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FALASHAS (i.e. exiles; Ethiopic falas...

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Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 137 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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FALASHAS (i.e. exiles; Ethiopic falas, a stranger)

FALASHAS (i.e. exiles; Ethiopic falas, a stranger) , or "See also:

Jews of See also:

ABYSSINIA (officially ETHIOPIA)

Abyssinia," a tribe of Hamitic stock, akin to Galla, Somali and See also:

Beja, though they profess the Jewish See also:

religion. They claim to be descended from the ten tribes banished from the See also:

HOLY

Holy See also:

LAND

Land. Another tradition assigns them as ancestor Menelek, See also:

Solomon's alleged son by the See also:

queen of Sheba. There is little or no See also:

PHYSICAL

physical difference between them and the typical Abyssinians, except perhaps that their eyes are a little more oblique; and they may certainly be regarded as Hamitic. It is uncertain when they became Jews: one See also:

account suggests in Solomon's See also:

time; another, at the Babylonian captivity; a third, during the 1st See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century of the See also:

Christian era. That one of the earlier See also:

DATES

dates is correct seems probable from the fact that the Falashas know nothing of either the Babylonian or See also:

Jerusalem See also:

TALMUD

Talmud, make no use of phylacteries (tefillin), and observe neither the feast of See also:

PURIM

Purim nor the See also:

DEDICATION (Lat. dedicatio, from dedicare, to proclaim, to announce)

dedication of the See also:

temple. They possess—not in See also:

HEBREW

Hebrew, of which they are altogether ignorant, but in Ethiopic (or Geez)—the canonical and apocryphal books of the Old Testament; a See also:

VOLUME

volume of extracts from the See also:

PENTATEUCH

Pentateuch, with comments given to See also:

Moses by See also:

God on See also:

MOUNT, WILLIAM SIDNEY (1807-1868)

Mount See also:

SINAI

Sinai; the Te-e-sa-sa Saribat, or See also:

LAWS

laws of the See also:

SABBATH

Sabbath; the Ardit, a See also:

BOOK

book of secrets revealed to twelve See also:

SAINTS, BATTLE OF THE

saints, which is used as a See also:

CHARM (through the Fr. from the Lat. carmen, a song)

charm against disease; lives of See also:

ABRAHAM, or ABRAM (Hebrew for " father is high ")

Abraham, Moses, &c.; and a See also:

TRANSLATION

translation of See also:

JOSEPHUS, FLAVIUS (c. 37-C. 95?)

Josephus called See also:

SANA (Send'a)

Sana Aihud. A copy of the Orit or See also:

MOSAIC (corresponding to Lat. opus musivum, from Gr. µovoeiov, an artificial grotto often decorated with mosaics; the word is only found in the sense of mosaic in late Greek, which generally uses k oXI yrlµa)

Mosaic See also:

law is kept in the holy of holies in every See also:

synagogue. Various See also:

pagan observances are mingled in their See also:

RITUAL (from Lat. ritus, a custom, especially a religious rite or custom)

ritual: every newly-built See also:

house is considered uninhabitable till the See also:

BLOOD

blood of a See also:

sheep or See also:

FOWL (Dan. Fugl, Ger. Vogel)

fowl has been spilt in it; a woman guilty of a See also:

BREACH (Mid. Eng. breche, derived from the common Teutonic root brec, which appears in " break," Ger. brechen, &c.)

breach of chastity has to undergo See also:

PURIFICATION

purification by leaping into a flaming See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire; the Sabbath has been deified, and, as the goddess Sanbat, receives See also:

ADORATION (Lat. ad, to, and os, mouth; i.e. " carrying to one's mouth ")

adoration and See also:

SACRIFICE (from Lat. sacrificium; sacer, holy, and facere, to make)

sacrifice and is said to have ten thousand times ten thousand angels to wait on her commands. There is a monastic See also:

SYSTEM

system, introduced it is said in the 4th century A.D. by See also:

Aba See also:

ZEBRA

Zebra, a pious See also:

man who retired from the See also:

WORLD

world and lived in the See also:

cave of Hoharewa, in the See also:

province of Armatshoho. The monks must prepare all their See also:

food with their own hands, and no See also:

lay See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person, male or See also:

FEMALE

female, may enter their houses. See also:

CELIBACY (Lat. caelibatus, from caelebs, unmarried)

Celibacy is not practised by the priests, but they are not allowed to marry a second time, and no one is admitted into the See also:

order who has eaten See also:

BREAD

bread with a Christian, or is the son or See also:

GRANDSON (Ger. Grandsee)

grandson of a man thus contaminated.

