Enrico Cerulli

Ethiopian Christianity constitutes an exceptional case for the analysis of beliefs related to the resurrection of the dead among Christians. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is closely linked to Second Temple Judaism, as well as to early Christianity. This Church has roots in the early Church of Jerusalem and has played a vital role in the preservation of fundamental Judeo-Christian literature of the Second Temple Period. Central books, such as The Book of Enoch and The Book of Jubilees, were found for the first time in their entirety in Ethiopia, written in the Ge’ez language. In terms of faith and practices, the Jewish effect on Ethiopian Christianity, among other influences, has been and remains a very interesting case of comparative religious studies. We are assuming here that the idea of the resurrection of the dead is included within these faith and practices. However, as mentioned previously, Ethiopian Christianity is influenced not only by Judaism, but also by other cultural and religious sources.
This work seeks to explore the characteristics and development of the concepts related to the belief in the resurrection of the dead in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, especially during the Middle Ages. We will focus essentially on four different Ethiopian texts, dating from the period between the 14th and 16th century: The Kebra Negast or the “Glory of the Kings”, compiled and translated to the Ge´ez language in its complete form in the fourteenth century;  The Lefafa Sedek or the “Bandlet of Righteousness” written probably in the sixteenth century;  the “Christian Romance of Alexander the Great” from the fourteenth century;  and  “De Resurrectione Mortuorum” written in the fourteenth century.  All these texts were translated into English by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, with the exception of “De resurrectione Mortuorum”, which was translated into Italian by Enrico Cerruli.