research over the years, including the Social
Science Research Council, American Council of Learned Societies,
National Endowment for the Humanities, United Negro College Fund,
and Fisk University.
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308 JAMES QUIRIN
1. Recent mature statements include: Joseph C. Miller,
"Introduction: Listening for the African Past" in Joseph C. Miller,
ed., The African Past Speaks (Hamden, 1980), 1-59; Jan Vansina,
Oral Tradition as History (Madison, 1985); special issue of
Ethnohistory: Edward Steinhart, "Introduction," Ethnohistory
36(1989): 1-8, and David William Cohen, "The Undefining of Oral
Tradition," Ethnohistory 36(1989): 9-18.
2. Early criticism was raised by David Henige, The Chronology of
Oral Tradition (Oxford, 1974); idem., "The Problem of Feedback in
Oral Traditions: Four Examples from the Fante Coastlands," JAH
14(1973): 223-35.
3. Claude Levi-Strauss, Structural Anthropology (Garden City,
1967); Edmund Leach, ed., The Structural Study of Myth and Totemism
(London, 1967); idem., Claude Levi-Strauss (New York, 1970); T.O.
Beidelman, "Myth, Legend and Oral History: A Kaguru Traditional
Text," Anthropos 65(1970): 74-97; Luc de Heusch, The Drunken King
or the Origin of the State, trans. Roy Willis (Bloomington, 1982);
idem., "What Shall We Do with the Drunken King?" Africa 45(1975):
363-72; Christopher C. Wrigley, "Myths of the Savanna," JAH
15(1974): 131- 35; idem., "The River-God and the Historians: Myth
in the shire Valley and Elsewhere," JAH 29(1988): 367-83; W.G.
Clarence-Smith, Slaves, Peasants and Capitalists in Southern
Angola, 1840-1926 (Cambridge, 1979), viii; idem., "For Braudel: A
Note on the 'Ecole des Annales' and the Historiography of Africa,"
HA 4(1977): 275-81.
4. Jan Vansina, "Comment: Traditions of Genesis," JAH 15(1974):
317-22; idem., "Is Elegance Proof? Structuralism in African
History," HA 10(1983): 307-48; Thomas Q. Reefe, "Traditions of
Genesis and thdie Luba Diaspora," HA 4(1977): 183-205; Matthew
Schoffeleers, "Myth and/or History: A Reply to Christopher
Wrigley," JAH 29(1988): 353-90; Roy G. Willis, A State in the
Making (Bloomington, 1981); idem., "After the Drunken King:
Structure and History in Central African Myth," paper presented to
the African Studies Association meeting, Bloomington, Indiana,
21-24 October 1981; Thomas Spear, "Oral Traditions: Whose History?"
HA 8(1981): 165-81; Robert E. Schecter, "A Propos the Drunken King:
Cosmology and History" in Miller, African Past Speaks, 108-25.
5. Meredith Spencer, "Structural Analysis and the Queen of
Sheba" in Robert L. Hess, ed., Proceedings of the Fifth
Intemnational Conference on Ethiopian Studies, Session B, Chicago,
1978 (Chicago, 1979), 343-58.
6. Carlo Conti Rossini, "L'agiografia Etiopica e gli atti del
Santo Yafqeranna-Egzi," Atti del Reale Istituto Veneto di Scienze,
Lettere ed Arti 96/2 (1937): 404 ff.; Taddesse Tamrat, Church and
State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527 (Oxford, 1972), 1-4; idem.,
"Hagiographies and the Reconstruction of Medieval Ethiopian
History," Rural Africana 11(1970): 12-20; Steven Kaplan,
"Hagiographies and the History of Medieval Ethiopia," HA 8(1981):
107-23; idem., The Monastic Holy Man and the Christianization of
Early Solomonic Ethiopia (Wiesbaden, 1984); idem., "Iyasus-Mo'a and
Takla Haymanot: a Note on a Hagiographic Controversy," Journal of
Semitic Studies 31(1986): 47-56.
