Journal articles on the topic 'Monasteries, Orthodox Eastern'

The article concentrates on one of the aspects of the Eastern question, the Russian struggle for penetration in the Eastern part of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th and early 20th century. This region of Turkey was an object of special attention for the Russian foreign policy. The ecclesiastical aspect of the Russian influence was of special importance: the preservation of Orthodoxy was an important task of the Russian representatives. The traditional method of material aid for the Orthodox monasteries and churches was widely used. They regularly received permissions for gathering donations in Russia. Another method used in the 19th century was the open support of the Orthodox population by the Russian consuls. During the reforms (Tanzimat) in the Ottoman Empire many secret Christians from the eastern regions proclaimed themselves Orthodox. The Russian diplomats after the Crimean war intermediated the conversion of the Crypto-Christians into Orthodoxy. The study of Trapezund and its monasteries by the Russian Byzantologists at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century also contributed to the penetration into the region. In addition to the explicit scholarly results, their research helped to strengthen the Russian authority among the local population. The relationship and cooperation between the Russian commandment and the local clergy during the Russian occupation in 1916–1917 and the scientific expedition of Feodor Uspenskii were the last page of this history. Based on previously unknown archive sources, the article traces how different means of church policy served to strengthen the Russian influence in Eastern Turkey.

Over the second half of the sixteenth century a new form of monasticism, idiorrhythmia (“living according to one’s own devices”), seemed to be spreading across the Orthodox monasteries of the Eastern Mediterranean. The communal regime practiced for centur

Abstract This study concerns the issue of monastic incarceration of members of the Old Calendarist Orthodox Church in interwar Romania. The practice of incarcerating individuals in Orthodox monasteries was common across Orthodox Eastern Europe, especially in Imperial Russia. Even though this constitutes a neglected aspect of Romanian history, monastic incarceration seems to have been a practice that affected the Old Calendarist communities during the interwar period. When the Old Calendarists were seen as a threat to the Romanian state and the Orthodox Church, the Holy Synod decided, in October 1936, that the fate of the Old Calendarist nuns and monks was to be arrested and sent to detention at isolated sketes. There they were put to work and forced to accept the new style calendar. The archives of the secret police, as well as the National Archives of Romania, preserve various documents in the form of letters, postcards, declarations, and Gendarmerie reports which prove that monastic incarceration of Old Calendarist believers was a phenomenon that extended during a longer period of time and involved at least four Orthodox Monasteries in the country.

Position, values, activity of the highest Orthodox (black) clergy, monasteries, monasticism in the era of numerous interstate wars, Cossack uprisings of the 20 - 30s of the 18th century, National Liberation War of 1648 - 1654, Pereyaslav council, and its succession that coincided with dramatic transformations on the European continent, a profound change of borders in Central and Eastern Europe, in the light of the present factual completeness and the possibility of scientific objective assessments, prove to be complex, multi-vector, and often synchronous with many sociopolitical processes and diplomatic movements and, in general, far from the given unambiguous, straightforward or spiral "procedural", which the position of the Orthodox Church, monasteries or monks in the national liberation competitions in the Ukrainian lands. until recently.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore the possible synergetic effects between food-restricted behaviour (fasting in Orthodox Christianity) and physical and mental health; and second, to ponder on the nature of fasting and to reveal the potentials monastery cuisine has, reaching outside the world of religion and entering the world of consumption. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research approach has been applied in order to investigate the synergetic effects between fasting, well-being and anti-consumption. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews carried out in Orthodox monasteries, in particular, in three monasteries in the territory of Mount Athos and in three monasteries in Northern Greece. Additionally, ten Bulgarians who visited monasteries situated at Mount Athos have been interviewed. In a cultural materialistic perspective, this paper seeks to discuss and reveal food and eating habits patterns. It combines the social anthropology of food with the anthropology of Eastern Orthodox religion. Findings The discussed interrelations between fasting, well-being and anti-consumption confirm the synergetic effects, occurring at different points between them. Fasting practices definitely contribute to consumers’ health and well-being. The food-restricted behaviour and the monastery diet are presented as a means of purification not only of the soul but also of the body. Fasting is an intriguing issue that offers many perspectives for people not only within but also without the monastery walls. Food-restricted behaviour as practiced in Orthodox Christianity shall be considered as beneficial for people’s health and as such it can reveal a lot of additional spiritual values for non-believers. Social implications Future applications of fasting practices as a non-consumptive behaviour and in view of social movements for healthy nutrition. A possibility for fasting menus as an alternative to fast food menus can be exploited. Originality/value The study provides some useful insights into the contemporary practice of Eastern Orthodox fasting and confirms that fasting is a successful means of achieving mental and physical well-being. New perspectives for monastery cuisine as a resource and brand strategy for restaurant business and tourism can be mentioned as well.

Contrary to the abundance of shared religious places throughout south-eastern Europe, multi-religious interaction is not a regular feature in Romania. Pilgrimages and visits to the popular Orthodox monasteries of Prislop and Nicula in Transylvania and Dervent in Dobruja are an exception to this trend. Unsurprisingly, these two regions are historically characterized by a remarkable ethnic and religious diversity. The two Transylvanian monasteries attract practitioners of different Christian denominations (Orthodox, Greek-Catholic, Roman-Catholic and Evangelical), while Dervent is a devotional site for Christians and Muslims (Tatars, Turks and Roma) alike. Common to all three monasteries is the presence of allegedly miracle-working objects, artefacts and bodies: a stone cross at Dervent, the Virgin Mary icon at Nicula, and the tomb of the charismatic monk Arsenie Boca at Prislop, respectively. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the three monasteries during both important feasts and everyday monastic life, this article is a multidisciplinary exploration of the workings of inter-religious competition, sharing and interaction. It combines the methods typical of ethnographic research with observations on how the religious space is navigated and socialized through the support of cartography and archival satellite images. The article casts light on how the historical narratives and spatial strategies enacted by the Romanian Orthodox Church overlap in the attempt to reclaim legitimate ownership and exclusive primacy over three popular devotional sites with a composite ethnic and religious past.

The article is devoted to the Russian-Greek ecclesiastical and political relations before and during the Eastern Crisis of the 1820s. After the start of the Greek uprising in 1821, Russia took an ambivalent position: as a patron of all orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire, it sought to support the Greeks, but Russia also had to recognize the Greek revolution as an illegitimate rebellion. As a member of the Holy Alliance of European Powers Russia had no other choice but to adhere to the principles of legitimism. Russia had both political and economic interests in the region. After the Greek uprising, main powers in the Western Europe had no doubt that Russia would support the rebels. Nevertheless, Russia regarded the Greek rebellion as another European revolution. After a successful war of independence, Russia established its diplomatic mission in the Greek capital. The first ambassador was P.I. Rickman, who arrived with aim to provide political relations with this new Balkan state. If political support of the rebellion could find no understanding in the conservative European circles, the aid of the Orthodox Balkan Church was implied by the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca 1774. Special attention in this support, provided by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Greek monasteries, was paid to the Athos monasteries. This support was designed by a special document. It was adopted in 1735 under the Empress Anna Ivanovna and was subject to execution in subsequent years. The Archive of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has kept lists of all Orthodox monasteries on the territory of the Ottoman Empire that enjoyed material support from the Russian church; a significant part of this list are the Orthodox churches of Greece.

AbstractThe article examines the enduring phenomenon of double monasticism, the type of religious organization whereby a single monastic unit combined a male and a female community that followed the same rule, recognized the authority of the same superior, and functioned within the boundaries of the same monastic compound or in close proximity to each other, but not in shared quarters. After centuries of evolution since late antiquity, double monasteries effectively ceased to exist in the Latin West by the high middle ages, but demonstrated remarkable staying powers in the sphere of historic Byzantine cultural influences, particularly in Orthodox Eastern Europe and Christian Middle East, where this archaic type of monastic institution survived into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Based on previously unexplored archival material from the Orthodox lands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and later the Ukrainian Hetmanate, a semi-autonomous state ruled by elective officers who recognized the tsar of Muscovy as their suzerain, the article analyses the place of kinship structures, economic and political factors, legal frameworks, and the role of the imperial state in the evolution and ultimate decline of the double monastery.

