Understanding the ‘Kingdom of the Gideonites’: The Shaping of the Memory of Ethiopia’s Jewish Kingdom and its Impact on Ethiopian Jewish Identity Discourse, Past and Present
Beta Ǝsrā'el political autonomy, traditionally known as the Kingdom of the Gideonites, is the only Jewish polity known to have existed in Early Modern times. Centered in the Səmen Mountains in northern Ethiopia, this polity was periodically tributary to and periodically at war with the Christian Solomonic kingdom, until its subdual in 1626. The memory of the Kingdom of the Gideonites is a cornerstone of Beta Ǝsrā'el identity: Traditions regarding these wars and acts of bravery and religious devotion in the face of forced conversion are a prominent element of Beta Ǝsrā'el oral tradition. Several Betä Ǝsraʾel holy sites and religious centers commemorate such acts. The memory of past Beta Ǝsrā'el kingship and of these struggles are a central element in the community’s discourse regarding its dynamics vis-à-vis the dominant Christian society of Solomonic Ethiopia.
The project has two aims. The first is to establish a comprehensive understanding of the physical reality of the Kingdom of the Gideonites through the archaeological exploration, for the first time, of key sites associated with it. These include its seventeenth-century capital, Saganat, and additional strongholds utilized in the wars between the Beta Ǝsrā'el and the Christian Solomonic Kingdom. The second aim is to explore how the memory of the Kingdom of the Gideonites was shaped and how it served over time in Beta Ǝsrā'el identity discourse. This second aim will be accomplished through examination of available textual and oral sources and by exploration of sites (including religious sites) that were seen, in later times, as linked with the Beta Ǝsrā'el – Solomonic wars, establishing their chronology and development and documenting and examining associated oral traditions. Particular attention will be focused on churches in the province of Wagarā, which were founded from the fifteenth century onwards to manifest the defeat of the Beta Ǝsrā'el by the Christian Solomonic rulers.
The project is funded by the German-Israeli Foundation and is a collaborative endeavor with colleagues at Bar Ilan University in Israel. At the University of Hamburg, the project strengthens the research focus on the Beta Ǝsrā'el that Sophia Dege-Müller has established over the years, connecting it to the expertise in Ethiopic manuscripts at the Hiob Ludolf Centre. The PI for the project at the University of Hamburg is Prof. Dr. Aaron Butts. The project lasts for two years, from 1 February 2025 until 31 January 2027.
