Dr. Bar Kribus

Role: Researcher

Scope of Research:

Ethiopian archaeology and history from Late Antiquity to modern times, the history, material culture and religious life of the Betä Ǝsraʾel (Ethiopian Jews), the historical geography of the northern Ethiopian Highlands, the dynamics between different religious groups in northern Ethiopia, religious sites and structures in Ethiopia.

Academic Background:

Bar Kribus’ PhD research, at the Hebrew University and under the guidance of Prof. Steven Kaplan and Prof. Joseph Patrich, dealt with the material culture and way of life of the Betä Ǝsraʾel mäloksewočč (monastic high priests). A central component of this research was an archaeological survey of Betä Ǝsraʾel monastic sites and holy sites in Ethiopia. Bar was a member of the ERC Project JewsEast, and later a postdoctoral fellow of the Minerva Stiftung, at the Center for Religious Studies of the Ruhr University, Bochum. His post-doctoral research at Bochum dealt with the historical geography and material culture of Betä Ǝsraʾel political autonomy in the Səmen Mountains and their vicinity, and its wars with the Christian Solomonic kingdom (15th–17th century). His research led to the identification of Betä Ǝsraʾel strongholds and churches built to commemorate Solomonic victory over the Betä Ǝsraʾel for the first time. Bar is currently a post-doctoral fellow of the Dan David Society of Fellows at Tel Aviv University. As part of his fellowship, he conducted a comparative study of prayer houses in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands. His current research examines the dynamics between the Betä Ǝsraʾel and Christian Ethiopian authorities and society (18th–20th century).

Selected Publications

Books:

B. Kribus, Ethiopian Jewish Ascetic Religious Communities: Built Environment and Way of Life of the Betä Ǝsraʾel, Leeds, ARC Humanities Press, 2021.

Wovite Worku Mengisto, B. Kribus. Sǝmen – The Source of the Spring of the Ethiopian Jews. The Sǝmen Mountains in Betä Ǝsraʾel History. Tel Aviv, The State Corporation of Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center (Hebrew) (In Press).

Edited Volumes:

B. Kribus, Z. Pogossian, A. Cuffel (eds.), Material Encounters between Jews and Christians: From the Silk and Spice Routes to the Highlands of Ethiopia, Leeds, ARC Humanities Press, 2024. Including an Introduction, B. Kribus, Z. Pogossian, A. Cuffel (eds.) (pp. 1–42); S. Dege-Müller, B. Kribus, Betä Ǝsraʾel (Ethiopian Jewish) – Ethiopian Orthodox Interaction in the Səmen Mountains of Northern Ethiopia: A View from the Betä Ǝsraʾel Religious Center of Səmen Mənaṭa (pp. 191–211).

Refereed Articles in Journals:

B. Kribus, V. Krebs, Betä Ǝsraʾel (Ethiopian Jewish) Monastic Sites North of Lake Ṭana: Preliminary Results of an Exploratory Field Trip to Ethiopia in December 2015, Entangled Religions, Vol. 6, 2018 (pp. 309–344).

B. Kribus, Jewish-Christian Interaction in Ethiopia as Reflected in Sacred Geography: Expressing Affinity with Jerusalem and the Holy Land and Commemorating the Betä Ǝsraʾel – Solomonic Wars, Religions, Vol. 13, 2022.

B. Kribus, S. Dege-Müller, St. Yared in the Sǝmen Mountains of Northern Ethiopia: The Ethiopian Orthodox and Betä Ǝsraʾel (Ethiopian Jewish) Religious Sites, Afriques, Vol. 13, 2022.

B. Kribus, Architectural and Religious Symbolism in the Betä Ǝsraʾel (Ethiopian Jewish) Prayer House, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici, Vol. 7, 2023 (pp. 15–36).

B. Kribus, The Campaign of the Solomonic Monarch Yəsḥaq (1414–1429/30) as a Turning Point in Betä Ǝsraʾel History: Its Commemoration in Solomonic and Betä Ǝsraʾel Sources and Holy Sites, Aethiopica, Vol. 26, 2023.

