“History as Medicine”: A scholar argues Ethiopia’s future depends on telling its past right
Raised in a landscape where history is not preserved behind glass but woven into daily life, Mengistu Gobezie (PhD) has long lived in close conversation with the religious philosophy and traditions of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Born in Lalibela, in the Lasta Woreda of Ethiopia’s Amhara Regional State, he grew up amid one of the world’s most storied sacred geographies—a setting that would later shape his scholarly vocation.
Trained across disciplines that include history, archaeology, heritage management, and tourism, Mengistu earned advanced degrees from Addis Ababa University, the University of Cape Town, and Lund University in Sweden. He went on to serve as an assistant professor in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Management at Addis Ababa University, where his research bridged Ethiopia’s ancient past with contemporary debates over heritage and identity.
His academic work has also taken him beyond Ethiopia. As a research fellow at Harvard University’s Center for Italian Renaissance Studies in Florence, Mengistu examined the global dimensions of Ethiopian heritage—not only as a birthplace, but as a case study in how sacred history travels across borders and centuries.
Now based in Sweden, Mengistu has authored seven books spanning history, heritage, and tourism. Much of his writing engages directly with the legacy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, probing the theological depth of its faith and the cultural traditions sustained through centuries of continuity and change.
His two most recent books—The Church and the Crown in Ethiopia: A Historical Journey and The Legacy of Faith and Heritage: The Historic Church of Ethiopia—were unveiled on December 28, 2025, at the Ghion Hotel in Addis Ababa. Written in English, the volumes offer a comprehensive examination of the church’s history, its evolving relationship with political power, and its enduring influence on Ethiopian society.
According to Mengistu, The Church and the Crown in Ethiopia traces a sweeping historical arc, from the pre-Christian era through 2024, focusing on the complex and often contested relationship between the Ethiopian state and the church. The second volume turns inward, exploring the church’s identity, doctrines, liturgical practices, and its broader contributions to the nation’s cultural and historical heritage.
Speaking to The Reporter, Mengistu said the books were partly inspired by a growing curiosity in Europe about the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church—an institution often referenced, he noted, but rarely understood in depth. He argued that history derives its value only when grounded in credible evidence and verifiable sources. Any work that fails to meet this standard, he said, cannot function as historical record and risks losing relevance before it reaches readers.
Ethiopian history and church history, Mengistu contended, are inseparable, with many primary sources embedded in and around church sites themselves. He suggested that longstanding “controversies” about Ethiopia’s past have often arisen because much of the historical record was produced by non-Ethiopian scholars who lacked the contextual and lived knowledge necessary to interpret it fully.
For Mengistu, proximity matters.
Growing up in Lalibela, he said, meant encountering history not as abstraction but as lived reality. From an early age, he read historical texts in Amharic and Ge’ez, grappling with differing interpretations of foundational moments such as the introduction of Christianity to Ethiopia. That lifelong immersion, he believes, has enabled him to approach the history of the Church—and Ethiopia itself—with clarity, rigor, and credibility.
Mengistu argues that Christianity took root in Ethiopia well before its spread across Western Europe and, he contends, even prior to its establishment in Alexandria, Egypt. He said debates over this chronology intensified with the circulation of works by Western scholars whom he described as insufficiently grounded in Ethiopia’s historical and cultural realities—studies that, in his view, often privileged external interpretations over indigenous sources.
“Since my childhood in Lalibela, I have immersed myself in historical materials written in Amharic and Ge’ez,” he told The Reporter. “While some posit Christianity was introduced in the fourth century, the religion was actually introduced to Ethiopia in the first century. We possess credible evidence within our churches that substantiates this claim.”
Mengistu claims that many of the controversies stem from Western scholarship that lacks a deep understanding of our lived reality. He says his latest works are intended to serve as authoritative reference points amid such debates, offering scholarly responses to what he described as persistent ambiguities and historical misunderstandings.
By grounding contemporary questions in documented evidence, he believes, the books seek to clarify the historical foundations of both the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Ethiopian state.
He emphasized that the volumes are particularly significant for non-Ethiopian readers and members of the Ethiopian diaspora, especially younger generations raised abroad. Many, he noted, face barriers accessing historical materials traditionally written in Amharic or Ge’ez, making English-language scholarship a crucial bridge to their ancestral past.
The second volume, The Legacy of Faith and Heritage, he said, moves beyond conventional historical narration to examine the deeper identity and enduring heritage of Ethiopia’s religious institutions. Structured in 12 chapters, the book explores themes ranging from the theological foundations of the Church to its living belief systems and cultural expressions.
It also documents key cultural markers, including the Meskel celebration, traditional dietary practices, and the sacred art of church painting, alongside distinctive elements such as the ten-stringed lyre (begena) associated with spiritual contemplation. A substantial portion of the book, Mengistu added, is devoted to the intersection of faith and learning, with one chapter examining the influence of traditional ecclesiastical education on the development of Ethiopia’s modern educational system.
“There is a strong appetite among Europeans to understand the history of the Ethiopian Church,” he said, “yet there is a notable scarcity of comprehensive and credible resources available in English.”
The two books, he explained, were written to address that gap, offering what he describes as a rigorous account of the church’s history and its living heritage. “My goal is to provide authentic answers for those seeking to understand our identity and to present the true history of Ethiopia and its people to the global community.”
To ensure academic rigor, Mengistu said he incorporated more than 1,000 footnotes and an extensive bibliography across both volumes. These references, he added, are intended to make the books valuable not only to scholars but also to general readers seeking a deeper and more reliable understanding of Ethiopian history.
Although the project required three years of sustained research and writing, Mengistu stressed that preserving and transmitting accurate history is a collective responsibility. He called on the public to engage thoughtfully with the nation’s heritage, arguing that historical misunderstanding can only be addressed through shared commitment and civic responsibility to ensure “truth” is preserved for future generations.
“As Ethiopians, we are bound by an inseparable connection rooted in our common history,” he said. “We are one nation, strengthened by a shared heritage and culture. We are sick as a nation, and the right history is the best medicine to heal a wounded mind.”
