The story begins with the Queen of Sheba, who according to Ethiopian legend slept with King Solomon and became the mother of Menelik, founder of the Abyssinian royal line. Using historical evidence, Mr. Kessler demonstrates that, instead of bringing her to Solomon, the Queen of Sheba's famous journey was probably made over two hundred years later. He shows that there were Jews in what was known as Ethiopia even before the destruction of the first Temple by Nebuchadnezzar; describes the rites practised at the Jewish temple of Elephantine on the Nubian frontier in the fifth century BC - which compares interestingly with those of the Falashas today; explains the remarkable influence exerted by Jewish practices on the Ethiopian Church; and tells of the Falashas' fight for independence against the Christian Amhara kings, of their heroism reminiscent of Masada and of their final defeat in the seventeenth century

From that moment on the plight of the Falashas became increasingly desperate. 'Discovered' by the Scottish traveller James Bruce of Kinnaird in the eighteenth century, they were harassed by Protestant missionaries - some of whom were imprisoned by the Emperor Theodore, then released by a British military expedition under General Sir Robert Napier in 1868. Forgotten by the Jews of the world, they found a champion in the young scholar Filosenno Luzzatto, then their cause was taken up by Josep halevy and his pupil at the Sorbonne Jacques Faitlovitch in the early years of this (20th) century. Since the 1960s fresh efforts have been made to help the Falashas, most recently by the World ORT Union. But it was not until 1973 that the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel declared unequivocally that they were Jews - something that had often been disputed in the past - and made an urgent plea for help in saving them from extinction.

ISBN 0-8419-0791-9