A Conversation with Qeshi Alazar Mengistu

Part III

Issayas: In 1982, Dr. Araia Tseggai editor of a journal called Journal of Eritrean Studies,wrote about Qeshi Marcos Ghirmay . In it he mentioned that Qeshi Marcos was an Eritrean evangelist who graduated with distinction in 1889 from Johannelund Theological Institute. After his ordination, he came back to Eritrea. In December 1899, Qeshi Marocs married Regina Johansson in Eritrea. To make the story short, this union did not bode well with the then Italian governor Ferdinando Martini. He put pressure on the Swedish Evangelical Church. In order for the couple to work and remain in Eritrea, the Swedish missionaries were not to send Eritreans to Sweden for future studies. Do you have anything to add?

Qeshi Alazar: I’m glad you raise this point. Qeshi Marcos was one of the students who were sent by the Swedish missionaries to Sweden. The others were Qeshi Tewoldemedhin and Natnael Djigo (a brilliant student from Barentu who died in Sweden in 1884. He is buried in Sweden). Qeshi Marcos graduated in distinction and he is still remembered in Sweden. Qeshi Marcos and Regina were married in secret. When the government of Maritni found out he put pressure on the Swedish missionaries. One thing though, there was a meeting held in Edinburgh, Scotland. In the meeting there were members from the American Evangelical Mission and the Swedish Evangelical Mission. In the meeting a decision was reached. That was, instead of sending future indigenous potential evangelists to Europe, the students would be sent to a school that was to be established in Beirut, Lebanon. As a result a school was established. That was why, for example, the two sons of Qeshi Tewoldemedhin (Memhir Yishak and Ephrem) were sent there for their studies.

 Natnael Djigo in 1880

                                                                         

  

Tewoldemedhin Gebremedhin in 1880

Qeshi Marcos Ghirmay in 1880
                                                   

Issayas: There are some people that I talked to who are confused about the Kolmodins. Part of the confusion is that there were two people (father and son). Adolph Kolmodin and his son, Johannes Kolmodin. Would you tell us about them briefly?

Qeshi Alazar: Professor Adolph Kolmodin was the spiritual father and teacher of the first students (Qeshi Marcos Ghirmay, Onesimos Nesib, Natnael, etc.) from Massawa Mission School in Eritrea at Johannelund. At the same period, Professor Kolmodin was the leader of the Mission Board of the Evangelist Fosterlandsstiftelsen-EFS. It was during this time that a split broke out with a well known theology teacher at the University of Uppsala. After Adolph Kolmodin wrote a book, a split resulted between EFS and BV. Adolph Kolmodin was the father of Johannes Kolmodin who was well known in Eritrea. He was a student of classical semetic languages. He did research in Eritrea and compiled Zanta Hazegan Tseazegan.

Johannes Kolmodin

Issayas: I want people to buy your new book, therefore, without going too much into detail, what is the title and message of your new ( second) book.

Qeshi Alazar: First, the title of my book is Megedi mis weddi Aaddi, Bahln lemden in Eritrea.

The direct translation in English is "Travel with your fellow countryman". In short, through the book, I want to share with the young people the rich customs and traditions of Eritrea. The tradition is conveyed through narration.

Issayas: How could people get hold of your books?

Qeshi Alazar: For people in Europe:
My address is Tornfalkgatan 23, S 703 49 Örebro, Sweden, tel +46 10 223.

or through Admas Books :
Admas Forlag c/o Ghebre, Hallonberg.19, S-172 43 Sundbyberg, Sweden

Otherwise through my mail-address:

alazarmenghestu@yahoo.com

For people in the US:
Neghesty Negusse,

11903 Cliffgaten Dr,

Houston TX 77072.

e-mail:Tekleasefaw @hotmail.com

Tel office 281-879-1366, Fax 281-879-1716

Issayas: Thank you for your time and insight. And good luck with your books!

Qeshi Alazar: You’re welcome.

The following is taken from Journal of Eritrean Studies Vol. IV 1982 written by Dr. Araia Tseggai.

During the period of Italian colonialism in Eritrea, an apartheid system was imposed. Marriage between a European and an Eritrean was prohibited. There was a case in which the Italian Governor of Eritrea, Ferdinando Martini, declared a union between Keshi Marcos Ghirmay of Quazien and Regina Johansson, a Swedish citizen, as “detrimental to the prestige of the European race”.

