Water: The Nile: And the Tä'amrä Maryam. Miracles of the Virgin Mary in the Ethiopian Version

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Periodical article

Title:	Water: The Nile: And the Tä'amrä Maryam. Miracles of the Virgin Mary in the Ethiopian Version
Author:	Six, Veronika
Year:	1999
Periodical:	Aethiopica: International Journal of Ethiopian Studies
Volume:	2
Pages:	53-68
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Nile River Ethiopia
Subjects:	miracles water management history Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft
Abstract:	Starting with the biblical Geyon the river Nile plays an important role in Ethiopian perception. The corpus of the miracles of Mary ('Tä'amrä Maryam'), particularly during the reign of emperor Zär'a Ya'eqob (AD 1434-1468), was enlarged with stories reflecting a local background and Ethiopian history. And suddenly in the 19th century the 'idea of diverting the Nile', which since early times was a challenging topic in the relationship between Egypt and Ethiopia, again turned up in a miracle of the Virgin Mary, referring to the time of the Crusaders and the resulting diplomatic activities. This article evaluates how far the Ethiopians regard themselves as masters of the Nile waters and to what extent they derive their legitimacy from divine sources. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]