В статье обобщены сведения о духовных связях обителей Святой Горы Афон и верующих Алтая в XIX – нач. XX вв. Духовные традиции Православия, транслируемые важнейшим центром восточного монашества, благодаря усилиям алтайских миссионеров получили быстрое распространение в южно-сибирском регионе. Почитание афонских икон, частиц мощей и других святынь лежало в основе многолюдных религиозных действий — крестных ходов, молебнов, «хожений» паломников по святым местам. Присутствие на Алтае афонских святынь стало одним из важнейших факторов православной миссионерской работы и приходского служения. The article summarizes information about the spiritual ties of the monasteries of Mount Athos and the believers of Altai in the XIX – early XX centuries. The spiritual traditions of Orthodoxy, broadcast by the most important center of Eastern monasticism, thanks to the efforts of the Altai missionaries, quickly spread in the South Siberian region. The veneration of Athos icons, particles of relics and other shrines was at the heart of the crowded religious actions: processions of the cross, prayers, pilgrims “walking” to holy places. The presence of Athos shrines in Altai has become one of the most important factors in Orthodox missionary work and parish service.

In our opinion, the spiritual purpose of Ancient Rus in the middle of the ІХ–ХІV centuries was the spread of Christianity to the vast expanses of Eastern Europe, its contribution to the spiritual transformation of the world. Overcoming the insurmountable obstacles of nomadic destruction, Ukraine-Rus own strife and betrayal step by step goes to self-determination as the Second Jerusalem – the spiritual center of Orthodoxy and of all Eastern Christianity through the choice of faith, through the three christening of Rus Askoldov, Olzhine and Volodymyrove, through the disregard for Christianity, through the creation of the glorious Kiev variant of Orthodoxy, through the acquisition of holiness in the temples of St. Sophia, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and the exploits of its monasticism, etc., through the acquisition of apostolic origin in the legend of Andrew, through overcoming all temptations, preservation and rebirth, through the enrichment of world experience of Christianity, because of the fostering of mystical Eastern Christian foundations in Paisii Velychkovsky's Little Rus monasteries, in Skovoroda, in Gogol, in Bulatovych's nameword, etc., through the Metropolitan of Kyiv Petro Mogyla of the Orthodox Center – New Jerusalem already reached and finally, overcoming all the insurmountable obstacles in the creation of our own Orthodox Church of Rus-Ukraine in recognition of patriarchy and in unity with world orthodoxy and modern religious revival. Let Moscow want to be a political center and it proves very consistently, and Ukraine-Russia, the blasphemous city of Kyiv, emerge as a spiritual center – the New Jerusalem, which is evidenced by all its historical development, already demonstrated by the fact that the “priesthood is higher than the kingdom”, which could be its contribution to the spiritual transformation of the world. Thus, the very reason that Kyiv could become the spiritual center of Eastern Christianity could be that it 1) overcame all temptations, first and foremost 2) the loss of gain, 3) consistently pursues the unity of Christianity, for example, Kyiv is also the center of the UGCC, 4) Kyiv with its shrines concentrates the fullness of the holiness of Christianity, 5) it develops its specifically Eastern Christian mystical foundations and is 6) open to the positive world (Kyiv – Mohylyanska Academy and its theology, etc.) of mutual influence. Let's form Ukraine-Rus as the New Jerusalem – the spiritual center.

The article examines the connections between the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Mount Athos in the 16th century. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the monasteries of Mount Athos managed to preserve their self-government. The requirement to pay annual taxes to the Turks forced the Athos monks to go on journeys to collect alms. They often visited the Ukrainian-Belarusian lands. At that time, the city of Ostroh became one of the Orthodox spiritual and cultural main centres. Representatives of Eastern churches, including those from Mount Athos, began to come here. Athos monks Ivan Vyshenskyi, Iov Knyahynytskyi, Cyprian Ostrozhanskyi, Isaac Boryskovych, and others were associated with the Ostroh circle. After the Orthodox bishops of the Commonwealth signed the Union of Brest with Rome in 1596, the Orthodox spiritual and cultural movements in the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands became more active, with Athos monks strongly influencing it. The existence of close spiritual and cultural ties between the Ostroh circle and Mount Athos on the eve of the Union of Brest significantly influenced further church and cultural processes in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

The article analyzes the content of the handwritten Synodic, which has belonged to one of the most important Serbian monasteries — Studenica — since the middle of the XVII century. Such manuscripts are known in single copies in the repositories of the Balkan Peninsula and Greece, all of them reflect the history of Russia’s relations with the South Slavic and other Orthodox peoples of southern Europe during the reign, mainly, of the Romanov dynasty.The value of this manuscript is that it marks the beginning of the establishment of the regular practice of the clergy of the Studenitsa for alms in Russia, which lasted a century. Synodic contains a wealth of material on the genealogy of many Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian and other families that played a historical role in the events of Southern and Eastern Europe in the second half of the XVII-XVIII centuries.

This work deals with some liturgical rubrics, which were printed in the Augmented Psalter of the Gorazde Printing House (1521). First of them predicts possible celebration of the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts on Wednesday or Friday of Sunday of Cheese, if the feast day of St. Tryphon falls on one of these two days. The second rubric provides the chanting of the verses of the 17th Kathisma - the Amomos (Psalm 118) with refrain Hallelujah on the Great Saturday?s Orthros, but without the Egkomia. Taking into account the fact that hieromonk Theodor Ubavic was redactor for the process of printing the Augmented Psalter (1521) as well as the Sluzabnik or Leiturgikon (1519), and also the Prayer Book or Euchologium (1523) of the Gorazde Printing House, these rubrics reveal his innovativity and in the same time deeply devotion to the Eastern Orthodox liturgical Tradition of Mount Athos, precisely of the Mon?astery Chilandari. Nevertheless, the already-mentioned rubrics represent the heritage of the older redaction of Typicon in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the so-called Stoudite synthesis, in comparing with the New Sabaite synthesis or Typicon of Great Lavra of St. Sava the Sanctified near Jerusalem. Above all, the results of our analysis definitely show that process of changing of the older layer of Typicon hasn?t been finished yet in the Athonite monasteries at the end of the 15th, and early in the 16th century.

On January 21, 1727, the Irkutsk Diocese was established. Its opening was the result of Orthodoxy in spread in Eastern Siberia, which began in the 17th century. Irkutsk became the center of a new diocese. In 1727, there were 8 churches and 2 monasteries, while the city was developing dynamically while being the administrative center. In 1822, it included the territory of the Yenisei Province. The easternmost diocese of Russia turned out to be the largest in terms of territory – about 10 million square kilometers, occupying more than half of the entire territory of the country and extending over two continents. In 1826, the diocese was transferred from the 3rd grade to the 2nd grade, and its bishop became the archbishop. In the future, all the lords (church leaders) received the same rank, sometimes not immediately. An important event in its history was the canonization by the Synod in December 1804 of the first bishop Innokenty Kulchitsky. The most famous in Eastern Siberia was the Ascension Monastery, which became the spiritual center of the diocese. There were four churches, a chapel, a hotel, a school, cell buildings, and outbuildings. The high bell tower, the five-domed Ascension Cathedral, and other churches and buildings were distinguished by their beauty and richness. Dramatic events of the early twentieth century forced the Irkutsk clergy to take part in social and political life. In the emerging multi-party system, they relied on right-wing and centrist political parties. Under the Soviet regime, the Irkutsk diocese, as well as the Orthodox Church as a whole, was targeted by a wave of repressions (purges). The attitude of the state to religion began to change in the conditions of perestroika. This allowed the Orthodox Church to receive a powerful impetus for its development. The result of this was the establishment of the Irkutsk Metropolis, which included the Irkutsk, Bratsk and Sayan dioceses.

The Way of a Pilgrim was written by an unknown author originated from the second half of the 19th century. This work, which has been very popular in the Orthodox world, is an introduction to the Eastern Christian hesychastic spirituality. This book is a story about the pilgrimage of a Russian peasant to various sanctuaries and monasteries in the Russian Empire. The pilgrim, with the help of his elder – the spiritual father, explores the secret of the unceasing prayer. He draws God’s wisdom from the Holy Scriptures and the Philokalia. When the pilgrim meets various people on his way, he talks to them about prayer and shares with them his own experience of God’s prayer. The article carried out an analysis of the main issues of the Way of a Pilgrim, namely: the introduction into the Jesus prayer, the transforming power of the Word of God, the fight against passions, and the importance of spiritual guidance in the life of every Christian.

