Cyber Ethiopia

Today, and for the next few weeks, we will be focusing our attention on Ethiopian craft-workers. They were, as is generally known, a class of individuals who played a major role in Ethiopia, making such essential artifacts as spear-heads and ploughshares, as well as woven cloth and pottery of all kinds. The craftsmen, who made such goods, tended, however, to be looked down upon by the rest of society, to a greater or lesser extent. What Abba Gorgoreyos Said One of our most revealing early references to blacksmiths comes from the learned Abba Gorgoreyos, the Ethiopian friend and informant of the seventeenth century German linguist and historian Hiob Ludolf. Gorgoreyos, an enlightened man, speaking to Ludolf, observed that "the silly vulgar people" of his country "could

not endure Smiths, as being the sort of Mortals that spit fire and were bred up in Hell". Such superstition was the curse under which craftsmen, particularly blacksmiths, but also weavers and potters (who were invariably women), lived in traditional Ethiopia! "Did Not Harass those who Worked" There were, however, honourable exceptions to this story of discrimination against craftsmen. The royal chronicle of Emperor Galawdewos (1540-1549) for example notes that he (presumably unlike his forebears) did not "harass those who worked, nor despise those engaged in hard labour". Despite such enlightenment, prejudice was (and is) hard to die. Blacksmiths, and other craftworkers, continued to suffer a considerable amount of persecution. The prevailing state of affairs, in the early nineteenth century, was graphically explained by the French Saint Simonian missionaries, Edmonde Combes and Maurice Tamisier. Writing in the late 1830s, they report that Ethiopian craftsmen, like the alchemists of medieval Europe, were "the terror of the countryside", and lived in constant danger of attack by other members of the community. A Blacksmith of Samen The Frenchmen go on to tell the story of an iron worker at Enchatkab, the then capital of Samen, who earned his living by making spear-heads and repairing rifles. He had, however, had been accused of having had relations with the Devil; and was accordingly obliged to flee to the imperial capital, Gondar. There too he was soon insulted, and accused of sorcery, on which account he was obliged to make his way to Tegray, Bagemder, Amhara, and Gojjam, before eventually returning to Bagemder, where he sought refuge in a cave, and lived the life of a beggar. Combes and Tamisier, who met him, quote him as exclaiming: "Oh, if instead of being a blacksmith I had tilled the land or adopted the life of a soldier! I would not have been obliged to exile myself! I would still be in my native country, in the midst of my family who loved me! Instead of that, I live here alone in a cave which the wild animals will perhaps dispute with me! Oh! Why was I born a blacksmith? My skill in that art has made my entire life intolerable!" King Sahla Sellase of Shawa; and Habtie, or Habtu King Sahle Sellase of Shawa, if we can believe the accounts of early nineteenth century European travellers, did not share such superstitious ideas. He differed from many previous Ethiopian rulers, in that he took a keen, and benevolent, interest in craftsmen of all kinds. One of the most important such workers, and in fact their leader, was a certain Habtie or Habtu, who is said to have been highly respected at the Shawan court - and provides our profile for today. The British traveller Charles Johnston refers to him as Sahla Sellase's "chief blacksmith", as well as the officer in charge of the King's arsenal: clearly a man of importance! As far as we are aware he is not, however, mentioned in any Ethiopian source. Habtie is also mentioned in the memoirs of the British envoy, Captain Cornwallis Harris. The latter tells of the King visiting the craftsmen's establishment, and describes the monarch "leaning on the arm of the chief smith, great master of the Tabiban [or skilled craftsmen]... and royal physician extraordinary". Elaborating on our friend Habtie's role in the Shawan establishment, the Englishman continues: "The office of chief smith and Alaka [i.e. head] of all the tabiban, 'wise people', or craftsmen throughout the realm, and of Body Physician, are concentrated in the person of Habte, who must freely partake of all the drugs that are administered to the King, and with the Commander-in-Chief of the Bodyguard, the Minister of the Horse, and the Father Confessor be in constant attendance upon His Majesty". "Found Time for the Industrial Arts" Testimony to Sahla Sellase's interest in technology is likewise provided by Combes and Tamisier. They claim that the monarch, though much absorbed in the cares of war, "found time to devote himself to the industrial arts, which he loved with passion". He insisted, the Frenchmen continue, that handicraft work be carried out under his eyes, with the result that the interior of the palace was filled with weavers, carpenters, masons and other workers who were occupied in making gunpowder, repairing rifles or working in gold, silver and iron. The above picture is corroborated by other foreign observers, most notably the German Protestant missionary J.L. Krapf. He states that blacksmiths, weavers and other craftsmen (instead of being persecuted as in the past) worked for the monarch on assigned tasks. These, on completion, the craftsmen were "obliged to show to the King", who, if not satisfied with their work, would order it to be improved. "Excellent Ironwork" Such workers, at the Shawan capital, Ankobar, are said, by Combes and Tamisier, to have produced fine drinking horns, as well as delicate weaving, and excellent ironwork. The latter included needles, scissors, razors, knife- and sword-blades, spear-heads and rifle-plates, besides pottery of all kinds. Gurayo Sahle Sellase, assisted by the assiduous Habtie, also had an iron-works at his disposal. Situated at the village of Gurayo, in the Chacha valley, just below a "roaring cataract", or waterfall, it was operated, according to Harris, by the local Tabiban. Craftsmen's Monasteries Most of the latter lived in craftsmen's monasteries, the existence of which captured the imagination of Johnston. He reported that their inhabitants were: "Christians, but do not pray to the Virgin Mary, and believe that Christ had no father, but was still a man like ourselves. They have no 'tabot', or movable altar (ark), like other Christians... Every day in the week, except Saturday and Sunday, is a strict fast.... they sit up all night in their church, ranged along the wall, to which straps are secured, and within which the people sit at prayers, so that should any one go to sleep, he might not fall and hurt himself, or disturb others. The Goodam [gadam, or monastery] is divided into two portions, one side being occupied by the women, the other by the men, and no unnecessary communication is permitted between the sexes. They eat and drink together once a-day in the evening, each having a fixed portion of food. The women grind flour, and work as do other Shoan females; the monks labour at the forge, or in the fields belonging to their convent. The Tabeeb women also make the earthenware vessels in the country, as all iron-ware is done by the men. There are two superiors, an aged woman who is in charge of the females, and an old man in authority over the males". "A Great Friend" Sahla Sellase, according to Johnston, was "a great friend" of these monastic craftsmen. Every year he gave them several oxen, and also "bestowed a great deal of land "on them. This royal respect for his craftsmen and women was most praiseworthy, and enabled the craftsmen monks and nuns to play an important and constructive role in early nineteenth century Shawa. They travelled for example to the major Shawan market of Aleyu Amba, which they supplied, according to Johnston, with plough-shares and other agricultural implements, while their women and children brought earthenware utensils, which they hawked about the town with loud cries. The most important member of this early nineteenth century Shawan craftsmen's community, was Habtie, or Habtu, the distinguished Ethiopian whom we salute today.