The Kingdom of the Gideons: The Forgotten History of the Jewish Kingdom That Ruled Ethiopia | Israel today

The Seine Mountains, the highest mountains in the Horn of Africa, are among the most famous tourist sites in Ethiopia.

On days when they are quiet and stable in the country, they are visited by thousands of tourists, who enjoy the spectacular views and the rich world of flora and fauna.

These mountains are also a popular destination for Israelis traveling in Ethiopia, whether tourists visiting the place on their way from Gondar to Axum for example, or backpackers going on a trek of several days in the field.

But who among us has heard of the turbulent and surprising Jewish history of the place, and of being the main stronghold of the dynasty of kings of Ethiopian Jews - the dynasty of the Gideons?

We are used to thinking of Jewish life in the Diaspora as the life of a minority, at the mercy of the Christian or Muslim authorities.

But, this was not the case with the Jews of Ethiopia.

Until the 17th century, while Jews in the rest of the Diaspora lived in this reality, Ethiopian Jews had self-rule that included kings and an army and their place of origin was in the Semine Mountains, from where they waged wars against the Christian Solomon Kingdom (later developed into the modern Ethiopian state).

The rule of the Jews in Semain, as well as the wars between them and the Solomonite Kingdom, are extensively documented both in the oral tradition passed down from generation to generation among the community, and among other things, in the writings of the Solomonite Kingdom written near the events themselves.

Evidence of the wars also reached the Jewish communities in Egypt and Israel, and from there it spread throughout the Jewish world.

The Jews of Europe and the Middle East, who at that time lived "under the yoke of the Gentiles," drew consolation and inspiration from the fact that somewhere in Africa live independent Jews who have kings and an army.

The descriptions of the battles in the written sources as well as in oral traditions are reminiscent of many cases in which Ethiopian Jews preferred to die rather than be captured by the Christians. A famous description appears in the Chronicle (Chronicles) of the Solomon King Sirza Dengel (1597-1563), where it is told of a Jewish woman who was captured by the Solomon army. When one of the soldiers led her on a path over an abyss, she jumped out of the abyss and pulled him along with her. An oral tradition among the community tells that in the days when the Solomon Emperor Isaac (1429 / 30-1414) condemned Ethiopian Jews to Christianity and went to war against them, 75 people from the community who saw the Solomon army approaching and realized they could not escape, threw themselves off a cliff so as not to be captured And so as not to force them to convert to Christianity.

Many of us grew up on the stories of heroism of Masada and Gamla, but few have heard of the experiences of Jewish rule in the Seine and stories of heroism such as these and others against the Solomon Kingdom.

This is despite the fact that things are well known in research and are passed down from generation to generation among the Ethiopian Jewish community.

It is to be hoped that in the future, the fascinating history of Ethiopian Jews in the Semine and the Kingdom of the Gideons will be better known among the general public in Israel.

And as generations of Israelis have traveled in Masada and Gamla and thus got to know up close and tangible the fascinating history of the Great Revolt - so they will be able to travel through the strongholds and battle sites of Ethiopian Jews in Semain and get to know the community's rich and inspiring history.

Praying on the Feast of Sigd,

Until then, the general public will finally be able to get to know in depth this glorious chapter in the history of Ethiopian Jewry and with Israel in general, at an online conference of the State Corporation - Ethiopian Jewish Heritage Center to be held today (Wednesday at 3:30 PM) on the center's zoom and Facebook page.

Dr. Bar Kribus from the University of Rohr in Bochum, Germany, will participate in the annual conference of the State Corporation - Ethiopian Jewish Heritage Center, which will deal with the Gideon Kingdom and will be held on Wednesday, January 19, starting at 3:30 p.m. Zoom.

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