Falashan.
/fəˈlaʃə/, /fəˈlɑːʃə/, U.S. /fəˈlɑʃə/ One of a group of people in Ethiopia holding the Jewish faith. Also as collective singular.
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the world > people > ethnicities > peoples of Africa > peoples of Ethiopia > [noun]
Falasha1710
Saho1790
Sidamo1830
Tigrean1842
Danakil1875
society > faith > sect > Judaism > Jewish sects > [noun] > Falasha
Falasha1710
1710 tr. B. Telles Trav. Jesuits in Ethiopia i. viii. 38 Betwixt the Emperor's Dominions and the Cafres..there are still many of these Jews, whom they there call Falaxas, which signifies, Strangers.
1790 J. Bruce Trav. Source Nile I. 404 The Falasha..are a people of Abyssinia, having a particular language of their own;..they are now, and ever were, Jews.
1869 S. P. Goodhart tr. J. M. Flad (title) The Falashas (Jews) of Abyssinia.
1908 Daily Chron. 6 Mar. 3/5 Proposed School for the ‘Falashas’ of Abyssinia.
1908 Encycl. Relig. & Ethics I. 165/2 The Falashas..are frequently called the Jews of Abyssinia. But they are certainly not Jews by descent... Possibly their Jewish faith is the survival of some earlier diffusion of Judaism through Abyssinia before the introduction of Christianity, as there is no record of their conversion.
1964 Guardian 26 Mar. 16/4 The Falasha, the so-called Black Jews of Ethiopia.
1970 New Standard Jewish Encycl. 663 Falashas, Abyssinian tribes observing a form of Judaism, living N. of Lake Tana.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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