By Dr. Richard Pankhurst:-
Memorisation
After the students had been read and studied the Psalms, the Qal
Timhert, or oral lessons, would begin. The whole of Psalms would be
committed to memory, with proper stress and intonation. Other work in
this stage would include the study of the Waddese Amlak, or Praises to
God, the Arganon, or Praises to the Virgin Mary, arranged for each day
of the week, the Song of Solomon, and the Songs of the Prophets. All
such Biblical material was often included in a devotional manual,
written on parchment, and enclosed in a small parchment or leather
satchel hung by a strap round the neck of the pupil, and carried by him
to school.
At this stage, according to O’Hanlon, the average student would leave
school, at about the age of twelve,
“having learnt to read Ethiopic, though not to understand it, and also to read his own language of Amharic and to write a little.”
“having learnt to read Ethiopic, though not to understand it, and also to read his own language of Amharic and to write a little.”
“If the Teacher is Firm”
British Consul Walker, who concentrates on the earlier stages of this educational system, remarks:
“If the teacher is firm and vigorous, in six months he will make the
pupil repeat his Psalter. This is written in the Gi’iz tongue… nor will
the boy understand what is written. It is written on the skin of the
goat, which is very strong, and the price may be as much as $17, but if a
Christian buys one in his boyhood, it is not worn out even when he
grows old. Those who write out the Psalter are the priests and scribes.
In it are found the Psalms of David which are divided into fifteen
divisions, each called a Nigus, and each division is called by the first
word. When the boy has read it, the teacher will send to the father,
saying `(Give me the reward) of good news! Thy son has finished the
reading,’ and the father will give him a cow or $15, and to the boy a
horse or a calf or a sheep. Also the boy will go round among his kin to
tell them of the good news, and to beg a dollar or half a dollar or a
sword.
“If his father or mother dies, he will write his Christian name at
the beginning and end of his Psalter. and whenever he finishes a
reading, he will say, `Pardon for me the soul of my parent!’
supplicating God.
Bless Their Teachers
“When the pupils rise to go home, they will bless their teachers,
saying, `May God cause thy word to be heard and make thee to arrive at
earth in Debra Libanos and to be evergreen like the cibaha. May He
broaden thee as the sycamore and cause thee to shine as the moon!’ So
the priest will bless them in turn and say, ‘Take care that ye come
early tomorrow!’”
The Church also provided higher studies in various fields, among them
church music, the composition of poetry, theology, computation, and
history, philosophy, composition, and manuscript writing.
The ZEMA BET, or School of Music
The Zema Bet, or School of Music, had three main branches. In the
first the students learnt degwa, or church music, in the second zemare
and mewaset, songs sung respectively at the end of the Eucharist and at
commemoration services and funerals, and in the third kedase, i.e.
prayers and chants studied only by priests and deacons.
The School of Aquaquam, which means “deportment”, or “how to stand,”
gave additional training to students of any of the afore-mentioned
departments of music, and dealt with such questions as the beating of
time and, dancing.
Two years or more might be needed to become proficient in any one of the above branches of traditional Ethiopian church culture.
The QENE BET, or School of Poetry
The Qene Bet, or School of Poetry, provided instruction in an
important field of composition and learning. Sylvia Pankhurst, following
Menghestu Lemma, observes:
“The class usually assembles in the late afternoon or early evening,
when the subject selected by the professor is studied and discussed
until seven or eight p.m. The students then disperse to meditate on the
appointed theme; many are already in the throes of composition during
the long hours of the night. Early in the morning the youthful poet
repairs to some solitary place where he may gain inspiration, perhaps
some unfrequented spot within the church precincts, a quiet grove in the
forest, a sheltered ledge on the hillside. Here he will endeavour to
express in verse the subject selected for the poem of the day..
“Towards evening they return to their teachers, to sing to him their
compositions and to receive his criticisms and corrections. The
Professor will conclude the session by reciting a poem of his own,
composed in the space of a few minutes of silence – usually a remarkable
illustration of the aptitude for verse acquired by long practice.
