HISTORY OF ETHIOPIAN CHURCH PRESENCE IN JERUSALEM
Tadias Magazine
August 16th, 2008
NY
New York (Tadias) – The following piece first appeared in the context
of the July 2002 brawl that erupted on the roof of Christianity’s
most holy place between Ethiopian and Egyptian monks.
"Eleven monks were treated in hospital after a fight broke out for
control of the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem,
the traditional site of Jesus’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection",
wrote Alan Philps, a Jerusalem based reporter for the Daily Telegraph.
"The fracas involved monks from the Ethiopian Orthodox church and
the Coptic church of Egypt, who have been vying for control of the
rooftop for centuries."
As part of our Ethiopian Millennium series on the relationship
between Ethiopia and the African Diaspora, we have selected part
of the original article from our archives with a hope that it may
generate a healthy discussion on the subject.
Deir Sultan, Ethiopia and the Black World By NEGUSSAY AYELE
Above: Main entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (27/03/2005),
Easter Sunday. This image is licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution.
Unknown by much of the world, monks and nuns of the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church, have for centuries quietly maintained the only presence by
black people in one of Christianity’s holiest sites–the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.
Through the vagaries and vicissitudes of millennial history and
landlord changes in Jerusalem and the Middle East region, Ethiopian
monks have retained their monastic convent in what has come to be
known as Deir Sultan or the Monastery of the Sultan for more than a
thousand years.
Likewise, others that have their respective presences in the area
at different periods include Armenian, Russian, Syrian, Egyptian and
Greek Orthodox/Coptic Churches as well as the Holy See.
As one writer put it recently, "For more than 1500 years, the Church
of Ethiopia survived in Jerusalem. Its survival has not, in the last
resort, been dependent on politics, but on the faith of individual
monks that we should look for the vindication of the Church’s presence
in Jerusalem…. They are attracted in Jerusalem not by a hope for
material gain or comfort, but by faith."
It is hoped that public discussion on this all-important subject will
be joined by individuals and groups from all over the world. We hope
that others with more detailed and/or first hand knowledge about the
subject will join in the discussion.
Above: Painting on the wall of the Ethiopian part of the church of
the Holy Sepulcher. Photo by Iweze Davidson.
Accounts of Ethiopian presence in Jerusalem invoke the Bible to
establish the origin of Ethiopian presence in Jerusalem.
Accordingly, some Ethiopians refer to the story of the encounter in
Jerusalem between Queen of Sheba-believed to have been a ruler in
Ethiopia and environs-and King Solomon, cited, for instance, in I
Kings 10: 1-13.
According to this version, Ethiopia’s presence in the region was
already established about 1000 B.C. possibly through land grant to
the visiting Queen, and that later transformation into Ethiopian
Orthodox Christian monastery is an extension of that same property.
Others refer to the New Testament account of Acts 8: 26-40 which
relates the conversion to Christianity of the envoy of Ethiopia’s
Queen Candace (Hendeke) to Jerusalem in the first century A.D., thereby
signaling the early phase of Ethiopia’s adoption of Christianity. This
event may have led to the probable establishment of a center of
worship in Jerusalem for Ethiopian pilgrims, priests, monks and nuns.
Keeping these renditions as a backdrop, what can be said for certain
is the following: Ethiopian monastic activities in Jerusalem were
observed and reported by contemporary residents and sojourners during
the early years of the Christian era.
By the time of the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem and the region
(634-644 A.D.) khalif Omar is said to have confirmed Ethiopian
physical presence in Jerusalem’s Christian holy places, including
the Church of St. Helena, which encompasses the Holy Sepulchre of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
His firman or directive of 636 declared "the Iberian and Abyssinian
communities remain there" while also recognizing the rights of other
Christian communities to make pilgrimages in the Christian holy places
of Jerusalem.
Because Jerusalem and the region around it, has been subjected to
frequent invasions and changing landlords, stakes in the holy places
were often part of the political whims of respective powers that be.
Subsequently, upon their conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, the Crusaders
had kicked out Orthodox/Coptic monks from the monasteries and
installed Augustine monks instead. However, when in 1187 Salaheddin
wrested Jerusalem from the Crusaders, he restored the presence of
the Ethiopian and other Orthodox/Coptic monks in the holy places.
