AIrTNILES o'EIHIoPIE

ffu+ff,g qoolq o"trlu*

n" 28

Ann6e 2013

Centre Frangais des Etudes Ethiopiennes

Editions de Boccard

SorvrMnrnr / Corurerurs

Dosslrn - ( Pouvoln er nepREsENTATtoNs : Tnrnnl MAr*nruHen,nERrnen ou rROue >

G iu l i a Bonacc il n t roduc t i on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Hanna RubinkowskaA New Structure of Power: The Message revealed by the Coronationof Zawdi tu (1917) . . . . . . . , . .1 .9

lzabela OrlowskaFea.sting and Political Change: Tafari's Ascent to Power and Early20" century geber . . . . . . . . .45

Bor is MoninLe voyage du ras Tafari en Europe (1-924) : entre espoirsd' inddpendance et r6ali t6s coloniales... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

Wolber t G.C, SmidtA Failed State Visit: lefters of Rds Tafari and His Envoy to theGerman Government in 1924 ,., . . . . . . I I7

Bor is AdjemianRdsTafari dans la m6moire de l'immiaration arm1nienne en Ethiooie,,.,1,33

Giu l ia BonacciL'irr6sistible ascension du ras Tafari dans les imaqinaires noirs . .. .... ....... 1,57

Este l le SohierAddis-Abeba et le couronnement de Hdyla Se/idse. Mise en scdned'une v i l le , rd invent ion d 'une c6r6monie. . , , . , . . , . . . . , . , , , , , . . , , , . . . . .177

St6phane Ancel & Wolber t G,C. SmidtLegitimization of a Pretender to the Throne: A Short Amharic-FrenchBiography of Hayla 5e//5se I Published in 1930 ... . . . . , , . . . . . . . . . . .203

VAR|A / MtscrluNEous

Jean-Franqois Fau'Les iuifs du littora! de Ia corne de l'Afrique au croisement des

24rsouices Utu -xtt" slec/es)

Frangois Bon, Asamerew Dessie, Laurent Bruxelles, Axel Daussy, Katja

oour'. , Frangois-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar, Lamya Khalidi, Jos6phine Lesur,

c l6ment M6nard, Ofer Marder , Romain Mensan, Gui l laume saint -SeverArchlologie pr'historique de ta partie centrale du Main EthiopianRift ; con-trlb ution d t'1itabtissement de Ia s6quence Late Stone Aged'Afr ique or ienta le. . . . . " " " " " " " " " " "26I

St6phanie Weisser & Francis Falcetotnvestigating qanat in Amhara secular music: an acoustic and historicals tudy . . , . . . . , . " " " " " " " " " ' 299

Chr is t ian BaderlJn isalat surmique au Soudan du Sud : lesTennet """"""" '323

Fesseha BerheYouths on Perilous Journeys: lrregular Migrants from Tagray,Northern Ethiopia, to the Guli Region """""""" '345

Emmanuel Fr i tschTurning Everyday to Aksum Seyon lJnaware: King Zar'a Ya'eqob'sKehedita Sa'tan identif ied in the f irst prayer of the day """"""" """"" '363

Conapres-nENDUs DE LEcruRE / Rrvlews

Thomas OsmondIJIrich Braukdmper, A History of the Hadiyya in southern _Ethiopia,2072, Wiesbad'en, Harrassowitz verlag, Aethiopistische Forschun-gen 77 " " " ' 375

Thomas OsmondDirk Bustorf, Lebendige tJbertieferung. Geschichte und Erinnerung dermuslimischen Silt'e [thiopiens, 2017, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag,Aethiopist ische Forschungen 74 "". ' """"""""" '378

Snonr vERsroNs

Bor is MoninThe Visit of Ras Tafari in Europe (1924): between Hopes of Indepen-dence and Colonia l Real i t ies . . . . . . . . . . .383

Bor is AdjemianRasTafari in the memory of Armenian immigration to Ethiopia .. . . . . . . . . . . . .39L

Giu l ia BonacciThe Irresist ible Ascent of RasTafari in the Black lmaoination ... . . . . . . . . . . . . .395