7. On various paradigms see Donald Levine, Greater Ethiopia: The
Evolution of a Multiethnic Society (Chicago, 1974), 15-25, although
he also builds his own distortions. See the critique by Harold
Fleming, "Sociology, Ethnology, and History in Ethiopia," IJAHS
9(1976): 248-78. See also Abdullahi Ali Ibrahim, "Sudanese
Historiography and Oral Tradition," HA 12(1985): 117-30.
8. European archives have provided a wealth of manuscripts for
editing and translating by the leading Ethiopianists of the past
such as Carlo Conti Rossini, Ignazio Guidi, Ren6 Basset, Enrico
Cerulli, F.M. Esteves Pereira, and August Dillmann. That Ethiopic
manuscripts are still an unexhausted source is evident from the
more than 7000 manuscripts that have been microfilmed and deposited
in Addis Ababa and Collegeville, Minnesota. See the William
Macomber and Getatchew Haile, A Catalogue of Ethiopian Manuscripts
Microfilmed for the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis
Ababa and for the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, Collegeville (9
vols.: Collegeville, Minnesota, 1975 to date).
9. Ulrich Braukamper, Geschichte der Hadiya Sud- Athiopiens
(Wiesbaden, 1980); idem., "The Correlation of Oral Traditions and
Historical Records in Southern Ethiopia: A Case Study of the
Hadiya/Sidamo Past," Journal of Ethiopian Studies 11/2 (1973):
29-50; Alessandro Triulzi, Salt, Gold and Legitimacy: Prelude to
the History of a No-Man's Land, Bela Shangul, Wallagga, Ethiopia
(Naples, 1981); Jamies McCann, From Poverty to Famine in Northeast
Ethiopia: A Rural History, 1900-1935 (Pliladelphia, 1987); James
Quirin, "The Process of Caste
-
ORAL TRADITIONS AND THE BETA ISRAEL 309
Formation in Ethiopia: A Study of the Beta Israel (Felasha),
1270-1868," IJAHS 12(1979): 235- 58; idem.; Donald Donham and Wendy
James, eds., The Southern Marches of Imperial Ethiopia (Cambridge,
1986); Taddesse Tamrat, "Processes of Ethnic Interaction and
Integration in Ethiopian History: the Case of the Agaw," JAH
29(1988): 5-18; idem., "Ethnic Interaction and Integration in
Ethiopian History: the Case of the Gafat," Journal of Ethiopian
Studies 21(1988): 121-54.
10. For a recent survey of the research see: Donald Crummey,
"Society, State and Nationality in the Recent Historiography of
Ethiopia," JAH 31(1990): 103-19. For earlier surveys see Merid
Wolde Aregay, "Research Developments in Ethiopian History: The Last
Decade," paper presented to the Seventh International Conference of
Ethiopian Studies, Lund, Sweden, 26- 29 April 1982. For comparable
developments in anthropology see William A. Shack, "Social Science
Research in Ethiopia: Retrospect and Prospect" in Sven Rubenson,
ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference of
Ethiopian Studies, University of Lund, Sweden, April 26- 29, 1982
(Addis Ababa/Uppsala/East Lansing, 1984), 411-27.
11. LaVerle Berry, "The Solomonic Monarchy at Gonder, 1630-
1755: An Institutional Analysis of Kingship in the Christian
Kingdom of Ethiopia" (Ph.D., Boston University, 1976), xxxv-xl.
Harold Marcus used oral reminiscences: "The Organization of Menilek
II's Palace and Imperial Hospitality (after 1896)," Rural Africana
11(1970): 57-69; idem., The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia,
1844-1913 (London, 1975), Appendix.
12. They may be consulted in thdie Institute of Ethiopian
Studies, Addis Ababa. See: Kabbada Gassasa, Theses on Ethiopia by
Ethiopians or Others Accepted by for B.A. or B.Sc. Degree by the
Haile Selassie I University (Addis Ababa, 1973).
