Sophia Dege-Müller
Research fellow "Demarginalizing medieval Africa: Images, texts, and identity in early Solomonic Ethiopia (1270-1527) ", Hamburg University
Fields of interest: Ethiopian manuscripts, Beta Israel studies and manuscripts, Ethiopian History and Literatures
Main information:
- 2021- ongoing: Editorial Team "Aethiopica. International Journal for Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies"
- 2015-2020: Research fellow in the ERC-funded project „Jews and Christians in the East: Strategies of Interaction between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean“ (JEWSEAST),
Ruhr Universität Bochum
- 2013-2014: Reseach fellow in the ERC-funded project "ETHIO-SPARE: Cultural Heritage of Christian Ethiopia:
Salvation, Preservation, Research"
Universität Hamburg
- 2009-2012: Assistant Editor "Encyclopaedia Aethiopica"
Universität Hamburg
Address: https://www.jewseast.org
https://www1.uni-hamburg.de/ethiostudies/dege.html
Fields of interest: Ethiopian manuscripts, Beta Israel studies and manuscripts, Ethiopian History and Literatures
Main information:
- 2021- ongoing: Editorial Team "Aethiopica. International Journal for Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies"
- 2015-2020: Research fellow in the ERC-funded project „Jews and Christians in the East: Strategies of Interaction between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean“ (JEWSEAST),
Ruhr Universität Bochum
- 2013-2014: Reseach fellow in the ERC-funded project "ETHIO-SPARE: Cultural Heritage of Christian Ethiopia:
Salvation, Preservation, Research"
Universität Hamburg
- 2009-2012: Assistant Editor "Encyclopaedia Aethiopica"
Universität Hamburg
Address: https://www.jewseast.org
https://www1.uni-hamburg.de/ethiostudies/dege.html
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Books by Sophia Dege-Müller
Supplement to Aethiopica International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies vol 7, 2018
Articles by Sophia Dege-Müller
From the Silk and Spice Routes to the Highlands of Ethiopia. Arc Humanities Press, Leeds 2024, pp. 191-211.
Contact me for the full article.
https://www.arc-humanities.org/9781641893879/material-encounters-between-jews-and-christians/?fbclid=IwY2xjawG7qQNleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZ_9XxG9kZvfeF_rPqD6peJ1M8lNOZUruJzf_-LXuYO7i7oYDVUbtIq-zA_aem_H1mPiwWeODffu7KPwNmCUg&sfnsn=scwspwa
visual information, are among the most valuable sources of data for art historians specializing
in this area. This article provides a handlist of illustrated early Solomonic manuscripts housed
in German libraries and museums. The contribution was created within the framework of the
AHRC-DFG project Demarginalizing medieval Africa: Images, texts, and identity in early
Solomonic Ethiopia (1270–1527) so our data reflects the project’s research focus on visual
matter. This is the first time that the illuminations of the manuscripts included in the handlist
are analysed comprehensively. We believe that the resulting work sheds new light on the
history of book illustration in early Solomonic Ethiopia and hope that it will provide researchers with a valuable instrument to foster comparative research and a more integrative approach
to the study of Ethiopian art.
the Hoḫwärwa genealogy. This genealogy is the second piece of original pre-twentieth century Betä Ǝsraʾel historiography ever discovered, alongside the Religious Dispute.
Taking the manuscript as a starting point, this article is to embrace subjects such as the Betä Ǝsraʾel scribal tradition, aspects of its literature, monasticism, the history of the Hoḫwärwa monastery, and the history of the manuscript itself.
In 1986, a Franco-Israeli team of scholars set out to document the liturgy of the Beta ʾƎsrāʾel, a group of Ethiopian Jews which at the time was in the process of making aliyah under dramatic circumstances. The scholars gathered a group of priests in Israel and produced an impressive corpus of recordings, covering important parts of the liturgical tradition. Over the past decades, the team has been publishing their results in a number of articles and monographs, and in 2019 presented a selection of recordings in the form of a CD box. The box contains three CDs plus a bilingual booklet with information about the liturgical tradition of the Beta ʾƎsrāʾel: their music, prayers, and ritual practices. In this review article, the research results presented in the booklet are evaluated, with special attention paid to the effects that migration has had on the Beta ʾƎsrāʾel liturgical tradition. It investigates which effects the historical circumstances surrounding the recordings have had on the material and subsequent analyses of it. This review article also provides an introduction to the transmission of Beta ʾƎsrāʾel liturgical chant, comparing it with the Ethiopian Christian tradition, and offers an overview of earlier recordings of the Beta ʾƎsrāʾel tradition, published and unpublished.
Please feel free to contact me to receive the full article.
Talkes / Panels / Lectures by Sophia Dege-Müller
Supplement to Aethiopica International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies vol 7, 2018
From the Silk and Spice Routes to the Highlands of Ethiopia. Arc Humanities Press, Leeds 2024, pp. 191-211.
