The Falashas: The Forgotten Jews of Ethiopia, by David Kessler
Today's date is: 5/12/2025
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The Falashas: The Forgotten Jews of Ethiopia, by David Kessler
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| servant, who bore him a son called Zagwe. In due course Zagwe founded his own dynasty and his half-brother Menelik provided him with members of the bodyguard whom he had brought from Israel and they spread into the provinces of Wollo, Gojjarn and Shoa, where they became the ancestors of the Falashas. This is a variation of the Ethiopian tradition that the Agau tribe came into the country with the army of Menelik I. There are differences of opinion among the Falashas as to the number of Zagwe rulers who were Jews but there appears to be agreement among them that Judith was a Falasha. While the Zagwe revolt against Axumite rule may be interpreted as 'a reaction of the (hamitic speaking) Agau element against the dominant semitic aristocracy (1) as well as a protest against the southward pressure of the Abyssinians, it was apparently not a religious movement since some of the greatest Christian works were undertaken during the period of their rule. The Zagwe line came to an end after 135 years in 1270 when the ruling monarch, Naakuto Laab, was driven from his throne and murdered following a revolt fomented in the province of Shoa by a prince of the Amhara named Yekuno-Amlak, who claimed to belong to the legitimate Solomonic line. The old order was now resumed and with it opened a period of rapid development which was to continue for another 200 years. (2) From this point onwards historical records in the form of chronicles of the acts of the kings were kept, much like those of the Old Testament. In addition, the great epic work known as the Kebra Nagast, which had been in existence for centuries, was codified with the aim of proving the descent of the Solomonic line of kings, and it has remained in this form ever since as the official documentary evidence to support the Ethiopian succession. (3) The book's constitutional importance was very clearly demonstrated after General Napier's expedition to Abyssinia in 1867, when the British army brought back the emperor's own copy as booty. Theodore's successor, King John, was constrained to write to the British Government just before his coronation begging them to return the precious volume, 'for', he wrote, 'in my country my people will not obey my orders without it', and the Trustees of the British Museum, into whose care the book had been consigned, complied with the request. (4) The constitution of 1955, which confirmed Haile Selassie in his position as Emperor, also incorporated (1) Jones and Monroe, A History of Ethiopia, p. 48. |
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