Estel le SohierThe coronation of Hayla Selllse in Addis Ababa: Staging of a city,re invent ion of a ceremonv. . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . .399

Jean-Frangois FauJew.ish communities on the coast of the Horn of Africa (6'n-72tn centuries): An intersection of sources.. .......403

Franqois Bon, Asamerew Dessie, Laurent Bruxelles, Axel Daussy, KatjaDouze, Franqois-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar, Lamya Khalidi, Jos6phine Lesur,Cl6ment M6nard, Ofer Marder , Romain Mensan, Gui l laume Saint -SeverPrehistory of the Central Main Ethiopian Rift (Ziway-Shala basin):Establishing the Late Stone Age sequence in Eastern Africa ................... 405

Chr is t ian BaderAn isolated surmic group in South Sudan: the Tennet. ....,.,..409

Turning Everyday to Aksum geyon Unaware:Ktng Zar' a Ya o eq o b's Keh ed ata S ayy dn i d e ntif i ed

in the first prayer of the day

Emmanuel Fritsch*

Every practicing Orthodox Christ ian of Eritrea or Ethiopia begins his day,and indeed every cleric starts the l i turgical services, by recit ing thefo l lowing:

fihaD h'fi a@dE aoDT&il +&n h/r4. hf Aht: n+.en+ p^lL }.?nhhco? @h+o"ao? hhar.sh igott fiilKo" 4+ hrg +.en+ t+ ncn+92h7+ 9?r+ i.9"b9 -|CSY tW hqhoo 9-trPt t

In the name o f the Father , the Son and the Ho ly Sp i r i t , One God.As I bel ieve and take refuge in the Holy Tr ini ty, I reject you, Satan,as I stand before this my mother the holy church which is my wit-ness, Mary Zion (Maryam Seyon) forever.

The prayer cont inues on w i th a thanksg iv ing wh ich in t roduces the "Our

Father " : We g ive you thanks . . . '

The cur ious th ing is , the pub l ished Amhar ic vers ion wh ich occup ies ther ight column of the bi l ingual edi t ion of the l i turgical Psalter ( the Ddyyif ,f rom the name of the king of lsrael who is tradi t ional ly regarded as theauthor o f the "Psa lms o f Dav id" ) d i f fe rs f rom the Eno l ish t rans la t ion above.I t reads:

h?E hf4h nft nh'n n@r\.g ooo?t-tr +,%n nf' 0+.en+ p46hfo"TIYq h?+-lo?tb m4'b igQ77

* Chercheur associ6 au Centre Franqais des Etudes Ethiopiennes.t The ful l text ist We give you thanks, O Lord, and glori fy you; we bless you, O Lord, and putour trust in you; we pay homage to you, O Lord, and serve your holy name, We bow downbefore you for every knee bows down before you and every tongue praises you. You are theGod of gods, the Lord of lords and the King of kings, the God of al l f lesh and of each soul. Weinvoke you in the way your holy Son taught us when he said: "As for you, when you pray, sayl i ke th is : Our Fa ther . . . "

Annales d'Ethiopie, 2013, 28, 363-37 2 ?A?

Emmanuel Fritsch

nfl.T nac+ nG+ hcntfT t+ &q hh.qv^*: htLug- rnha qcfcpq+i o'i-Ur c..r o@&fTo-f ihr }.L? hrq o"m't-g h.qc?hhrtFv|rth: :2

In the name of the Father , the Son and the Holy Spi r i t . As I be-l ieve and take refuge in the Holy Trinity, I reject you, Satan, myenemy, as I stand before my mother the church, Of this Mary is mywitness. I reject you, having made of her (Mary) my fortress in thiswor ld and in the wor ld to come. Amen.

This Amharic translation shows what people understand even when theyrecite the Ge'ez text. Yet, common as they are, these few l ines - hereafterthe "Pre lude" ( to the In i t ia l Prayers of the Div ine Of f ice) - mer i t d iscuss ionbecause their actual content has been overlooked, We shall dwell f irst onthe terms Church, Mary and Zion, then move on to the rejection of Satan.

What is in the Terms of Church, Mary and Zion?

