This is a thread on Gabriel, a 16th century Beta Israel who faced enslavement and persecution in the 16th century Indian Ocean World. 🧵/1 Tonight, his story will be told in a musical premiering at the University of Cape Town. Details below👇

Gabriel’s story starts around 1560, when he was kidnapped and sold into the Arab world. /2

🧵1: 𝗔𝗻 #𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗲: 𝗧𝗮̈𝘀𝗳𝗮 𝗦̣𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 #𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺
This thread is based on the article @delorenzibot and I wrote for @Journal_Iti @CambridgeUP
cambridge.org/core/journals/… 2: 𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘢 Täsfa Ṣeyon (ተስፋ ጽዮን, 1510–1553), aka Pietro Abissino and Pietro Indiano, was an Ethiopian monk hailing from #Däbrä Libanos, a leading monastery in #Shäwa. He served at Emperor Lebnä Dengel’s court, possibly as a scribe or historian.

1: This is a thread on Ṣägga Krǝstos, aka Zaga Christ, based on my article:

“I Was Not Born to Obey, but Rather to Command”: The Self-Fashioning of Ṣägga Krǝstos, an Ethiopian Traveler in Seventeenth-Century Europe.

J. of Early Modern History (2021)
doi.org/10.1163/157006… 2: In 1632 Cairo, an Ethiopian traveler named Ṣägga Krǝstos introduced himself to a Franciscan missionary, claiming to be the legitimate heir to the Ethiopian throne. In Ethiopia, the Jesuits had been faltering, and the Franciscan saw potential.