Amharic

Addis Ababa; WikiCommons

Amharic is one of the semitic languages of Ethiopia, and is currently the second most spoken semitic language in the world (Arabic is #1).  Over 20 million people speak Amharic, and it currently serves as the official language of Ethiopia.

We don't have any ancient writings in Amharic, with our earliest extant Amharic texts possibly coming out of the 14th century.  So in a sense it might be an odd language to feature on this blog.  Nevertheless, there are several good reasons to learn some Amharic:

• It's a fascinating and beautiful language spoken by over 20 million people.
• As a Semitic language it is relevant for those with an interest in comparative semitics.  
• It is relevant for those who work with Ge'ez, as we can identify Amharic influences on the Ge'ez language and literature.
• For those, like myself, who have interest in the history of scriptural interpretation in the Ethiopian tradition, Amharic is significant as the language of the andemta commentaries.
• It's way more interesting than learning French.

Unfortunately it is not easy to find courses in Amharic.  CARLA lists the following institutions that offer Amharic in North America: Foreign Service Institute, Harvard U, Michigan State U, U of Florida, Boston U, National Foreign Affairs Training Center, Stanford U, U of Kansas, U of Pennsylvania, New School University, and World Mentoring Academy.

As far as scholarship goes, there is a plethora of resources on Amharic.  Here I just offer a few resources that might be helpful:

Ethnologue entry.

OLAC Resources in and about the Amharic Language.

Selected Annotated Bibliography on Amharic from Grover Hudson (MSU).

Isenberg, Charles William.  Dictionary of the Amharic Language. [downloadable]

Amharic course from the Foreign Service Institute.   [follow the link to Indiana University for the remaining audio files.  The audio files can be found a few other places on the web too].

Appleyard, David. Colloquial Amharic. [the audio files can be downloaded for free]

Amharic at Deutsche Welle.

National Bibliography of Ethiopia.

Meyer, Ronny.  "Amharic."  Pages 1178-1211 in The Semitic Languages: An International Handbook.  Edited by Stegan Weninger et al.

Writing the Amharic Script.

A Critical Edition and English Translation of the Classical Ethiopic Commentary Materials on the Book of Daniel

"Habakkuk and the Angel" (Bernini)

For my dissertation at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München I am preparing a critical edition of the Ge'ez commentary materials on the Book of Daniel. A little bit about the project:

The significance of Second Temple Judaism for religious scholarship lies partly in its influence on later religious movements and traditions.  The literature, institutions, and ideas that emerged during the time of the Second Temple, both in the Persian and Greco-Roman periods, were foundational for Rabbinic Judaism, early Christianity, and Islam.  To appreciate Second Temple literature in all of its richness we must give attention not only to the texts in their earliest contexts, but also to their reception histories.  While the study of the influence and reception of Second Temple texts will naturally include the antique and medieval Hebrew, Greek, and Latin traditions, it must also include the “oriental” traditions, which have to this point not been adequately examined by modern western scholarship.  

Among these traditions the classical Ethiopic corpus is quite significant, as it preserves texts like 1 Enoch and Jubilees that are not fully extant in their original languages or in any of their other versions.  These Ethiopic versions are indispensable for the study of these important Second Temple texts (fortunately, a new edition and translation of Ethiopic 1 Enoch is currently underway).  The Ethiopic tradition also contains versions of early Jewish texts for which the original language(s) manuscripts and other versions do exist, such as the Wisdom of Solomon or the Book of Daniel.  While their value as text-critical witnesses to the “original” text or earlier versions is open for debate, these versions are at the very least valuable for reception-oriented text-critical work that aims to understand and appreciate the textual development of a composition as a worthy pursuit in its own right.  In addition to versions of Second Temple texts, which can be studied from the perspective of reception history, the Ethiopic tradition also preserves interpretations of and commentaries on some of these texts.  While many of these works are in Amharic and are part of the andemta tradition, some are extant in classical Ethiopic/Ge'ez.  These are helpful for understanding the reception history of Second Temple literature in late antiquity and the medieval period.

The objective of my research is to contribute to the study of the reception of Second Temple Jewish literature in the classical Ethiopic tradition by offering a critical edition, English translation, and analysis of the Ge'ez Tergwāmē materials on the Book of Daniel, which contain both Ge'ez versions of the text of Daniel as well as commentary on the book.  Manuscripts of these materials have been known to western scholarship for some time, and the text of Daniel in one of the manuscripts was even collated by Oscar Löfgren in his critical edition of Ethiopic Daniel.  However, no one has yet published, critically edited, or translated these commentary materials.  My dissertation is an attempt to fill that lacuna.