Qeshi Marcos was an Eritrean evangelist who graduated with distinction in 1889 from Johannelund Theological Institute in Stockholm. He came back to Eritrea after being ordained by the Archbishop of Uppsala. While in Eritrea, he fell in love with a Swedish missionary teacher Regina Johansson, and they married in December 1899. Governor Martini demanded 'rectification' by forcing the bride to leave Eritrea in order to maintain the status quo.

The Swedish Evangelical Church, which was against the marriage, promised Governor Martini that no Eritrean would be sent to Sweden for schooling from then on. In return Governor Martini allowed the couple to stay together inside Eritrea in a restricted atmosphere. Despite the compromise, Qeshi Marcos and Regina decided to leave for Sweden in 1922.

A Conversation with Qeshi Alazar Mengistu

Part Two
Issayas: On the cover of your book, you used the word "goytana" with the names of the Swedes'. If I'm not mistaken, in Tigrigna, the word "goyta"/"goytana" is reserved for the Lord. Why do you have the word "goyta" with the names of the Swedes'?

Qeshi Alazar: "Goytana" has nothing to do with a savior . The old Eritreans used to call the missionaries "Goytana N N", "Emebet NN" respectively as a sign of respect. It was because they could not add "Ato" or "Weizero" to their names. Since "Ato" and "Weizero" is reserved for Eritreans.

Issayas: What are the differences and similarities between your book and Gustav Aren’s book?
 

Qeshi Alazar: My book is written to give the background and development of the Lutheran Church of Eritrea, and to identify the pioneers. Of course, there are similarities. The difference between my book and Gustav Aren´s is (except the similarity in the topics) that his is a doctoral work, while my work was written after my first degree. While I was working for my PhD (licensiat), an accident interrupted the whole thing. Regardless, my work is well researched.

Issayas: What were/are the differences between the missionaries of the EFS (Evangelical Fosterlandsstifelsen) and BV (Bibeltrogna Vänner)? BV-mission split from EFS. Did the split had an impact on the missionaries who were on the ground in Eritrea at that time?

Qeshi Alazar: By missionaries we mean those who were sent (for example from Sweden or from North to South) to Africa, in this case to the Horn of Africa, with a clear mission that was “to make Jesus known and to accept him as a savior”. Therefore, BV as a mission society in Sweden had some missionaries in East Africa, such as Karl and Agnes Nyström, Qeshi Marqos and Regina Girmay and Nils Karlsson. Nils Karlsson was an independent, though he worked for BV. The rest were, Anna Holmberg and Augusta Henriksson (all of them were formerly EFS Missionaries). The difference had a significant impact on the mission in Eritrea. The division in Sweden between EFS and BV was even echoed in Eritrea.

The division in Sweden started after Professor Adolph Kolmodin wrote that the Bible (Old and New Testaments) has some contradictory errors in names, places and dates. Axel Svensson disagreed with A. Kolmodin. As a result EFS split into two. The new Church became BV(Bibeltrogna Vänner /True Bible Friends). It is this different in theological opinion that gave rise to rumors in Eritrea among Eritreans as to whether EFS even believed in the entire Bible as a Word of God or not. Such kind of rumors could, of course, on the long run harm their work at the mission field. The outcome was, since the EFS-missionaries were on good terms with the Italians who colonized Eritrea from 1890-1941, the BV-missionaries were the ones who started to experience some difficulties working in Eritrea. They crossed the border to Tigray and started to evangelize there and beyond. Otherwise, EFS's work in Eritrea was not affected by the schism that much. Those that joined the new mission with the pioneers of BV were few in number.

Anna Holmberg

Nils Karlsson

 

 Swedish Evangelical Mission Congregation

Issayas: Over 100 years ago, the main purpose of the Swedish missionaries was to go to the Oromo in Ethiopia. Due to many reasons they were not able to do so. Eritrean missionaries, however, were able to achieve the long held dream of the Swedish missionaries. How were they able to do that and who were the pioneers?