13. Alaqa Tayye, Ya-Iteyopeya Hezb Tarik [Amharic] [History of
the Peoples of Ethiopia] (Addis Ababa, n.d.) (trans. by Grover
Hudson and Tekeste Negash [Uppsala, 1987]); and the works of Takle
Sadiq Makruria.
14. Job Ludolphus, A New History of Ethiopia (London, 1682);
Eike Haberland, "Hiob Ludolf, Father of Ethiopian Studies in
Europe" in Proceedings of the Third International Conference of
Ethiopian Studies, Addis Albab, 1966 (3 vols.: Addis Ababa, 1969),
1:131-36.
15. Tamrat, Church and State, 4. The late Richard Caulk
pioneered the use of local written sources that often used
information from oral sources in his many well-researched articles,
as for example: "Armies as Predators: Soldiers and Peasants in
Ethiopia, c. 1850-1935," IJAHS 11(1978): 457-93.
16. Donald Crummey, "Gondarine rim Land Sales: An Introductory
Description and Analysis" in Hess, Proceedings of the Fifth
Intermational Conference 1978, 469-79; idem., "State and Society:
19th Century Ethiopia" in Donald Crummey and C.C. Stewart, eds.,
Modes of Production in Africa: The Precolonial Era (Beverly Hills,
1981), 227-49; idem., "Women and Landed Property in Gondarine
Ethiopia," IJAHS 14(1981): 444-65; idem., "Family and Property
Amongst the Amhara Nobility," JAH 24(1983): 207-20; Donald Crummey
and Shumet Sishagne, "Land Tenure and the social Accumulation of
Wealth in Eighteenth Century Ethiopia: Evidence from the Qwesquam
Land Register," presented to Symposium on Land in African Agrarian
Systems, Urbana, April, 1988.
17. James Quirin, "A Preliminary Analysis of New Archival
Sources on Daily Life in Historical Highland Ethiopia," in
Rubenson, Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference,
393-410.
18. Wolf Leslau, ed., "A Falasha Religious Dispute" Proceedings
of the American Academy for Jewish Research 16(1947): 71-95.
Although Carlo Conti Rossini noted that Antoine d'Abbadie had
stated a written life of the most famous Beta Israel saint may
exist, no such work has been found: Conti Rossini, "Appunti di
storia e letteratura Falascia," Rivista degli Studi Orientali
7(1920): 579; d'Abbadie, "Journal et milanges," unpublished journal
in the Biblioth'que Nationale, France Nouvelles Acquisitions,
213000, and on microfilm at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies,
Addis Ababa, pp. 464, 473.
19. Quirin, The Evolution of the Ethiopian Jews, 7-27. 20. EMML
7334, ff. 28a-28b. Apparently the same manuscript was cited by
Taddesse
Tamrat: "Tarika Negast," paper MS, Dabra Sige in Church and
State, 201. The word falasa was used in the Gadla Gabra Masih, a
saint's life of the early sixteenth century: Steven Kaplan, "The
Falasha and the Stephanite: An Episode from Gadla Gabra Masih,"
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 48(1985):
278-82. The term appeared simultaneously in Arabic and
-
310 JAMES QUIRIN
Hebrew: Chihab Ed-Din Ahmed ben 'Abd el-Qader (Arab Faqih),
Histoire de la conquete de
l'Abyssinie (XVI sihcle), ed., Rent Basset (Paris, 1897-1901),
456-59; Abraham Levi (a sixteenth- century kabbalist) cited in, A.
Neubauer, "Where are the Ten Tribes?" Jewish Quarterly Review,
1(1889): 196-97. During the seventeenth century in the Gondar area
the Agaw term kayla was added to the nomenclature and was used
interchangeably with ayhud andfalasha: F.M. Esteves Pereira, ed.,
Chronica de Susneyos, Rei de Ethiopia (2 vols.: Lisbon, 1892-1900),
1 (text): 149-51, 154-56, 177, 189, 271, 278-80, 307. On kayla see
also Ignazio Guidi, ed., Annales lohannis I, lyasu I, Bakaffa.
Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, ser. alt., Script.
Aeth.,5 (1903): 8. The term beta esra'el was said by James Bruce to
date back to the fourth century: Bruce, Travels to Discover the
Source of the Nile (2 vols.: Edinburgh, 1790), 1:485.
21. James Quirin, "Ethnicity, Caste, Class, and State in
Ethiopian History: The Case of the Beta Israel (Falasha)" in
Crawford Young, ed., The Rising Tide of Cultural Pluralism
(Madison, 1993). On the concept of the "construction" of identities
and traditions see Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities (London,
1983); Belinda Bozzoli, ed., Class, Community and Conflict: South
African Perspectives (Johannesburg, 1987), 1-8; Terence Ranger,
"The Invention of Tradition in Colonial Africa" in Eric Hobsbawm
and Terence Ranger, eds., The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge,
1983), 211-62; Leroy Vail, ed., The Creation of Tribalism in
Southern Africa (Berkeley, 1989).
22. EMML7334, ff. 28a-28b; Rene Basset, ed., "Etudes sur
lhistoire d'Ethiopie," Journal asiatique, 7/17(1881): 325-26
(text), 18(1881), 95 (translation).
23. Compare a case in which an increased amount of detail in
oral traditions indicates a historical turning point as discussed
by Janet Ewald, "Experience and Speculation: History and Founding
Stories in the Kingdom of Taqali, 1780-1935," IJAHS 18(1985):
265-87.
24. Interview with Gete Asrass, 9 November 1975. 25. Interview
with Berhan Beruk, 20 August 1975. "Gedewon" [Gideon] was such
a
common name for Beta Israel leaders that it may appear to have
been a title rather than a personal name, except that there were
leaders who were not named Gedewon, as seen especially in the
chronicle of Sarsa Dengel. "Big Gedewon" seems to refer to the
leader at the time of Yeshaq. I am currently preparing a more
detailed analysis of the oral and written data concerning this war
with Yeshaq.
26. J. Perruchon, ed., Les chroniques de Zar'a Ya'eqob et de
Ba'eda Maryam (Paris, 1893). 27. The efforts of Zena Marqos among
the ayhud of Shawa is contained in his
hagiography: EMML 4741 and other manuscripts of which I am
completing an edition with these passages. On Gabra Iyyasus see C.
Conti Rossini, "Note di agiografia etiopica ('Abiya-Egzi, Arkaledes
e Gabra Iyesus')," Rivista degli Studi Orientali 17(1938): 439-52.
The case of Qozmos is described in I. Wajnberg, "Das Leben des HI.
Jafqerana 'Egzi'," Orientalia Christiana Analecta 106(1936): 50-59;
Carlo Conti Rossini, "Appunti di storia e letteratura Falascia,"
Rivista degli Studi Orientali 7(1920): 567-77. An anonymous
renegade is described by Getatchew Haile, "The End of a Deserter of
the Established Church of Etlhiopia" in Gideon Goldenberg, ed.,
Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference, Tel-Aviv, 1980
(Rotterdam, 1986), 193-203.
28. Interviews with qes Yeshaq Iyyasu, 15 December 1975; with
qes Yeheyyes Madhane and ato Yalaw Siyamer, 27 October 1975; and
with qes Menase Zammaru, 13 Ocotber 1975.
29. Ibid. For the spelling of Sabra see my article cited in the
following footnote. 30. For a translation of the texts of these
traditions see James Quirin, "The Beta 'Esra'el
(Falasha) and ayhud in Fifteenth-century Ethiopia: Oral and
Written Traditions," Northeast African Studies 10(1988):
89-104.
31. Wolf Leslau, ed. "Taanmrat Emmanuel's Notes of Falasha Monks
and Holy Places" in Salo Wittmayer Barron Jubilee Volume, American
Academy for Jewish Research (Jerusalem, 1975), 626-627, 630.
