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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The legitimising project: the coronation rite and the written word
Author:Orlowska, Izabela
Year:2013
Periodical:Aethiopica: International Journal of Ethiopian Studies (ISSN 1430-1938)
Volume:16
Pages:74-101
Language:English
Geographic term:Ethiopia
Subjects:enthronement
kingship rituals
1870-1879
External link:https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/700/714
Abstract:The article explores and deciphers symbolism displayed in the acts of the enthronement ceremony of Yo?ann?s IV (1872-1889), which was drawn from the past and remodelled to form an ideological underpinning for the monarchy and to legitimise Yo?ann?s's imperial project. Yo?ann?s IV was the second of the so-called Neo-Solomonic rulers, who re-established strong imperial power in Ethiopia after the so-called 'Zämänä mäsaf?nt' (Era of the Princes, 1769-1855), known for the rule of the puppet kings in Gondär manipulated by powerful regional nobles. The article and its argument are based on an Ethiopian chronicle (the Däbrä B?rhan S?llase Chronicle), which offers a detailed description of a series of enthronement rites. Despite the fact that the record of these events is likely to have been adjusted by Ethiopian chroniclers, their writings still point to what they thought should happen during a ritual in order for it to be effective. Consequently, the authors of the chronicle revealed to us the role of ritual in the legitimising project of late 19th-century Ethiopia. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract, edited]
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