Photo: UHH/Esfandiari

Dr. Sophia Dege-Müller is the 43rd researcher at the University of Hamburg, an Excellence University, to receive an ERC Grant.

At the end of the 20th century, almost the entire community of Ethiopian Jews emigrated from Christian- and Muslim-dominated Ethiopia to Israel, in some cases through dramatic rescue operations involving airlift. Many of their unique cultural artifacts were lost amid the turmoil of the Ethiopian Civil War and as a result of the emigration.

“The culture of the Beta Israel—as the people call themselves—has received little scholarly attention, and their religious manuscripts, some of which are five hundred years old, have been studied hardly at all. In the 20th century, the people themselves were often concerned primarily with survival. After centuries of religious isolation, they had to fight for recognition as Jews in Israel, after which a process of assimilation began. Only now is the younger generation beginning to take a greater interest in their historical heritage,” says Dr. Sophia Dege-Müller.

Her five-person team will include a member of the Beta Israel community as well as a native speaker of Agaw. This language is one of several in which the texts of the group were written. “For me it is important to work together with people from the community. Without their support, a project like mine wouldn’t stand a chance,” says Dege-Müller. “The project’s findings are also directly relevant to the community itself.” The European Research Council (ERC) is providing an additional one million euros to cover the high personnel costs associated with the project. This is the first year that such additional funding has been available.

The primary goal of the project is to locate and catalog the manuscripts. They are scattered across half the world, stored in European libraries, in synagogues, or in private collections. Most were created during a time when Jews and Christians lived closely and peacefully together in Ethiopia. “Over time, some manuscripts passed from Christian to Jewish owners—and vice versa. Or a Jew might have commissioned a Christian scribe to produce a manuscript. The way these writings were handled was probably more pragmatic than we imagine today,” explains Dege-Müller.

By studying these documents, she aims to address her central research question: What defines a religious manuscript—and how might that definition change over time? This question is also relevant for researchers studying other cultures.

Dr. Sophia Dege-Müller is the 43rd researcher at the University of Hamburg, an Excellence University, to receive an ERC Grant. The European Research Council’s Starting Grants support early-career researchers for a period of five years.