Research Paper on:
Jews of Ethiopia

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
That they were half a million strong did nothing to maintain their cultural strength against other indigenous peoples of Gondar. With religion at the crux of this separation,  it comes with great relief that this virtually desolated ethnic population was both discovered and rescued from its collapse into complete destruction. "Once they were kings. A half  million strong, they matched their faith with fervor and out-matched the Moslem and Christian tribesmen around them to rule the mountain highlands around Lake Tana. They called themselves Beta  Israel-the house of Israel-and used the Torah to guide their prayers and memories of the heights of Jerusalem as they lived in their thatched huts in Ethiopia. But their  neighbors called them Falashas-the alien ones, the invaders. And even three hundred years of rule, even the black features that matched those of all the people around them did  not make the Jews of Ethiopia secure governors of their destiny in Africa" (Anonymous PG). Throughout the Middle Ages, the Beta Israel were a relatively autonomous people until this  status was abruptly interrupted by the Solomonic Empire in the thirteenth century CE, with fighting against various other tribes continuing on throughout the subsequent three centuries. This procession of  battles came to a culmination in 1624 when the Beta Israel engaged forces against Portuguese-supported Ethiopians in what ultimately represented "their last battle for independent autonomy" (The History of Ethiopian  Jews). According to eye witnesses, this particular battle saw both men and women fighting without concern for their own lives, many of who killed one another in order to  avoid being taken prisoner. Historical accounts of this event were systematically destroyed so as to appear it never took place and "attempt to eradicate forever the Judaic memory of