Qeshi Alazar: That question is already answered by Dr. Gustav Aren in his book, Envoys of the gospel in Ethiopia: In the steps of the evangelical pioneers, 1898-1936 (Studia missionalia Upasaliensia) and Pastor Ezra (see the interview in the older posts section of my blog). The success had to do with the missionaries of EFS. In BV's case, the story is a little bit different. In 1904, Qeshi Marcos sent two pioneers to Ethiopia. These two evangelists were Oromo in origin. They knew their way to Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. Since there were merchants who were coming and going from Eritrea to Ethiopia and vice versa , the missionaries went with one of these merchants. Also, remember, in this period the railroad traveled from Djibouti to Harar, Ethiopia. As a matter of fact, one of these evangelists went as far as Harar and died there. Onesimos Nesib and Nystrom and two of his evangelists reached Addis Abeba for the first time. They were able to reach there on horse backs from Harar. To give you an example, Anna Holmberg from Asmara had been in Sweden on a vacation. I think this was in 1923, before the war between Italy and Ethiopia broke out. When she was on her way back to Asmara to resume her work, the Italians didn't let her in Eritrea. Instead, she went to Djibouti from Massawa, Eritrea and from there to Harar. In Harar, she was received by one of Qeshi Marcos' evangelists, who had already been stationed there and had some necessary contacts there which made BV's future mission easier to start there.

Issayas: The title of your book, The Background and History of the Lutheran Church from 1911-1932 Why does it start in 1911 and ends in 1932?

Qeshi Alazar: The answer is that Qeshi Marqos and Regina Ghirmay had already left the mission field in Eritrea for Sweden, and Qeshi has died in Sweden in 1924. The only leader left at the Mission field (in East Africa i.e, including Ethiopia) was Karl Nyström. He and his family had to leave Eritrea and that was at the end of 1932. That meant that he handed over the leadership to Eritreans and left Eritrea. This book which I wrote in Tigrigna in 2003 about the Lutheran Church was the first one on this subject. When I presented the first chapters at a seminar in Uppsala, I found out that, Qeshi Marqos was more known than the Church itself. The professors at the seminar had no knowledge about the existence of the Lutheran Church of Eritrea, but knew about Qeshi Marcos. In other words, the history of the church was unknown among the intellectuals. I was glad therefore to learn that my book became admired at the Mission newspapers and became an inspiration for others, for example, for The Evangelical Church in Eritrea.

In April 2010, I was invited by the Theological High School run by EFS in Uppsala to present a paper at a research symposium at Johannelund. The topic of that symposium was Den Rosenianska Väckelsenrörelsen circa 1890-1920 and bildandet av Missionssällskapet BV 1911. A Rosenian Revival circa 1890- 1920 and the forming of the Mission society of the Bible True Friends 1911 (Carl Olof Rosenius was the church father of EFS). The symposium's research paper was edited by Dr Rune Imberg and Tornbjörn LarsPers and published by Johannelund Theological Institute. The topic of my paper at the symposium was entitled "The formation of a Lutheran Church on African Soil (East Africa- Eritrea) and the unification (Wihdet) of an Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Eritrea 2006". Why this topic? As I have hinted before, I consider this Church as a mother Church . It presented a background on how BV as a mission society started missionary work in Eritrea. In other words, I gave a short history of the Church, the development of the Church and the first pioneers. The mission had a teacher training center in Asmara and between 25-30 village schools. In the paper, I also described as to how the process of a union between an Evangelical and Lutheran Churches in Eritrea became a reality in 2006 to become “Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Eritrea”. In other words, the difference that split the EFS and BV over one hundred years ago and continues to be two independent missions in Sweden to this day was reversed in Eritrea in 2006 whereby the Evangelical and Lutheran Church formed a union.

Issayas: Would you go more into the Wihdet (Union)? Let me see if I understand it clearly. About a hundred or so years ago in Sweden, EFS split into two and became EFS and BV. The split in Sweden also affected the missionaries who were in Eritrea. In other words, the missionaries in Eritrea were also split into EFS and BV. However, in 2006, in Eritrea the two churches united and became to be called "Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Eritrea" but not in Sweden. In this case, the Swedes could learn from the Eritreans. Is my understanding correct ?