The Names of Ge'ez / Ethiopic Letters

So you've learned the 100+ forms of the Ge'ez script, but you're still wondering what to call all those letters?  If you're like me, you might find yourself using the names of Hebrew or other semitic letters, but in European scholarship they have their very own names.  I've compiled a list of these names as presented in several of the major grammars, that you can download as a PDF here.

Of course you don't need to learn 100+ names -- just the name of each consonant, and from there you can refer to its different forms by their order.  So, "that's a third order hoy" or a "sixth order gaml." [P.S. "The Sixth Order of Hoy = a great name for your next secret society].

Ge'ez Grammars Online

One can easily fit all of the Ge'ez grammars that have ever been published in European languages on one shelf.  Or, if you want to save some of that shelf space for your Wheel of Time novels, you can put most of those grammars on a flash drive/memory stick instead.  Here are some of the Ge'ez grammars that are available as PDFs (or in the google books reader) online:

Chaîne, Marius.  Grammaire éthiopienne. 1907.

Dillman, August & Carl Bezold. Trans. James A. Chrichton.  Ethiopic Grammar.  1907.

Dillman, August. Grammatik der äthiopischen Sprache. 1857.

Dillman, August & Carl Bezold. Grammatik der äthiopischen Sprache. 1899.

Ludolf, Hiob. Grammatica aethiopica. 1661.

Mercer, Samuel. Ethiopic Grammar, with Chrestomathy and Glossary. 1920.

Praetorius, Franz.  Aethiopische Grammatik. 1886.

Praetorius, Franz.  Grammatica Aethiopica. 1886.

Vittorio, Mariano.  Chaldeae, seu Aethiopicae linguae institutiones. 1630.

Interpreting women out of the New Testament?

There are a handful of spots in the New Testament where interpreters have debated whether or not a woman is being referred to.  Perhaps the most well-known example is 2 John, which opens like this: “The elder to the elect lady and her children . . .” (1).  The author addresses this “lady” again in verse 5, and closes with a greeting from “the children of your elect sister” (13).  Interpreters debate whether we encounter here a female personification of Christian communities, or whether the text is talking about an individual female leader.  This discussion goes back to the early church. 

Check out:
Anderson, Paul.  “Second John and Women.”

Another interesting example is the identity of Junia, who is mentioned in the closing greetings of Paul’s letter to the Romans: “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was” (16:7; NRSV).  In some Bible translations you’ll find “Junias” instead of “Junia.”  This reflects debate over whether this figure is female (“Junia”) or male (“Junias”).  The evidence supports understanding this as a reference to a woman named “Junia.”  But, the gender identity of Junia continues to be a hot topic in some circles, specifically within those church traditions where the ordination of women is still an open question. Naturally, the idea that Paul mentions a woman apostle has some relevance for the discussion . . .

Check out:
Brooten, Bernadette J.  “‘Junia . . . Outstanding among the Apostles’ (Romans 16:7).”  Pages 141-144 in 
Women Priests: A Catholic Commentary on the Vatican Declaration.  Edited by Arlene Swinder and Leonard Swindler.  New York: Paulist Press, 1977.  Readable online!

Epp, Eldon Jay.  Junia: the first woman apostle. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005.

Fàbrega, Valentin.  “War Junia(s), der hervorragende Apostel (Röm 16,7), eine Frau?” Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum 27/28 (1984/85): 47-64.

Wolters, Al.  “IOUNIAN (Romans 16:7) and the Hebrew name Yeḥunī.” Journal of Biblical Literature 2 (2008): 397-408.

1 Enoch Reading Guide (15:1-16:4)

I've posted another Ethiopic reading guide, this time for 1 Enoch 15:1-16:4, a particularly interesting portion of the Book of the Watchers.  Enoch and other Second Temple Jewish texts are of course worthy subjects of study in their own right, but this particular text might be especially relevant for understanding some bits of the New Testament, for example offering a possible answer to the question "who in the world are those demons and why do they keep trying to possess human bodies?" or providing some background for Luke's version of Jesus' response to the Sadducees (Luke 20:34-36).

You can download the reading guide here.


Or if you're not too interested in Ge'ez and want to take a peek at an English translation, you can go here.

