The legacy of däqiqä Ǝsṭifanos in Tigray
The legacy of däqiqä Ǝsṭifanos in Tigray
Maxine Huguet, PhD student in History, Université Paris 1 Panthéon–Sorbonne
My thesis is focused on the history of the library of Gundä Gunde’s manuscript library. This exceptional corpus has been entirely digitized in 2006 as part of the EMML project. The place is known as one of the largest manuscript libraries of pre-modern Ethiopia. The variety of texts kept in the monastery includes Vitae of local monks, religious treaties and some rare testimonies of apocrypha. In fact, the monastery is closely related to the history of the däqiqä Ǝsṭifanos, a community of monks which was in conflict with the royal power for centuries. Abba Ǝsṭifanos was born around 1399 in Tǝgray. He showed an early interest for the religious life and decided to dedicate himself to the Church from a young age. His struggle began when he was expelled from the monastery of abba Samu’el in Däbrä Qwäyäṣa, because his ascetism sparked jalousy from his fellow monks. He was then summoned several times to the royal court to discuss his beliefs. The coming to power of Zär’a Ya’ǝqob marked a turning point for Ǝsṭifanos and his disciples, who were chased by the king, tortured and killed in several places. They founded the monastery of Däbrä Gärzen, or Käswa, in a remote location of Irob land, later known as Gundä Gunde. The first foundation occurred in the middle of the 15th century, but the monastery was later rebuilt after being burnt by the armies of Zär’a Ya’ǝqob (Schneider 2011). The monk ʿƎzra was the artisan of the restauration of the main church, still visible today. He lived in the 16th century, and traveled to Egypt to advocate for the ǝsṭifanosite to the Patriarch (Beylot 2005). Although he was never an abbot, he was still celebrated by the community through a gädl (Vita) as well as in the synaxarion (Sǝnkǝssar). As is the case for other members of the ǝsṭifanosite community, the Vitae of these saints were written soon after their deaths. The synaxarion was later (probably during the 17th century) integrated in the corpus of the hagiographical corpus of the monastery, and even though Ǝsṭifanos‘ life was a part of the first redaction of the synaxarion, the history of ʿƎzra was added centuries later, probably during the 19th century. These observations are part of my masters thesis (Huguet 2024).
During my field research, I was interested in visiting different communities that still entertained more or less tight links to ǝsṭifanosite history and memory. I tried to focus on material evidence as well as oral history, all kinds of contemporary forms of devotion to the ǝsṭifanosite community. For me, this was an opportunity to question the legacy of the däqiqä Ǝsṭifanos in various communities of Tǝgray, starting with the historical center of Gundä Gunde, to more recent churches dedicated to the memory of Ǝsṭifanos. Thanks to Hagos Gebremariam (university of Adigrat), I was able to visit the church of Qǝddusan Abba Ǝsṭifanos in the woräda of Ganta Afeshum. There, I was surprised to see Ǝsṭifanos and ʿƎzra associated in several visual depictions.
The local name of the church, “baʿati afḥarom”, refers to a nearby cave where Ǝsṭifanos is said to have been tortured. The community showed us their paintings. A recurring iconographic motif depicts Ǝsṭifanos with a portable cross and a cane, accompanied in one corner by ʿƎzra. The paintings are recent. One of them is dated 1958 and includes a portrait of the painting’s patrons (Ato Gäbrä Ṣadǝq Gäbrä Kidan and Wäyzäro Wälättä Maryam Wä-Gärgis). The portrait of Ǝsṭifanos and ʿƎzra is accompanied by the following caption in gǝ’ǝz :
“ዘከመ፡ ጸለየ፡ አቡነ፡ እስጢፋኖስ፡ ወዘከመ፡ አንጠብጠበ፡ ደመ፡ እግሩ፡ እምበዓተአፍሐሮም፡ እስከ፡ ደብረ፡ ማዕጾ”
“How Abunä Ǝsṭifanos prayed and how the blood from Ǝgru (and) Bäʿatä Afḥarom flowed all the way to Däbrä Maʿǝṣo.”
A similar formula accompanies the portrait of Ǝsṭifanos, located on the pillar of the choir, usually hidden behind a curtain.
ወአንጠብጠበ ደም እምእግሩ እም በአብተ አፋሮ እስከ ደብረ ማዕፆ
“and blood flowed from Ǝgru (and) Bä’abtä Afarom all the way to Däbrä Maʿǝṣo”
The caption on the paintings reflect the oral tradition told by a priest of the church, as well as the written evidence : behind one moutain facing the church is Däbrä Maʿǝṣo, where the gädl recounts that Ǝsṭifanos was tortured. The priests say that before this episode, he was also tortured in Afḥarom, hence the blood flowing from here to there. The paintings revealed by the curtain in the choir figures Täklä Haymanot above Ǝsṭifanos, in an association already observed in the manuscripts of Gundä Gunde from the 17th-18th centuries (Huguet 2024, unpublished). Here again, the saint is depicted in a red toga, with a portable cross and a fly swatter. His feet are bloody. ʿƎzra is painted below on his left. The name Ǝgru in the consecrated formula corresponds to the location of the church according to the priests.
