They are undistinguished by their dress, and the visitor would not be able to differentiate an Ethiopian Jew from his fellow countryman any more than he could readily recognise a European Jew in the streets of Europe or America, unless it be for that slightly apologetic mien worn the world over by persecuted minorities which it takes several generations of freedom to lose. They grow the same crops, raise the same cattle and farm the land in the same way as their neighbours. An important difference is that in addition to being cultivators they are also artisans. They work as blacksmiths, weavers and tanners, while the women are the potters and basket-makers for the district and sometimes travel considerable distances to sell their wares. They used to be stonemasons but with the· general decline of the country the craft has largely fallen into disuse and today masons are hard to find. It is said by the villagers of Aba Entonis and Tedda that as a reward for their work as craftsmen in building the castles and churches in neighbouring Gondar, two hundred and fifty years ago, King Fasilidas gave them land some of which they still own.

The smiths journey from village to village making ploughshares and other simple implements for the farmers, and the Falasha women may be seen in many a market selling their pots and pitchers and gaily coloured basket-ware. But there is a penalty attached to the pursuit of these handicrafts. The proud Amharas, the Christian ruling caste, like the Arabs on the other side of the Red Sea, hold handiwork and craftsmen in contempt. They associate the blacksmith, in particular, with the evil eye and regard his products as the work of the devil. The new regime is attempting to eradicate these traditional superstitions and, at a recent government-sponsored exhibition in Gondar, a sign was erected by the Falasha exhibitors reading (in translation): 'There is no despised or unworthy craft and we are proud of our calling.' In recent years factory-manufactured metalwork and utensils have tended to displace the village-made articles, thus producing additional economic hardship for the villagers.

Living cheek by jowl with their neighbours in the predominantly Christian areas of the country, the Falashas are tolerated but unloved. Their groups of mostly round, thatched dwellings are separated from the other huts but share a common village with the Christians something like the ghettos of