Contact me for the full article.
https://www.arc-humanities.org/9781641893879/material-encounters-between-jews-and-christians/?fbclid=IwY2xjawG7qQNleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZ_9XxG9kZvfeF_rPqD6peJ1M8lNOZUruJzf_-LXuYO7i7oYDVUbtIq-zA_aem_H1mPiwWeODffu7KPwNmCUg&sfnsn=scwspwa
visual information, are among the most valuable sources of data for art historians specializing
in this area. This article provides a handlist of illustrated early Solomonic manuscripts housed
in German libraries and museums. The contribution was created within the framework of the
AHRC-DFG project Demarginalizing medieval Africa: Images, texts, and identity in early
Solomonic Ethiopia (1270–1527) so our data reflects the project’s research focus on visual
matter. This is the first time that the illuminations of the manuscripts included in the handlist
are analysed comprehensively. We believe that the resulting work sheds new light on the
history of book illustration in early Solomonic Ethiopia and hope that it will provide researchers with a valuable instrument to foster comparative research and a more integrative approach
to the study of Ethiopian art.
the Hoḫwärwa genealogy. This genealogy is the second piece of original pre-twentieth century Betä Ǝsraʾel historiography ever discovered, alongside the Religious Dispute.
Taking the manuscript as a starting point, this article is to embrace subjects such as the Betä Ǝsraʾel scribal tradition, aspects of its literature, monasticism, the history of the Hoḫwärwa monastery, and the history of the manuscript itself.
In 1986, a Franco-Israeli team of scholars set out to document the liturgy of the Beta ʾƎsrāʾel, a group of Ethiopian Jews which at the time was in the process of making aliyah under dramatic circumstances. The scholars gathered a group of priests in Israel and produced an impressive corpus of recordings, covering important parts of the liturgical tradition. Over the past decades, the team has been publishing their results in a number of articles and monographs, and in 2019 presented a selection of recordings in the form of a CD box. The box contains three CDs plus a bilingual booklet with information about the liturgical tradition of the Beta ʾƎsrāʾel: their music, prayers, and ritual practices. In this review article, the research results presented in the booklet are evaluated, with special attention paid to the effects that migration has had on the Beta ʾƎsrāʾel liturgical tradition. It investigates which effects the historical circumstances surrounding the recordings have had on the material and subsequent analyses of it. This review article also provides an introduction to the transmission of Beta ʾƎsrāʾel liturgical chant, comparing it with the Ethiopian Christian tradition, and offers an overview of earlier recordings of the Beta ʾƎsrāʾel tradition, published and unpublished.
Please feel free to contact me to receive the full article.
A full scholarly article devoted to this outstanding manuscript will appear in Aethiopica. International Journal for Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies 23, 2020.
The course will introduce doctoral and advanced research-oriented MA students to the ways in which Jews and Christians interacted in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Horn of Africa, especially Ethiopia, and the Indian Ocean in the period between 600-1800 CE. This is the topic of a research project aiming at establishing a new area of study – relations between Jews and Eastern Christian communities from the rise of Islam to the end of the eighteenth century.
It has become increasingly clear to scholars studying the textual heritage of Ethiopian Christians and the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) that the two communities share numerous traditions. Both groups rely on parchment manuscripts written primarily in Geez for their religious practices, and it has been shown that the Beta Israel acquired many of their manuscripts from Christian scribes, prompting adaptations to align with their distinct religious practices. These modifications often involved alterations to the physical characteristics of the manuscripts, such as the removal of crosses, the erasure of certain words, and even the excision of entire sections.
This research paper aims to explore the codicological aspects of the Beta Israel manuscript tradition, while also highlighting the scribal practices of the Beta Israel themselves. Notably, a significant portion of the studied Beta Israel manuscript collections is made up of smaller codices crafted by scribes within the community, showcasing original scribe work. Through a detailed analysis of the text Gadla Susanna (Life of Susanna), we will explore the textual transformations executed by these scribes to tailor the content of texts to their specific religious needs and interpretations. Another important focus of this presentation will be different practices associated with the use of manuscripts.
https://www.ias.edu/video/tracing-beta-israel-monastic-tradition-through-manuscripts
Proceedings to follow
Previous studies on Beta Israel manuscripts allowed to draft some first rules that pertain to their classification and production process. We were able to understand the motif behind certain scribal features and their origin, function, and purpose. This was just a starting point, however, and the present paper will dicuss new findings. For one, an extended list of known Beta Israel manuscript, but more importantly it will look into the texts contained in the manuscripts. Especially the prayers and exegetical text remain mostly unstudied and need to be analysed. The paper will highlight the most striking features of these manuscript that allow insights into the Beta Israel understanding of the Orit.
Sophia Dege-Müller
University of Hamburg, Germany, Germany