Qeshi Alazar: As I've indicated above, the thesis of my presentation was that the theological crises that started in Sweden had affected the mission work abroad. By that I meant, the split of the Mission organ or body has its origin in Sweden. The development which happened in Sweden caused a split at the mission field among the missionaries, too. In concluding my presentation, I argued that what happened at the mission field in Eritrea with the union (wihdet) in 2006 could be an inspiration to the mission bodies in Sweden for a unification. In other words, what happened in Eritrea in 2006 could and should be a role model for Sweden. We have started to sense a positive progress in the last few years in Sweden.That is, the two Swedish mission bodies-EFS and BV- coming together and having meetings on higher levels. The aforementioned symposium was an example of that effort. So we hope and pray that the union (wihdet) between the Evangelical and Lutheran Churches which became a reality in Eritrea, would be a reality in Sweden, too.

Next, Part III (the last part)

A Conversation with Qeshi Alazar Mengistu

I first read about Qeshi Marcos Ghirmay in Journal of Eritrean Studies Vol. IV 1982 written by Dr. Araia Tseggai. (I will repost the aforementioned at the end of this interview). Since then, I have read more about Qeshi Marcos.Qeshi Alazar Mengistu, author of The History and Background of the Lutheran Church of Eritrea 1911-1932 (Qeshi Marcos’ story included) is currently visiting the United States with his family. Recently, I made an arrangement to meet with him for an interview in Santa Rosa, California. I would like to thank him for his time. 

Part One

Here are the excerpts:

Issayas: First, congratulations on your new book. Will you tell us about yourself?

Qeshi Alazar:  My name is Alazar Mengistu. I was born in the village of Cheat, Tzelema region, Eritrea in 1942. My father was a priest of the Tewahdo Ortodox Church. I attended my first school year at the Mission School in Quazien (formerly Hamasien, now Zoba Maekel), the village of Abboi Qeshi Marqos Girmay. My first teacher was, Abboi Yacob, Qeshi Marqos Girmay’s half brother. I started my schooling in Quazien because my older sister’s(Neghesti)husband , the late Memher (teacher) Araya Gebreegziabher, was the headmaster of the Mission school there, and they had the responsibility for my schooling.

The Swedish True Friends (Bibeltrogna Vänner, traditionally known as BV) opened a new mission school in Idaga Hamus, Asmara and as a result Memher Araya was transferred there as the new headmaster. That meant I had to go back to my birth place, Cheat, and continue my schooling at Dequtsnia, in our region, a school which was also run by the same Swedish Mission as in Quazien. This was around 1950. When I was in the fifth grade I moved to my sister’s and her husband’s house in Asmara and attended at the Mission school there.I finished 7^th and 8^th grades at the Evangelical Mission School in Geza Kenisha. After passing my 8^th grade General Examination, I went to Luul Mekonnen School, and later completed my 12^th grade at Santa Anna School in Asmara. By then, I was very much involved in reforming the Lutheran Church in Asmara (at Idda Hamus). I started a youth group (The Youth Group of the Lutheran Church in Asmara) and a Sunday school there. I led Sunday services and I was also the self- made leader of music at the Church. The church recognized the zeal I had to serve the Church, therefore the Church decided to send me to Sweden for further studies in theology and music. Even though the mission rejected the idea, with the insistence of the Church, a scholarship was arranged for me through an individual who was a missionary of BV (Bibeltrogna Vänner) in Eritrea from1953 to 1957. 

I left Eritrea for Sweden in 1967. After finishing my language studies in Swedish (1969), I enrolled as a theology student at the University of Uppsala. At the beginning of 1976, I had my degrees in Practical Philosophy (BA) and in Theology (Teol.kand). In June 1976 I was ordained as a priest by the Archbishop of Sweden, Olof Sundby, at the main Church Cathedral of Sweden in Uppsala, at the same Church, where Qeshi Marqos Girmay was ordained as the first African in 1898. I became the third African to be ordained after a Zulu Prince (1911). 

My intention with my priesthood was, to serve within the Swedish State Church for three years, get the experience and build some contacts in Eritrea. However, Ethiopia’s emperor, Haile Selassie, was overthrown and a new government, Dergue, came to power in 1974. Therefore, I was advised by my Church leader at home to stay in Sweden, until the political situation at home became clear. By this time, I had gotten married to a Swedish woman, Lisbeth. When we met, Lisbeth was working as a missionary in Barentu, and I was doing my studies in Uppsala. In 1978/1979 we were sent to Sudan by the Swedish Evangelical Mission (Evangeliska Fosterlandsstiftelsen, EFS) to start a refugee counseling service in Khartoum, Sudan. Until my retirement in 2007, I had served the Swedish Church as a priest and had different positions in different places, enjoyed equal opportunities as my Swedish colleagues, and ministered my fellow country people on my part time and freely. Now, I am writing and translating books in my mother language. 

