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! ===Origins=== [[File:Icon - FrontLeft - Small.jpg|thumb|Ethiopian Orthodox icon depicting [[Saint George]], the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Crucifixion]], and the [[Mary, the mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]]]] [[John Chrysostom]] speaks of the "Ethiopians present in Jerusalem" as being able to understand the preaching of [[Saint Peter|Peter]] in [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]], 2:38.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Possible missions of some of the [[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostles]] in the lands now called [[Ethiopia]] is also reported as early as the 4th century. [[Socrates of Constantinople]] includes Ethiopia in his list as one of the regions preached by [[Matthew the Apostle]],<ref>Socrates and Sozomenus Ecclesiastical Histories, p. 57.</ref> where a specific mention of "Ethiopia south of the Caspian Sea" can be confirmed in some traditions such as the [[Roman Catholic Church]] among others.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title = St. Matthew | encyclopedia = Catholic Encyclopedia |url = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10056b.htm|access-date = 2015-12-04}}</ref> Ethiopian Church tradition tells that [[Bartholomew the Apostle|Bartholomew]] accompanied [[Matthew the Apostle|Matthew]] in a mission which lasted for at least three months.<ref name="ReferenceA">Meskel and the Ethiopians. EOTC Publication Committee, September 2015</ref> Paintings depicting these missions can be seen in the Church of St. Matthew found in the [[Province of Pisa]], in northern [[Italy]] portrayed by Francesco Trevisan (1650β1740) and [[Marco Benefial]] (1688β1764).<ref>Meskel and the Ethiopians. EOTC Publication Committee September 2015</ref> The earliest account of an Ethiopian converted to the faith in the [[New Testament]] books is [[Ethiopian eunuch|a royal official]] baptized by [[Philip the Evangelist]] (distinct from [[Philip the Apostle]]), one of the [[seven deacons]] (Acts, 8:26β27): {{Blockquote|Then the angel of the Lord said to Philip, Start out and go south to the road that leads down from Jerusalem to Gaza. So he set out and was on his way when he caught sight of an [[Ethiopian eunuch|Ethiopian]]. This man was a eunuch, a high official of the [[Kandake]] (Candace) Queen of Ethiopia in charge of all her treasure. (Acts, 8:26β27)}} The passage continues by describing how Philip helped the Ethiopian treasurer understand a passage from the [[Book of Isaiah]] that the Ethiopian was reading. After Philip interpreted the passage as prophecy referring to [[Jesus Christ]], the Ethiopian requested that Philip baptize him, and Philip did so. The [[Ge'ez|Ethiopic]] version of this verse reads "Hendeke" (α αα°α¬); Queen Gersamot Hendeke VII was the Queen of Ethiopia from c. 42 to 52. Where the possibility of gospel missions by the [[Ethiopian eunuch]] cannot be directly inferred from the Books of the New Testament, [[Irenaeus|Irenaeus of Lyons]] around 180 AD writes that "Simon Backos" preached the good news in his homeland outlining also the theme of his preaching as being the coming in flesh of God that "was preached to you all before."<ref>Irenaeus of Lyons, "Adversus haereses" III. 12. 8</ref> The same kind of witness is shared by 3rd and 4th century writers such as [[Eusebius|Eusebius of Caesarea]]<ref>Eusebius Pamphilius, Church History</ref> and [[Origen|Origen of Alexandria]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/> [[File:Ezana.jpg|thumb|Coin of King [[Ezana of Axum|Ezana]], under whom Early Christianity became the established church of the [[Kingdom of Aksum]]]] Early Christianity became the [[established church]] of the Ethiopian [[Kingdom of Aksum|Axumite Kingdom]] under king [[Ezana of Axum|Ezana]] in the 4th century when priesthood and the sacraments were brought for the first time through a Syrian Greek named [[Frumentius]], known by the local population in Ethiopia as "Selama, KesatΓ© Birhan" ("Father of Peace, Revealer of Light"). As a youth, Frumentius had been shipwrecked with his brother Aedesius on the [[Eritrea]]n coast. The brothers managed to be brought to the royal court, where they rose to positions of influence and baptized [[Ezana of Axum|Emperor Ezana]]. Frumentius is also believed to have established the first monastery in Ethiopia, named [[Degol Woyane|Dabba Selama]] after him. In 2016, archaeologists excavated a 4th-century AD basilica (radio-carbon dated) in northeastern Ethiopia at a site called [[Beta Samati]]. This is the earliest known physical evidence of a church in sub-Saharan Africa.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Harrower|first= Michael J|date=Winter 2019|title=Beta Samati: discovery and excavation of an Aksumite town|url= https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/643FA872A5B2F9B5E0E765D850C4A526/S0003598X1900084Xa.pdf/beta_samati_discovery_and_excavation_of_an_aksumite_town.pdf|journal=Antiquity |volume=93| issue = 372|pages= 1534β52 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2019.84|via=Cambridge.org|doi-access=free}}</ref> 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! 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