Chapter 12 - Monastic Prayer Houses

Summary

THE PRAYER HOUSE (mäsgid, ṣälotbet) of each Betä Ǝsraʾel community wasthe centre of its religious life. The monks, as the supreme religiousleaders of the lay community, assumed a central role in the liturgyconducted in such prayer houses (Shelemay 1989, 78–88). In alldocumented cases in which a monastic compound existed within or in theoutskirts of a Betä Ǝsraʾel village, and in which it isknown where the monks prayed, the monks and the laity shared the same prayerhouse (except for Qolq^waloĉĉ, see below). Suchprayer houses were designed in a way that accommodated BetäƎsraʾel monastic purity laws:

First, a section of the interior space had to be allotted to them, and aclear divid-ing marker installed. Second, a gateway used exclusively by themand leading directly into this space had to be constructed. And third, apathway leading from the monastic compound into the prayer house and usedexclusively by the monks had to be defined, or, alternatively, the prayerhouse had to be built in a location bordering both this compound and thesurroundings which the laity could access.

To examine the adaptations made to the mäsgidstructure so that it could house a monastic community, we must first addressthis structure's typical layout. Several descriptions ofBetäƎsraʾel prayer houses were written in the secondhalf of the nine-teenth century and the twentieth century. A few BetäƎsraʾel prayer houses remain intact in Ethiopia, including thewell-known prayer houses of Wäläqa and Ambobär. And, ofcourse, numerous members of the Betä Ǝsraʾel communityremember the characteristics of prayer houses in which they attendedprayers. At present, no comprehensive study of BetäƎsraʾel prayer house structures exist, though the liturgyconducted within them has been studied extensively (Shelemay 1989; Ziv2017), and a general overview of such structures appears in a few studies(Flad 1869, 42–44; Leslau 1951, xxi–xxiii; Shelemay 1989,71–78).

During our fieldwork, it became apparent that in many cases, the foundationsof mäsgidstructures are preserved to an extent thatenables a reconstruction of their dimen-sions and plan. And just as in thecase of Betä Ǝsraʾel monastic compounds, informationfrom relevant informants can prove invaluable in the attempt to identify thevarious components of the prayer house complex.