Issayas: What is the main thesis of your first book: The History and Background of the Lutheran Church of Eritrea 1911-1932?

Qeshi Alazar: The thesis of my first book, The History and Background of the Lutheran Church of Eritrea 1911-1932 is that The Lutheran Church of Eritrea (constituted in 1959 as an indigenous Church) was the mother church of the Lutheran Church of Ethiopia, and indirectly, even of the Lutheran Church of Kenya.

 

Issayas: What was the significance of Qeshi Marqos Ghirmay for the Lutheran Church of Eritrea in particular and Eritrea in general?

Qeshi Alazar: Qeshi Marqos, with his wife Regina, and his missionary partners: Karl Nyström and his wife Agnes Nyström were the first missionaries who left the EFS (Evangelical Fosterlandsstifelsen) for BV- mission (Bibeltrogna Vänner) and started the BV mission work in Eritrea. Karl and Agnes Nyström started the mission work in MayZibo (Debarwa) and Qeshi Marqos and Regina Girmay started the mission at Quazien. Both Nyström and Girmay put the foundation for an indigenous Church in Eritrea. From the beginning, Qeshi Marqos had the intention of making the missionaries in Eritrea self sufficient, responsible and hard working. For instance, he sent his own evangelists in 1904 to Ethiopia from Eritrea. He used to say that evangelism should be carried out by Eritreans. Qeshi Marqos truly made a journey in many ways, and for me he was a source of an inspiration. I had knowingly and unknowingly followed his traces, as we say in Swedish, right from my youth, asking the question as to why the churches from the west were sending missionaries to Africa in one-way traffic instead of two-way traffic. I fought to have an indigenous church andI became the first African priest in Sweden for Swedes.

Qeshi Marcos Ghirmay

Regina Ghirmay
                                                                                

  












Karl Nyström

Next: Part Two.

A Conversation with Author Jennie Street

Author Jennie Street

Issayas: Can you briefly tell us about yourself? When and where were you in Eritrea?
Jennie: I'm pleased to answer your questions as that way more people will get to know about the book. But remember, although I put the book together, and published it, my co-author is an Eritrean, Amanuel Ghebreselassie, who is General Manager of the Eritrean Railway, and we could not have written this book without each other. Amanuel supplied a great deal of information -technical, historical, and personnel - and he made available all the ER archive to me, wrote Chapter Six almost entirely, answered hundreds of queries, sorted out lots of difficult problems, and copy-edited the entire book. It has been a great collaboration between us, and I am proud to have been a co-author with Amanuel.

I am an English woman, and have been both a development worker and writer all my working life. I wrote to speak of my work and to draw attention to aspects of social and community life wherever I worked. I have worked and written in Sheffield, UK, Hong Kong, China, the Sudan,Ethiopia and Eritrea. For my features I have always written from direct sources, never
from secondary sourcing, because I consider this more credible and valid. I can check my material, ensure veracity and get what I need, rather than what someone else has deemed worth eliciting.

I worked in the Sudan from 1986 to 1990, firstly being sent by a Consortium of NGOs to work on the issue of unaccompanied refugee minors in East Sudan, later working on the cross-border operations, and then with UNICEF. I visited the liberated areas of the Sahel in 1988 during the liberation struggle, and was in Tigray immediately after the collapse of the Dergue in Tigray in February 1989. In 1991 I worked for NOVIB, (the Dutch Oxfam) looking at development (as opposed to aid) needs in Ethiopia and Eritrea immediately after the war ended. I continued to visit Eritrea annually for my son Hadish, whose father is Eritrean, to know his Eritrean family.
In 1995-96 I was employed in Asmara by the PFDJ to prepare a review of the first five years since liberation.

Issayas: How and why did you get interested in the Eritrean railroad?

