Gudit

Gudit ( Old Ethiopian : Yodit , in German Judith ) is a legendary queen of Beta Israel who is said to have lived around the year 960. Gudit is known for her conquest of the Aksumite Empire , during which she is said to have destroyed churches and monuments and exterminated the dynasty of the kings of Aksum . Their deeds have been transmitted orally and their existence is documented by various historical accounts. Even so, the information available about Gudit is contradictory and incomplete.

Legendary life story

The Abreha we Atsbeha church

According to the tradition of Beta Israel, Gudit was the daughter of King Gideon IV of Simien and was born in Lasta . After her father fell in the battle against Aksum, she inherited the Simian throne and formed an alliance with the Ages to stop further expansion plans of the Christian kingdom.

The historian Paul B. Henze writes: “It is said of her that she killed the king and ascended the throne herself in order to rule for 40 years [over Aksum, note]. Reports of their brutal atrocities are still circulating among farmers in northern Ethiopia. During my first visit to Abreha Atsbeha Rock Church in 1970, I noticed that its intricately carved ceiling was blackened by soot. The priest explained this as a work of Gudit, which the church had piled up with hay and set on fire nine centuries earlier. "

Ethiopian historiography also reports that Gudit captured and set fire to the Debre Damo monastery , where the king of Aksum kept his male family members prisoner. However, this could be a later poem based on the capture of Amba Geshen by Ahmed Gragn .

nationality

In the Alexandrian Patriarchal History, the pagan warrior queen who led a great revolt against the Christian kingdom is referred to as Bani al-Hamwiyah. Since this name does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the origin of Gudit, science has long tried to interpret it as a rendering error. The Italian scholar Carlo Conti Rossini was the first to suggest that the name should be read as Bani al-Damutah and that she was therefore the ruler of the Sidamo empire Damoti .

Based on the tradition that Gudit was Jewish, some scholars believe that Gudit was Agauin . In this context, Joseph Halévy reads the traditional name as Bani al-Haghouya . However, this theory is increasingly being questioned and reference is made to Ethiopian sources depicting Gudit as a convert. An interpretation of the name as al-Yahoudya (“the Jewess”) is also conceivable .

Historical sources

As mentioned above, Gudit's war against Aksum is depicted in the Alexandrian Patriarchal History. According to this, it took place during the pontificate of Philotheos , who was Coptic Pope between 979 and 1003. Gudit's revolt began towards the end of the reign of Degna Djan as king of Aksum and, according to the historian Taddesse Tamrat, was viewed by Alexandria as divine retribution for an inheritance dispute between the sons of Degna Djan, in which an Abuna had died. Based on the data from the patriarchal history, according to which Degna Djan asked King George of Makuria for help, the year 960 can be calculated for the time of the war.

The contemporary Arab writer Ibn Hauqal reports: “The land of Habesha has been ruled by a woman for many years; she killed the king of the Habeschen, who was called Haḍani. To this day she rules with complete independence in her own country and the border area of the land of Haḍani in the south of the Habescha country. ”Said Haḍani Dan'El was, according to the African scientist Steve Kaplan, a warlord from the south of Ethiopia, who was previously the king of Aksum demoted to his vassal.

The king of Yemen sent a zebra to the ruler of Iraq in 969/970, which he in turn had received as a gift from the queen of Habescha. Since the kings of Aksum were always male, it can be assumed that this was Gudit or a successor.

Individual evidence

↑ Lalibela on http://www.ethiopiantreasures.co.uk/
^ Paul B. Henze: Layers of Time, A History of Ethiopia . Palgrave, New York 2000, ISBN 0-312-22719-1 , pp. 48 .
^ OGS Crawford: Ethiopian Itineraries, circa 1400-1524 . Hakluyt Society, Cambridge 1958, p. 81 f .
^ Edward Ullendorff: The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People second edition . Oxford University Press, London 1965, pp. 60 ff .
^ ^A ^b Steven B. Kaplan: The Beta Israel: Falasha in Ethiopia: From Earliest Times to the Twentieth Century . NYU Press, New York and London 1995.
^ Entry in the Dictionary of African Christian Biography
^ Taddesse Tamrat: Church and State . S. 40 f . - Tamrat states that the name of the king is not known, while EA Wallis Budge used it in his description of the tenure of Abuna Petros ( A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia , 1928 Anthropological Publications (Oosterhout, Netherlands 1970) p. 480) Degna calls Djan.
^ Stuart C. Munro-Hay: Aksum, an African Civilization of Late Antiquity . University Press, Edinburgh 1991, pp. 101 .

personal data
SURNAME	Gudit
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Yodit (old Ethiopian); Judith (German)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Queen of Beta Israel
DATE OF BIRTH	before 960
DATE OF DEATH	after 960

[1] Lalibela on http://www.ethiopiantreasures.co.uk/

[2] Paul B. Henze: Layers of Time, A History of Ethiopia . Palgrave, New York 2000, ISBN 0-312-22719-1 , pp. 48 .

[3] OGS Crawford: Ethiopian Itineraries, circa 1400-1524 . Hakluyt Society, Cambridge 1958, p. 81 f .

[4] Edward Ullendorff: The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People second edition . Oxford University Press, London 1965, pp. 60 ff .

[kaplan-5] A ^b Steven B. Kaplan: The Beta Israel: Falasha in Ethiopia: From Earliest Times to the Twentieth Century . NYU Press, New York and London 1995.

[6] Entry in the Dictionary of African Christian Biography

[7] Taddesse Tamrat: Church and State . S. 40 f . - Tamrat states that the name of the king is not known, while EA Wallis Budge used it in his description of the tenure of Abuna Petros ( A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia , 1928 Anthropological Publications (Oosterhout, Netherlands 1970) p. 480) Degna calls Djan.

[8] Stuart C. Munro-Hay: Aksum, an African Civilization of Late Antiquity . University Press, Edinburgh 1991, pp. 101 .