The Sacred City of the Ethiopians, Being a Record of Travel and Research in Abyssinia in 1893
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The sacred city of the Ethiopians, being a record of travel and research in Abyssinia in 1893 http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.CH.DOCUMENT.sip100052 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org The sacred city of the Ethiopians, being a record of travel and research in Abyssinia in 1893 Author/Creator Bent, J. Theodore Date 1896 Resource type Books Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, Axum, Eritrea Source Smithsonian Institution Libraries, DT379 .B47 1896X/916.3 B475s Description Contents. I: Arrival in Ethiopia. II: Stay at Asmara. III: Expedition to the monastery of Bizen. IV: Journey Northwards. V: On the road to Adoua. VI: The Portuguese Episode. VII: Stay at Adoua. VIII: Expedition to Yeha and its archaeological results. IX. The sacred city of the Ethiopians. X: On the antiquities of Aksum. XI: On the return Journey. XII: The ruined cities near the Coast. XIII: Inscriptions from Yeha and Aksum, by Dr. David Heinrich Muller. Format extent 358 pages (length/size) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.CH.DOCUMENT.sip100052 http://www.aluka.org zel zel THE SACRED CITY OF THE ETHIOPIANS By the same Author. THE RUINED CITIES OF MASHQNALAND: being a Record of Excavation and Exploration in 1891. With a Chapter on the Orientation and Mensuration of the Temples, by R. M. W. SWAN. With 117 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. London: LONGMANS, GREEN & CO. SACRED PICTURE FROM THE CHURCH OF THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD, ADOUA-(vide p. 132). -L-'77 B47 MAA THE /SACRED CITY OF THE ETHIOPIAN S BEING A RECORD OF TRAVEL AND RESEARCH IN ABYSSINIA IN 1893 BY J HEODORE BENT, F.S.A., F.R.G.S. AUTHOR OF 'THE RUINED CITIES OF MASHONALAND' ETC. WITH A CHAPTER BY PROF. H. D. MOLLER ON THE INSCRIPTIONS FROM YEHA AND AKSUM, AND AN APPENDIX ON THE MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTER OF THE ABYSSINIANS, BY J. G. GARSON, M.D., V.P.A.I. NEW EDITION *FEB 2 81985 LONGMANS, G EE 8jjmC LONDON, NEW Y 1896 All rights reserved PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION THE CONTEST between Italy and. Abyssinia is at the present moment so acute that the reminiscences of our expedition over the contested ground, just three years ago, cannot fail to awaken interest. Then the Italians appeared to be gradually but surely establishing a foothold in the Ethiopian Empire; now they seem to be barely able to hold what was in the first instance allotted to them by, the Treaty of Ucciali. Last year saw them in possession of Adowa and Aksum, the sacred city of the Ethiopians, with the clerical party and the Echegue Theologos strongly in their favour. This year sees the sacred city once more under the direct influence of the Abyssinian Empire, and the ground immediately surrounding it has been the field on which most of the battles have been fought. On our way from Adowa to Yeha we passed at the foot of Abba Garima, and over the little plain which has been recently so deeply stained with Italian blood, and it would seem that for years to come this territory will once more lapse into the vi THE SACRED CITY OF THE ETHIOPIANS chaotic state of misrule and barbarity in which we found it in the beginning of 1893. Many of our hospitable Italian friends who greeted us so warmly in that year, and treated us so well, have since found a hero's grave. Baratieri has fallen from his high position, Arimondi, Persico, Castellani, and others are no more. De Martino, who was so kind to us at Adowa, is now ill at Massoua, and, as for the fine bands of native troops, who came to rescue us from our plight at Adowa, one shudders to think of their fate. Many of the survivors of them are mutilated for life; most of them were more mercifully struck down on the bloody field of Abba Garima. It is to be hoped, however, that a more carefullyorganised expedition, and a desire to recover national honour, will re-establish the Italians in their possessions, for all must recognise that theirs is the cause of civilisation and humanity in the future development of this corner of the Dark Continent. J. THEODORE BENT. 13 GREAT CUMBERLAND PLACE: April 17, 1896. PREFACE THE FOLLOWING PAGES stand as a record of a four months' journey, which