Jennie: While there I also wrote, to inform the world of Eritrea, about 40 features on a wide range of business, economic and social life in Eritrea for African magazines and features services, some of which were syndicated round the world. In early 1995, after hearing about the rehabilitation of the ER, and being driven by Amanuel down the bed of the line from Arbaroba to
where tunnels were being cleared out, I wrote the first article on the rehabilitation of the Eritrean Railway which was published in New African. I followed the progress of the railway rehabilitation and then, after telling an Eritrean friend in England about it and finding his father drove the last steam train before the line was closed in 1975 and hearing about some of his father's often horrendous experiences, I realised there was an untold story that needed recording.

In 1999, after hearing various other stories about life on the line, I persuaded Amanuel Ghebreselassie, the General Manager of the ER, that we could write a book about the Eritrean Railway together. His reaction was that his English was not good enough, but - apart from the fact that his English is good enough to correct mine in the drafts of the book - that was not the point, we were a team complementing each other with our different knowledge and experience.

Book cover of RED SEA RAILWAY

Issayas: What kinds of reaction are you getting from people about your book?

Jennie: I started the book more or less from the social history point of view, recording the incidents and life on the line for the railwaymen, but as time went on it became apparent that the book had to cover all the technical information which railway enthusiasts and experts require in a book about a railway. This was hard for me, as I am in no way technical nor have an engineering background to understand it. At times I fell asleep over my keyboard inputting data that I found very boring! But I wanted to make sure every single fact was checked and re-checked, and every photo was correctly captioned, dated where possible and attributed correctly.

However, I have been supported not just by Amanuel, but over the 10 years of researching the boook, by about 30 railway enthusiast men in many countries who have helped me get the technical specifications correct! Many of them were, I think, rather surprised that a woman
should write a book on a railway! I have never seen any other railway book written by a woman, though I guess there must be one or two somewhere.

However, I have been very touched by positive comments and reviews of RED SEA RAILWAY. A German rail enthusiast and engineer who originally told me that I should not attempt to write a book on a technical subject I did not understand, later wrote after publication and told me that
it really was the definitive book on the subject! Another man phoned me specially to tell me that though he has hundreds of railway books, he thought RED SEA RAILWAY was among the best in scope and quality of information and images, and he had never even been to Eritrea! I have
only had two problems pointed out so far: one was a failure to mention a signal west of Keren, and the other was a wrongly described timetable. I am hoping that I shall get more information for a later edition about Italian railwaymen in the early days of the line, after Italians buy the
book, as Italian archives have been the most elusive to find.

Issayas: What makes Eritrea railroad different than other countries?

Jennie: The Eritrean Railway is like many other narrow gauge railways in that in runs through spectacular mountain scenery, as narrow gauge was the best way of tackling that sort of country. As you will be able to read in RED SEA RAILWAY, the Eritrean Railway is now known among railway enthusiast circles as the Darjeeling of Africa as its mountain scenery and engineering brilliance are similar. It has attracted quite a lot of enthusiasts to return time and again to enjoy it.

There is no doubt that there is something a little magical in the power of steam, and everyone of all ages finds travel on steam trains compelling. The Eritrean Railway cannot compete with modern tractive power, as it is not a line that permits speed or heavy engines, so its attraction
is the old steam engines. For faster travel on the line there is of course the littorina - the rail car introduced in 1935 by the Italians, which cut the journey from Massawa to Asmara by several hours.

Issayas: Why should people be interested in Eritrean railroad?

Jennie: I hope that RED SEA RAILWAY may inspire Eritreans across the world to pay more attention to their railway, not only from the heritage point of view, but as a potential economic resource for the country. It needs financial backing to update engines and rolling stock, and it needs support to enable it to restore the rest of the line from Asmara to Agordat and even beyond. The railway opened the country's trading and agricultural links, and was the biggest employer of labour in Eritrea, and it could again be a force in the economy. In addition, a railway museum is needed to record this history for posterity.

I hope that there will be something for every Eritrean in RED SEA RAILWAY. For those who have no memory of the line and the trains running I hope they may learn something more in depth of the history of their country, and for some older people I hope it will offer good memories or insights. I am open to comments on the book, both positive and negative.

For further information check out the following :

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/red-sea-railway-by-jennie-street-and-amanuel-ghebreselassie.html

http://83.170.122.74/redsearailway/

Issayas: Thank you for your time and comments. Good luck with the book.

Jennie: You're welcome.