As a result of three decades of social-cultural transformation, Bulgarian literature and practice of religious education though still rare is increasing and improving. As the Church recovers, local parishes, monasteries, and convents become visibly re-socialised and motivated again to provide more adequate pastoral care for all ages. This study explores the importance of informal improvisation and innovation as an approach, in the best interest of children and youth, at a time when an effective, regulated mass public religious education system in Bulgaria is not likely to appear soon. At the same time, revitalised eparchial, parish, convent, and monastery centres start meeting actual needs of renewed church ethos, and begin to provide opportunities for religious socialisation of children and youth that is more functional. Based on direct and indirect experience, on observation, and on partial access to limited local empirical data (that is historically and/or anthropologically only partially explored and categorised), this paper contributes to the analysis of the following unresolved issue: how to direct research toward and keep account of well-known educational and pastoral practices, whether traditional or contemporary, that aid the effective and sustainable religious socialisation of children and youth.

The Soviet diplomacy in the second half of the 1940s included the Russian Orthodox Church and its institutions of international presence in its sphere of activity. At that time the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) began to play a significant role in the Soviet Union's foreign policy. The Middle Eastern direction becomes one of the most significant areas of “church diplomacy”. The first visit of Patriarch Alexy (Simanskiy) to the Holy Land in 1945 was part of a “package” of diplomatic steps made by Soviet diplomacy in partnership with the Moscow Patriarchate in 1945–1955 to restore the property of the ROC in Palestine. The analysis of the documents on the ROC (State Archive of the Russian Federation, F. R-6991) and the materials on the foreign policy of the USSR Council of Ministers (State Archive of the Russian Federation, F. R-5446), as well as the extensive historiography of historical relations between Russia and the Holy Land, allows the authors to consider joint efforts to consolidate the presence of the ROC in the region. The research allows tracing the “birth of tradition” of foreign policy mission of the Moscow Patriarchate and its foreign structures, which became points of influence of the USSR in the post-war world. It allows one to reconstruct the social image of Moscow's “agents of influence” in the Middle East, both the new emissaries and the traditional agents of Russian influence in the region – the pilgrims and nuns of the Russian monasteries of the Holy Land.

During the past thirty years the production of two-dimensional images designed to be used in religion has flourished in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt. After generations with little or negligible activity, enterprising ateliers can today be found all over the country.' Many of them are strategically placed in influential convents and monasteries and at important educational institutions. In this production of art, the Section of Coptic Art at the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies in Abbasiya in Cairo occupies a leading position. Under the direction of Professor Isaac Fanous Youssef the section is attempting to develop a Coptic iconography and style — which the Coptic Orthodox Church does not have. Images of Christ, Mary, and the saints are central in Coptic cultic life, but there is a traditional openness to all kinds of styles and the dominant ones are European and Byzantinesque, well-known in both Western and Eastern Christianity. Also other artists are engaged in developing an especially Coptic iconography and style, but Isaac Fanous and his pupils have received the greater attention and also have the support of official church authorities. The primary aim given for images in Coptic religion is that of being tools for communicating with and partaking of the Holy World.' The focus of this paper is on the usages and functions which the images have in Coptic life, in particular how they serve the construction of ethnic consciousness and cohesion of the Copts. Coptic identity is an important issue for the Copts. The images in question are included in a conscious effort to formulate and mediate who the Copts are. Through choice of themes, composition of motifs, and style, the images impart Coptic self-conception.

The article discusses the goals and objectives of the British diplomats on the “Athos” track in the context of the diplomatic confrontation between Great Britain and Russia which relied extensively on the Church contacts in their Balkan politics. It explores such a little-studied aspect of the Athos problem as the role of Russian and British diplomats in addressing the issue of the Athos monasteries’ properties sequestrated by Alexandru Cuza, prince of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, through the lens of the activities of Sir George Bulwer-Lytton, ambassador to Constantinople, in the 1860s. It uses Lord Bulwer's participation in the work of European commissions and conferences, to illustrate the methods and practices of British diplomats aimed at forcing Russia out of the Balkan region (and even out of the Middle East): such as erosion of the credibility of the Russian Empire, defamation of its representatives in Greek communities and their displacement from principle foreign-policy objectives, and indoctrination into endless conflicts in the multinational environment of Orthodox monasticism on the Holy Mount. It shows that from the mid-19th century one of the primary instruments of British politics not only on Mount Athos, but also in the Orthodox East, as a whole, was the right of British subjects (Ionian Greeks in the case of Athos) to official support and protection of British diplomats, while Russian Athonites were deprived of that right due to the lack of official Russian patronage over Russian subjects in the Ottoman Empire. The confrontation between Great Britain and Russia in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean played a prominent role in the development of Russian-Greek relations and the occurrence of such a phenomenon as “Russian Athos”.

In 2006, the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage Committee inscribed four Serbian medieval shrines from Kosovo and Metohija on the World Heritage List, in danger due to difficulties in their preservation and management, as well as the damage they suffered during ethnic conflicts, namely: the Church of Bogorodica Ljeviška in Prizren and the Peć Patriarchate, Dečani and Gračanica monasteries. In accordance with United Nations Resolution 1244, they are currently under the control of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and Metohija. However, in addition to these monuments, the cultural and demographic identity of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija is illustrated by over 1,500 established cultural assets (monasteries, churches, cemeteries, etc.) that testify to the centuries-old presence of the Serbian people and Orthodox faith in this area and their material and spiritual culture, as works of the overall European cultural heritage created in the intertwining of the influences of Eastern and Western Christianity and culture. The inclusion of these four cultural assets of great importance for Serbia in the international system of protection and monitoring has led to initiating the consideration of a comprehensive and long-term view of cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija at the international level as a key element in establishing better cultural and overall relations between Serbs and the Albanian population. The paper discusses the problems and possibilities of improving the protection and presentation of World Cultural and Natural Heritage in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as the expansion of the list, through the integration of international, national and local protection, and understanding of this area as a specific cultural landscape. Presenting the value of the heritage as a comprehensive cultural landscape which combines natural tangible and intangible aspects, as well as the organization of cultural, educational and other activities, would encourage respect for the diversity, integrity and identity of others, which is an unavoidable condition in the process of European integration currently opposed by ethnic groups.

Hieromonk Hermogenes is one of the outstanding ascetics of the Russian Orthodox Church who carried out their ministry in Eastern Siberia. Two monasteries were founded here in the second half of the XVII century by his works. He was a good shepherd for the Russian first settlers of the Amur region, showing an example of Christian humility and piety. Immediately after the death of Hermogenes (1690), his popular veneration began, and in 1858 his life appeared.This is a handwritten text made up of two words spoken on the days of the memory of the righteous. In 1910, the manuscript was acquired by the Imperial Public Library. In this edition, for the first time, the full commented text of the Life is published. A preliminary analysis of this document made it possible to identify the sources used in its compilation and to establish the identity of the hagiographer. At the same time, a significant amount of historical facts contained in the text led to the preparation of a voluminous corpus of notes clarifying, supplementing or refuting this information. "The Life of St. Hermogenes" is a unique monument of Siberian hagiography of the middle of the XIX century. In addition to the obvious historical and cultural value, it is a convincing confirmation of the widespread popular veneration of Hermogenes in pre-revolutionary Russia and can serve as a good reason for his church glorification.

2021 marks 350 years since the founding of the Albazin Spassky Monastery, the first Orthodox monastery in the Far East. The emergence of the monastery was the result of the movement of Russians to the Amur River, as well as acute social and moral conflicts among the Russian population of Eastern Siberia. The activity of this monastery was an important stage in the spread of Orthodoxy on the eastern borders of Russia. Many aspects of the history of the monastery remain a subject of discussion. The purpose of the article is to systematize the most reliable information about the circumstances of the emergence and activities of the Albazin Spassky Monastery, as well as its use. Documents of the 17th century include a few information about the monastery. The most fully reflected activity in the documents is the economic one. The monastery conducted a successful economic activity, actively carried out the construction of religious and other structures (mills, smithy, etc.). Other aspects of the monastery's activities are hardly reflected in the documents. The location of the Spassky Monastery remains controversial. According to the written and cartographic sources, the most probable location of the monastery is 2 km from the fortress up the Amur River in the area of the ravine - the former stream course - and the adjoining upland.

