It is rumored that Meles Zenawi’s wife, Azeb Mesfin, sold this priceless Ethiopian national treasure to the highest bidder?
By Peter Smith
[email protected]
The Courier-Journal
Fallen angels marry human women and spawn a breed of giants that wreak havoc on the earth. A righteous man takes a tour of the cosmos that reveals the throne of God, a prison for wayward stars and the storehouses of wind, hail and fire..
A messianic “Son of Man” comes to judge the earth, punish the wicked and reward the righteous.
It’s all part of the ancient Book of Enoch, an apocalyptic epic that was quoted in the New Testament and has always been revered as Scripture by Ethiopian Christians — even as it’s been largely forgotten in the Western world.
Now one of the world’s oldest manuscripts of Enoch has found at least a temporary a home in Jeffersonville, Kentucky.
The Remnant Trust — a private collection of rare books and documents with the aim of spurring public interest in culture-shaping works — unveiled the manuscript this week at its East Court Avenue building.
The wood-bound manuscript, written in red and black ink on animal-skin pages, is believed to date from the 15th or 16th centuries.
Two private collectors recently acquired it and loaned it to the trust for at least two years and will consider making it a permanent gift to the trust, said Kris Bex, president of the Remnant Trust. He did not disclose the price but said it was “expensive.”
“It’s one of a kind,” Bex said. “It’s the only Book of Enoch that’s ever been likely to have been sold or put on the market.”
Enoch was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic by ancient Jews, and some ancient fragments of it have been found near the Dead Sea.
But the oldest complete versions are in the ancient Ethiopian language of Ge’ez because Ethiopian Christians are the only enduring church group that revered the book as Scripture.
James C. VanderKam, a professor of Hebrew Scriptures at Notre Dame University and a leading expert on the Book of Enoch, has inspected the book and estimates it’s probably one of the five or so oldest manuscripts of the work.
“We don’t have very many that go back that far,” said VanderKam, who co-authored an English translation of Enoch and is now working on a commentary.
VanderKam estimated the text was about 500 years old because it has similar script and contents to another edition of Enoch in the British Museum, although he said specialists in Ethiopian script could make a more decisive determination.
The manuscript came on the market in the last couple of years from an American owner, and the trust has been able to establish a chain of ownership dating back only to 1924. But VanderKam said it appears authentic.
Enoch is considered a prime example of apocalyptic literature — Jewish and Christian books that purport to reveal the hidden secrets of a future in which the evil are punished and the righteous rewarded. They include books inside the Bible, such as Daniel and Revelation, as well as many outside of it, such as Enoch.
“The book is very significant,” said Susan Garrett, professor of New Testament at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. “It attests to a world view that is similar to (one found in) the New Testament.”
Portions of the book — such as references to a messianic Son of Man — have “incredible parallels” to language used about Jesus in the gospels, she added.
In fact, the New Testament book of Jude directly quotes this line: “See, the Lord is coming with tens of thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all.”
The book ultimately influenced Christians more than Jews, who excluded it from their Bible and whose apocalyptic strain largely faded in ancient times as scholarly, rabbinic Judaism came to the fore.
Ancient Jews “moved on to (scholarly texts such as the) Mishnah and Talmud, argued about law,” said Rabbi Joe Rooks Rapport of The Temple synagogue in Louisville. “There’s antiquarian interest in it, but it’s not really functional in the rabbinic context of Judaism.”
The book is attributed to the ancient patriarch Enoch, who is depicted in the book of Genesis as so righteous that “God took” him, apparently without death.
But VanderKam and other scholars say various writers composed the book in Greco-Roman times and attributed it to Enoch to boost its credibility.
The book includes an elaborate retelling of a brief passage in Genesis 6, in which the “sons of God” lusted after the “daughters of humans” and bred a race of destructive giants just before Noah’s flood. In Enoch’s version, the ghosts of these giants continue to haunt the earth.
“What it does is show us a kind of Judaism that reflected on basic problems” such as the “tremendous power of evil in the world, and how might that be explained,” VanderKam said.
“Their explanation had to do with these marriages between these angels and women that they found hinted at in Genesis 6,” he said. “They put more stress on that than they did on the Adam and Eve story in the garden.”
Bex said visitors can view the book by appointment by calling (812) 280-2222.
17 thoughts on “Rare Ethiopian book arrives in Kentucky”
Elias,
We all can despise Meles Zenawi BUT stop making up things.