Dr. Dominy's and Gillian Moritz's Presentation at the Eritrean Community Center in Oakland: A Summary

On June 12th 2010, Dr. Nathaniel Dominy of UC Santa Cruz and his colleague, first year Ph.D student, Gillian Mortiz of UC Santa Cruz, presented the findings of their research to the Eritrean community in Oakland. It must be recalled that they first announced their findings to the world at the 61st ARCE (The American Research Center in Egypt) annual meeting which was held in Oakland from April 23-25, 2010.






Dr. Nathaniel Dominy at the Eritrean Community Center in Oakland, CA.



The Eritrean Community Center in Oakland, CA.



The title of their presentation was entitled, “Baboons, stable isotopes and the location of Punt”. Dr. Dominy started his lecture by stating that Egyptologists have been looking for the “Land of Punt” for over 100 years. He presented detailed theories that had surfaced over the aforementioned period. According to Dr. Dominy the locations varied from Sinai, Yemen, Eritrea, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Uganda to Mozambique. The theories of the location varied because

* Ancient Egyptian records indicated that the land of Punt was located to the east of Egypt and to the south of Nubia.

* Egyptologists have been using biological, botanical, linguistic, and archaeological and other
evidence to come up with their respective theories.

What makes Dr. Dominy and his colleagues’ results different from the previous theories is that:

* His team is made up of scientists of various disciplines. (Dr.Dominy studies primates, Gillian
is one of the few people in the field to capitalize on new techniques to study oxygen isotopes and Dr.Salima Ikram is a specialist in animal mummification).

* This is the first time that hair samples from mummified baboons have been analyzed in a mass spectrometer to pinpoint the location of Punt.

Before going into details of their scientific result, Dr. Dominy pointed out why the land of Punt was important to the Ancient Egyptians. Dr. Dominy stated that the relationship between Ancient Egypt and the land of Punt was the first peaceful interaction between two “countries”, and that it was also one of the earliest and longest lasting trading relationships in human history, spanning over 1300 years. This relationship started from 2450 BC during the reign of Sahura (as evidenced by the Palermo Stone) and continued through the reign of Pharaoh Ramasis III (XX Dynasty). Dr. Dominy showed a picture of a hieroglyphic tablet of a custom’s official record that was taken at Marsa Gawasis, a port in Egypt where preserved Ancient Egyptian ship components were found.




A custom official's hieroglyphic record found at Marsa Gawasis, Egypt

The commodities that were imported from the land of Punt included:

. Gold and electrum ( a compound for gold and silver).
. Plant tissues (Ntyw: myrrh; Comminphora; Sntr: Pistachia and ebony
. Animals and animal products (baboons, short-horned cattle, leopards and ivory)

Punt Expedition bas relief from Dar el-Bhari (Queen Hateshepsut's temple)

Even though some or all of the commodities were and are still found in the Sinai (baboons were not found), Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Uganda and Mozambique, two commodities; sntr (incense made from pistachio plant tissue) and baboons were important in determining the location of Punt. It was previously believed that the incense that was highly prized in Ancient Egypt was frankincense, but now it has come to light that it was sntr (pistachio). Actually, Dr. Dominy indicated that when Somalia got its independence in 1959, it issued a stamp in reverence and in reference to itself as the land of Punt. On the stamp, a frankincense tree is carried by two people.

As indicated above, the second commodity was the baboon. The Ancient Egyptians had high reverence for baboons. In the mornings, baboons face to the east and announce the rising of the sun by making a “wa-hoo” vocalization. It has been hypothesized that baboons face the rising sun in order to warm up digestive bacteria in the gut. It is not known whether the ancient Egyptians knew the above mentioned scientific fact or not, but for them baboons were symbolically associated with the rising sun). Dr. Dominy indicated that the Ancient Egyptians (especially the Pharoah’s and their families raised the baboons as pets).

A picture taken by Eric Lafforgue in Eritrea.

An x-ray of a royal pet baboon without his canine teeth.

