Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Language=== [[File:Meskel Celebration.jpg|thumb|Ethiopian Orthodox celebration of [[Meskel]] (Geʽez for "cross")]] The divine services of the Ethiopian Church are celebrated in [[Geʽez]], which has been the [[liturgical language]] of the church at least since the arrival of the [[Nine Saints]] (Pantelewon, Gerima (Isaac, or Yeshaq), Aftse, Guba, Alef, Yem’ata, Liqanos, and Sehma), who are believed to have fled persecution by the [[Byzantine Empire]] after the [[Council of Chalcedon]] (451).<ref>[[Taddesse Tamrat]], ''Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 23</ref> The Greek [[Septuagint]] was the version of the [[Old Testament]] originally translated into Ge'ez, but later revisions show clear evidence of the use of [[Hebrew]], [[Syriac language|Syriac]] and [[Arabic]] sources. The first translation into a modern vernacular was done in the 19th century by a man usually known as [[Abu Rumi]] (died 1819). Later, Haile Selassie sponsored [[Amharic]] translations of the Ge'ez Scriptures during his reign (1930–1974): one in 1935 before World War II and one afterwards (1960–1961).<ref>Ullendorff, ''Ethiopia and the Bible'', pp. 31-72</ref> [[Sermons]] today are usually delivered in the local language. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page