This study investigates tourist’s motivations for visiting religious sites in Lesvos, a religious destination island in Greece. Data was collected in Lesvos during the Orthodox Easter period of 2013 implementing a sample of 210 tourists who had visited a monastery during their stay on the island. In order to measure tourists’ motivation for religious site visitation in Lesvos, 15 motivation components were used. Data analysis included descriptive analysis and factor analysis. The findings based on descriptive statistics (Mean Scores) suggest that the main reasons for visitation to monasteries and churches in Lesvos Island were pilgrimage motives, i.e. “To worship”, “I have made a vow” and “In order to get well (health reasons)”. On the other hand, the reasons with the lowest Mean Scores regarding visitation to monasteries and churches in Lesvos Island were secular reasons: “It is in “fashion”- it is trendy”, “To do shopping”, and for “Research /educational reasons”. Factor analysis of the motivations components identified 3 factors, interpreting 66.5% of the total variance, i.e. “Secular and cultural motives”, “Pilgrimage motives”, and “Spiritual motives”. The findings of this research offer important practical implications for promoting Lesvos for religion tourism.

The article, based on archival sources, characterizes the architectural ensemble of the Orthodox Chita female Bogoroditsky (since 1915 – Pokrovsky) provincial monastery that existed in the late XIX – early XX centuries in the administrative center of the Transbaikal Region, Chita. It is noted that the history of the monastery has not yet become the subject of a serious, diverse analysis. There are some references in the literature that do not give a general picture. At the same time, the monastery was the only city monastery in Transbaikalia, which makes its history especially interesting. The relatively short period of the monastery's existence, the fact that it was insignificant and did not receive funding from the state, did not allow it to become significant in size, capital and fame. At the same time, especially for the Eastern Transbaikalia, where he was the only female, he became a significant cult object for his time. There were no material remains of the monastery buildings, so the research was based on archival documents and photographs. The main milestones of the monastery's history are given. It is noted that, despite the certain fame of the named object of the Orthodox history of Transbaikalia, the stages of its existence have not received a full, comprehensive assessment in the scientific literature. The architectural ensemble of the monastery is recreated, the existing buildings are described. It is noted that the main feature of the monastery is that it was the only city monastery in Transbaikalia. It organically fits into the urban development. Chita at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries had mainly wooden buildings. The architectural ensemble of the Chita Monastery was no exception. The monastery was closed in the early 1920s. Its buildings, which were, in fact, a monument of urban Orthodox architecture of Transbaikalia, were destroyed later.

The period from the beginning of the seventh century to the middle of the ninth was decisive for the history of the Byzantine empire. At the beginning of the seventh century, the idea of the Roman, or Byzantine, empire as the political configuration of the Mediterranean world - something that the Emperor Justinian had done his best to restore - still seemed valid, though there were already significant cracks in the edifice. By the end of the seventh century - let alone the middle of the ninth - that was a dream, though a dream to which the Byzantines obstinately clung. For the early years of the seventh century had seen the temporary Persian conquest of the eastern provinces of the Byzantine empire, soon followed by the Arab conquest which the Byzantines were to prove unable to overturn. The impact on the Byzantine empire of these events and the infiltration into the Balkan peninsula by the Slavs, was profound - politically, economically, culturally, and theologically. But the story of this impact is generally presented, both in the sources and in scholarly accounts, from the point of view of the centre, the Queen City, Constantinople. Central to the Byzantine world view, as it emerged with renewed confidence in the middle of the ninth century, was the idea of the empire, and the Emperor, as the guardian of Christian Orthodoxy, which was symbolized in the proclamation of the ‘Triumph of Orthodoxy’ with the final overthrow of iconoclasm in 843, a proclamation that became part of the normal ecclesiastical calendar, celebrated thereafter each year on the first Sunday of Lent. But that Orthodoxy, in its final form, had not been nurtured in Constantinople, nor had the wealth of liturgical poetry that came to celebrate it. Constantinople had reacted to the catastrophe of the early seventh century by plunging into heresy: first, the Christological heresy of monenergism, with its refinement, monothelitism, and then the heresy of iconoclasm, also believed - by both iconoclasts and their opponents - to be ultimately a matter of Christology. The Orthodoxy whose triumph was celebrated from 843 onwards had been defined, and celebrated, in Palestine, the province that had been lost for good to the Byzantines in the 630s. Orthodoxy, in fact, achieved its final definition at the periphery - and defeated periphery at that - and from there took over the centre. In this paper, we are not concerned with Christians who visited the Holy Land as pilgrims, but rather with those who belonged there: mainly monks, both natives and those who came to the Holy Land to live in the complex of monasteries in and around Jerusalem. How and why did these Palestinian monks come to play this role in the wider history of the Christian œcumene?

Статья освещает взаимоотношения Советского государства и Русской право-славной церкви в конце 1920-х — начале 1930-х годов в период коллективизации деревни, которая сопровождалась разрушением традиционного мира, драматической ломкой привычного уклада жизни. В центре внимания — политика наступления на православную идеологию и духовенство, выражавшаяся в закрытии храмов и монастырей, воинствующем атеизме, мерах репрессивного воздействия по отношению к священникам. Территориальные рамки исследования охватывают Центрально-Промышленную (переименованную через несколько месяцев в Московскую) область — мегарегион в 1929–1937 годах, включавший в тот период несколько бывших губерний Центральной России. На материалах Рязанского, Тверского и Тульского округов анализируются протестное движение крестьян против антирелигиозной политики власти, активные и пассивные формы сопротивления. Активные формы крестьянского сопротивления были направлены на защиту храмов от разрушения, духовенства от арестов, а также против запретов на богослужебную деятельность. Кроме того, верующие оказывали сопротивление антипасхальным вечерам и иным провокационным пропагандистским акциям, организуемым Союзом воинствующих безбожников. Основной действующей силой данного протеста были женщины, что предопределило название акций как «бабьи бунты». Пассивные формы протеста выражались в распространении информации о чудесах и знамениях, апокалиптических слухов о скорой войне, гибели советской власти в военном конфликте, грядущем конце света в наказание за вступление в «безбожный» колхоз. Сопротивление дало возможность сохранить храмы как очаги религиозности, сберечь и передать поколениям веру и традиции православной жизни. The article treats the relationship between the Soviet State and the Russian Orthodox Church in the late 1920s — early 1930s, during the era of collectivism, which brought about the destruction of the traditional world and dramatically changed the traditional lifestyle. The article focusesaggressive on the policy of oppressing the Orthodox ideology and the clergy, which manifested itself though atheism, the dissolution of churches and monasteries, religious persecution. The research focuses on the situation in the Moscow region (the then Central Industrial region), which encompassed several former provinces in 1929-1937. The author analyzes the materials relating to the Ryazan District, the Tula District and the Tver District and investigates the data about peasants’ passive and active resistance to the antireligious governmental policies. The active forms of peasants’ resistance were aimed at the protection of churches and cathedrals against destruction, at helping priests avoid arrests, at protesting against bans on religious services. Moreover, believers protested against anti-Easter campaigns and other propaganda campaigns organized by the Union of Aggressive Atheists. Women were the driving force of the protests. As a passive form of protesting against religious oppression believers spread information about miracles and portents, apocalyptic predictions of ongoing wars and the destruction of the Soviet government n a military conflict, apocalyptic prediction of punishment for joining the impious kolkhozes. Due to believers’ resistance to anti-religious campaigns it was possible to protect churches and cathedrals as the hearth of religious belief and to pass the traditions of Orthodox Christianity to other generations.