When political powers were not playing havoc with their claims to
the holy places, the different Christian sects would often carry
on their own internecine conflicts among themselves, at times with
violent results.
Contemporary records and reports indicate that the Ethiopian presence
in the holy places in Jerusalem was rather much more substantial
throughout much of the period up to the 18th and 19th centuries.
For example, an Italian pilgrim, Barbore Morsini, is cited as
having written in 1614 that "the Chapels of St. Mary of Golgotha
and of St. Paul…the grotto of David on Mount Sion and an altar at
Bethlehem…" among others were in the possession of the Ethiopians.
>From the 16th to the middle of the 19th centuries, virtually the whole
of the Middle East was under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. When
one of the Zagwe kings in Ethiopia, King Lalibela (1190-1225), had
trouble maintaining unhampered contacts with the monks in Jerusalem,
he decided to build a new Jerusalem in his land. In the process
he left behind one of the true architectural wonders known as the
Rock-hewn Churches of Lalibela.
Above: Lalibela. This image is licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution.
Above: Lalibela. This image is licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution.
Above: Lalibela. This image is licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution.
The Ottomans also controlled Egypt and much of the Red Sea littoral
and thereby circumscribed Christian Ethiopia’s communication with
the outside world, including Jerusalem.
Besides, they had also tried but failed to subdue Ethiopia
altogether. Though Ethiopia’s independent existence was continuously
under duress not only from the Ottomans but also their colonial
surrogate, Egypt as well as from the dervishes in the Sudan, the
Ethiopian monastery somehow survived during this period. Whenever
they could, Ethiopian rulers and other personages as well as church
establishments sent subsidies and even bought plots of land where
in time churches and residential buildings for Ethiopian pilgrims
were built in and around Jerusalem. Church leaders in Jerusalem often
represented the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in ecumenical councils and
meetings in Florence and other fora.
During the 16th and 17th centuries the Ottoman rulers of the region
including Palestine and, of course, Jerusalem, tried to stabilize the
continuing clamor and bickering among the Christian sects claiming
sites in the Christian holy places. To that effect, Ottoman rulers
including Sultan Selim I (1512-1520) and Suleiman "the Magnificent"
(1520-1566) as well as later ones in the 19th century, issued edicts
or firmans regulating and detailing by name which group of monks
would be housed where and the protocol governing their respective
religious ceremonies. These edicts are called firmans of the Status
Quo for all Christian claimants in Jerusalem’s holy places including
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which came to be called Deir Sultan
or the monastery (place) of the Sultan.
Ethiopians referred to it endearingly as Debre Sultan. Most observers
of the scene in the latter part of the 19th Century as well as honest
spokesmen for some of the sects attest to the fact that from time
immemorial the Ethiopian monks had pride of place in the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre (Deir Sultan). Despite their meager existence
and pressures from fellow monks from other countries, the Ethiopian
monks survived through the difficult periods their country was going
through such as the period of feudal autarchy (1769-1855).
Still, in every document or reference since the opening of the
Christian era, Ethiopia and Ethiopian monks have been mentioned in
connection with Christian holy places in Jerusalem, by all alternating
landlords and powers that be in the region.
As surrogates of the weakening Ottomans, the Egyptians were temporarily
in control of Jerusalem (1831-1840). It was at this time, in 1838,
that a plague is said to have occurred in the holy places, which in
some mysterious ways of Byzantine proportions, claimed the lives of
all Ethiopian monks.
The Ethiopians at this time were ensconced in a chapel of the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre (Deir Sultan) as well as in other locales
nearby. Immediately thereafter, the Egyptian authorities gave the
keys of the Church to the Egyptian Coptic monks.
The Egyptian ruler, Ibrahim Pasha, then ordered that all thousands of
very precious Ethiopian holy books and documents, including historical
and ecclesiastical materials related to property deeds and rights,
be burned–alleging conveniently that the plague was spawned by the
Ethiopian parchments.
Monasteries are traditionally important hubs of learning and, given
its location and its opportunity for interaction with the wider family
of Christendom, the Ethiopian monastery in Jerusalem was even more
so than others. That is how Ethiopians lost their choice possession
in Deir Sultan.
By the time other monks arrived in Jerusalem, the Copts claimed
their squatter’s rights, the new Ethiopian arrivals were eventually
pushed off onto the open rooftop of the church, thanks largely to
the machinations of the Egyptian Coptic church.