32. Antoine d'Abbadie, "Journal et melanges," 464, 473; idem.,
"Reponses des Falasha dits juifs d'Abyssinie aux questions faite
par M. Luzzatto," Archives Israelites 12(1851): 180-81; idem.,
"Extrait d'une lettre de M. Antoine d'Abbadie sur les Falacha ou
Juifs d'Abyssinie," Bulletin de la socited de geographie,
3/4(1845): 49.
33. A.Z. Aescoly, ed., Receuil de textes Falachas. Travaux et
memoires de l'institut d'Ethnologie, 55(Paris, 1951): 201; J.
Hal6vy, "Nouvelles pribres des Falachas," Revue snmitique
-
ORAL TRADITIONS AND THE BETA ISRAEL 311
19(1911): 99 (text), 103 (text), 351 (translation), 356
(translation); idem., Te'ezaza Sanbat (Commandements du Sabbat)
(Paris, 1902), 108 (text), 220 (trans.).
34. On literature see Ibid. and Wolf Leslau, Falasha Anthology
(New Haven, 1952). On the liturgy and speculations on their origins
see especially: Kay Shelemay, Music, Ritual, and Falasha History
(East Lansing, 1986); idem., "A Comparative Study: Jewish
Liturgical Forms in the Falasha Liturgy?" Yuval. Studies of the
Jewish Music Research Centre 5(1986): 372-404; idem., "'Historical
Ethnomusicology': Reconstructing Falasha Liturgical History,"
Ethnomusicology 24(1980): 246-47. See also Veronika Krempel, "Die
soziale und wirtschaftliche Stellung der Falascha in der
christlich-amharischen Gesellschaft von Nordwest-Athiopien" (PhD,,
Free University of Berlin, 1972), 252-67; Taddesse Tamrat, "The
Sheba Legend and the Falasha: Problems of Ethiopian
Historiography," lecture presented to African Studies Program,
University of Illinois, 11 February 1986.
35. Wajnberg, "Leben," 50-59; Conti Rossini, "Appunti," 567-77.
36. Getatchew Haile, "End of a Deserter;" Quirin, "Beta 'Esra'el"
37. Conti Rossini, "Appunti," 579. 38. A tradition may represent
true historical processes, even if the specific events or
individuals depicted cannot be otherwise verified: Randall
Packard, "The Study of Historical Process in African Traditions of
Genesis: The Bashu Myth of Muhiyi," in African Past Speaks,
167-74.
39. Richard Pankhurst, "Notes for a History of Gondar," Ethiopia
Observer 12(1969): 177-227; idem., History of Ethiopian Towns
(Wiesbaden, 1982); Ghiorgis Mellessa, "Gondar Yesterday and Today,"
Ethiopia Observer 12(1969): 164-76; A recent study of the monuments
is Francis Anfray, "Les monuments Gondariens des XVIIe et XVIIIe
siecles" in Taddese Beyene, ed., Proceedings of the Eighth
International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa, 1984 (2
vols.: Addis Ababa, 1988), 1:9-45. See also my Evolution, chapter
3.
40. Conti Rossini, "I Castelli di Gondar," Bollettino della
reale societa geografica Italiana 7/4 (1939): 165-68.
41. Interviews with Gete Asrass, 3 June 1975 and 9 November
1975; Berhan Beruk, 3 July 1975 and 14 August 1975; Menase Zammaru
and Wande Iyyasu, 13 October 1975; Jammara Wande, 21 July 1975;
Garima Taffara, 4 August 1975; and Mulunah Marsha, Tafari Neguse,
and Qanu Ayyalew, 22 November 1975.
42. Interviews with Gete Asrass on 9 November 1975, Menase
Zammaru and Wande Iyyasu on 13 October 1975.
43. Ignazio Guidi, Annales Regum lyasu II et lyo'as. Corpus
Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 66(1912): 98.