Mrs.Azeb Mesfin has done great things for HIV/AIDS victims, I have seen it with my own eyes.
Hate Meles but dont hate Weyzero Azeb
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Enset, Azeb and her murderous husband did much more damage to the people of Ethiopia than AIDS and all the other diseases combined. They are vampires who are sucking the life blood of Ethiopia.
AZEB AND MELES ARE HIV/AIDS FOR ETHIOPIAN PEOPLE
Mr. Eli. I think you are smart enough to know that your readers would react with out reading the news in-depth. It is true we modern Ethiopians, unlike our forefathers, are bibliophobic (book haters). But I didn’t know we were too dummy to know the difference between 1924 and 2008. What a curse!
Otherwise somebody could have more easily pointed out the following paragraph than being trapped in your hate journalism:
“The manuscript came on the market in the last couple of years from an American owner, and the trust has been able to establish a chain of ownership dating back only to 1924″
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It is said to be owned by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church until Aba Gebremedhin (formerly Aba Paulos) and first b* Azeb Mesfin came to power and start plundering Ethiopia’s national treasures. Do you have any proof otherwise?
Rumored or real, the Book of Enoch may have been stolen from that famous Ethiopian monastery, Waldiba in Walkait, home of Azeb Mesfin; thousands of valuable Ethiopian books, tabots, crosses, seil (pictures), have been found in foreign countries. In this lucrative trade, the Meles family may have been involved because they know which Ethiopian treasure will be profitable to them. At this particular time, the Ethiopian Church with all its valuable ancient manuscripts, garments made of gold and crowns of pure gold are under the control of Meles family. Meles can simply order Abune Paulos to bring him any costly Church property and sell it at a high price to a foreign agent secretly. By the time Meles leaves office, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church will have been robbed completely of all its indispensable treasures. Everything valuable will be gone, and any thing that has less value will be left. Meles is a thief; his wife is a thief; Abune Paulos is a thief: these three notorious thieves are robbing the country and its Churches every day. Who can stop them?
Ethiopians, deep down in your heart and mind you know that the greatest and unique treasures and priceless historical artifacts and historical and biblical records have been stolen, looted, and in some cases, all that is Ethiopia and Ethiopians have been deliberately shipped out of Ethiopia by the enemeis of Ethiopia and Ethiopians before and after the arrival of murders and looters in Ethiopia.
when the national treasure inventory is done, the greatest majority of Ethiopians will leterally cry and then become num and frozen by how much the country has been robbed and vandalized by the enemies.
It is true and fact that the looters and the murderers will be caught either dead or alive, but the lost treasurres are unlikely to be retrieved for the future generations.
Eternal death to the looters and murderers of that crime family of the nazi boss and a mafia, too.
There is no one, but meles zenawi and his fake patriarch are responsible for this crime. I believe meles will sell his wife too in the future. THAT IS NOT A JOKE!!!
Amoraw chicago
Elias one more thing would you please ask comments from the EOC(Ethiopian Orthodox Church) and even from the First Lady for information? It is clear that this can happen but to balance the work you bring even if you are not the source please try. If both are not willing it indicate something to the public. The other thing i request is that we have got a lot of religious fathers who know about the book so please also consider that to bring them and give their opinions.
Ato Elias,
I don’t see how Azeb and Aba *** are linked with this news…i can’t rule out your argument, but it is too baseless…Do your job (as a journalist) and give us more info than your blind guess…We have enough reasons to hate this people, so there is no need to make up things…the truth is enough…
Asmerom
Mr Elias,
What a logical paradox: the general (legal/logical) principle that ‘any one is innocent before proven guilty’ is reversed in your editorial. Some body commented on this news that this matter goes to 1924 and not 2008 and challenged your accusations. You react to his/her comment claiming that so long as he is unable to prove to you that Azeb did not stole the book, you got to believe that she stole it-this means excatly the reverse of the legal logic on which modern law is cemented. That is, your claim is ‘she is guilty unless she is proven innocent!’. What a paradox. Can you explain this to me? Let’s agree on one thing. As you often do, if you screen my comment out, I will assume that you are deficient to defend your claims.
