The Nine Saints were a group of
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
who were important in the initial growth of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
in what is now
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
during the late 5th century. Their names were Abba Aftse, Abba Alef,
Abba Aragawi,
Abba Garima (Isaac, or Yeshaq), Abba Guba, Abba Liqanos,
Abba Pantelewon
Abba Pentelewon (Pantaleon) (c. 470 – 522) was a Christian monk who is traditionally credited with founding Pentalewon Monastery located on the top of Mai Qoho Hinorthwest of Axum in Tigray, Ethiopia. He is one of the members of the group kn ...
, Abba Tsahma, and
Abba Yem’ata. Although frequently described as coming from
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, only two or three actually came from that province; according to
Paul B. Henze
Paul Bernard Henze (29 August 1924, Redwood Falls Township, Redwood County, Minnesota, Redwood Falls – 19 May 2011, Culpeper, Virginia, Culpeper) was an American people, American broadcaster, writer and CIA operative. He was involved with Radio ...
, others have been traced to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
,
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, and even
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
__NOTOC__
The Ethiopian historian
Taddesse Tamrat
Taddesse Tamrat ( am, ታደሰ ታምራት; 4 August 1935 – 23 May 2013) was an Ethiopian historian and scholar of Ethiopian studies. He is best known as the author of ''Church and State in Ethiopia 1270–1520'' (1972, Oxford University Pre ...
speculates that they may have been connected with the anti-
Monophysite
Monophysitism ( or ) or monophysism () is a Christological term derived from the Greek (, "alone, solitary") and (, a word that has many meanings but in this context means "nature"). It is defined as "a doctrine that in the person of the incarn ...
and anti-
Miaphysite
Miaphysitism is the Christology, Christological doctrine that holds Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, the "Incarnation (Christianity), Incarnate Logos (Christianity), Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one 'nature' (''physis'')." It is a posi ...
persecutions that followed the
Council of Chalcedon
The Council of Chalcedon (; la, Concilium Chalcedonense), ''Synodos tēs Chalkēdonos'' was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bith ...
, which adopted
Dyophysitism
In Christian theology, dyophysitism (Greek: δυοφυσιτισμός, from δυο (''dyo''), meaning "two" and φύσις (''physis''), meaning "nature") is the Christological position that two natures, divine and human, exist in the person of ...
. Their activities spread Christianity beyond "a narrow corridor between
Adulis
Adulis (Sabaean: ሰበኣ
𐩱 𐩵 𐩡 𐩪, gez, ኣዱሊስ, grc, Ἄδουλις) was an ancient city along the Red Sea in the Gulf of Zula, about south of Massawa. Its ruins lie within the modern Eritrean city of Zula. It was the e ...
and Aksum along the caravan routes." Besides converting the local inhabitants to Christianity, they also founded a number of
monastic
Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...
houses that followed the rule of Saint
Pachomius
Pachomius (; el, Παχώμιος ''Pakhomios''; ; c. 292 – 9 May 348 AD), also known as Saint Pachomius the Great, is generally recognized as the founder of Christian cenobitic monasticism. Copts, Coptic churches celebrate his feast day on ...
: Abba Aftse founded the monastery at
Yeha
Yeha ( gez, ይሐ ''yiḥa'', older ESA 𐩥𐩢 ''ḤW''; Old South Arabian: 𐩺𐩢𐩱 ''Yḥʾ'') is a town in the Maekelay Zone of the northern Tigray Region in Ethiopia. It likely served as the capital of the pre-Aksumite kingdom of D'm ...
; Abba Alef the northernmost establishment at
Bi'isa on the south bank of the
Mareb River
The Mareb River, or Gash River ( ar, القاش) is a river flowing out of central Eritrea. Its chief importance is defining part of the boundary between Eritrea and Ethiopia, between the point where the Mai Ambassa enters the river at to the c ...
; the foundation of the important monastery of
Debre Damo
Debre Damo (), also spelled Debre Dammo, Dabra Dāmmo or Däbrä Dammo), is the name of a flat-topped mountain, or amba, and a 6th-century monastery in Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The mountain is a steeply rising plateau of trapezoidal shape, abou ...
is attributed to Abba Aragawi; Abbas Liqanos and Pantelewon are credited with establishing
Pentalewon Monastery in
Axum
Axum, or Aksum (pronounced: ), is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015).
It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire, a naval and trading power that ruled the whole region ...
; Abba Garima founded
Abba Garima Monastery
Abba Garima Monastery is an Ethiopian Orthodox church, located around five kilometres east of Adwa, in the Mehakelegnaw Zone of the northern Tigray Region in Ethiopia. It was established in the sixth century by one of the Nine Saints, Abba Ga ...
north of
Adwa
Adwa ( ti, ዓድዋ; amh, ዐድዋ; also spelled Aduwa) is a town and separate woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is best known as the community closest to the site of the 1896 Battle of Adwa, in which Ethiopian soldiers defeated Italian ...
; Abba Guba the one at Madara; Abba Tsahma one at Sedenya; and Abba Yem’ata founded the southernmost one of the group in the
Gar'alta, noted for its
Abuna Yemata Guh
Abuna Yemata Guh is a monolithic church located in the Hawzen woreda of the Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is situated at a height of and has to be climbed on foot to reach. It is notable for its dome and wall paintings dating back to the 5th centur ...
church named after him.
[This list is from ]Richard Pankhurst
Richard Marsden Pankhurst (1834 – 5 July 1898) was an English barrister and socialist who was a strong supporter of women's rights.
Early life
Richard Pankhurst was the son of Henry Francis Pankhurst (1806–1873) and Margaret Marsden (180 ...
, ''The Ethiopians, A history'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001), p. 37 n. 38
Abba Garima and the Garima Gospels
Recent radiocarbon dating supports the tradition of Saint Abba Garima's arrival at the Abba Garima Monastery in 494.
[ ] The
Garima Gospels
The Garima Gospels are two ancient Ethiopic Gospel Books. Garima 2, the earlier of the two, is believed to be the earliest surviving complete illuminated Christian manuscript. Monastic tradition holds that they were composed close to the year 50 ...
, which Garima is said to have written, is now regarded as "the world's earliest illustrated Christian manuscript" and the oldest surviving Ethiopian manuscript of any kind.
[
]
See also
* Thirteen Assyrian Fathers
The Thirteen Assyrian Fathers ( ka, ათცამმეტი ასურელი მამანი, tr) were, according to Georgian church tradition, a group of monastic missionaries who arrived from Mesopotamia to Georgia to strengthen Chri ...
References
External links
Life of Abba Pantelewon from ''The Dictionary of Ethiopian Biography''
{{Ethiopian saints by feast day
9 Nine Saints
Ethiopian saints
History of Ethiopia
Syrian Christian saints
5th-century Christian saints
5th-century Christian monks
Christian missionaries in Ethiopia