Above: The roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem,
where Ethiopians maintain the only presence by black people in
Christianity’s holiest shrine. This image is licensed under Creative
Commons Attribution.
Although efforts on behalf of Ethiopian monks in Jerusalem started
in mid-19th Century with Ras Ali and Dejach Wube, it was the rise of
Emperor Tewodros in 1855 in Ethiopia that put the Jerusalem monastery
issue back onto international focus.
When Ethiopian monks numbering a hundred or so congregated in
Jerusalem at the time, the Armenians had assumed superiority in the
holy places. The Anglican bishop in Jerusalem then, Bishop Samuel
Gobat witnessed the unholy attitude and behavior of the Armenians and
the Copts towards their fellow Christian Ethiopians who were trying
to reclaim their rights to the holy places in Jerusalem.
He wrote that the Ethiopian monks, nuns and pilgrims "were both
intelligent and respectable, yet they were treated like slaves, or
rather like beasts by the Copts and the Armenians combined…(the
Ethiopians) could never enter their own chapel but when it pleased
the Armenians to open it. …On one occasion, they could not get their
chapel opened to perform funeral service for one of their members. The
key to their convent being in the hands of their oppressors, they
were locked up in their convent in the evening until it pleased their
Coptic jailer to open it in the morning, so that in any severe attacks
of illness, which are frequent there, they had no means of going out
to call a physician."
It was awareness of such indignities suffered by Ethiopian monks
in Jerusalem that is said to have impelled Emperor Tewodros to have
visions of clearing the path between his domain and Jerusalem from
Turkish/Egyptian control, and establishing something more than monastic
presence there. In the event, one of the issues that contributed to
the clash with British colonialists that consumed his life 1868,
was the quest for adequate protection of the Ethiopian monks and
their monastery in Jerusalem.
Emperor Yohannes IV (1872-1889), the priestly warrior king, used his
relatively cordial relations with the British who were holding sway
in the region then, to make representations on behalf of the Ethiopian
monastery in Jerusalem.
He carried on regular pen-pal communications with the monks even
before he became Emperor. He sent them money, he counseled them
and he always asked them to pray for him and the country, saying,
"For the prayers of the righteous help and serve in all matters. By
the prayers of the righteous a country is saved."
He used some war booty from his battles with Ottomans and their
Egyptian surrogates, to buy land and started to build a church in
Jerusalem. As he died fighting Sudanese/Dervish expansionists in 1889,
his successor, Emperor Menelik completed the construction of the Church
named Debre Gennet located on what was called "Ethiopian Street."
During this period more monasteries, churches and residences were also
built by Empresses Tayitu, Zewditu, Menen as well as by several other
personages including Afe Negus Nessibu, Dejazmach Balcha, Woizeros
Amarech Walelu, Beyenech Gebru, Altayeworq.
As of the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th Century the
numbers of Ethiopian monks and nuns increased and so did overall
Ethiopian pilgrimage and presence in Jerusalem.
In 1903, Emperor Menelik put $200, 000 thalers in a (Credileone)
Bank in the region and ordained that interests from that savings be
used exclusively as subsidy for the sustenance of the Ethiopian monks
and nuns and the upkeep of Deir Sultan. Emperor Menelik’s 6-point
edict also ordained that no one be allowed to draw from the capital
in whole or in part.
Land was also purchased at various localities and a number of
personalities including Empress Tayitu, and later Empress Menen, built
churches there. British authorities supported a study on the history
of the issue since at least the time of kalifa (Calif) Omar ((636)
and correspondences and firmans and reaffirmations of Ethiopian rights
in 1852, in an effort to resolve the chronic problems of conflicting
claims to the holy sites in Jerusalem.
The 1925 study concluded that "the Abyssinian (Ethiopian ) community
in Palestine ought to be considered the only possessor of the convent
Deir Es Sultan at Jerusalem with the Chapels which are there and the
free and exclusive use of the doors which give entrance to the convent,
the free use of the keys being understood."
Until the Fascist invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930’s when Mussolini
confiscated Ethiopian accounts and possessions everywhere, including
in Jerusalem, the Ethiopian presence in Jerusalem had shown some
semblance of stability and security, despite continuing intrigues by
Copts, Armenians and their overlords in the region.
