Debre Libanos
9°42′43″N38°50′51″E/ 9.71194°N 38.84750°E
 The facade of church | |
  Location within Ethiopia | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1284 |
| Dedicated to | Life and death of Saint Tekle Haymanot |
| Diocese | North Shewa |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Tekle Haymanot |
| Important associated figures | |
| Architecture | |
| Style | Medieval Ethiopian architecture |
| Site | |
| Location | North Shewa Zone,Oromia Region |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Coordinates | 9°42′43″N38°50′50″E/ 9.711890°N 38.847343°E |
| Public access | Yes |
Debre Libanos(Amharic:ደብረ ሊባኖስ,Oromo:Dabra libanose) is anEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedomonastery,lying northwest ofAddis Ababain theNorth Shewa Zoneof theOromia Region.It was founded in 1284 by SaintTekle Haymanotas Debre Atsbo and was renamed as Debre Libanos in the 15th century. He meditated in a cave above the current monastery for 29 years. The monastery's chief abbot, called theIchege,was the second most powerful official in theEthiopian Churchafter theAbuna.
Themonasterycomplex sits on a terrace between a cliff and the gorge of one of the tributaries of the Abbay River (theBlue Nile). None of the original buildings of Debre Libanos survive, although David Buxton suspected "there are interesting things still to be found among the neighbouring cliffs".[1]Current buildings include the church overTekle Haymanot'stomb, whichEmperorHaile Selassieordered constructed in 1961; a slightly older Church of the Cross, where Buxton was told a fragment of theTrue Crossis preserved; and five religious schools. The cave where the saint lived is in the nearby cliffs, which one travel guide describes as a five-minute walk away.[2]This cave contains a spring, whose water is consideredholyand is the object ofpilgrimages.
History
[edit]
Tekle Haymanot left his homeland ofShewaforDebre Damoprior to the monastery's founding. On his return, he introduced the spirit of renewal thatChristianitywas experiencing in the northern provinces. He settled in the central area betweenSelaleand Grarya, where he founded in 1284 the monastery of Debre Atsbo, which would be renamed in the 15th century to Debre Libanos. It then became one of the most important religious institutions of Ethiopia, not only founding a number of daughter houses, but itsabbotbecame one of the principal leaders of the Ethiopian Church, called theEchege,second only to theAbuna.[3]Margary Perham describes the position as comparable to aVicar-General.[4]The Sebate was administrator of Debre Libanos and deputy to theIchege
Debre Libanos suffered great destruction during the invasion ofAhmad Gragnwhen one of his followers, Ura'i Abu Bakr, set it on fire 21 July 1531, despite the attempts of its community to ransom the church.[5]Although the Ichege intervened to protect theGambo peopleduring the reign ofSarsa Dengel,[6]the buildings were not completely rebuilt until after the visit of EmperorIyasu the Greatin 1699.[7]
In the reign of EmperorFasilides,after invadingOromoshad ravaged the monastery's lands inShewathe Emperor granted the Ichege his palace at Azazo, where the various Ichege lived.[8]From the 17th century until the matter was resolved in asynodconvened by EmperorYohannes II,the Ichege and the monks of Debre Libanos were the most important supporters of theSost Lidetdoctrine, in opposition to theHouse of Ewostatewos.[citation needed]Beginning in the mid-17th century, the Ichege lived atGondarwhile the capital was in that city. The Ichege followed the capital when it moved toDebre Tabor,Mekeleand ultimatelyAddis Ababa.
EmperorHaile Selassie's interest in Debre Libanos dates to when he was governor of the district ofSelale.The Emperor notes in his autobiography that during the reconstruction of the church at Debre Libanos, an inscribed gold ring was found in the excavations, which he personally delivered to then EmperorMenelik II.[9]The reconstructed church was designed byProfessor Hector Corfiato.[10]
Following the attempted assassination on his life on 19 February 1937,Governor-GeneralRodolfo Grazianibelieved the monastery'smonksand novices were involved in this attack, and unwilling to wait for the results of the official investigation, orderedItalian colonialiststomassacre the inhabitants of this monastery.On 21 May of that year, 297 monks and 23laymenwere killed.[11]Overall, between 1,700 and 2,100 civilians were slaughtered in two mass executions on 21 May and 26 May.[12]While the massacre ofAddis Ababain February 1937 had a spontaneous character about it, the massacre of Debre Libanos planned meticulously by Graziani himself after he had recovered from his wounds. The date chosen for the massacre, 20 May (12 Ginbot), marked the annual celebration of the transfer of St Tekelehaimanot (the saint for the monastery was constructed) to the shrine.[13]When Buxton visited Debre Libanos in the mid-1940s, he found the remains of these victims were plainly visible ( "Here were innumerable bones and skulls – bones in bags and bones in boxes, bones lying in confused heaps, awaiting burial" ).[14]A cross-shaped tomb was afterwards built to contain their remains, standing next to the parking lot.[15]
Mosaics
[edit]Mosaicson the exterior front facade andstained-glasswindows for the monastery were made and exhibited in London at theFestival HallbyE.O. HeveziandG.J. Bajo.[16]
Burials
[edit]- Tekle Haymanotdied in about 1313, was buried in the cave above the monastery, and was reinterred in the monastery about 60 years later.