Whereas Zion is oart of the Ge'ez text and whereas the Christ ians ofEth iop ia normal ly s imply equate Mary the Mother of God wi th Z ion, theAmhar ic vers ion t rans lates that name: "Of th is Mary is my wi tness. . . hav ingmade of her (Mary) my fortress..."

This is the case of a translation which includes an explanation, a tar-gum, which is not a rare th ing in i tse l f . ' But in the Ge'ez, Z ion is a propername, not a descr ip t ion, and i t s imply is an apposi t ion to Mary.

What is then the relationship of zdtt i beta krestiyan, ' this church', withMary (of) Zion? The sentence reads: {l*.q"c'" rt'h hf"f +.q'lr+ ft* hcn'b"r? h?+Sh.* fr9'rlf qcff fi'{&'}:: ba-qedma zatti emme-ya qeddest bdtakrestiyan enta ye'eti sem'e-ya MEryam $eyon.lt contains one demonstra-t ive pronoun, zatt i , which points to ' this' church. Then comes the relativepronoun enfa, which fol lows 'church' and refers to i t . Enta is in turn thesubject of the copula ye'eti , which makes of sem'e-ya, 'witness', theat t r ibute of bdta krest iyan, 'church ' . F ina l ly , Maryam and Seyon aretogether apposit ions ol sem'e-ya. This reads: ".. . in front of this my motherthe church which is my wi tness, Mary Z ion" .

2 Patr iarchate, 1984 E.C./1992 G.C. : 308. Another version by the noted private publ isher ofl i turgical and rel igious works, the late Tasfd Gabra Selldse, reads: h?,T hf l '4h nrl nh'{ l f i@c\.enffiTLh +&d nC" ?&a r\F hftC tr4,'e nlrh n?'ft'l).} a?.f np4tuhs@?rvc hg+o107tt m^'b h?.n77hh.tvnr nruT nhr+ nnt hch+fz d,+ *q hhrvttht hrlus" s"hh/- qcfr $+t nrLuf r,l.rndi4-ffoyr" ltr hL7 htpq @m.r-g hkcx hhuk'thr' ' Tasfd Gabra Sellds6, 1991 E.C./1999G,C. These two Amharic versions dif fer only in what regards the interesting phrasing on thef o ly Tr in i ty , wh ich does no t concern us here .'There are two types of targ'em in the Ethiopian l i turgical books: the natal l i targ*em, orsimple translat ion, and the anderntd commentary targ*em. The former is under discussionhere. Another example of i t is at Mass the response of people during the narrat ive of theEuchar is t i c ins t i tu t ion .

JOr+

j

Turning Everyday to Aksum $eyon Unaware

The terms of church, Mary and Zion are therefore al l one reali ty: aspecif ic church which is both mother of the praying person (emme-ya,'mymother') and witness (sem'e-ya,'my witness') to his/her confession of theTr iune God and re ject ion of Satan. This church is named: Maryam geyon,'Mary Z ion ' . There is no other p lace but . in Aksum where a church ca l ledMaryam $eyon and mother can be found."

Echoing the l i turg ica l and grammat ica l facts above, the so-cal ledMashafa Aksum contains several references to the main church of Aksum.ln fact, the f irst l ine of the f irst document names her ernmena Sevongabaza Aksum, 'our mother Z ion, pa l lad ium (guard ian) of Aksum' ,s fur fherdown, we f ind Zar'a Y6'eqob's (b. 1399, r. 1434-L468) donations N" L3 and16, in which the same phraseology appears in order t_o ment ion the"cathedra l "o of Aksum: emmena Seyon, 'our mother Z ion ' , ' Th is phrase isused again by la ter k ings l ike Sarda Dengel (ca. 1550-r . 1563-1597) . "

"Our Mother Zion"

The phrase emmena $eyon, 'our mother Z ion ' , is a quotat ion of Psalm 86(Heb. B7): 5 which reads: hrl t?7 p'0t\ n'flh @'{lh{L +@a\.( 0@at+y'obh+ c.o-c. -t / .&t r 'People say "our mother Zion"l And a man was bornins ide her and the Most High establ ished her h imsel f ' . l t re fers to the h i l lnext to Jerusalem where the c i tadel o f David and the Upper Room whereJesus Christ insti tuted the Eucharist are found. Apart from the "Prelude"under s tudy, the Eth iop ian l i turgy names Zion in a few s ign i f icant instanceslike the feast of Zion on l; ledar 21.

