The Exaltation of Holy Cross and the Deposition of the Emperor of Ethiopia: Lïj Iyasu and a Mäsqäl Drama

Abstract

On September 16, 1916 the Ethiopian ruler Iyasu was excommunicated and deposed. Although there is a great deal of literature concerned with the local and international political forces behind this coup, its timing has been considered only in passing. This article focuses on the fact that this event coincided with the major Christian festival of Mäsqäl (The Festival of the Cross), an early Christian celebration, which was elevated to the de facto status of a major feast by the Ethiopian Church in the 15 ^th century. The article analyses the coup in the light of three key Mäsqäl themes of: (1) Christianity’s superiority over Islam; (2) imperial presence (or absence) and power; (3) appointment and dismissal. Using both historical accounts and ethnographic reports, each of these themes is explored in an attempt to deepen our understanding of the religious-cultural aspects of what may appear, at first glance, to be an exclusively political episode.