A third painting displays a similar scene and description, showing Ǝsṭifanos accompanied by ʿƎzra and a very similar sentence. The rest of the church, while modest, is embellished with a few mural paintings, mainly behind the choir, and on the archs above the nave. The first picture scenes of the Old and New Testament, as well as major Ethiopian saints such as Täklä Haymanot or Gäbrä Mänfäs Qǝddus. The second series is dedicated to the Nine Saints and includes a portrait of Ǝsṭifanos.
But paintings and oral tradition are not the only testimonies of the church’s links with Ǝsṭifanos. Inside, a shelf holds the few books used by the community, including two Gädlä Ǝsṭifanos. One of them is formally dated by a colophon from the reign of Haile Selassie. Written in three columns, it contains the gädl, the miracles, and a final text entitled Lǝdätu Ǝsṭifanos, about the saint’s childhood. This manuscript was photographed in its entirety by Hagos and myself.
Gädlä Ǝsṭifanos, colophon
The community has a printed synaxarion bound in leather. When asked about the fate of the feasts and honors given to Zär’a Yaʿǝqob in Ethiopian literature, the synaxarion, and the Miracles of Mary, the priests told me they avoid these passages. On the other hand, King Naʿod is commemorated (not honored, this was stressed) for the help he gave ʿƎzra in rebuilding the dignity of the däqiqä Ǝsṭifanos. The priest who gave us the tour said he was first trained at Maryam Dǝngälat and Iyäsus Gwaḥgot, two churches located on either side of the Ziqallay plateau, the birthplace of Ǝsṭifanos according to oral tradition and mentioned in his gädl (Getatchew Haile 2006, 1). The clergy are therefore also part of this sacred geography that follows the journey of Ǝsṭifanos.
This church is not the only one connected to ǝsṭifanosite memory in the area ; in fact, a church dedicated to Mäzgäbä Śǝllase, an abbot of Gundä Gunde who probably lived during the end of the 17th century, is located nearby. But the latter attracts far more followers and pilgrims for the saint’s annual feast than that of Afḥarom, and the priests admit that they feel a bit isolated. Denis Nosnitsin’s work showed that devotion to the abbot of Gundä Gunde Mäzgäbä Śǝllase had increased the monastery’s sphere of influence, without however always maintaining a significant link with the memory of Ǝsṭifanos (Nosnitsin 2013, 85‑86). The visit to Afḥarom shows that some more recent communities have revived this devotion to Ǝsṭifanos. The manuscript of the Gädlä Ǝsṭifanos, dating from the Haile Selassie period, may belong to the church’s founding corpus and gives an idea of when this devotion began in this place. However, the priests of this church regret their isolation, which shows that devotion to Ǝsṭifanos remains a marginal phenomenon limited to a few small centers. The example of Afḥarom also shows that this revival marks the creation of new iconographic motifs and new associations of saints (thus the figure of ʿƎzra takes on central importance, closely associated with that of Ǝsṭifanos).
Although my PhD thesis is devoted mostly to the early period of the history of däqiqä Ǝsṭifanos, and to the manuscript culture developped in Gundä Gunde, my visit to Afḥarom was very instructive. It allowed me to grasp how the legacy of the movement is still upheld today in Tǝgray, and how this memory is perpetuated through different expressions such as oral tradition, iconography and literature. The subject of contemporary forms of devotion to Ǝsṭifanos and his followers would deserve more attention in itself. A further study could also be conducted on the texts of the hagiographical dossier of Ǝsṭifanos described in Afḥarom.
Bibliography :
Beylot, Robert. 2005. « ʿƎzra ». In Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, vol. 2. Harrassowitz Verlag.
Getatchew Haile. 2006. The gǝʿǝz Acts of Abba Ǝsṭifanos of Gwǝnda Gwǝnde. C.S.C.O. vol. 620, Scriptores Aethiopici t. 111. Peeters Publisher.
Huguet, Maxine. 2024. « Ecrire et réécrire la sainteté: les synaxaires de Gunda Gunde (Ethiopie, XVe-XVIIIe siècle) ». Ecole normale supérieure de Lyon.
Nosnitsin, Denis. 2013. « New Branches of the Stephanite Monastic Network ? Cases of Some Under-Explored Sites in East Tǝgray ». In Ecclesiastical Landscape of Northern Ethiopia, vol. 2. Supplement to Aethiopica. Harrassowitz Verlag.
Schneider, Roger. 2011. « Le couvent de Käswa-Gundä Gunde. Fondation, milieu, environnement ». Annales d’Ethiopie 26 (1): 119‑27. https://doi.org/10.3406/ethio.2011.1435.
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Secrétaire Scientifique (11 février 2026). The legacy of däqiqä Ǝsṭifanos in Tigray. UN ŒIL SUR LA CORNE / AN EYE ON THE HORN. Consulté le 5 mars 2026 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/15nz5