The phrase emmena Seyon was well known at the t ime of Zar'a Ya'eqobwhom we quoted above f rom land donat ions. But s ince when might AksumSeyon be the name of the gabaz of Aksum? Stuart Munro-Hay stated:

4 Consulted about this text, Mat'aka mehrat Alamnaw Azzana, a knowledgeable Orthodoxcleric, confessed never to have questioned this familiar text before but "there can be nodoubt, he said, that this can only be a reference to the church of Aksum, Mary Zion."'Cont i Rossin i , 'L962:3 (French: Cont i Rossin i , '1961: 3) . The L lber Axumae is an ar t i f ic ia lcreation, the actual condition of which is being sorted out by Anais Wion's current research:Wion, 2009: 135; Wion, ( to be publ ished). According to the la t ter , th is descr ipt ion of thechurch l ikely precedes the destruction of Aksum and its church at the hand of Ahmad b.lbrahim al-GazT, nicknamed Grafr.6 The term 'cathedral' was first used by Carlo Conti-Rossini from the first sentence of histranslation and on in order to translate gabaz. fhe term is documented earlier in KingLal ibala 's note in the Gospels of the church of Beta Madlrane'd lam at Lal ibala (EMML 6907,f.20Bv) where gabaz points to the church of Madlranina (Derat, 2010: 23). However,'cathedral' is not a direct equivalent but a convenient bridge between the European andEthiooian cul tura l wor lds.7 Conti Rossini,2Lg62i 24-25 (French: Conti Rossini, 21961: 2l-2il. fhe Chronicle of Zar'aYd'eqob mentions Aksum once using the name Seyon when it is said that after his royalanointing Zar'a Yd'eqob ordered the remains of his father King Dawit to be taken out of Zion(Pe r ruchon , 1893 : B3 ) .8 Con t i Ross in i , ' 1962 ,12 .

,rrll-'r'

365

Emmanuel Fritsch

"Dedication to Maryam Seyon is unconfirmed in Aksumite documentation.It is only attested in i ts complete form in a later copy of a land grant of aseZdr 'a Ya 'eqob" . ' Th is author over looked one source f rom King Lal iba le,namely the l ist of off icials in Donation 6 of the Gospels of Dabra Libdnos ofAham, in which the fol lowing name is found: +i, l tYdt t?7, g+Ileht .. .qasa gabaz $eyon Yptbarak... ' . . . the priest of the Gabaz $eyon [whosename isl Yetbdrak'." This is therefore an earl ier reference identifying thefamous church of Aksum, two centuries before Zar'a Y6'eqob - and beforethe Kebra Nagait l Insofar as the donations recorded in the Mashafa Aksumare deemed authent ic , one can eygn push h igher for there are land grantsascribed to King Anbasd Wedem: " donations N" 5 made to Zion the gabazof Aksum and No 6 to our mother Zion, the gabazof Aksum.l2

However, Munro-Hay speaking of the "Dedication to Maryam Seyon"does not seem to realise that he has introduced a new term, Mary, andassociated i t w i th Z ion. This deta i l may have i ts or ig in in our "Pre lude" .

An Odd Use of the First Person, the Rejection of Satan andAuthorship

The "Prelude" reads emme-ya,'my mother' not emme-na, 'our mother'.The use of the f i rs t person s ingular is genera l ly out o f p lace in a l i turg ica ltext. In fact, i t is only the "Prelude" which is writ ten in the f irst person: l ,my. All the rest of the lengthy Init ial Prayers turn to the usual l i turgical "Wegive you thanks. . . " immediate ly af ter . This would suggest that the"Prelude" was not composed as a l i turgical prayer but most probably assometh ing personal .

