The Traditional Teaching of the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahedo Church

Christine Chaillot

Since its foundation in the fourth century, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (not unlike the European Churches in medieval and early modern times) has been the guardian of education in Ethiopia, and consequently also of Ethiopia’s literary culture. It was through the Church that this teaching was organized in traditional schools and has been kept alive down the generations to our own day. It is a teaching, based on ancient texts and books, taught orally to the clergy and then shared by them with the faithful in Church life.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s unique educational system is the subject of this talk. Studies at different levels are in fact pursued at different schools. First of all students learn to read and write. Then, with a view to realizing the liturgical life as a whole, they turn their attention to hymns and liturgical music (zema and aqwaqwam). Higher theological and other studies are pursued at the “school of the books” (meshaf bet), where the Old and New Testaments are studied and commented on, together with the writings of the Church Fathers (Liqawent) and the Book of the Monks (Metshefa menekosat). Some students learn how to compose the traditional poems (qene) that are unique to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. They do this in a school where they are taught the grammar and syntax of Geez, the ancient Christian language of Ethiopia. Traditionally, other subjects were also taught, such as the computation of the calendar with its annual liturgical feasts, calligraphy, iconography, and church history. All this teaching is related to the faith and spirituality of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Some important traditional schools are identified and the names of well-known teachers are given, together with an explanation of the kind of life led by the teachers and students. This traditional system of education in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is a unique patrimony. One wonders, however, what its future will be in the context of the modern educational methods and social attitudes that have evolved in Ethiopia. This topic is little – if at all – known outside Ethiopia, even in Christian circles. Moreover, it is a much neglected field in the wider study of African education.

Christine Chaillot is the author of numerous articles and books on the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Churches in the fields of history, theology and spirituality, notably Vie et spiritualité des Églises orthodoxes orientales des traditions syriaque, arménienne, copte et éthiopienne(Le Cerf, Paris, 2010), The Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century (Peter Lang, Oxford, 2011), Les Coptes d’Égypte. Discriminations et persécutions (1970-2011) (L’Harmattan, Paris, 2014), The Theological Dialogue Between the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches (Volos, 2016), The Assyrian Church of the East. History and Geography (Peter Lang, Oxford, 2021), The Traditional Teaching of the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahedo Church (Lit Verlag, 2023). Her books have been translated into eleven languages.

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