On Friday I spent a good part of the afternoon happily ensconced in a comfortable chair near a window at the new Bibliotheque Nationale, studying a book I'd pulled out of the well-stocked art section: Le Roi Salomon et les maitres du regard, subtitled "Art and Medicine in Ethiopia."
I'd initially been attracted by the extraordinary vitality of the drawings and paintings shown on the cover and in the color plates, but as I sat with the book I got intrigued by the text. Ethiopian medicine and concepts of healing have a lot to do with the local version of Christianity practiced in that country, which I gather to have certain antecendents in Coptic (Egyptian) Christianity - some of the artwork looked similar to some Coptic art I've seen - but which also has blended with native religion in a fascinating way. In addition to the beautiful pierced and carved metal Ethiopian crosses which many of us in the west have seen, another favorite form for religious art are painted scrolls which are rolled up and put in amulets, which are considered to be protective for the wearer.
The one I photographed here shows an Ethiopian saint, Samuel, mounted on a ferocious lion. According to my quick translation of the text, Samuel was a 15th century ascetic who lived in the deserts of Waldebba. He was thought to have had the power to subdue and calm the most powerful and dangerous beasts, and is often depicted riding on a lion. The lion is always shown like this one, with big round eyes and all his claws extended to indicate his ferocity. People pray to Samuel for protection from their own enemies.
But the symbolism goes further than that. Ethiopian biblical scholars mention a line from Revelation, "Behold, the lion which is of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, has overcome..." (Revelation 5:5) This, they say, refers to Christ, because he has conquered the devil through his divine wisdom. Christ, they say, is called "lion" because of this victory, and "lamb" because he was sacrificed. "The lamb refers to his humanity, the lion to his divinity."
The Ethiopian emperors inscribed this line from the Bible on their seals. In doing so they Christianized the ancient royal symbol of Ethiopia -- which was the lion.
As for myself, I was happily reminded of many hours spent in the university library as an undergraduate, poring over French and German accounts of archaeological expeditions in Greece and the Near East for my thesis. I'll try not to go on and on about it, but I really do love being near this library.
I'm quite ignorant of Ethiopian art so this is fascinating, Beth, including the image you chose. You studied archeaological expeditions... what was your thesis?
Posted by: Marja-Leena | May 29, 2005 at 12:42 AM
That ancient artist had a nice grasp of expression, too. What are the gizmos Samuel has in his hands (attributes?)?
Posted by: peter | May 29, 2005 at 01:02 AM
I'm ignorant of Ethiopian art too, but I tend to like African art a great deal - and as you know, M-L, I'm often more inspired by art that vigor and emotion than by well-trained classicism.
In the text, I've just added a link to some Ethiopian crosses but the home page has other examples of the native art to give you a better idea.
since you asked - my thesis was on ancient Cycladic burial pithoi, many of which were decorated with incised scenes of the Trojan war. How's that for esoteric? Yikes. I was completely fascinated by them and by early Greek (pre-Hellenistic) and Cycladic art in general.
Peter - I have no idea. The one looks like a cross, or it could be an orb. The other looks basically like a wrench! Maybe that's what he used to subdue the serpents and lions and tigers. Or maybe it's one of those things priests dip into holy water and use to sprinkle it around. Anybody have a better idea?
Posted by: beth | May 29, 2005 at 02:32 PM
Sorry, Beth, I'm always doing this - leading people off the main subject with my strange questions!! Cycladic burial pithoi - my, I really feel ignorant! Let's see, Cyclades is a Greek Island, and pithoi are large pottery jars? (I had to look that up!) One site indicated that groups eg. families were buried together in rooms, so I would assume that the jars were placed with them. What was the purpose of the jars? At first I thought perhaps the jars hold the cremated remains. Correct me if I'm way off base here.
Posted by: Marja-Leena | May 30, 2005 at 12:39 AM
Beth, Ethiopian art and illuminated manuscripts - my absolute top favourites in the whole of art history. Probably because I feel such kinship with the style and spirit of it. In the British Library here in London there is a permanent exhibition of illuminated manuscripts, among which are the most stunning examples of Ethiopian/Coptic Biblical illustrations. Whenever I see them I feel "at home'.
There's also a lovely paperback album, "Ethiopian Magic Scrolls" (ISBN 0-8076-0897-1) published by George Braziller (USA) which you can probably find in the art section of any good bookstore.
Posted by: Natalie | May 30, 2005 at 06:08 AM