Further, a glance through the f ive Books of the Ma5fiafa Berhan ( 'TheBook of the Light ') authored by King Zar'a Ya'eqob re"yeals that each oneof them begins exact ly by the "Pre lude" under s tudy,"Again, exact ly thesame words open each chapter of the Mashafa Milad ( 'The Book of theNativity') penned by the same Zar'a Ya'eqob according to the unrol l ing ofthe months! ' *

e^Munro-Hay, 2003: 183-184.' " Cont i Rossin i , 1901: 187, l ines 10-11 of the paragraph, M.-1. Derat read: " le qasa gabaz$eyon (l 'administrateur de Sion) Yetbdrak" in Derat, 2010:29,last l ine. However, since thereis no construct state in gabaz or pronoun before Seyon, the terms of gabaz and Seyon mustb_e appositions and refer to the same." On th is k ing, see Derat , 2010b: 160." Not to ment ion EI la Abreha wa-Asbehal Cont i Rossin i , 'L962:20-2I (French t r . : Cont iR o s s i n i , 2 1 9 6 1 : 2 3 ) .t3 {Ut^ &.{l dt.nA.q' .aezd.h F4.lr h,h,e, ht'{t} hdl?,. n+.gh4- l-4{L h?1, hhf"l $th4rp.10 hh.lf,hfi9"t1 ll+k@ tt+hg"g tL+ hcfi{.,r? h'ri- F,h* hr"bt {tc?tp xr"I!2 h@L'tl:See Conti Rossini, l.1964: L5 ,107; ( l t . t r . : Cont i Ross in i , 1965: 9 , 63) ; Cont i Ross in i , l l , 1965: L , 54 , 74 ; ( t t . t r . :Cont i Ross in i , 1965: 1 , 32 ,45 ] , .' - Wendt , I , L962: L , 25 , 4 I ,53 , 62 , 69 , BB; (German t r . : Wendt , 1962: 12 ,23 , 36 , 46 , 55 , 61 ,88) ; Wendt , l l , 1963: 1 , 9 , 19 , 51 , 60 , 63 , 86 ; (German t r . : Wendt , 1963: 1 , 17 , 44 ,52 ,55 , 75) .

366

'ry

Turning Everyday to Aksum Seyon Unaware

The "Prelude" looks l ike a personal prayer of King Zar'a Ya'eqob as hestates there in one sentence a tr iple leitmotiv of his, emphasized by hisusage of the f irst person.

lf we now turn to the contents of this "Prelude", i ts author f irst declareswith intensity his adhesion to the Triune God: "As I bel ieve and take refugein the Holy Trinity..." This faith statement rygy have been done in possiblereference to the Council of Dabra Metmaq." On the ground of his faith inGod, Zar'a Ya'eqob rejects Satan. The contrast adhesion/rejection evokesthe baptismal vows, both personal - in the f irst person - and solemn, forthe baptismal r i tual includes, before the immersion, a profession of faith inthe Holy Trinity and Jesus Christ. l t is done turned towards the east while,on the other hand, a rejection of Satan, of his angels and works fol lows inthe direction of the sunset. Indeed, Christ ian l iving cannot but be consis-tent with one's baptism, a point emphasized in the Book of the..Light,where the context is the struggle against "pagan" behaviours. 'o Thisbaptismal adhesion/rejection was to be material ised by the tatoos peoplewere to display on their foreheads, r ight and left hands with the fol lowingwords being inscribed: Za-Ab wa-Wald wa-Manfas Qeddus, "Of the Father,the Son and the Holy Spirit"; Kehedekewwo la-diyabelos ba-Krestos Amlak,"l have rejected the devil by Christ God"; Kehede[ke]wwo la-Dasak regum,ana gabra la-Maryam Emmu la-Fatdre kwellu 'alam, "l have rejected thecursed Dasak, I am the servan_t_of Mary the mother of the Creator of thewhole universe", respectively." Finally, he refers to his witness beforewhom he makes his pledge: the church of Mary of Zion, where he chose tobe anointed k ing.

