Mobility of Sacred Objects between Ethiopia and the Mediterranean World in the Middle Ages: The Case of the « True Cross », by Alebachew Birru

During the Middle Ages, there was a high interest in fabricating a global Christian alliance to stand against their Muslim counterparts. A reciprocal interest between the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia and the Latin Christian religious and political leaders was one such example. This continued even after the end of the crusades to the early modern period, with similar interest but a different context. Although the issue of mobility of people and associated objects was assessed based on literary sources, little has been done in terms of exploring the living artifactual testimonies of these centuries-long relations between these two parts of the world. Based on the speaker's ongoing GATES fellowship project, this paper aims to show this potential by emphasizing the « True Cross » as an emblematic sacred object, which had a great diplomatic role in the connections between the Ethiopian Christian kingdoms and their Mediterranean counterparts until the 16th century. 

This GATES Talk is organized as part of the "Sacred mobility" seminar occurring the same day.

Alebachew BIRRU got his PhD from the University of Toulouse, France in 2020. Since then, he has been serving as an Assistant Professor of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at Debre Berhan University (DBU), Ethiopia. He also served as an Associate Dean of the Office of Internationalization and Partnerships of DBU. He was a fellow at the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies  (ITATTI), Florence, Italy in 2023. He has also been a 2023/24 AfOx fellow of the University of Oxford, UK. His particular area of research focuses on the archaeology and History of the Central Highlands of Ethiopia from the 10th to the 16th century.

Olivia ADANKPO-LABADIE - Medieval History (LUHCIE)