44. Rest rights are inherited land-use rights passed down within
an ambilineal corporate structure: Allan Hoben, Land Tenure among
the Amhara of Ethiopia (Chicago, 1973). Gult rights were granted to
the local administration and entailed rights to collect tribute or
exact labor from the rest-holders on the land, but were generally
not inheritable. The answer may lie in a hybrid form known as
rest-gult which seemed to involve the best of both worlds. In
Begamder land of this type was said to have been granted to Beta
Israel artisans during the reign of Menilek II, but probably the
practice extended back to the Gondar era: Simon Messing, "The
Highland-Plateau Amhara of Ethiopia" (Ph.D., University of
Pennsylvania, 1957), 248-52. Another possibility is that rim land
granted to the Church was reallocated to those Beta Israel who
helped construct or performed other services for the Church: Donald
Crummey, "Some Precursors of Addis Ababa: Towns in Christian
Ethiopia in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries" in Ahmed
Zekaria, et al, eds., Proceedings of the Inteltational Symposium on
the Centenary of Addis Ababa, 1986 (Addis Ababa, 1987), 24.
45. The principal missionary group was the London Society for
Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews. See the account in their
publication: J.M. Flad, "Journal," Jewish Records 28- 29(1863):
13-20. Another mission was Scottish; see Staiger, "Journal," The
Home and Foreign Missionary Record of the Church of Scotland, n.s.,
2 (1863): 80-8 1. For the best brief analysis see Donald Crummey,
Priests and Politicians. Protestant and Catholic Missions in
Orthodox Ethiopia, 1830-1868 (London, 1972), 130-31.
46. The unique Falasha written chronicle was based on oral
traditions written down in the reign of Menilek II (1889-1913). It
has been translated by Wolf Leslau, "A Falasha Religious Dispute,"
Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research 16(1947):
71-95. For my
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312 JAMES QUIRIN
description of this period see Quirin, "The Process of Caste
Formation in Ethiopia: A Study of the Beta Israel (Felasha),
1270-1868," IJAHS 12(1979): 247-58.
47. Leslau, "Dispute," 81. See also interviews with Berhan
Beruk, 3 July 1975, and Ayyalegn Adgwachaw and Kebrate Samu'el, 26
October 1975.
48. Interview with Menase Zammnaru on 15 October 1975. 49.
Ibid.; Leslau, "Dispute," 81. 50. Flad, "Journal," 13; idem.,
"Twelve Years in Abyssinia," Jewish Intelligence 9(1869):
244-45. 51. Interview with Gete Asrass, 11 June 1975. 52. Other
versions of this tradition agree it had a positive ending for the
Falasha:
Interviews with Mammo Sagga Amlak, Ya'eqob Balay, and Mulu
Mammo, 24 June 1975; Berhan Beruk, 3 July 1975; Ayyalegn Adgwachaw
and Kebrate Samu'el, 26 October 1975; and Webe Akala, 27 December
1975.
53. Perruchon, Chronique 54. William E. Conzelman, Chronique de
Galawdewos (Claudius), roi d'Ethiopie (Paris,
1895). See also the comments of James McCann, "The Ethiopian
Chronicles as Documentary Tradition: Description and Methodology"
in Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference, 387-96;
idem., "The Ethiopian Chronicles: An African Documentary
Tradition," Northeast African Studies, 1/2 (1979): 47-61.
55. Ahmed ben 'Abd el-Qader (Arab Faqih), Chihab Ed-Din,
Histoire; Miguel de Castanhoso, The Portuguese Expedition to
Abyssinia, 1541-1543, trans. and ed. R.S. Whiteway (London,
1902).
56. See the comments by Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State, 1-4.
57. A useful, but by no means complete, list of hagiographies
giving the various
manuscripts known-and which sometimes contain important
variations-is Kenefe-Rigb Zelleke, "Bibliography of the Ethiopic
Hagiographical Traditions," Journal of Ethiopian Studies 13/2 (July
1975): 57-102.
