Ethiopian literature

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Ethiopian literature dates from Ancient Ethiopian literature (around 300 AD) up until modern Ethiopian literature. Ancient Ethiopian literature starts with Axumite texts written in the Geʽez language using the Geʽez script, indigenous to both Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Axumite literature (330–900)

There is linguistic evidence of Semitic languages being spoken in Ethiopia since 2000 BC.[1]

Ge'ez literature began with Christianity being declared the state religion around 340 AD by King Ezana.[2] However, Christianity has existed since 100 AD in Ethiopia[citation needed].

The oldest known example of the old Ge'ez script is found on the Hawulti obelisk in Matara, Eritrea. The oldest surviving Ge'ez manuscript is the 5th or 6th century Garima Gospels.

Almost all texts from this early "

Paralipomena of Baruch, Noah, Ezra, Nehemiah, Maccabees, and Tobit. The Book of Enoch
in particular is notable since its complete text has survived in no other language.

Also to this early period dates Qerellos, a collection of Christological writings beginning with the treatise of

Pachomius. Secular works translated in this period include Physiologus
, a religious interpretation of natural history that is also very popular in Europe.

Medieval literature (1200–1672)

Christianity

After the decline of the Aksumites, a lengthy gap follows; no works have survived that can be dated to the years of the 8th through 12th centuries. Only with the rise of the

Tigrigna and Tigre languages in the north, Ge'ez remained in use as the official written language until the 19th century, its status comparable to that of Medieval Latin
in Europe.

The early 15th century Fekkare Iyasus "The Explication of Jesus" contains a prophecy of a king called Tewodros, which rose to importance in 19th century Ethiopia as

Tewodros II
chose this throne name.

Literature flourished especially during the reign of Emperor Zara Yaqob. Written by the Emperor himself were Mats'hafe Berhan ("The Book of Light") and Mats'hafe Milad ("The Book of Nativity"). Numerous homilies were written in this period, notably Retu’a Haimanot ("True Orthodoxy") ascribed to John Chrysostom. Also of monumental importance was the appearance of the Ge'ez translation of the Fetha Negest ("Laws of the Kings"), thought to have been made around 1450, and ascribed to one Petros Abda Sayd — that was later to function as the supreme Law for Ethiopia, until it was replaced by a modern Constitution in 1931.

Another significant medieval Ethiopian text is The History of Alexander, believed to have been written around 1500. It narrates the life and conquests of Alexander the Great, depicting him as a Christian warrior.[3]

By the beginning of the 16th century, the Islamic invasions put an end to the flourishing of Ethiopian literature. A letter of Abba 'Enbaqom (or "Habakkuk") to Imam

Ahmad Ibn Ibrahim
, entitled Anqasa Amin ("Gate of the Faith"), giving his reasons for abandoning Islam, although probably first written in Arabic and later rewritten in an expanded Ge'ez version around 1532, is considered one of the classics of later Ge'ez literature.

During this period, Ethiopian writers begin to address differences between the Ethiopian and the Roman Catholic Church in such works as the Confession of Emperor

al-Makin
).

Islam

Most of Islamic literature of Ethiopia is center in the eastern lowland with Harar being the most important.

Early modern literature (16th–18th century)

It is during this period that

Ge'ez
as well as contributing to Ludolf's book A History of Ethiopia.

Another important figure in this era is the Ethiopian monk Abba Bahrey. Bahrey was both a historian and an ethnographer who is best known for his 1593 work The History of the Galla (Ge'ez: ዜናሁ ፡ ለጋላ, zēnāhū lagāllā). Written in Ge'ez, it told of the history of the Oromo and their 16th-century migration into what is now central and western Ethiopia.[6] This work was significant because it is the only documentation of the Oromo people in the 16th century. Bahrey also authored The History of King Sarsa Dengel which chronicles the reign of Emperor Sarsa Dengel.[7]

Modern period (19th century – present)

Perhaps the most famous literary contributor to this century is author

Love to the Grave (ፍቅር እስከ መቃብር; Fəqər əskä Mäqabər), is one of the most renowned books in modern Ethiopian literature, considered a modern masterpiece.[8] Baalu Girma's Oromay (1983) is also well-regarded.[9]

Emperor Haile Selassie wrote an autobiography, My Life and Ethiopia's Progress in 1973–74.

Legal text

In 1240 AD, the structure of the church and the country was organized according to

Fetha Nagast
.

See also

References

  1. ^ Weninger, Stefan. Ge'ez. Encyclopaedia Aethiopica. p. 732.
  2. ISBN 978-0-7486-0106-6
    .
  3. ^ Anderson, Andrew Runni. "The Arabic History of Dulcarnain and the Ethiopian History of Alexander". Speculum.
  4. ^ Uhlig, Siegbert. 2005. "Gorgoryos." In Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: D-Ha: Vol. 2, edited by Siegbert Uhlig, 855–856. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
  5. ^ Ludolf, Hiob. 1682. A New History of Ethiopia. Being a Full and Accurate Description of the Kingdom of Abyssinia, Vulgarly, Though Erroneously Called the Empire of Prester John. Translated by J. P. Gent. London: Samuel Smith Booksellers.
  6. ^ English translation by C. F. Beckingham and G. W. B. Huntingford, Some Records of Ethiopia, 1593–1646 (London: Hakluyt Society, 1954).
  7. ^ Baxter, Paul T. W., "Baḥrəy" in Uhlig, Siegbert, Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003), p. 446.
  8. ^ Getachew, Fitsum (March 5, 2015). "Haddis Alemayehu – the Unique Personality in Ethiopian Literature". All Africa.
  9. ^ Iyob, Ruth. The Eritrean Struggle for Independence: Domination, Resistance, Nationalism, 1941-1993. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press, 1997, p. 175.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ethiopian_literature&oldid=1208573910"