Cappadocia is one of the regions with significant religious tourism potential in Turkey. The region has a tangible cultural heritage that bears the traces of Early Christianity, such as many churches, monasteries, hospitals, soup kitchens and educational institutions belonging to the Early Christian period. In the formation of these institutions, there are three important patristic fathers; The education, ideas, and practices of Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus were influential. One of the reasons for choosing the Cappadocia Patristic Fathers for the study is; The fact that Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic Christian authorities are recognized as the most important of the Patristic fathers and there is a special day celebration in their name. The aim of the study; It is to investigate the views and practices of the Cappadocian Patristic Fathers in the period when Christianity spread in Anatolia, their role in the Ecumenical Councils, their contribution to Cappadocia's being an important center of belief, their education, families and lifestyles. The geographical, political, social and belief climate in which the Patristic Cappadocian Fathers lived was also taken into account in the study. For this purpose, the subject; In the conceptual framework, autobiography books, articles, written and oral sources were reserched. It is thought that the study will contribute to the multi-faceted contribution to faith touris of Cappadocia.

For Lithuania, the 19th century was marked by the symbol of the Russian Empire – Lithuania became a province of a foreign empire. Farming suffered a severe general downturn. As the Church’s powers began to be restricted, there was almost no opportunity for new significant instruments to emerge. The monasteries, which until then had been the initiators of the best organ building, were closed. Eastern Catholic (Unitarian) churches, which also had organs in Lithuania, became part of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the organs were ordered to be liquidated. The Catholic Church itself, unlike evangelicals, also had little regard for music and especially for organ matters. From the beginning of the 15th century, the development of Lithuanian organ culture was closely associated with Königsberg. Once the import customs were imposed, significant contacts which had taken place almost disappeared. The industrial revolution in Lithuania was delayed, and for half a century small artisan workshops still prevailed. Almost exclusively small, single-manual organs without pedals or positives were built. A large three-manual organ at Vilnius University St John’s Church was rather an exception. It was built by the Tiedemanns. This family, which originated in East Prussia, worked in the Baltic States throughout the first half of the 19th century. Only in the middle of the century did the new European organ building trend, the so-called organ romanticism, reach Lithuania. A particularly important role in this period was played by the experience of organ building of the neighbouring Curonia. Very few impressive examples were created, and in this respect Lithuania is hardly able to compete with the major countries of Central Europe. Lithuania is characterized by the fact that in the 19th century local masters and companies ( J. Rudavičius, M. Masalskis, F. Ostromensky), as well as masters from neighbouring Curonia (Herrmann, Weissenborn) and Poland (Blomberg) worked there. In western Lithuania, then part of Prussia, Terletzki was active. Meanwhile, large factories (Walcker, Rieger) reached Lithuania only in the first half of the twentieth century and only in a few instances. At that time, more work started to be focusing on the construction of two-manual with pedal instruments. At the end of the century, J. Rudavicius built some three-manual organs. His 63-stop organ built in 1896 for a long time was the largest in Lithuania. Although the 19th century Lithuanian organs are relatively modest compared to other countries, they have the value that is only growing in the context of present-day Europe, since the “progressive ideology” of more economically powerful European countries affected the art of organ building and few small romantic instruments are left.