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Alula, ‘any one is innocent before proven guilty’ applies only to the court of law, not to the media. In Azeb’s case, it is difficult to do investigative journalism, because any one who tries that ends up in disease-infested jail or will be accused of treason and sentenced to death or life in prison — as it happened in my case. There are a mountain of evidence that Azeb (who claims to be first lady, even though only the wife of the head of state — the president — can be called that) and her husband are looting Ethiopia’s national treasure. What do you call, for example, the recent giving away of Ethiopia’s fertile agricultural land to Sudan?
Elias,
True, you may end up in jail for doing investigative journalism in Ethiopia, particularly a topic concerning someone close to the palace. However, C’mon before throwing out this wild connection you could have dig a little more about the American owner, the Trust, the source for tracing it to 1924 etc.. from the University in Kentucky. How about, calling the University or the person cited in the story, identify yourself as owner of Ethiopian portal and ask him questions and write a report on your site what you were able to find out. The University authorities could have told you their side of the story on the record or as a source not-to-be-identified in person. My point. The fact that you live in a country where officials are often accessible to questions from the media or the general public, you could have find out more about this story. It is not surprising if such poor reporting comes from TPLF controlled media because their existence is merely for propaganda purpose. Or if it comes from members of the free press back home because all kinds of limitations imposed on them have impacted their reporting. However we expect, media sources operating abroad to do better. If i were you, I would do all in my capacity to be viewed as credible source of information. Hope you take this concern & advice positively.
Dear editor,
Can you post,if it is possible, the following article by Yemisrach Benalfew? I find it very informative to the current conditions of the looters of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church articles. Among these notorious looters are:the British and the American tourists and surprisingly enough the Ethiopian Orthodox Church priests themselves. I don’t blame the priests because they have been serving the church without a fixed salary.
ETHIOPIAN HISTORICAL ANTIQUES BEING STOLEN
Ethiopia’s rich history spans several centuries but colonialist forces stole most of the country’s precious antiques. According to the following report, the stealing is still going on.
By Yemisrach Benalfew
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October 1999
Antiques stolen from the Ethiopian Orthodox churches are being sold on the international market, according to the Ethiopian Ministry of Information and Culture.
Priests, monks and armed robbers steal manuscripts, crosses, icons and crowns to sell to brokers, tourists and international antique dealers, the head of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Inventory and Investigation, Mamitu Yilma, says.
‘The 800 years of dedication by priests to save the relics is probably declining,’ says Professor Richard Pankhurst, a historian.
The extent of the looting is not known. ‘We don’t know the exact amount of Ethiopia’s artifact losses due to the lack of registration,’ says the department of culture. Up to now, only 45,000 ancient objects have been registered.
Registration is now underway, and the results are expected soon. In fact, some 20 or 30 years ago, only manuscripts were on the international market, according to Pankhurst. Now, virtually every item, stolen from Ethiopia, is on the market, he says.
Ethiopia is estimated to have more than half a million manuscripts, Yilma says.
According to the department of culture, more than 2,000 antiques have disappeared in Amhara region, north of Ethiopia, in the past 10 years.
Yilma says most of the buyers are European or American, and that Britain, Germany and the United States still dominate the market.
The antiques are mainly smuggled by diplomats, researchers, and missionaries, according to a report presented last year at a symposium in the capital Addis Ababa to discuss ways of curbing the illicit movement of the artifacts.
The report has identified 3,415 manuscripts, crosses, paintings, church materials, cloth and jewels of Ethiopian origin, weapons, archaeological findings (gold, silver and bronze coins of the Axumite dynasty of Ethiopia of the early 4th-10th centuries), as well as statues.
Ethiopian stone writings have also been found in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, the Vatican and Belgium.
Belgium has returned a cross, dating back 800 years, made of brass, stolen from a Lalibela church, one of the seven international sites preserved as historical sites by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), according to a spokesperson at the Belgian embassy in Addis Ababa.
Germany has 1,000 handwritten manuscripts, Britain 830, and France 750 from the 13th and the 20th centuries, the report says.
Britain acquired most of its collection through its looting of King Tewodros’ kingdom in 1868.
According to Ethiopian history, an expedition led by General Napier stormed the emperor’s seat, Magdala, and looted the palace to release British prisoners. As a result, ‘the British library has the richest and most comprehensive collection of Ethiopian manuscripts of Gondar, the 19th century Ethiopia’s political seat,’ according to Pankhurst.
