The Falashas: The Forgotten Jews of Ethiopia, by David Kessler

Today's date is: 5/12/2025
HOME | Cover Page | Contents | Introduction 1| Strangers in the Midst 9 | Legend and History 24| Judaism, Christianity and Islam 58 | The Middle Ages 74 | Resistance and Defeat 94 | Missions and Missionaries 106 | Jacques Faitlovitch 130 | The Struggle for Recognition 147| Postscript 170 | Select Bibliography | Images | Index |


1 Records Found. Displaying page 1 of 1:

1
127
entitled Excursion chez les Falasha, en Abyssinie, which aroused so much interest that he was promptly asked by the Academic des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres to undertake a mission to south-west Arabia to investigate the remains of the ancient civilisations in that region. He accepted the invitation and in 1870 accomplished an extensive and hazardous tour in the Yemen, disguised as a Jerusalem rabbi collecting alms for the poor, and brought back an invaluable collection of inscriptions. His reputation as a Semitist was established but the projected mission to the Jews of China - which failed to kindle the enthusiasm of the Alliance Israelite while it engaged the interest of the English Chief Rabbi Nathan Adler - went into limbo. His interest in and sympathy for the Falashas, however, did not wane. Although he did not return to Abyssinia he made an important contribution to Falasha studies by translating and editing some of their writings, including Falasha prayers in 1877, Te'ezaza Sanbat or Commandments of the Sabbath in 1902, and also the royal chronicle of the war of Sarsa-Dengel against the Falashas, which he published, in 1907, in the original Amharic text together with translations in French and Hebrew. In 1877 the Society of Hebrew Literature of London published his Travels in Abyssinia, a slim volume translated by James Picciotto, based on notes of his journey.

In contrast to Luzzatto, who saw the origin of the Falashas in the Jewish settlements of ancient Egypt, Halevy considered that Judaism was introduced into Ethiopia by the Himyarites of the Yemen. He thought that Jewish captives brought to Ethiopia after the defeat of Dhu Nuwas (in AD 525) had converted some of the Agau tribes among whom they settled. This theory, however, is scarcely tenable for a variety of reasons, which have already been explained, (1) and, in particular, because it brings the introduction of Judaism into Ethiopia to a date long after it is known to have existed there.

By the time that Halevy returned to Paris in 1868 the Abyssinian war was over. Emperor Theodore had committed suicide after his defeat at Magdala, the captives had been released and the army had returned, or was on its way, to its barracks in India and Britain. The British army's withdrawal immediately its mission was achieved came as a surprise to some who regarded the operation as an imperialist adventure but it had been part of the original plan, for occupation of the country had not been seriously envisaged. The war had not been particularly popular but, allowing for the normal number of military muddles, it was executed with skill

(1) See above, p. 63.


1