The "Prelude" could possibly have been stereotyped early i f i t wasmeant not just for the sole use of the king but spread out as a means tocounter the "fears of the evi l powers of these pagan priests [, fears which]were apparently widespread even among the Christ ian clergy." 'o This is infact the picture given by the so-called Chronicle of Zar'a Yi'eqob.Le lt tellshow witch-doctors were reportedly besieging Zar'a Y6'eqob's residenceand how priests were spending day and night aspersing the place with holywater "as they were reading the Gospel and the Psalms of David as well asthe Kehedota SaytEn ('Abjuration of Satan') and the Egzi'abeher nagia

t ] Taddesse Tamrat , L912:230 n.4.' l Cont i Rossin i , 1964:20-22 ( l t . t r . : Cont i Rossin i , 1965: 12-13) .' ' Pe r ruchon , 1893 :6 .t R - , ,' " Taddesse Tamrat , I912 :235 n .2 .t ' On the Chronicle of Zar'a Ya'eqob, see Kropp, 1983-84: 51-52 and Derat, 2012.

367

Emmanuel Fritsch

( 'God re igns ' ) " .20 And th is is happening prec ise ly when one ̂par t icu lar lyprovocative action of the idolaters concerns the ri te of baptism.--

Further on, the same Chronicle of Zar'a Ya'eqob mentions, among theworks ascribed to Zar'a Ya'eqob's pen, the Tomara Tesbe'et ( 'The Tome ofthe lncarnation'), the MaShafa Berhan ( 'The Book of the Light '), theMagfiafa Milad ('The Book of the Nativity'), the Kehedata Sayfdn ('TheAbjuration of Satan'), the Mashafa Bahry ( 'The Book of Substance'), theTa'aqebo MeStir ('The Safe-keeping of the Mystery') and the Egzi'abefiernagia ( 'God reigns'). The editor of the Chronicle, Jules Perruchon, confes-sed in a note that he did not have any information on the Kehedata Saytdn('The Abjul^ation of Satan'), an ignorance which has remained the case foreveryone." In fact, the chronicle shows the Kehedota Saytan ( 'TheAbjuration of Satan') being used in a concrete scene of exorcism - asmentioned above - before i t mentions it again a l i t t le farther in the textwith the same name ol Kehedata Saylan, now l isted among the works ofZar 'a Ya 'eoob,23

Ethiopian doctors (the I iqawent) often say that King Zar'a Ya'eqobborrowed from Abba Giyorgis SaglSwi's works but this is a case whenapparently there is no such thing in Abba Giyorgis' works and there isenough rnaterial suggesting congruity with what is known of Zar'aYa'eqob.'* There is ample ground to state that the t i t le of Kehedata Sayldnis the t i t le of our "Prelude" and that Zar'aYa'eqob, who speaks in the f irstperson, is i ts author.

The Kehedata Sayf|n - we can henceforward call i t by i ts proper name -

, which comprises the profession of faith in the Holy Trinity, the rejection ofSatan and the role of the church of Aksum as witness, has actually beenadopted in the r i tua l o f the Church as the beginning of the 'Dai ly Prayers '(Sa/ot za-zawater) or ' lnit ial Prayers'. l t is placed in the l i turgical Psalter(Mazmura Dawit, l i t . the 'Psalm of David', i .e. the) prior to the Praises ofMary (Wedddsd Marydm). This probably happened quite early since we seeseveral other l i turgical init iat ives such as reforms or creations being put ontracks at that t ime, e.g. the Hours by Abba Giyorgis, the ceremonialreading of the Miracles of Mary imposed by the monarch, the Nagf of theDivine Off ice for a selection of feasts, the numerous new feasts of Mary,

20 My version of Perruchon, 1"893 : 40 {translat ion and n. 1) and 41. Egzi 'abeh€r nagla, 'Godreigns', the last i tem of the l ist, should in this context be taken as Psalm 93 (Heb. 92) ratherthan the hymnbook of the same name. Egzi'abehdr nagia is short for Egzi'abefiEr nagSa,geblat ihu /absa, 'God reigns, he robed himself in his glory' (Ps. 92[93]:1).

l l Per ruchon, 1893 :40-41 .11" )en 'a i r ien sur ce t ouvrage" , in Per ruchon, 1893:77-78 ( t rans la t ion and n . L ) ."' The difference between Kehedota Sayldn and Kehedata Sayldn can be explained (e.9.kehedota can be pronounced l ike an inf init ive, a spel l ing mistake being involved, or:manuscripts may have dif ferent readings, a frequent occurrence) and is of no consequence." I am qrateful to Abba Haqos Shifare for havinq conducted interviews for me as well asM at' a ki mefi rat Alamnaw frrana.