B. Kribus, A Re-Examination of the Origins and Early Development of Ethiopian Concentric Prayer Houses: Tracing an Architectural Concept from the Roman and Byzantine East to Islamic and Crusader Jerusalem to Solomonic Ethiopia, Religions, Vol. 15, 2024.

B. Kribus, The Layout and Architecture of the Monasteries of the Betä Ǝsraʾel (Ethiopian Jews) – Preliminary Observations, Ityop̣is: Northeast African Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (In Press).

B. Kribus, Affinity with Sabaʾ, Affinity with the Aksumite Past: The Impact of Pre-Christian Cult and Culture on Aksumite Christianity, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici, Vol. 8, 2024 (In Press).

B. Kribus and E. Wexler, The Last Campaign of the Kingdom of the Gideonites. New Insight Following a First Visit to Sägänät, the Capital of Jewish Rule in the Sǝmen Mountains, Peʿamim: Studies in Oriental Jewry (In Press).

B. Kribus, The Historical Geography of Betä Ǝsraʾel (Ethiopian Jewish) Involvement in the Conflict between the Solomonic Kingdom and the Forces of Imām Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm al-Ġāzī, Aethiopica (In Press).

B. Kribus, Churches Commemorating Military Victories of the Christian Solomonic Kingdom over the Autonomous Betä Ǝsraʾel (Ethiopian Jews), Religions (In Press).

Refereed Articles in Books:

B. Kribus, Betä Ǝsraʾel (Ethiopian Jewish) Monasticism and Ethiopian Orthodox Monasticism in Ethiopia: A Comparison, O. Peleg-Barkat, J. Ashkenazi, U. Leibner, M. Aviam, R. Talgam (eds.), Between Sea and Desert: On Kings, Nomads, Cities and Monks. Essays in Honor of Joseph Patrich, Tzemach, Kinneret Academic College, Institute for Galilean Archaeology, 2019 (pp. 253–263).

S. Dege-Müller, B. Kribus, The Veneration of St. Yared – A Multireligious Landscape Shared by Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and the Betä Ǝsraʾel (Ethiopian Jews), M. Burchardt, M.C. Giorda (eds.), Geographies of Encounter: The Making and Unmaking of Multi-Religious Spaces, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2021 (pp. 255–280).

B. Kribus, S. Dege-Müller, Investigating the Material Culture of Betä Ǝsraʾel (Ethiopian Jewish) Monasticism: The Case of the Betä Ǝsraʾel Monastery of Qolqwaločč (Šowada) in the Səmen Mountains, K.A. Bard, A. Manzo, L. Sernicola, C. Zazzaro (eds.), Highlands, Desert and Sea. Study Days in Memory of Rodolfo Fattovich, Oxford, Archaeopress (In Press).

B. Kribus, The Battlefields of the ‘Ten Lost Tribes’ in Ethiopia. Tracing the Geographical and Material Culture Aspects of the Wars between the Betä Ǝsraʾel (Ethiopian Jews) and the Christian Solomonic Kingdom, M. Benmelech, D. Stein Kokin (eds.), Sambatyon: The Mythical Boundary in Time and Space. De Gruyter (In Press).

A. Cuffel, Z. Pogossian, B. Kribus. Material Encounters between Jews and Christians in the East: An Introduction, B. Kribus, Z. Pogossian, A. Cuffel (eds.), Material Encounters between Jews and Christians: From the Silk and Spice Routes to the Highlands of Ethiopia, Leeds, ARC Humanities Press (In Press).

S. Dege-Müller, B. Kribus, Betä Ǝsraʾel (Ethiopian Jewish) – Ethiopian Orthodox Interaction in the Səmen Mountains of Northern Ethiopia: A View from the Betä Ǝsraʾel Religious Center of Səmen Mənaṭa, B. Kribus, Z. Pogossian, A. Cuffel (eds.), Material Encounters between Jews and Christians: From the Silk and Spice Routes to the Highlands of Ethiopia, Leeds, ARC Humanities Press (In Press).