IntroductionThere are two types of Africa. The first is a place where people and cultures live. The second is the image of Africa that has been invented through colonial knowledge and power. The colonial image of Africa, as the Other of Europe, a land “enveloped in the dark mantle of night” was supported by western states as it justified their colonial practices (Hegel 91). Any evidence that challenged the myth of the Dark Continent was destroyed, removed or ignored. While the looting of African natural resources has been studied, the looting of African knowledges hasn’t received as much attention, partly based on the assumption that Africans did not produce knowledge that could be stolen. This article invalidates this myth by examining the legacy of Ethiopia’s indigenous Ge’ez literature, and its looting and abduction by powerful western agents. The article argues that this has resulted in epistemic violence, where students of the Ethiopian indigenous education system do not have access to their books, while European orientalists use them to interpret Ethiopian history and philosophy using a foreign lens. The analysis is based on interviews with teachers and students of ten Ge’ez schools in Ethiopia, and trips to the Ethiopian manuscript collections in The British Library, The Princeton Library, the Institute of Ethiopian Studies and The National Archives in Addis Ababa.The Context of Ethiopian Indigenous KnowledgesGe’ez is one of the ancient languages of Africa. According to Professor Ephraim Isaac, “about 10,000 years ago, one single nation or community of a single linguistic group existed in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Horn of Africa” (The Habesha). The language of this group is known as Proto-Afroasiatic or Afrasian languages. It is the ancestor of the Semitic, Cushitic, Nilotic, Omotic and other languages that are currently spoken in Ethiopia by its 80 ethnic groups, and the neighbouring countries (Diakonoff). Ethiopians developed the Ge’ez language as their lingua franca with its own writing system some 2000 years ago. Currently, Ge’ez is the language of academic scholarship, studied through the traditional education system (Isaac, The Ethiopian). Since the fourth century, an estimated 1 million Ge’ez manuscripts have been written, covering religious, historical, mathematical, medicinal, and philosophical texts.One of the most famous Ge’ez manuscripts is the Kebra Nagast, a foundational text that embodied the indigenous conception of nationhood in Ethiopia. The philosophical, political and religious themes in this book, which craft Ethiopia as God’s country and the home of the Ark of the Covenant, contributed to the country’s success in defending itself from European colonialism. The production of books like the Kebra Nagast went hand in hand with a robust indigenous education system that trained poets, scribes, judges, artists, administrators and priests. Achieving the highest stages of learning requires about 30 years after which the scholar would be given the rare title Arat-Ayina, which means “four eyed”, a person with the ability to see the past as well as the future. Today, there are around 50,000 Ge’ez schools across the country, most of which are in rural villages and churches.Ge’ez manuscripts are important textbooks and reference materials for students. They are carefully prepared from vellum “to make them last forever” (interview, 3 Oct. 2019). Some of the religious books are regarded as “holy persons who breathe wisdom that gives light and food to the human soul”. Other manuscripts, often prepared as scrolls are used for medicinal purposes. Each manuscript is uniquely prepared reflecting inherited wisdom on contemporary lives using the method called Tirguamme, the act of giving meaning to sacred texts. Preparation of books is costly. Smaller manuscript require the skins of 50-70 goats/sheep and large manuscript needed 100-120 goats/sheep (Tefera).The Loss of Ethiopian ManuscriptsSince the 18th century, a large quantity of these manuscripts have been stolen, looted, or smuggled out of the country by travellers who came to the country as explorers, diplomats and scientists. The total number of Ethiopian manuscripts taken is still unknown. Amsalu Tefera counted 6928 Ethiopian manuscripts currently held in foreign libraries and museums. This figure does not include privately held or unofficial collections (41).Looting and smuggling were sponsored by western governments, institutions, and notable individuals. For example, in 1868, The British Museum Acting Director Richard Holms joined the British army which was sent to ‘rescue’ British hostages at Maqdala, the capital of Emperor Tewodros. Holms’ mission was to bring treasures for the Museum. Before the battle, Tewodros had established the Medhanialem library with more than 1000 manuscripts as part of Ethiopia’s “industrial revolution”. When Tewodros lost the war and committed suicide, British soldiers looted the capital, including the treasury and the library. They needed 200 mules and 15 elephants to transport the loot and “set fire to all buildings so that no trace was left of the edifices which once housed the manuscripts” (Rita Pankhurst 224). Richard Holmes collected 356 manuscripts for the Museum. A wealthy British woman called Lady Meux acquired some of the most illuminated manuscripts. In her will, she bequeathed them to be returned to Ethiopia. However, her will was reversed by court due to a campaign from the British press (Richard Pankhurst). In 2018, the V&A Museum in London displayed some of the treasures by incorporating Maqdala into the imperial narrative of Britain (Woldeyes, Reflections).Britain is by no means the only country to seek Ethiopian manuscripts for their collections. Smuggling occurred in the name of science, an act of collecting manuscripts for study. Looting involved local collaborators and powerful foreign sponsors from places like France, Germany and the Vatican. Like Maqdala, this was often sponsored by governments or powerful financers. For example, the French government sponsored the Dakar-Djibouti Mission led by Marcel Griaule, which “brought back about 350 manuscripts and scrolls from Gondar” (Wion 2). It was often claimed that these manuscripts were purchased, rather than looted. Johannes Flemming of Germany was said to have purchased 70 manuscripts and ten scrolls for the Royal Library of Berlin in 1905. However, there was no local market for buying manuscripts. Ge’ez manuscripts were, and still are, written to serve spiritual and secular life in Ethiopia, not for buying and selling. There are countless other examples, but space limits how many can be provided in this article. What is important to note is that museums and libraries have accrued impressive collections without emphasising how those collections were first obtained. The loss of the intellectual heritage of Ethiopians to western collectors has had an enormous impact on the country.Knowledge Grabbing: The Denial of Access to KnowledgeWith so many manuscripts lost, European collectors became the narrators of Ethiopian knowledge and history. Edward Ullendorff, a known orientalist in Ethiopian studies, refers to James Bruce as “the explorer of Abyssinia” (114). Ullendorff commented on the significance of Bruce’s travel to Ethiopia asperhaps the most important aspect of Bruce’s travels was the collection of Ethiopic manuscripts… . They opened up entirely new vistas for the study of Ethiopian languages and placed this branch of Oriental scholarship on a much more secure basis. It is not known how many MSS. reached Europe through his endeavours, but the present writer is aware of at least twenty-seven, all of which are exquisite examples of Ethiopian manuscript art. (133)This quote encompasses three major ways in which epistemic violence occurs: denial of access to knowledge, Eurocentric interpretation of Ethiopian manuscripts, and the handling of Ge’ez manuscripts as artefacts from the past. These will be discussed below.Western ‘travellers’, such as Bruce, did not fully disclose how many manuscripts they took or how they acquired them. The abundance of Ethiopian manuscripts in western institutions can be compared to the scarcity of such materials among traditional schools in Ethiopia. In this research, I have visited ten indigenous schools in Wollo (Lalibela, Neakutoleab, Asheten, Wadla), in Gondar (Bahita, Kuskwam, Menbere Mengist), and Gojam (Bahirdar, Selam Argiew Maryam, Giorgis). In all of the schools, there is lack of Ge’ez manuscripts. Students often come from rural villages and do not receive any government support. The scarcity of Ge’ez manuscripts, and the lack of funding which might allow for the purchasing of books, means the students depend mainly on memorising Ge’ez texts told to them from the mouth of their teacher. Although this method of learning is not new, it currently is the only way for passing indigenous knowledges across generations.The absence of manuscripts is most strongly felt in the advanced schools. For instance, in the school of Qene, poetic literature is created through an in-depth study of the vocabulary and grammar of Ge’ez. A Qene student is required to develop a deep knowledge of Ge’ez in order to understand ancient and medieval Ge’ez texts which are used to produce poetry with multiple meanings. Without Ge’ez manuscripts, students cannot draw their creative works from the broad intellectual tradition of their ancestors. When asked how students gain access to textbooks, one student commented:we don’t have access to Birana books (Ge’ez manuscripts written on vellum). We cannot learn the ancient wisdom of painting, writing, and computing developed by our ancestors. We simply buy paper books such as Dawit (Psalms), Sewasew (grammar) or Degwa (book of songs with notations) and depend on our teachers to teach us the rest. We also lend these books to each other as many students cannot afford to buy them. Without textbooks, we expect to spend double the amount of time it would take if we had textbooks. (Interview, 3 Sep. 2019)Many students interrupt their studies and work as labourers to save up and buy paper textbooks, but they still don’t have access to the finest works taken to Europe. Most Ge’ez manuscripts remaining in Ethiopia are locked away in monasteries, church stores or other places to prevent further looting. The manuscripts in Addis Ababa University and the National Archives are available for researchers but not to the students of the indigenous system, creating a condition of internal knowledge grabbing.While the absence of Ge’ez manuscripts denied, and continues to deny, Ethiopians the chance to enrich their indigenous education, it benefited western orientalists to garner intellectual authority on the field of Ethiopian studies. In 1981, British Museum Director John Wilson said, “our Abyssinian holdings are more important than our Indian collection” (Bell 231). In reaction, Richard Pankhurst, the Director of Ethiopian Studies in Addis Ababa, responded that the collection was acquired through plunder. Defending the retaining of Maqdala manuscripts in Europe, Ullendorff wrote:neither Dr. Pankhurst nor the Ethiopian and western scholars who have worked on this collection (and indeed on others in Europe) could have contributed so significantly to the elucidation of Ethiopian history without the rich resources available in this country. Had they remained insitu, none of this would have been possible. (Qtd. in Bell 234)The manuscripts are therefore valued based on their contribution to western scholarship only. This is a continuation of epistemic violence whereby local knowledges are used as raw materials to produce Eurocentric knowledge, which in turn is used to teach Africans as though they had no prior knowledge. Scholars are defined as those western educated persons who can speak European languages and can travel to modern institutions to access the manuscripts. Knowledge grabbing regards previous owners as inexistent or irrelevant for the use of the grabbed knowledges.Knowledge grabbing also means indigenous scholars are deprived of critical resources to produce new knowledge based on their intellectual heritage. A Qene teacher commented: our students could not devote their time and energy to produce