ASPECTS OF RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM IN SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

BY

ULRICH BRAUKÄMPER

(Frankfurt a.Main, Germany)

North-eastern Africa is a region which-since earliest times-has played an important role in the dissemination of the world religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which in turn have had a profound influence on the indigenous religions of the area. Whereas these world religions have been the object of much research, the 'primitive' religions of southern Ethiopia have been almost totally neglected. (One can, however, observe a clear, though somewhat reluctant, tendency in some parts of the world to look at traditional native or tribal religions as being 'noble religions'.) Since most of the languages of the people of this area are not written languages, there is a dearth of historical material, and conclusions must be based on the few cultural anthropological studies which exist.' This lack of data makes it all the more difficult to reconstruct the internal processes involved in the development of the religions of southern Ethiopia. The term syncretism denotes the coalescense of cultural traits in its broadest sense, but is normally employed with reference to the realm of religion.2 It is not the aim of this paper to expound theories dealing with the deeper significance of terms and characteristic elements of syncretism-as was attempted for example by the theologist Ulrich Berner in his heuristic treatise.3 But rather the goal here is to examine a few salient features which might be essen- tial for the better understanding of cultural anthropological mat- ters. Some general conclusions in this field will then be drawn by means of a comparative evaluation. The term syncretism is used to denote not only the phenomena and processes taking place within a single religion but also occurr- ing between two or more religions. Most of the anthropological data which have thus far been collected-and this applies especially 195 to North-eastern Africa-are only revealing as far as the latter possibility of the two is concerned, i.e. syncretism between different religions. It has been stated that religions are systems which are composed of various elements. Each of these elements, such as religious tenets or cult practices, fulfills a specific function which contributes to the functioning of the system as a whole with the aim of helping to alleviate certain problems peculiar to that particular society. The longevity of elements originating from outside the system is proportional to the degree of their suitability for integra- tion into the entire system; otherwise they will be rejected as foreign bodies within a relatively short time. Survivals, the study of which has helped cultural anthropologists immensely in obtaining deeper insights into syncretism, have for the most part revealed themselves to be meaningfully integrated cultural elements. Otherwise, there could be no logical explanation for their ability to persist, some- times for centuries. In the course of this paper syncretism is to be essentially under- stood as a dynamic process occurring between two religions. Just as Ake Hultkrantz concluded from his studies on North American Indians, it is a sign of cultural contact and cultural change in its broadest sense.4 4 The Horn of Africa is one of the oldest regions of dissemination of the so-called 'higher religions': Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Whereas native religions-just as everywhere else in the world- have no ambition to expand their numbers by proselytism, one of the characteristics of the world religions is that they develop mis- sionary practices which aim at the conversion of the members of other beliefs. But, if the cultural contacts are not sufficiently inten- sive, they can also lead to the development of mixed forms. The case of southern Ethiopia is peculiar in that Christianity and Islam became widespread in early times, only to be then repressed for centuries but have in recent times reassumed their conversion prac- tices.' In the meantime, the world religions have fanned out over the area of our concern to such an extent that a detailed documenta- tion of the autochthonous religions is now only possible in a few scattered cases. Due to this situation of widespread cultural change, the data of anthropologists in the religious sphere became more or less automatically focussed on phenomena of syncretism. Jewish influences originating mainly from Yemen antedated the arrival of Christianity in the fourth century. Biblical-Hebraic