A mummified baboon

Going into details of their research, Dr. Dominy explained that there are different species of baboons (Papio papio, Papio hamadryas, Papio anubis, Papio ursinus, and Papio cynocephalus), but there were two baboon species that were mummified and were depicted in Ancient Egyptian paintings. They are Papio hamadryas and Papio anubis. Dr. Dominy explained that his team got hair sample from two mummified baboons. The hair sample from one of the mummified baboon could not be used to determine the place of origin, because the baboon had been in Egypt as a pet for a long time. However, the hair sample from the mummified baboon from the British Museum did help to determine its origin. Since baboon populations vary isotopically, by analyzing the ratio of oxygen stable isotopes from the hair sample, Dr. Dominy explained, his team determined that

* All the other places that once were believed to be land of Punt were eliminated (Siani,
Yemen, Uganda, Somalia and Yemen)

* The oxygen isotope (O18) analyzed through hair sample of the mummified baboon was
consistent with the oxygen isotope (O18 )and types found on the baboons from Eritrea.





Biographic distribution of baboons




Papio hamadryas





Papio-anubus

Finally, this is a major scientific breakthrough. The audience was so fascinated by the presentation; people were still asking them questions up to 9:30 PM.




staying after the lecture.




coffee ceremony with incense

 One of the most highly sought after commodity by the ancient Egyptians was incense from Eritrea.


Pictures courtesy of Dr. Nathaniel Dominy.

Conversation with Anthropologists Dr. Nathaniel J. Dominy and Gillian L. Moritz

Issayas: Can you briefly describe about yourselves.

Nathaniel J Dominy: I'm an Associate Professor in the Departments of Anthropology and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, UC-Santa Cruz. I received my BA from Johns Hopkins University in 1998 and PhD from the University of Hong Kong in 2001; from 2002-2004 I was NIH Post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Chicago. I'm currently a Fellow of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

(Note: Dr. Dominy was ranked by Popular Science magazine (2009) as one of ten "Brilliant 10" scientists younger than 40 years old. http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2009-10/ten-young-geniuses-shaking-science-today?page=7 )

Gillian L. Moritz : I'm a PhD student in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, UC-Santa Cruz. I received my BS from Saint Louis University in 2008. I have research interests in stable isotope ecology, sensory systems, and primate behavioral ecology.

Issayas: What is the significance of your findings?

Dr. N. Dominy and Gillian Mortiz: Our preliminary findings narrow down the range of possible geographic locations for Punt. We can rule out some hypothetical locations such as Mozambique and Uganda. And the evidence we have so far is inconsistent with a location in Somalia or Yemen. Instead our results favor a location in Eritrea and eastern Ethiopia. Such results are significant for contributing to our knowledge of the earliest maritime trading networks in antiquity

Q: Why was Punt important for the Ancient Egyptians?

A: Punt was important because it was an emporium for highly valued, exotic goods. For the Ancient Egyptians, the most important commodity of Punt was incense.

Q: The location of Punt had been a mystery for a long time, why was it a mystery?

A: Because the evidence is mixed. The textural evidence differs from the artistic evidence; and, until recently, the archeological evidence was too scarce to be much use. By nature, scholars are creative, argumentative people... so in the past century at least 5 geographic hypotheses have been advanced

Q: Why was Punt called "God's Land?"

A: For the Ancient Egyptians, Punt was a wildly productive region with numerous valuable mineral and biological commodities. Punt was the best emporium on earth.

Q: For a general audience can you briefly describe how a mummified baboon can hold the secret for the location of the land of Punt?

A: The chemical composition of baboon hair reflects the chemical composition of plant water, and plant water reflects the chemical composition of rain water. So we can create a chemical map of eastern Africa based on rainfall patterns. Fortunately, each hypothetical Punt location carries a distinctive rain-driven chemical signature that we can match to living baboons as well as the mummified ones from Ancient Egypt.

Q: Why were baboons important for the Ancient Egyptians and beside baboons, were there any other mummified animals that you wanted to research on?

A: Some baboons were mummified because they were beloved royal pets whereas others were mummified for religious purposes. Mummified short-horned cattle and antelopes might have been interesting to study.

Issayas: Thank you both for your time and comments. (Note: For further information on the subject and their research, please check out the following two links:

http://heritage-key.com/blogs/owenjarus/baboon-mummy-tests-reveal-ethiopia-and-eritrea-ancient-egyptians-land-punt

To check Dr. Dominy's lab: http://people.ucsc.edu/~njdominy/

Dr. Dominy and Moritz will be presenting their findings to the public at Oakland's Monthly Public Forum on Saturday June 12th 2010. Check out the flier below for details.