The Ethiopian antiques in Britain are estimated to be worth about US$5.1 billion, plus compensation for keeping them for more than 100 years, which amount to more than Ethiopia’s gross national product (GNP), according to Seymour Mclean, founder of the London-based Ras Tafari International Consultants.
The Buckingham Palace says the royal library has six Ethiopian manuscripts presented to Queen Victoria by the British museum in 1868. ‘The queen regards herself as its trustee and the collection as inalienable,’ a statement from the Buckingham Palace said in 1995.
One manuscript taken from Emperor Tewodro’s library is on sale in a rare bookshop in England, Sam Fogg Rare Books and Manuscripts, for US$75,000, says a lobbyist for the return of the Magdala loot.
To prevent Ethiopia’s heritage leaving the country, the Society of Friends of the Institutes of Ethiopian Studies was established in 1967/68.
Pankhurst, a founder of the society, says the society has bought 300 icons, crosses, manuscripts and paintings since then. – Third World Network Features
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About the writer: Yemisrach Benalfew is an Ethiopian journalist based in Addis Ababa. The above article first appeared in African Agenda (Vol. 2 No. 2, 1999, ‘Priests, Monks, and Robbers Steal Antiques’).
1955/99
Azeb and Aba Diablos are the likely mafias who sold this rare historical artifact. Azeb was here in the United States two years ago and stayed in a villa owned by the filthy Arab-Woyanne — shiek Alamoudi.
Alamoudi is working hard to weaken the church and convert everyone. Alamoudi and the Woyanne are conducting “Jihad” on Ethiopia using their money. Aba Diablos is the worst church leader ever in Ethiopian history.
Regarding ethiopian Historicl artifact has been stolen by meles cadres, there is no doubt about this, I wittnesed in Down town Silver spring, M.D 3 years ago there was art festival and one person was selling Emperor Minilik beautiful silver made historical artifact. he was selling it for $400.00. Me and my sister asked him where he got it from he does not even want to talk to us. If I had money I would have bought it. Is there any way we can stop this kind of thief form benefting illegally?
Why wonder on these !? our beloved country it self was put for sale since these mercenaries occupied and took the control our country’s fate.
The very sad thing is so many opportunist greedy individuals pooping like mushroom every day, testing their chance to fill an eventual vacuum similar to Mengistu and the current devilish creature called Meless.
It doesn’t matter who are the dealer for a specific item of our heritage whither tekedame Azebe, aba Paolos are all the same personalities where their mission is to amasses huge personal wealth to the detriment of the country and its impoverished populations under the watch of our very selfeshed generation deprived from any nationalistic sacrifice and love when the country needed the most and bleeding abundantly and crying for help.
Among many others Ato Lidetu, Ato Hailu Shawel are prime example for this lack and blind selfishness our time.
If we don’t rise up in concerted fashion as one like our fathers did it against the colonialist now and act accordingly, we will be just as good as reporters of the misery, the agonies and the final burial of the country we rush to hail up and cherish.
That reverberating victory of the third world against one of the European military power that time was achieved by unified Ethiopia.
The ethnic line division only serve the authors and it’s proving everyday in front of our eye.
Ato Meless scoffing behind the scene and boasting his devilish deed against our peoples and beyond in the horn.
Its got to stop enough is enough, we have to grow up from being a reporter.
GOD BLESS ETHIOPIA
Ethiopia will prevail .
Meles will sell his wife at last.
I have seen such things in my own eyes in Old town, va some time ago. There is an Ethiopian store and the owner sells ancient books from Ethiopia.His wife is a jamaican woman and usually works in the store while her husband is busy stealing the Ethiopian Treasures. One time she showed me a an ancient script written on a goat skin/Birana but she refuses to tell me where they got it from..I remember that she was uncomfortable talking about it.But she said that her husband/ he is an Ethiopian gets everything from Ethiopia. I wanted to buy that script but she told me that it’s already sold to some professor.The store is there in OLD TOWN, VIRGINIA on King street… still selling priceless Ethiopian Books. If you go there don’t expect to see those books outside. They are putting them inside. I swear to God that she told me (the wife) that she is showing me because she liked me/i used to go there and buy ethiopian clothes and other things. So if you are going there be friendly to her and talk to her about Ethiopia. She likes Ethiopia very much. Be nice to her and tell her that you are ready to pay high prices for good artifacts. She will get it for you… good luck.
i have the real book of enoch in ethiopian