Composing a Whole Series of Poems
After three or four years at the Qene Bet the students were expected to compose a whole series of poems every day.
“When the Professor… considers one of his students sufficiently
advanced he may arrange for the youth to be invited to have a series of
his poems sung in the church at the close of the service on a Sunday or
other religious festival. This is a much prized honour, but also a
considerable ordeal; if the student is nervous and diffident he may even
decline it, but if he has courage he will rejoice at being chosen. On
the day of the audition he will be treated with great respect. Should he
accidentally let fall his tau-cross eager hands will raise it.
“He will stand in the centre of a row of his fellow Debteras, for by
the time he is chosen as the `leader of the day’, he will generally have
been raised to their order. He will be placed in front of the Aleka,
who is the head of the Church…. In a low voice he will sing his poem,
line by line. As he utters it, a fine singer, appointed beforehand,
usually a fellow debtera, whose voice is specialty admired, will receive
the words from his lips and sing them forth splendidly. If all goes
well, if the youthful poet is fortunate, he will be gratified at the
close of the ordeal by a chorus of `Melkam!’, the Ethiopian expression
of praise.
If Confidence or Memory Fail Him
“But if confidence or memory fail him, or if he pauses or stumbles in
delivering a verse to the singer, some other poet of greater
self-assurance and experience may break in, and continue the series of
poems in his own fashion. In such a case the trembling novice may
protest, if he has spirit to defend himself, that had he not been
interrupted, he would have concluded his series in a manner resembling
the interloper’s interpretation, or he may protest with bitter
indignation that verses vastly inferior to his own and out of harmony
with his opening stanzas have been rudely interposed. “The Professor, no
less than the vanquished poet, will be much discomforted by the
misfortune of his pupil. It may happen on some occasion that a youthful
aspirant for poetic laurels, though he allowed no loophole for an
interloper to intervene during his recital, fails, nevertheless, to
receive the hoped-for praise. Silence, instead of `Melkam’ may greet his
effort, or from some quarters at least, sharp criticism may be voiced
alleging defects either of form or of content in the quality of his
verse. There are some among the Debteras and others who make a practice
of challenging poetic achievement and are quick to decry either the form
or the content of verse which conflicts with their own predilections. A
general debate may ensue among such experts in the art of poetry as are
present in the church at the young man’s initiation. Poetry is in fact a
living art, a subject of vivid and protracted controversy, as well as
of ardent enthusiasm.”
MASAHAF BET, or School of Reading
The last main type of traditional school was the Masahaf Bet, or
School of Reading, which would be divided into classes for the Old and
New Testament, the Church Fathers, and special books on monastic life.
O’Hanlon, who says “such schools are to be found all over the country”,
describes one in which “the Liq, or Professor, sat on a raised dias, his
students beneath him, on mats on the ground.
Specially Renowned
Certain traditional Ethiopian church schools were especially renowned
for particular branches of knowledge. Thus O’Hanlon says that Zuramba,
in Begemder, was famous for its Zemare and Mewaset music, and Selalkula
in Wadla and Debra Abay in Tigray for Keddase Sa’at music, while Sylvia
Pankhurst describes the difference between the Qene of Gondar and Wadla,
which Menghestu Lemma considered the two main centres for poetry
studies.
Ethiopian Scholars
Ethiopian Church studies, according to the French scholar Antoine
d’Abbadie, involved feats of memorisation beyond the ability of most
Europeans. He was not aware of more than one of the latter who knew the
entire Bible by heart, whereas no one could become a Church professor in
Ethiopia without doing so, and without knowing many traditional
interpretations thereof. In Gondar, Gojjam and elsewhere, he had
moreover been able to hold discussions on religion and philosophy “quite
as sophisticated and subtle” as any he had held in either Paris or
London.
Source: http://www.linkethiopia.org
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