?AA

Turning Everyday to Aksum Seyon Unaware

Eucharist ic prayers etc. l t is al l the more possible that Zar'a Ya'eqob mayhave init iated this l i turgical novelty that the Chronicle of Zar'a Y6'eqobdescribes an actual r i tual use of i t , supposed to be frequent. l t was easy togenera l ise the pract ice.

What has Aksum to do with the Kehedata SaytEn?

As J. Perruchon sees it , the organisation of the country by the new monarchwas implemented fo l lowing h is regal anoint ing in Aks_um, and th is is whenthe v io lent campaigns against ido lat ry took p lace." Which expla ins thepar t icu lar re la t ionship Zar 'a Y6 'eqob enter ta ined wi th the church of Aksumas h is mother and h is wi tness. His leg i t imacy as k ing is drawn f rom thatplace as well as his commitment to promote Christ ianity in i ts purestpresentat ion. Which d id not prevent h im f rom in t roducing many innova-t ions, to the !r ief of conservative Stephanites, or, undisturbed, frompract ic ing polygamy! 'o For the mother church of Aksum was the focal po intto the baptism of the country as a whole, as i t were. ' ' He was to imposethe vows of baptism (the adhesion to the Holy Trinity and the abjuration ofSatan which precede the immers ion) wi th a l l poss ib le energy, perhaps a l lthe more that he was l iving in dread of being targeted by the "idolaters".

Conclus ion

There is l i t t le doubt that this daily confession of faith and abjuration wascreated by Zar'a Ya'eqob and is his hitherto unidentif ied Kehedota Saylan,'Abjuration of Satan'. l t is also clearthat the king was referring there to thechurch of Mary of Z ion of Aksum, adding in the process the name of Maryto the more ancient name of Z ion.

This is the occasion to restate how important the weight of King Zar'aY6'eqob has been on Eth iop ian l i turgy. Not on ly d id he compose l i turg ica lworks and patronised creations l ike the Book of Nag5, he also meddled inthe regulat ions on l i turg ica l mat ters l ike the anaphoras or the Hours ofAbbd Giyorgis of Sagla, he created new services l ike the Reading of theMiracles of Mary and insti tuted festivals. Al l he left behind has beenreceived and kept to this day. Almost al l of i t .

Those who repeat the Kehedata Sayldn continue to mention Zion whilereferring to Mary, no longer to the "cathedral" of Aksum which is mentio-ned. The adaptation operated in the guise of translation reflects anembarrassment. As a result, the translation makes room for any place ofworship and, separate ly , for Mary, whi le Z ion d isappeared as an ent i ty o f

- - Her rucnon. 16y5: x tx .' " Zar 'a Ya 'eqob had th ree w ives (see Taddesse Tamrat , 1972:243) .27 No al lusion to the Ark of the Covenant, or whatever i t may have been, is ever made. l fthere ever was any th ing va luab le , i t may we l l have d isappeared a t the hand o f Muhammedthe Left-handed (Gran).

Emmanuel Fritsch

its own, transformed as it is into a descript ion of Mary herself: a protectingstronghold, A serious bending of the meaning has therefore been done inorder to propose to the faithful an acceptable theological and spir i tualview. l t is a distort ion for a better good, pastoral in nature and endorsed bythe discourse of the spir i tual leaders of the community, who knowgrammatical rules very well. People may therefore be actually feel ing thatthe obsessions of Zar'a Ya'eqob need not be theirs forever, after al l ,

Acknowledgements

I wish to express part icular thanks to Anais Wion for her sharing ofdocumentation before publication and for proposing several importantimprovements to this paper. I am also grateful to Brendan Cogavin whokindly rev ised the Engl ish.

Bibl iography

Conti Rossini C. (ed.), 1901, L'Evangelo d'oro di Dabra Libanos. Rendicontidella Reale Accademia dei Lincei, ser, 5, vol. X.