This was a most difficult and trying time for the Ethiopian monks in
Jerusalem who were confronted with a situation never experienced in
the country’s history, namely its occupation by a foreign power. And,
just like some of their compatriots including Church leaders at home,
some paid allegiance to the Fascist rulers albeit for the brief
(1936-1941) interregnum.
Emperor Haile Sellassie was also a notable patron of the monastery
cause, and the only monarch to have made several trips to Jerusalem,
including en route to his self-exile to London in May, 1936.
Since at least the 1950s there was an Ethiopian Association for
Jerusalem in Addis Ababa that coordinated annual Easter pilgrimages
to Jerusalem. Hundreds of Ethiopians and other persons from Ethiopia
and the Diaspora took advantage of its good offices to go there for
absolution, supplication or felicitation, and the practice continues
today.
Against all odds, historical, ecclesiastical and cultural bonding
between Ethiopia and Jerusalem waxed over the years. The Ethiopian
presence expanded beyond Deir Sultan including also numerous Ethiopian
Churches, chapels, convents and properties. This condition required
that the Patriarchate of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church designate
Jerusalem as a major diocese to be administered under its own
Archbishop.
Above: Timket (epiphany) celebration by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church on the Jordan River, considered to be the place where Jesus
was baptized. Jan. 1999. Photo by Iweze Davidson.
Ethiopia and Black Heritage In Jerusalem
For hundreds of years, the name or concept of Ethiopia has been a
beacon for black/African identity liberty and dignity throughout the
diaspora. The Biblical (Psalm 68:31) verse , "…Ethiopia shall soon
stretch forth her hands unto God" has been universally taken to mean
African people, black people at large, stretch out their hands to God
(and only to God) in supplication, in felicitation or in absolution.
As Daniel Thwaite put it, for the Black man Ethiopia was always
"…an incarnation of African independence."
And today, Ethiopian monastic presence in the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre or Deir Sultan in Jerusalem, is the only Black presence in
the holiest place on earth for Christians. For much of its history,
Ethiopian Christianity was largely hemmed in by alternating powers
in the region. Likewise, Ethiopia used its own indigenous Ethiopic
languages for liturgical and other purposes within its own territorial
confines, instead of colonial or other lingua franca used in extended
geographical spaces of the globe.
For these and other reasons, Ethiopia was not able to communicate
effectively with the wider Black world in the past. Given the fact
that until recently, most of the Black world within Africa and in
the diaspora was also under colonial tutelage or under slavery, it
was not easy to appreciate the significance of Ethiopian presence
in Jerusalem. Consequently, even though Ethiopian/Black presence in
Jerusalem has been maintained through untold sacrifices for centuries,
the rest of the Black world outside of Ethiopia has not taken part
in its blessings through pilgrimages to the holy sites and thereby
develop concomitant bonding with the Ethiopian monastery in Jerusalem.
For nearly two millennia now, the Ethiopian Church and its adherent
monks and priests have miraculously maintained custodianship of Deir
Sultan, suffering through and surviving all the struggles we have
glanced at in these pages. In fact, the survival of Ethiopian/Black
presence in Christianity’s holy places in Jerusalem is matched only
by the "Survival Ethiopian Independence" itself.
Indeed, Ethiopian presence in Deir Sultan represents not just
Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity but all African/black Christians of
all denominations who value the sacred legacy that the holy places of
Jerusalem represent for Christians everywhere. It represents also
the affirmation of the fact that Jerusalem is the birthplace of
Christianity, just as adherents of Judaism and Islam claim it also.
The Ethiopian foothold at the rooftop of the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre is the only form of Black presence in Christianity’s holy
places of Jerusalem. It ought to be secure, hallowed and sanctified
ground by and for all Black folks everywhere who value it. The saga of
Deir Sultan also represents part of Ethiopian history and culture. And
that too is part of African/black history and culture regardless of
religious orientation.
When a few years ago, an Ethiopian monk was asked by a writer why
he had come to Jerusalem to face all the daily vicissitudes and
indignities, he answered, "because it is Jerusalem."
— About the Author: Dr. Negussay Ayele is a noted Ethiopian
scholar. He is the author of the book Ethiopia and the United States,
Volume I, the Season of Courtship, among many other publications. He
lives in Los Angeles, California.