Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/280

* ETHIOPIA. 248 ETHIOPIA. Nuwas, and Ethiopia again controlled Arabian territory. Before the end of the century, how- ever, the Aksumites were driven back to Africa, and never again extended their conquests to Arabia. According to a letter addressed by a king of Aksum to a king of Nubia in the time of the Patriarch Philotheus of Alexandria (980 1002), preserved in a fourteenth-century I the Patriarchs and in the Ethiopic Bynaxar, a woman who reigned over the Beni el Haniuna had recently invaded the country, burned churches and monasteries, and driven him from place to place. Marianus Victor (1552) speaks of this woman as the founder of the Zague Dynasty, and as having married a ruler of the Province of Bugna. Later legends made of her a Jewess. She was probably a queen of the reigning family who married a prince of the Beni el Baguna, a name afterwards corrupted into Beni el Zague. Eleven kings of the so-called Zague Dy- na-ty reigned until 1270. The most famous of these is Lalibula (c.1200 A.n.). In 1270 Yekuno Amlak restored the old line. Yekuno Amlak re- moved his residence to Tegalet in Shoa. but Ak- sum »till remained the city where the kings were crowned. His successor was Wedem Raad (1291- 1314). Amda Sion (1314-1344) was a powerful king who fought bravely with his Muslim neigh- bors. Saifa Arad (1344-1372) carried on a suc- cessful war in Upper Egypt against the Sultan on behalf of the Patriarch of Alexandria. His successors were Wedem Asfare ( 1372-82), and his brother, Dawit I. ( 1382-1411). Teodoros I. (1411- [5), Yishak (1415-30), Andrias (1430). Takla Maryam (1430-34). Zara Yakob (1434-G8) was a brave warrior and an able administrator. He was followed by Baeda Maryam (1468-78), and Eskander, or Alexander (1478-95), in whose time Cavilham -visited the country. Amda Sion II. (1495) and Naod (1495-1508) were of less im- portance. But Dawit II., called Lcbna Dengel, in his battles with Adal showed himself to be a good soldier. Asnaf Sagad (1540-59) conquered Ahmed Granje, King of Adal, but in his reign the Gallas invaded the country. After the reign of Minas (1559-03), Sarsa Dengel can" upon the throne (1563-97). This monarch destroyed Adal and fought successfully with the Gallas. In the time of his successors, Yakob (1597 1603, 1004-07). Za Dengel (1603-04), Susneus (1607- 32), and Fasiladas (1632-67). religious difficul- ccupied much attention. Tin- power of the following kings was greatly limited by the Galls chiefs thai ruled iii manv districts. They were: Johannes (1667-82), Jasiis 1. ( 1682-1706) . Takla Haimanot I. (1706-08), Theophilos (1708-11), Justus (1711-16), Dawit 111. (1716-21), Bakafa (1721-30), Jasus n. (1730-55), Joas (1755-69), Johannes II. (1769), Takla Haimanol EI, (1769 77i. On the more recent history, see Abyssinia. Ethiopic Langi m.f. The earliest monuments of Semitic speech in Ethiopia are the inscriptions found at Yeha. These are written in the COB sonantal Sabsean script. Bui while the presence of the article an appended to the noun and a final m i" -how indetermination is a sign of close affinity to the Sabaean, both syntax and vocabulary
 * thai llic writers used the lesana Gees,

the language of Semitic Ethiopia, possibly as early as the Beventh century r.< The bilingual inscription (Greek md Ethiopic) exhibits essen- tially ' ' Jo far as 1 he language is concerned, there is not much difference between it and the Riippell inscriptions, which are written in. the syllabic script characteristic of Ethiopic manuscripts. These Aksum monument-, present the same type of language as the literary docu- ments. Geez probably continued to be spoken by the common people until the Zague Dynasty came into power. From that time the Amharic prob- ably began to gain upon the classical tongue, ekuno Amlak, in 1270, made the former the official language, and Geez henceforth became the language of books and of the Church, and as such had a second flourishing period. In its general structure and vocabulary Geez is closer to the Sabaean than to classical Arabic, but in some respects it has features that are younger than the latter. Thus the case-endings have dis- appeared; the old passive is lost; aspirated den- tals are changed into sibilants. Geez appears to have dropped the article some time before our era. As a substitute anticipating suffixes are used as in Aramaic, and also demonstrative pro- nouns. Of a dual there are only a few remnants. The verb has a simple stem, a causative formed by a prefixed a, a second causative in as, a re- flexive in ta, and another in an, a third in fait, and a causative reflexive in ast, each of these permitting five vowel changes to indicate shades of meaning. The indicative and the subjunctive of the imperfect are strictly distinguished. The vocabulary has been greatly enlarged by Hamitic words. There are also some Greek and Aramaic loan-words. Geez is to-day represented by two dialects, Tigre and Tigrai, or Tigrina. The lat- ter is spoken in Tigre and has been much in- fluenced by the Amharic; the former is spoken in the districts north and northwest of Tigre, and shows greater similarity to the old Geez. Am- haric has developed many peculiarities not found in any other Semitic language, but characteristic of the H am itic languages. Ethiopic Literature. Reference has al ready been made to the early inscriptions. On the translation of the Bible, see under Bible, the section on Versions. The Ethiopic Old Testament contains, in addition to the canonical books, also the Apocrypha (except the Books of Maccabees), and a number of works, such as the Book of Enoch, the Ascension of Isaiah, the Book of Jubilees, and the Apocalypse of Ezra. These additions have all been published; but many of the canonical books are extant only in manu- scripts. Several apocryphal books are also ap- pended to the Xew Testament, among them a Synodos, which includes canons of councils, an exposition of the Nicene Creed. Apostolic contri- butions, and other matter. The remaining litera- ture i- mainly theological, and includes transla- tions of Greek fathers, liturgies, lives of saints. monastic rules, hymns, and the like. A so-called Vntiphonary contains a musical nidation. The Savasev are very imperfect studies of the Ian guage, The lists of kings are of considerable value, though the narratives arc mostly drawn fri i Arabic writers. Numerous manuscripts are preserved in European libraries. Catalogues of the principal collections have been published. The Abyssinian monasteries are known to possess numbers of manuscript a. Consult: Krman. Aeaypten und aegyptischet Leben im Ylterthum (Tilbingen, 1885); W. M. Mttller, Is/./, und Europa nach ltagyptiscken