58. For example, the original Gadl of Zena Marqos, who lived in
the fourteenth century was lost and was written down from memory
more than two hundred years later by monks in the monastery he
founded: Enrico Cerulli, "Gli Atti di Zena Marqos, Monaco Ethiope
del sec. XIV," Studi e Testi 219(1962): 211-12. The two main
versions of the life of Takla Haymanot, one of the great saints of
thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Ethiopia, were written down only
in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries: G.W.B. Huntingford, "The
Lives of St. Takla Haymanot," Journal of Ethiopian Studies, 4/2
(July 1966): 35.
59. See note 6 for references, especially to the work of Steven
Kaplan.
Article Contentsp. [297]p. 298p. 299p. 300p. 301p. 302p. 303p.
304p. 305p. 306p. 307p. 308p. 309p. 310p. 311p. 312
Issue Table of ContentsHistory in Africa, Vol. 20 (1993), pp.
1-427Front MatterThe Documentation of Ilorin by Samuel Ojo Bada
[pp. 1-13]Reflections on the Genesis of Anglophone African History
after World War II [pp. 15-26]Christianisation et mentalites au
Burundi: Innovations et permanences des comportements
socio-culturels en milieu rural [pp. 27-42]Pease Porridge in a Pot:
"The Social Basis of Health and Healing in Africa" [pp. 43-51]On
Editing Barbot [pp. 53-59]Sierra Leone and the Grand Duke of
Tuscany [pp. 61-69]The Stone Sculptures of the Upper Guinea Coast
[pp. 71-87]The Earliest Generation of Missionary Photographers in
West Africa and the Portrayal of Indigenous People and Culture [pp.
89-118]Deng Laka and Mut Roal: Fixing the Date of an Unknown Battle
[pp. 119-128]Studies and Comments on Ancient Egyptian Biological
Relationships [pp. 129-154]Religious and Colonial Realities:
Cartography of the Finnish Mission in Ovamboland, Namibia [pp.
155-171]The Royal African Company of England's West African
Correspondence, 1681-1699 [pp. 173-184]Problems in Kalahari
Historical Ethnography and the Tolerance of Error [pp. 185-235]The
University of Zambia's Institute for African Studies and Social
Science Research in Central Africa, 1938-1988 [pp. 237-248]Oral
Traditions and the Political History of Oka-Akoko [pp.
249-262]Reflections on Historiography and Pre-Nineteenth-Century
History from the Pate "Chronicles" [pp. 263-296]Oral Traditions as
Historical Sources in Ethiopia: The Case of the Beta Israel
(Falasha) [pp. 297-312]Erieza Kintu's "Sulutani Anatoloka": A
Nineteenth-Century Historical Memoir from Buganda [pp. 313-319]The
Memory of Maqoma: An Assessment of Jingqi Oral Tradition in Ciskei
and Transkei [pp. 321-335]Unesco and African Historiography [pp.
337-352]Feedback as a "Problem" in Oral History: An Example from
Bonde [pp. 353-360]Judicial and Legal Records in the National
Archives of Ghana/Accra: An Introduction for Users [pp.
361-367]Archival Research in Guinea-Conakry [pp. 369-378]Archival
Documents on Upper Volta: Here, There, and Everywhere [pp.
379-384]Saving Francophone Africa's Statistical past [pp.
385-390]The Nigerian Records Survey Remembered [pp. 391-394]The
Nigerian National Archives, Kaduna: An Introduction for Users and a
Summary of Holdings [pp. 395-407]Resources at the Institute for
Contemporary History, University of the Orange Free State [pp.
409-411]Translating the Emperor's Words: Volume II of Haile
Sellassie's "My Life and Ethiopia's Progress" [pp. 413-420]Using
the White Fathers Archive: An Update [pp. 421-422]Le microfilmage
des Archives Aequatoria [pp. 423-427]Back Matter