An inevitable result of the neglect from which Falasha studies have suffered is that this forgotten tribe has been either omitted or only cursorily mentioned in most of the standard Jewish histories and texts. From the Talmud to Graetz, Dubnow or Roth, the Falashas are fortunate if they receive so much as a passing reference. Even Salo Baron's great Social and Religious History of the Jews is only slightly more generous. Nevertheless, a study of the Falashas has many lessons to teach in the fields of Jewish history and religion as well as in the phenomenon of Jewish survival.

A further consequence of the paucity of reliable material has been the appearance, in various publications and reports, particularly in the United States, of contributions which have been more remarkable for their inaccuracy and tendentiousness than for truth and objectivity. The purpose of this book will be served ifit helps to put the record straight and if it encourages future historians to assign to the Falashas the position they merit. They may not have produced a Maimonides or an Ibn Gabirol but they have placed us all in their debt by their example and their courage in testifying to the message of the Mosaic laws while withstanding for centuries the forces of intolerance and prejudice. Such a people have earned the right to survive not as an ecologist's exhibit in a museum but because the world would be a poorer place without them.

A word is necessary about spelling. I have tried to be consistent in the transcription of foreign names and have relied as far as possible on the experts. Since they frequently differ I have, when in doubt, chosen the spelling which will be most easily understood as, for example, Theodore, not Tewodorus, or Theodorus, Axum not Aksum, Tigrai not Tigre, Semien, not Simien etc.

The biblical quotations have been taken from the Revised Version. Page references to Bruce's Travels are to the first edition (Edinburgh, 1790). I make no apology for the inclusion of footnotes on a fairly generous scale as I believe that they serve a useful purpose in assisting those readers who wish either to check my statements or to enlarge their own knowledge.

Any work such as this, which aims to present for the first time in outline the consecutive story of Ethiopian Judaism from the earliest times to today, must inevitably depend heavily on existing published material. Unhesitatingly, I acknowledge my debt to