Land-Grant Documents and Ecclesiastical Donations of Mändabba Mädḫane Aläm Monastery, Northern Shore of Lake Ṭana, Ethiopia

Abstract

 The monastery of Mändabba MädḫaneʿAläm, located in the northern part of Lake Ṭana region, in the present day Dämbǝya district, was established in the 14th century A.D. by Abunä Yasay, a son of Emperor Amdä Ṣǝyon (r. 1314-1444). The objective of the study was to analyze land grants of the monastery of Mändabba. The data was collected from primary and secondary sources. Primary sources were copied from manuscripts of Wängel Zä-wärq/Golden Gospel and from the archival documents found in the Central Gondar Zone Administration Archives’ Centre (CGZAAC). The document copied from Wängel Zä-wärq is also found in the collections of Donald Crummey accessed at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The same texts also existed and were preserved in the manuscripts found in the “Aratu Wämbär Gädamat” of Gorgora monasteries in four copies. The archival documents contain the petition of the monastic community of Mändabba for Bägemdǝr-Sǝmen Țäqlay Gǝzat to regain the two qəfäfəs of Səyä Däbər (Aläfa, Čəlga) and Səməra Giyorgis (Dämbiya), which were taken by the färäsäñoč and aläqa respectively. The study result indicates that the monastery of Mändabba owned lands under the system known as rǝst, gwǝlt, and rim during the Gondärine period of Ethiopia. This paper also provides an understanding of a wide set of issues concerning the state, monastery, land, and society in the period under study. The implication of land grant documents on the historical dynamics of ecclesiastical lands is useful for studying the development of the religious community and its relationship with political power.