Conti Rossini C. (ed.), t1909, 2L962, Documenta ad it tustrandam historiam.L Liber Axumae. Ge'ez text: CSCO 54 [SAe 24], Louvain; Conti Rossini C.( t r . ) , 11910, 2196r , csco 58 [sAe 27] , Louvain.

Conti Rossini C, (ed.), 1964, ll Libro della Luce del Negus Zar'a Ya'eqob(MaShafa Berhan), l , Text: CSCO, Vol. 250, S.Aeth, 47, Louvain; ContiRoss in i C . ( t r . ) , 1965 , V01 .251 , S .Ae th ,4B , Louva in . Con t i Ross in i C .(ed.), 1965, // Libro della Luce del Negus Zar'a Ya'eqob (MashafaBerhdn) , l l , Text : CSCO Vol . 261, S.Aeth. 51, Louvain; Cont i Rossin i C.{ t r , ) , 1965, Vo| .262, S.Aeth, 52, Louvain.

CSCO = Corpus scriptorum christianorum orientalium, Louvain.

Derat M.-1., 2010, Les donations du roi Lal ibala. Annales d'Ethiopie,25,19-42.

Derat M.-1., 2010b, The Zagwe dynasty (xr"-xlrru sidcles) and King Yemre-hanna Krestos. Annales d'Ethiopie, 25, L57 -196.

Derat M.-1. ,2012, Censure et r66cr i ture de l 'h is to i re du ro i Zar 'a Ya 'eoob(1,434-1468): analyse des deux versions de la < Chronique > d'un sou-verain ethiopien. In Les ruses de I'historien. < Essals d'Afrique etd'ailleurs en hommage it Jean Bouldgue >, Paris, Karthala.

Kropp M., 1983-84, La r66dit ion des chroniques 6thiopiennes : perspectiveset premiers r6sultats. Abbay, L2,49-72.

Munro-Hay S., 2003, Aksum geyon, in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, vol. 1:183-184.

l

370

Turning Everyday to Aksum $eyon Unaware

Patriarchate (Ten56'€ MSs6tamiya Dere$et), 1984 E.C,/1992 G.C., Ge'ez-Amharic Mazmura Dawit, Addis Ababa [ 'The Psalms of David'] .

Perruchon, J. (ed., tr.), 1893, Les Chroniques de Zar'a Y6'eqOb et de Ba'edaM6ry6m rois d'Ethiopie de 7434 it 7478,Paris.

Taddesse Tamrat, !972, Church and State in Ethiopia, Oxford.

Tasfa Gabra Sellase (ed,), 1991 E.C./1999 G.C., Ge'ez-Amharic MazmuraDawi t , Addis Ababa [ 'The Psalms of David ' ] .

Velat 8., 1966, Soma Deggua. Antiphonaire de Car€me, PatrologiaOr ienta l is , 32, I -2 .

Velat 8., 1969, $oma Deggua, Antiphonaire de Car1me, PatrologiaOr ienta l is , 32,3-4.

Wendt K., 1962, Das Mashafa Mil6d (Liber Nativitatis) und MaSllafa 5e//6s6(Liber Trinitatis) des Kaisers Zar'a Y6'qob, l, text : CSCO Vol. 221, SAe41, Louvain; Wendt K, , 1962, t r , : CSCO Yol . 222, SAe 42, Louvain;Wendt K. , 1963, l l , text : CSCO Vol . 235, SAe 43, Louvain; Wendt K. ,1963, t r , : CSCO Vol , 236, SAe 44, Louvain,

Wion A, , 2009, Le L iber Axumae selon le manuscr i t Bodle ian Bruce 93 : lep lus ancien t6moin d 'un pro jet h is tor iographique sans cesse r6act iv6.Oriens Christ ianus 93, 135-17L.

Wion A. , ( for thcoming) The Golden Gospels and Chronic le of Aksum atAksum $eyon's Church : The photographs taken by Theodor v. Lupke(1906), in /n kaiserlichem Auftrag: Die Deutsche Aksum'ExpeditionL906 unter Enno Littmann, Band 3, Verlag Lindensoft,, Steffen Wenig(ed,) , co l l , < Forschungen zur Archdologie AuBereuropdischer Kul -turen >.

2.7 4