Ethiopic Jubilees Reading Guide: The Creation, Part I

I've added another reading/vocabulary guide for Ethiopic Jubilees, based on the data from the concordance I'm creating for the book (which is coming along!).  You can download it here.  From my Academia.edu profile you can also download two other Jubilees reading guides and one for Ethiopic 1 Enoch.

The Akedah on the Radio

I heard this song from Nova Scotian folk musician Ben Caplan on the radio today, which references the Akedah, or Near-Sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22: "Birds with Broken Wings."

The story of God commanding Abraham to sacrifice his son, Abraham's obedience, and a last minute divine intervention to prevent Abe from following through is well-known in the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions (check out Levenson's Inheriting Abraham).  It has appeared throughout western history in art and music, and over the past several years has popped up at least a few times on the radio.  In addition to the Ben Caplan song, Arcade Fire's "Abraham's Daughter" showed up in the Hunger Games soundtrack, and a bit further back we heard Sufjan Stevens' "Abraham."

Caplan and Arcade Fire both tap into the highly disturbing nature of the Akedah.  For many of us today, someone who is willing to sacrifice their son because they believe a deity told them to do it is not really a hero.

Spend 2016 with Judith. Or Achilles. Or Muhammed.

Welcome to 2016!  Perhaps one of your New Year's resolutions is: "I'd really like to spend more time reading interesting ancient and medieval literature."  Such a resolution probably won't extend your life the way a quit-smoking resolution will, but it will certainly make 2016 more interesting and enjoyable.

"Judith mit dem Haupt des Holofernes"
(Lucas Cranach)

One nice approach to building a 2016 reading list is to focus on a particular author, text, or corpus.  This gives you the opportunity to really explore a few primary sources in a focused way, with a handful of interesting and helpful secondary sources as your travel companions.  The examples below reflect my personal research interests and tastes, and perhaps they aren't your cup of tea.  If you come up with your own "spend 2016 with an ancient/medieval author/text" list I'd love to see it!  Feel free to post it in the comments section at the bottom.  I've listed five categories -- Greek, Roman, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic -- but there are naturally other fun categories one could build a reading list around.

Lexicon Linguae Aethiopicae

Perhaps it was there before and I didn't notice it until now, but on Ran HaCohen's excellent website, which contains electronic versions of the Ge'ez Old and New Testaments, there is a copy of Dillmann's monumental Lexicon Linguae Aethiopicae.  PDFs of this lexicon are available for download on the Internet but I've found the large PDF slow and difficult to navigate.  Ran HaCohen's version is easier to navigate, with links to take you to each major section.  The Latin index is particularly nice if you're looking to back translate and find out what the Ethiopic word for something is.

Of course Leslau's lexicons (the big one and the concise one) are my first resources, but sometimes it's helpful to consult Dillmann!

Ancient Labor Laws

In honor of the American holiday of Labor Day, here are just two examples of ancient labor laws from the Hebrew Bible:


Sabbath (Deuteronomy 5:12-15)
Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to theLord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you.15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

Many are more familiar with the sabbath rationale given in the Exodus 20 version of the ten commandments and the famous seven day creation story in Genesis 1.  But Deuteronomy gives a different reason for observing the sabbath: because the Israelites knew what it was like to be exploited laborers.  Notice that sabbath is to be observed by the whole household, including slaves and animals.

Pay Up! (Leviticus 19:13 and Deuteronomy 24:14-15)
". . . you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning."

"You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns.You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt."

Medieval Interpretations of Genesis

Eerdword, the Eerdman's blog just posted something by Joy Schroeder on her book The Book of Genesis, a new volume in The Bible in Medieval Tradition series.  Schroeder has translated major excerpts from seven different medieval Christian commentators on the Book of Genesis, many (most?) of which have not been published in English translation before.

Be sure to check out her post by clicking here, and consider buying the book!  It appears to be available in Kindle edition now and paperback at the end of the month.  

As someone who studies the interpretation of Genesis in ancient Judaism, I am very excited to take a look at this resource and get a better sense of how the book was interpreted by medieval Christians.  The history of interpretation is fascinating in its own right, but it also gives us important and often revealing insights into our own modern assumptions about text, meaning, and interpretation.
Some other works that also take us into the world of the historical interpretation of Genesis:

Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, by Jon D. Levenson.

The Bible as it Was, by James Kugel.

In Potiphar's House: The Interpretive Life of Biblical Texts, by James Kugel.