new knowledges in the same way our ancestors did. We have the tradition of Madeladel, Kimera, Kuteta, Mielad, Qene and tirguamme where students develop their own system of remembering, reinterpreting, practicing, and rewriting previous manuscripts and current ones. Without access to older manuscripts, we increasingly depend on preserving what is being taught orally by elders. (Interview, 4 Sep. 2019)This point is important as it relates to the common myth that indigenous knowledges are artefacts belonging to the past, not the present. There are millions of people who still use these knowledges, but the conditions necessary for their reproduction and improvement is denied through knowledge grabbing. The view of Ge’ez manuscripts as artefacts dismisses the Ethiopian view that Birana manuscripts are living persons. As a scholar told me in Gondar, “they are creations of Egziabher (God), like all of us. Keeping them in institutions is like keeping living bodies in graveyards” (interview, 5 Oct. 2019).Recently, the collection of Ethiopian manuscripts by western institutions has also been conducted digitally. Thousands of manuscripts have been microfilmed or digitised. For example, the EU funded Ethio-SPaRe project resulted in the digital collection of 2000 Ethiopian manuscripts (Nosnitsin). While digitisation promises better access for people who may not be able to visit institutions to see physical copies, online manuscripts are not accessible to indigenous school students in Ethiopia. They simply do not have computer or internet access and the manuscripts are catalogued in European languages. Both physical and digital knowledge grabbing results in the robbing of Ethiopian intellectual heritage, and denies the possibility of such manuscripts being used to inform local scholarship. Epistemic Violence: The European as ExpertWhen considered in relation to stolen or appropriated manuscripts, epistemic violence is the way in which local knowledge is interpreted using a foreign epistemology and gained dominance over indigenous worldviews. European scholars have monopolised the field of Ethiopian Studies by producing books, encyclopaedias and digital archives based on Ethiopian manuscripts, almost exclusively in European languages. The contributions of their work for western scholarship is undeniable. However, Kebede argues that one of the detrimental effects of this orientalist literature is the thesis of Semiticisation, the designation of the origin of Ethiopian civilisation to the arrival of Middle Eastern colonisers rather than indigenous sources.The thesis is invented to make the history of Ethiopia consistent with the Hegelian western view that Africa is a Dark Continent devoid of a civilisation of its own. “In light of the dominant belief that black peoples are incapable of great achievements, the existence of an early and highly advanced civilization constitutes a serious anomaly in the Eurocentric construction of the world” (Kebede 4). To address this anomaly, orientalists like Ludolph attributed the origin of Ethiopia’s writing system, agriculture, literature, and civilisation to the arrival of South Arabian settlers. For example, in his translation of the Kebra Nagast, Budge wrote: “the SEMITES found them [indigenous Ethiopians] negro savages, and taught them civilization and culture and the whole scriptures on which their whole literature is based” (x).In line with the above thesis, Dillman wrote that “the Abyssinians borrowed their Numerical Signs from the Greeks” (33). The views of these orientalist scholars have been challenged. For instance, leading scholar of Semitic languages Professor Ephraim Isaac considers the thesis of the Arabian origin of Ethiopian civilization “a Hegelian Eurocentric philosophical perspective of history” (2). Isaac shows that there is historical, archaeological, and linguistic evidence that suggest Ethiopia to be more advanced than South Arabia from pre-historic times. Various Ethiopian sources including the Kebra Nagast, the works of historian Asres Yenesew, and Ethiopian linguist Girma Demeke provide evidence for the indigenous origin of Ethiopian civilisation and languages.The epistemic violence of the Semeticisation thesis lies in how this Eurocentric ideological construction is the dominant narrative in the field of Ethiopian history and the education system. Unlike the indigenous view, the orientalist view is backed by strong institutional power both in Ethiopia and abroad. The orientalists control the field of Ethiopian studies and have access to Ge’ez manuscripts. Their publications are the only references for Ethiopian students. Due to Native Colonialism, a system of power run by native elites through the use of colonial ideas and practices (Woldeyes), the education system is the imitation of western curricula, including English as a medium of instruction from high school onwards. Students study the west more than Ethiopia. Indigenous sources are generally excluded as unscientific. Only the Eurocentric interpretation of Ethiopian manuscripts is regarded as scientific and objective.ConclusionEthiopia is the only African country never to be colonised. In its history it produced a large quantity of manuscripts in the Ge’ez language through an indigenous education system that involves the study of these manuscripts. Since the 19th century, there has been an ongoing loss of these manuscripts. European travellers who came to Ethiopia as discoverers, missionaries and scholars took a large number of manuscripts. The Battle of Maqdala involved the looting of the intellectual products of Ethiopia that were collected at the capital. With the introduction of western education and use of English as a medium of instruction, the state disregarded indigenous schools whose students have little access to the manuscripts. This article brings the issue of knowledge grapping, a situation whereby European institutions and scholars accumulate Ethiopia manuscripts without providing the students in Ethiopia to have access to those collections.Items such as manuscripts that are held in western institutions are not dead artefacts of the past to be preserved for prosperity. They are living sources of knowledge that should be put to use in their intended contexts. Local Ethiopian scholars cannot study ancient and medieval Ethiopia without travelling and gaining access to western institutions. This lack of access and resources has made European Ethiopianists almost the sole producers of knowledge about Ethiopian history and culture. For example, indigenous sources and critical research that challenge the Semeticisation thesis are rarely available to Ethiopian students. Here we see epistemic violence in action. Western control over knowledge production has the detrimental effect of inventing new identities, subjectivities and histories that translate into material effects in the lives of African people. In this way, Ethiopians and people all over Africa internalise western understandings of themselves and their history as primitive and in need of development or outside intervention. African’s intellectual and cultural heritage, these living bodies locked away in graveyards, must be put back into the hands of Africans.AcknowledgementThe author acknowledges the support of the Australian Academy of the Humanities' 2019 Humanities Travelling Fellowship Award in conducting this research.ReferencesBell, Stephen. “Cultural Treasures Looted from Maqdala: A Summary of Correspondence in British National Newspapers since 1981.” Kasa and Kasa. Eds. Tadesse Beyene, Richard Pankhurst, and Shifereraw Bekele. Addis Ababa: Ababa University Book Centre, 1990. 231-246.Budge, Wallis. A History of Ethiopia, Nubia and Abyssinia. London: Methuen and Co, 1982.Demeke, Girma Awgichew. The Origin of Amharic. Trenton: Red Sea Press, 2013.Diakonoff, Igor M. Afrasian Languages. Moscow: Nauka, 1988.Dillmann, August. Ethiopic Grammar. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2005.Hegel, Georg W.F. The Philosophy of History. New York: Dover, 1956.Isaac, Ephraim. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church. New Jersey: Red Sea Press, 2013.———. “An Open Letter to an Inquisitive Ethiopian Sister.” The Habesha, 2013. 1 Feb. 2020 <http://www.zehabesha.com/an-open-letter-to-an-inquisitive-young-ethiopian-sister-ethiopian-history-is-not-three-thousand-years/>.Kebra Nagast. "The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelik I." Trans. Wallis Budge. London: Oxford UP, 1932.Pankhurst, Richard. "The Napier Expedition and the Loot Form Maqdala." Presence Africaine 133-4 (1985): 233-40.Pankhurst, Rita. "The Maqdala Library of Tewodros." Kasa and Kasa. Eds. Tadesse Beyene, Richard Pankhurst, and Shifereraw Bekele. 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The curtain rose. The howling of desert wind filled the performance hall in the Shanghai Grand Theatre. Into the center stage, where a scenic construction of a mountain cliff and a desert landscape was dimly lit, entered the character of the Daoist priest Wang Yuanlu (1849–1931), performed by Chen Yizong. Dressed in a worn and dusty outfit of dark blue cotton, characteristic of Daoist priests, Wang began to sweep the floor. After a few moments, he discovered a hidden chambre sealed inside one of the rock sanctuaries carved into the cliff.Signaled by the quick, crystalline, stirring wave of sound from the chimes, a melodious Chinese ocarina solo joined in slowly from the background. Astonished by thousands of Buddhist sūtra scrolls, wall paintings, and sculptures he had just accidentally discovered in the caves, Priest Wang set his broom aside and began to examine these treasures. Dawn had not yet arrived, and the desert sky was pitch-black. Priest Wang held his oil lamp high, strode rhythmically in excitement, sat crossed-legged in a meditative pose, and unfolded a scroll. The sound of the ocarina became fuller and richer and the texture of the music more complex, as several other instruments joined in.Below is the opening scene of the award-winning, theatrical dance-drama Dunhuang, My Dreamland, created by China’s state-sponsored Lanzhou Song and Dance Theatre in 2000. Figure 1a: Poster Side A of Dunhuang, My Dreamland Figure 1b: Poster Side B of Dunhuang, My DreamlandThe scene locates the dance-drama in the rock sanctuaries that today are known as the Dunhuang Mogao Caves, housing Buddhist art accumulated over a period of a thousand years, one of the best well-known UNESCO heritages on the Silk Road. Historically a frontier metropolis, Dunhuang was a strategic site along the Silk Road in northwestern China, a crossroads of trade, and a locus for religious, cultural, and intellectual influences since the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.). Travellers, especially Buddhist monks from India and central Asia, passing through Dunhuang on their way to Chang’an (present day Xi’an), China’s ancient capital, would stop to meditate in the Mogao Caves and consult manuscripts in the monastery's library. At the same time, Chinese pilgrims would travel by foot from China through central Asia to Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, playing a key role in the exchanges between ancient China and the outside world. Travellers from China would stop to acquire provisions at Dunhuang before crossing the Gobi Desert to continue on their long journey abroad. Figure 2: Dunhuang Mogao CavesThis article approaches the idea of “abroad” by examining the present-day imagination of journeys along the Silk Road—specifically, staged performances of the various Silk Road journey-themed dance-dramas sponsored by the Chinese state for enhancing its cultural and foreign policies since the 1970s (Kuang).As ethnomusicologists have demonstrated, musicians, choreographers, and playwrights often utilise historical materials in their performances to construct connections between the past and the present (Bohlman; Herzfeld; Lam; Rees; Shelemay; Tuohy; Wade; Yung: Rawski; Watson). The ancient Silk Road, which linked the Mediterranean coast with central China and beyond, via oasis towns such as Samarkand, has long been associated with the concept of “journeying abroad.” Journeys to distant, foreign lands and encounters of unknown, mysterious cultures along the Silk Road