Belief in the evil See also:

eye or See also:

SHADOW (0. Eng. Schadewe, sceadu; a form of " shade "; connected with Gr. 6-Ore's, darkness)

shadow is universal, and spirit-raisers, soothsayers and See also:

RAIN (O.E. regn; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Regen, Swed. and Dan. regn; it has been connected with Lat. rigare, to wet, Gr. 13pixeav)

rain-doctors are in repute. See also:

EDUCATION

Education is in the hands of the monks and priests, and is confined to boys. Fasts, obligatory on all above seven years of See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age, are held on every See also:

MONDAY (in O.E. Monandaeg, the moon's day, a translation of the Late Lat. Lunae dies, from which the French lundi is taken)

Monday and See also:

THURSDAY

Thursday, on every new See also:

moon, and at the See also:

PASSOVER

passover (the 21st or 22nd of See also:

APRIL

April). The See also:

ANNUAL

annual festivals are the passover, the See also:

HARVEST (A.S. hcerfest " autumn," O.H. Ger. herbist, possibly through an old Teutonic root representing Lat. car pere, " to pluck ")

harvest feast, the Baala Mazalat or feast of See also:

TABERNACLES, FEAST OF

tabernacles (during which, however, no booths are built), the See also:

day of See also:

covenant or See also:

ASSEMBLY, UNLAWFUL

assembly and Abraham's day. It is believed that after See also:

DEATH

death the soul remains in a See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place of darkness till the third day, when the137 first sacrifice for the dead is offered; prayers are read in the synagogue for the repose of the departed, and for seven days a formal lament takes place every See also:

MORNING

morning in his house. No coffins are used, and a See also:

stone vault is built over the See also:

CORPSE (Lat. corpus, the body)

corpse so that it may not come into See also:

DIRECT

direct contact with the See also:

earth. The Falashas are an industrious See also:

PEOPLE

people, living for the most See also:

PART

part in villages of their own, or, if they See also:

settle in a Christian or See also:

MAHOMMEDAN

Mahommedan See also:

TOWN

town, occupying a See also:

SEPARATE

separate See also:

QUARTER (through Fr. from Lat. quartarius, fourth part)

quarter. They had their own See also:

KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

kings, who, they pretend, were descended from See also:

David, from the loth century until 'Soo, when the royal See also:

RACE

race became See also:

EXTINCT

extinct, and they then became subject to the Abyssinian See also:

KINGDOM

kingdom of See also:

TIGRE

Tigre. They do not mix with the Abyssinians, and never marry See also:

WOMEN

women of See also:

ALIEN (Lat. alienus)

alien religions. They are even forbidden to enter the houses of Christians, and from such a pollution have to be purified before entering their own houses. See also:

POLYGAMY, (Gr. nabs, many, and yayos, marriage)

Polygamy is not practised; See also:

early marriages are rare, and their morals are generally better than those of their Christian masters. Unlike most Jews, they have no liking for See also:

trade, but are skilled in See also:

agriculture, in the manufacture of pottery, ironware and See also:

CLOTH

cloth, and are See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good masons.

Their See also:

numbers are variously estimated at from one See also:

HUNDRED

hundred to one hundred and fifty thousand. Ein varlassener Bruderstamm," in See also:

BLOCH, MARK ELIEZER (c. 1723–1799)

Bloch's Wochenschrift (7th See also:

FEBRUARY

February 1902), p. 85; J. Faitlovitch, Notes d'un voyage chez See also:

les Falachas (See also:

Paris, 1905).

End of Article: FALASHAS (i.e. exiles; Ethiopic falas, a stranger)

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