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Hidden away and relatively unknown to even locals, Deir es Sultan
is the unusually
situated monastery of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the old city
of Jerusalem.
Deir
es Sultan is located not within the walls of the Holy Sepulcher but
rather on
the rooftop of this most sacred of Christian sites.
According to tradition, monks coming from Egypt and Syria converted
the Ethiopians
to
Christianity in the 4th and 5th centuries. Monks as Christian
missionaries were
encouraged in visiting Ethiopia due to the ancient visit of Queen
Sheba of Ethiopia to King
Solomon of Jerusalem. Bearing gifts of gold and spices, Queen
Sheba came to King
Solomon with many difficult questions in order to prove his renowned
intelligence.
According to tradition in the Ethiopian Church, Queen Sheba returned
home pregnant by
King Solomon and gave birth to the legendary first emperor of
Ethiopia, Menelik 1.
Menelik
traveled to Jerusalem to absorb more of the Wisdom of Solomon and
take it back
to his own country.
Ethiopians were already making pilgrimages to
Jerusalem by the end of the 4th
century. In the year 636, Caliph Omar of Jerusalem, issued an order,
which laid out the
undeniable rights of Christians, including the rights of the
Ethiopian Church. From this time
till the Middle Ages, the Ethiopian community survived in Jerusalem
supported by funds
donated by pilgrims and gifts of the Ethiopian emperors.
Later in the 16th century, the Ethiopians lost their
foothold in the main building of the
Holy Sepulcher and were finally forced onto the roof.
Furthermore, the more powerful
churches began to encroach upon the properties belonging to the
Ethiopians, which to this
day
are not in their possession. Poverty took such a toll on the
Ethiopians that some of the
monks were forced to join the Greek Orthodox Church
simply to get food.
During the 18th century the Ethiopian Churches broke
away from their liaison with the
Egyptian Coptic’s. Resenting this, the Copts took over the
monastery of Deir es Sultan
after a plague in 1838 hit Jerusalem during which all of the
Ethiopian monks died.
According to the Ethiopians, the Copts then proceeded to burn the
library containing the
documents, which validated the Ethiopian claim to Deir es Sultan.
Unexpected help came from the British consul and Foreign Office of
London in
cooperation with the emperor and Church in Ethiopia. The
Ethiopians were able to recover
the monastery but the keys were left in the hands of
the Copts.
Deir
es Sultan has survived poverty, civil unrest, and warring Christian
factions
through the strength and resilience of its holy men. The monks
grew to number between
40-50 and slightly fewer nuns after being wiped out by the plague.
Till today, these are the
counts of the pious ones inhabiting the monastery. Today, they
are supported and able to
lead their followers through the revenues from church properties and
gifts of the faithful.
Praying, singing, and feasting on all holy days are typical of the
joyous celebrations and
traditions of the Ethiopian Church. Services are conducted in
Amharic, as the monks and
church members seldom become fluent in the local languages.
Till today many of the
monks speak neither Arabic nor Hebrew and are dependent on those of
the community
who do, for their contact with the outside world.
Simple piety brings them to Jerusalem and the belief that it is the
most holy of Holy
Places. The Ethiopian Church is as if an island, isolated yet
strong and resilient through the
faith and traditions of its members.
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