have been documented in historical records, such as A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms (Faxian) and The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (Xuanzang), and illustrated in classical literature, such as The Travels of Marco Polo (Polo) and the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West (Wu). These journeys—coming and going from multiple directions and to different destinations—have inspired contemporary staged performance for audiences around the globe.Home and Abroad: Dunhuang and the Silk RoadDunhuang, My Dreamland (2000), the contemporary dance-drama, staged the journey of a young pilgrim painter travelling from Chang’an to a land of the unfamiliar and beyond borders, in search for the arts that have inspired him. Figure 3: A scene from Dunhuang, My Dreamland showing the young pilgrim painter in the Gobi Desert on the ancient Silk RoadFar from his home, he ended his journey in Dunhuang, historically considered the northwestern periphery of China, well beyond Yangguan and Yumenguan, the bordering passes that separate China and foreign lands. Later scenes in Dunhuang, My Dreamland, portrayed through multiethnic music and dances, the dynamic interactions among merchants, cultural and religious envoys, warriors, and politicians that were making their own journey from abroad to China. The theatrical dance-drama presents a historically inspired, re-imagined vision of both “home” and “abroad” to its audiences as they watch the young painter travel along the Silk Road, across the Gobi Desert, arriving at his own ideal, artistic “homeland”, the Dunhuang Mogao Caves. Since his journey is ultimately a spiritual one, the conceptualisation of travelling “abroad” could also be perceived as “a journey home.”Staged more than four hundred times since it premiered in Beijing in April 2000, Dunhuang, My Dreamland is one of the top ten titles in China’s National Stage Project and one of the most successful theatrical dance-dramas ever produced in China. With revenue of more than thirty million renminbi (RMB), it ranks as the most profitable theatrical dance-drama ever produced in China, with a preproduction cost of six million RMB. The production team receives financial support from China’s Ministry of Culture for its “distinctive ethnic features,” and its “aim to promote traditional Chinese culture,” according to Xu Rong, an official in the Cultural Industry Department of the Ministry. Labeled an outstanding dance-drama of the Chinese nation, it aims to present domestic and international audiences with a vision of China as a historically multifaceted and cosmopolitan nation that has been in close contact with the outside world through the ancient Silk Road. Its production company has been on tour in selected cities throughout China and in countries abroad, including Austria, Spain, and France, literarily making the young pilgrim painter’s “journey along the Silk Road” a new journey abroad, off stage and in reality.Dunhuang, My Dreamland was not the first, nor is it the last, staged performances that portrays the Chinese re-imagination of “journeying abroad” along the ancient Silk Road. It was created as one of many versions of Dunhuang bihua yuewu, a genre of music, dance, and dramatic performances created in the early twentieth century and based primarily on artifacts excavated from the Mogao Caves (Kuang). “The Mogao Caves are the greatest repository of early Chinese art,” states Mimi Gates, who works to increase public awareness of the UNESCO site and raise funds toward its conservation. “Located on the Chinese end of the Silk Road, it also is the place where many cultures of the world intersected with one another, so you have Greek and Roman, Persian and Middle Eastern, Indian and Chinese cultures, all interacting. Given the nature of our world today, it is all very relevant” (Pollack). As an expressive art form, this genre has been thriving since the late 1970s contributing to the global imagination of China’s “Silk Road journeys abroad” long before Dunhuang, My Dreamland achieved its domestic and international fame. For instance, in 2004, The Thousand-Handed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteśvara—one of the most representative (and well-known) Dunhuang bihua yuewu programs—was staged as a part of the cultural program during the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. This performance, as well as other Dunhuang bihua yuewu dance programs was the perfect embodiment of a foreign religion that arrived in China from abroad and became Sinicized (Kuang). Figure 4: Mural from Dunhuang Mogao Cave No. 45A Brief History of Staging the Silk Road JourneysThe staging of the Silk Road journeys abroad began in the late 1970s. Historically, the Silk Road signifies a multiethnic, cosmopolitan frontier, which underwent incessant conflicts between Chinese sovereigns and nomadic peoples (as well as between other groups), but was strongly imbued with the customs and institutions of central China (Duan, Mair, Shi, Sima). In the twentieth century, when China was no longer an empire, but had become what the early 20th-century reformer Liang Qichao (1873–1929) called “a nation among nations,” the long history of the Silk Road and the colourful, legendary journeys abroad became instrumental in the formation of a modern Chinese nation of unified diversity rooted in an ancient cosmopolitan past. The staged Silk Road theme dance-dramas thus participate in this formation of the Chinese imagination of “nation” and “abroad,” as they aestheticise Chinese history and geography. History and geography—aspects commonly considered constituents of a nation as well as our conceptualisations of “abroad”—are “invariably aestheticized to a certain degree” (Bakhtin 208). Diverse historical and cultural elements from along the Silk Road come together in this performance genre, which can be considered the most representative of various possible stagings of the history and culture of the Silk Road journeys.In 1979, the Chinese state officials in Gansu Province commissioned the benchmark dance-drama Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road, a spectacular theatrical dance-drama praising the pure and noble friendship which existed between the peoples of China and other countries in the Tang dynasty (618-907 C.E.). While its plot also revolves around the Dunhuang Caves and the life of a painter, staged at one of the most critical turning points in modern Chinese history, the work as a whole aims to present the state’s intention of re-establishing diplomatic ties with the outside world after the Cultural Revolution. Unlike Dunhuang, My Dreamland, it presents a nation’s journey abroad and home. To accomplish this goal, Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road introduces the fictional character Yunus, a wealthy Persian merchant who provides the audiences a vision of the historical figure of Peroz III, the last Sassanian prince, who after the Arab conquest of Iran in 651 C.E., found refuge in China. By incorporating scenes of ethnic and folk dances, the drama then stages the journey of painter Zhang’s daughter Yingniang to Persia (present-day Iran) and later, Yunus’s journey abroad to the Tang dynasty imperial court as the Persian Empire’s envoy.Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road, since its debut at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on the first of October 1979 and shortly after at the Theatre La Scala in Milan, has been staged in more than twenty countries and districts, including France, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Russia, Latvia, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and recently, in 2013, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York.“The Road”: Staging the Journey TodayWithin the contemporary context of global interdependencies, performing arts have been used as strategic devices for social mobilisation and as a means to represent and perform modern national histories and foreign policies (Davis, Rees, Tian, Tuohy, Wong, David Y. H. Wu). The Silk Road has been chosen as the basis for these state-sponsored, extravagantly produced, and internationally staged contemporary dance programs. In 2008, the welcoming ceremony and artistic presentation at the Olympic Games in Beijing featured twenty apsara dancers and a Dunhuang bihua yuewu dancer with long ribbons, whose body was suspended in mid-air on a rectangular LED extension held by hundreds of performers; on the giant LED screen was a depiction of the ancient Silk Road.In March 2013, Chinese president Xi Jinping introduced the initiatives “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” during his journeys abroad in Kazakhstan and Indonesia. These initiatives are now referred to as “One Belt, One Road.” The State Council lists in details the policies and implementation plans for this initiative on its official web page, www.gov.cn. In April 2013, the China Institute in New York launched a yearlong celebration, starting with "Dunhuang: Buddhist Art and the Gateway of the Silk Road" with a re-creation of one of the caves and a selection of artifacts from the site. In March 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning agency, released a new action plan outlining key details of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. Xi Jinping has made the program a centrepiece of both his foreign and domestic economic policies. One of the central economic strategies is to promote cultural industry that could enhance trades along the Silk Road.Encouraged by the “One Belt, One Road” policies, in March 2016, The Silk Princess premiered in Xi’an and was staged at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing the following July. While Dunhuang, My Dreamland and Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road were inspired by the Buddhist art found in Dunhuang, The Silk Princess, based on a story about a princess bringing silk and silkworm-breeding skills to the western regions of China in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) has a different historical origin. The princess's story was portrayed in a woodblock from the Tang Dynasty discovered by Sir Marc Aurel Stein, a British archaeologist during his expedition to Xinjiang (now Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region) in the early 19th century, and in a temple mural discovered during a 2002 Chinese-Japanese expedition in the Dandanwulike region. Figure 5: Poster of The Silk PrincessIn January 2016, the Shannxi Provincial Song and Dance Troupe staged The Silk Road, a new theatrical dance-drama. Unlike Dunhuang, My Dreamland, the newly staged dance-drama “centers around the ‘road’ and the deepening relationship merchants and travellers developed with it as they traveled along its course,” said Director Yang Wei during an interview with the author. According to her, the show uses seven archetypes—a traveler, a guard, a messenger, and so on—to present the stories that took place along this historic route. Unbounded by specific space or time, each of these archetypes embodies the foreign-travel experience of a different group of individuals, in a manner that may well be related to the social actors of globalised culture and of transnationalism today. Figure 6: Poster of The Silk RoadConclusionAs seen in Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road and Dunhuang, My Dreamland, staging the processes of Silk Road journeys has become a way of connecting the Chinese imagination of “home” with the Chinese imagination of “abroad.” Staging a nation’s heritage abroad on contemporary stages invites a new imagination of homeland, borders, and transnationalism. Once aestheticised through staged performances, such as that of the Dunhuang bihua yuewu, the historical and topological landscape of Dunhuang becomes a performed narrative, embodying the national heritage.The staging of Silk Road journeys continues, and is being developed into various forms, from theatrical dance-drama to digital exhibitions such as the Smithsonian’s Pure Land: Inside the Mogao Grottes at Dunhuang (Stromberg) and the Getty’s Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road (Sivak and Hood). 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