- Abuna Basilios(23 April 1891 – 19 October 1970) the first Ethiopian-bornarchbishoporabuna,and later the firstpatriarch,of theEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Acts of St. Paul and St. Sarabamon (Tweed MS150)
[edit]André Tweed (1914 – 1993) collected a significant number ofEthiopian manuscriptswhich he gifted toHoward Universityshortly before his death. In 2005 and 2006, Gay Byron (1961-2023), then Baptist Missionary Training School Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins atColgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School,travelled toWashington, D.C.to examine the Tweed collection.[17]Subsequent to her research and that ofGetatchew Haileand Ted Erho, the School of Divinity recognised in 2012 that Tweed MS150 had been microfilmed as part of aUNESCOproject in 1976 when it was in Debre Libanos.[18]Arrangements for the return were put in train and in 2016 a contingent from the School of Divinity travelled with the manuscript to Ethiopia, the official handover ceremony taking place on 11 January.[19]
References
[edit]
- ^David Buxton,Travels in Ethiopia,second edition (London: Benn, 1957), p. 64
- ^Matt Philips and Jean-Bernard Carillet,Ethiopia and Eritrea,third edition (n.p.: Lonely Planet, 2006), p. 111
- ^Munro-Hay,Ethiopia,pp. 42f
- ^Perham,The Government of Ethiopia,second edition (London: Faber and Faber, 1969), p. 108
- ^Sihab ad-Din Ahmad bin 'Abd al-Qader,Futuh al-Habasa: The conquest of Ethiopia,translated by Paul Lester Stenhouse with annotations byRichard Pankhurst(Hollywood: Tsehai, 2003), pp. 186–193.
- ^Richard Pankhurst,The Ethiopian Borderlands(Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1997), p. 266
- ^Pankhurst,Borderlands,p. 312
- ^Richard Pankhurst,History of Ethiopian Towns(Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1982), p. 111.ISBN3-515-03204-5
- ^Haile Selassie,My Life and Ethiopia's Progress,1974 (Chicago: Frontline Distribution International, 1997), p. 27.
- ^"Obituary: Professor Hector Corfiato".Journal of theRoyal Society of Arts.111(5083): 581–2. June 1963 – viaJSTOR.
- ^A more complete account of the events known in Ethiopia as "Yekatit 12" is chapter 14 of Anthony Mockler'sHaile Selassie's War(New York: Olive Branch, 2003).
- ^The Plot to Kill Graziani,I. Campbell, Addis Ababa University Press, 2010.
- ^Paolo Baorruso, Debre Libanos 1937 (The most Serious War Crime Suffered by Ethiopia) 2023
- ^Buxton,Travels,p. 65
- ^Philips and Carillet,Ethiopia and Eritrea,p. 111
- ^"Mosaics for an Ethiopian Cathedral",The Times,no. 56291, p. 24, 8 April 1965
- ^For Byron's obituary, see Union Theological Seminary, In Memoriam: Rev. Dr. Gay L. Byron, onlinehttps://utsnyc.edu/in-memoriam-rev-dr-gay-l-byron/.Retrieved January 2024.
- ^Online catalogue of Tweed 150: Ashlee Benson, Jonah Sandford, Ralph Lee, Ethiopia, Dabra Libānos, Tweed Codex 150 in Beta maṣāḥǝft: Manuscripts of Ethiopia and Eritrea (Schriftkultur des christlichen Äthiopiens und Eritreas: eine multimediale Forschungsumgebung), see:https://betamasaheft.eu/manuscripts/EMIP02099/main#3
- ^Account of events and parties involved in "Howard Divinity School returns sacred Ethiopian manuscript to Orthodox monastery," Orthodox Christianity, Source: Religion News Service, January 20, 2016,https://orthochristian /89943.htmlRetrieved January 2024. Also see Brittany A. B. Surratt, "Howard University School of Divinity returns ancient Ethiopian manuscript," The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 14 January 2016,https:// pcusa.org/news/2016/1/14/howard-university-school-divinity-returns-ancient-/.Retrieved January 2024.