We left Gonder today in our caravan. I was in car one (of six) with our guide, Claude for the day. We rotate cars and who we ride with and seat positions to keep everything as fair as possible. It is good to ride with Claude, as he talks and is the guide, after all.
We stopped out of town at the Falasha Village. It is the remnants of Ethiopian Judaism. Most of Ethiopia's so-called "Black Jews" were airlifted to Israel in 1991-1992. The Israeli government liberated them from the repressive Mengistu regime.
There is an old synagogue somewhere in the forest, but the guide books say it has the same circular design of Ethiopian churches, but with a Star of David on top, rather than a cross.
The "village" is really just a tourist trap. Christian Ethiopians moved in and now copy the pottery styles of their former countrymen and women. The little girls that are selling (very little haggling goes on here) are all wearing crosses.
However, there was an interesting little box or egg shaped figurine. It had a Star of David on the top, and when you open it, there are two figures embracing. The children keep saying, "Solomon and Sabea, Solomon and Sabea." This is the start of the Solomonic dynasty in Ethiopia.
In traditional Ethiopian history, The Queen of Sabea - known to us as The Queen of Sheba - ruled for 31 years in the 11th and 10th century B.C. Her capital was just outside modern-day Axum.
The Queen traveled to Jerusalem to visit King Solomon. She told him that she wished to learn from him because he was known for his wisdom. Instead, he feel in love with her and asked her to be his wife. She declined, saying that she just wanted to learn from him. He asked her to at least spend the night with him. She got very angry and said no, I only wish to learn from you.
Solomon told her that if she didn't sleep with him, she could not touch anything in his palace. She said that was fine, she wouldn't touch anything and huffed off to bed.
Solomon then had his servants wake her, and offer her a feast. She accepted and was served many salty foods, which made her thirsty. She asked for water and Solomon said, not until you sleep with me. She was enraged, knowing she'd been tricked, and went back to bed. But she couldn't sleep, she was so thirsty.
So she snuck into Solomon's room and checked that he was sleeping deeply. She then grabbed his jug of water and started to drink. Solomon woke up, and told her that she was touching something in his palace, and he was calling in her promise.
She said, I didn't touch your precious objects, I haven't touch your gold or your jewels, you can't say that I've touched anything! Solomon replied that water was actually the most precious thing in his kingdom, and she had just taken quite a bit of it.
The Queen knew she'd been tricked, so she slept with Solomon, got pregnant and came home Jewish and a mother of Melelik, who founded the Solomonic dynasty.
Haile Selassie claimed to be the 237th Solomonic monarch. His reign ended in 1974. See latrine post from earlier.
Of course, this is traditional folktale history that makes a good story, but historians offer up different versions.
I like the spunky, ok you got me, Queen of Sheba tale...although Solomon comes out looking like a guy who will try anything to get into a queen's pants. Which he probably was, really.
We stopped out of town at the Falasha Village. It is the remnants of Ethiopian Judaism. Most of Ethiopia's so-called "Black Jews" were airlifted to Israel in 1991-1992. The Israeli government liberated them from the repressive Mengistu regime.
There is an old synagogue somewhere in the forest, but the guide books say it has the same circular design of Ethiopian churches, but with a Star of David on top, rather than a cross.
The "village" is really just a tourist trap. Christian Ethiopians moved in and now copy the pottery styles of their former countrymen and women. The little girls that are selling (very little haggling goes on here) are all wearing crosses.
However, there was an interesting little box or egg shaped figurine. It had a Star of David on the top, and when you open it, there are two figures embracing. The children keep saying, "Solomon and Sabea, Solomon and Sabea." This is the start of the Solomonic dynasty in Ethiopia.
In traditional Ethiopian history, The Queen of Sabea - known to us as The Queen of Sheba - ruled for 31 years in the 11th and 10th century B.C. Her capital was just outside modern-day Axum.
The Queen traveled to Jerusalem to visit King Solomon. She told him that she wished to learn from him because he was known for his wisdom. Instead, he feel in love with her and asked her to be his wife. She declined, saying that she just wanted to learn from him. He asked her to at least spend the night with him. She got very angry and said no, I only wish to learn from you.
Solomon told her that if she didn't sleep with him, she could not touch anything in his palace. She said that was fine, she wouldn't touch anything and huffed off to bed.
Solomon then had his servants wake her, and offer her a feast. She accepted and was served many salty foods, which made her thirsty. She asked for water and Solomon said, not until you sleep with me. She was enraged, knowing she'd been tricked, and went back to bed. But she couldn't sleep, she was so thirsty.
So she snuck into Solomon's room and checked that he was sleeping deeply. She then grabbed his jug of water and started to drink. Solomon woke up, and told her that she was touching something in his palace, and he was calling in her promise.
She said, I didn't touch your precious objects, I haven't touch your gold or your jewels, you can't say that I've touched anything! Solomon replied that water was actually the most precious thing in his kingdom, and she had just taken quite a bit of it.
The Queen knew she'd been tricked, so she slept with Solomon, got pregnant and came home Jewish and a mother of Melelik, who founded the Solomonic dynasty.
Haile Selassie claimed to be the 237th Solomonic monarch. His reign ended in 1974. See latrine post from earlier.
Of course, this is traditional folktale history that makes a good story, but historians offer up different versions.
I like the spunky, ok you got me, Queen of Sheba tale...although Solomon comes out looking like a guy who will try anything to get into a queen's pants. Which he probably was, really.
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