my wife and I made in Abyssinia at the beginning of this year; Aksum, the sacred city of the Ethiopians, and the ancient capital of the country, being the object towards which our steps were directed. Thanks to the kindly collaboration of Professor D. H. MfULLER of Vienna, the archveological results prove of the highest interest, and present us with another chapter in the early history of what German writers speak of as proto-Arabian enterprise; a history, which research is only just now beginning to unfold, and which will, I feel confident, as discovery follows discovery, place before our view a vast, powerful, and commercial empire, almost outside the limits of the then known world, contemporaneous with the best days of Egypt, Phcenicia, Greece, and Rome-an empire which extended its discoveries to parts of the world which are now only being re- Viii THE SACRED CITY OF THE ETHIOPIANS discovered, and possessing a commerce which supplied the ancient world with its most valued luxuriesspices, rare woods, ivory, gold and precious stones. These products came not from Arabia itself, but were collected at various centres by the enterprise of the merchants of Saboaa. The impressions of inscriptions which we took, and the photographs of the ruins, now place the Sabmans of Arabia by incontrovertible documentary evidence in the heart of Abyssinia as early as the 7th or 8th century B.c., whilst at the same time they show that paganism continued as the national religion down to a much later epoch than is supposed, and that the Judaic influence in that country and the early conversion to Christianity may be relegated to the chapter of myths, as far as this portion of Ethiopia is concerned. I have endeavoured to set out our experiences in the country in as simple a narrative form as possible, giving special attention to the religious observances of the primitive church, which we came across on our way, and the manners and customs of everyday life. Our most unbounded thanks are due to the Italian authorities in their Red Sea colony, picturesquely called 'Eritrea' after the Erythraean Sea. Without their aid we should have experienced in- PREFACE surmountable difficulties in the present anarchical condition of the Abyssinian Empire, and without their prompt intervention, a fate, which has befallen so many European travellers who have penetrated into Ethiopia, might have been ours. The illustrations in this volume are from photographs taken by my wife on the spot, from photographs of the objects we brought home, and which are now in the British Museum, and from sketches of my own, which appeared in the 'Illustrated London News.' J. THEODORE BENT. 13 GREAT CUMBERLAND PLACE: November 1893. CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. ARRIVAL IN ETHIOPIA 1 II. STAY AT ASMARA . 18 III. EXPEDITION TO THE MONASTERY OF BIZEN 44 IV. JOURNEY NORTHWARDS. 66 V. ON THE ROAD TO ADOUA . 85 VI. THE PORTUGUESE EPISODE . 103 VII. STAY AT ADOUA.. 115 VIII. EXPEDITION TO YEHA AND ITS ARCH)EOLOGICAL RESULTS 134 IX. THE SACRED CITY OF THE ETHIOPIANS. * . 152 X.ONTHEANTIQUITIESOFASUM . .175 XI. ON THE RETURN JOURNEY . * 198 XII. THE RUINED CITIES NEAR THE COAST . 215 XIII. INSCRIPTIONS FROM YEHA AND AKSUM, BY DR. DAVID HEINRICH MULLER , . 231 APPENDIX ON THE MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS OF THE ABYSSINIANS, BY J. G. GARSON . .286 DE297 INDEX. ILLUSTRATIONS FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS SACRED PICTURE FROM THE CHUR WORLD, ADOUA GENERAL MESHSASHA STARTING FOR RUDEST MONOLITHS, AKSUM. MONOLITH WITH BANDS TALL STANDING MONOLITH, AKSUM INSCRIPTION FROM AKSUM No. 1 , ,, No. 2 . No. 3 No. 4 PAGE CH OF THE SAVIOUR OF THE * .* . Frontispiece THE WAR To facep. 171 . ,, 184 *. ,, 184 * ,, 184 240 254 . 259 To face p. 264 1LLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT ABYSSINIAN GIRL CASINO AT SAHATI . FITAURARI (GENERAL) JOHN. IN A QUOLQUOL FOREST . RAS ALULA'S PALACE, ASMARA EARPICK AND HAIRPIN ANKLET, EARPICK, CHILD'S NECKLACE NECKLACE . WOMAN'S .RESS ., rAG9 .*. 10 . * . 13 * .19 - . 20 AND CROSS, WOMAN'S .... 21 23, xiv TIIE SACRED CITY OF THE ETHIOPIANS PAGE WICKER GOBLET, WOODEN PILLOW, HORN GOBLET, AND ABYSSINIAN LYRE .. 25 THE 'CHERA MASANKO' . 26 IMBILTA (FLUTE), GUN-REST, AND MALAKET (TRUMPET) . 27 RATTLE OR SISTRUM 28 ABYSSINIAN UMBRELLA . FESTIVAL IN HONOUR OF A LION SLAYER, ASMARA CHURCH AT ASMARA .