Christianity in Ethiopia predates the Roman Empire's conversion by decades. By the time Constantine declared Christianity legal in 313 CE, there had been a Christian community in Ethiopia for nearly three hundred years.
The tradition traces its origins to the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 — a royal official of Queen Candace who encountered Philip the Evangelist on the road between Jerusalem and Gaza. Whether or not this single event was the origin of Ethiopian Christianity, by the 4th century the Aksumite Empire had adopted Christianity as its official religion under King Ezana, making it one of the first states in the world to do so.
The Ethiopian church developed in relative isolation from Western Christianity, maintaining its own theological traditions, its own liturgical calendar, and its own biblical canon. Unlike Western Christianity, which was shaped by councils held in Rome, Nicaea, Carthage, and Constantinople, the Ethiopian church developed through its own internal theological dialogue.
The result is a Christianity that looks different in interesting ways. Ethiopian Christians observe the Sabbath on Saturday as well as Sunday. They practice circumcision. They follow dietary laws that have parallels to the Mosaic code. Their clergy wear vestments that have parallels to the priestly garments described in Leviticus. Their liturgy includes elements that have clear roots in Second Temple Judaism.
And their Bible has 81 books — including the Book of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, and the Books of Meqabyan, which the Western church left behind.
Our collection brings those texts to you in collector's hardcover editions worthy of their 2,000-year tradition.