Chapter 4 - Leadership Roles of the Monks

Summary

DURING THE BETÄ Ǝsraʾel–Solomonic wars,Betä Ǝsraʾel autonomy encompassed only some of theregions inhabited by the community, and following these wars, the entirecommunity was fully incorporated in the Solomonic Kingdom. While some areasinhabited by the community housed a relatively large BetäƎsraʾel population, in many areas this was not necessarilyso.

Various forms of leadership were provided to and organized by the differentcommunities of Solomonic Ethiopia. As individuals, the BetäƎsraʾel, like other groups in this kingdom, were under thejurisdiction of its administration. Some members of the BetäƎsraʾel community are known to have held positions in thisadministration, and hence could be considered to hold a type of leadershipof the community, albeit exter-nally appointed (Kaplan 1992, 101–3;Quirin 1992, 105–9). A second type of leadership, internallyappointed, was that of the elders, thešǝmagǝlle(pl.šǝmagǝlločč). Amongthe Betä Ǝsraʾel, as well as among other groups in thenorthern Ethiopian Highlands, the elders of the community played animportant role in arbitration and in rendering judgment (Bustorf 2011;Sharaby and Kaplan 2014, 186–89). While thešǝmagǝlločč of eachgiven community convened in times of need and provided guidance on a locallevel, they did not serve as a leadership for the community as a whole. Thatrole was reserved for the monks.

Changes in the Betä Ǝsraʾel ReligiousHierarchy

As mentioned above, with the decline of Betä Ǝsraʾelmonasticism, the priests stepped in to assume the roles of the monks,leading to a reorganization of the religious hierarchy. At present, thereligious leadership of the community is composed mainly of priests andtheir disciples. One of the priests is recognized as the supreme religiousleader of the community, the liqä kahənat:High Priest, literally “head of the priests” (Kane 1990,1:60), known in Hebrew as qes ha-qesim, priest of priests.Parallel to this office, the last practising BetäƎsraʾel mälokse(monk) serves at thehead of the religious leadership.

Prior to the changes in the structure of the religious leadership,Betä Ǝsraʾel religious hierarchy was more diverse. Itincluded monks, priests, deacons (diyaqon)—advancednovices not yet initiated into the priesthood who assisted in performance ofthe liturgy and däbtära—unconsecratedreligious scholars, also renowned for their skill as healers and scribes(Leslau 1951, xxiii–xxvi; Shelemay 1989, 78–88; 1992).