The Nine Saints

Credit: The Nine Saints
Abba Pentalewon Monastery, near Aksum
Photograph by Ondřej Žváček, Feb. 13, 2009

Immigrants and refugees, they helped to establish Ethiopia as a Christian kingdom.

The Nine Saints
(Abba Aftse, Abba Alef, Abba Aragawi, Abba Garima, Abba Guba, Abba Liqanos, Abba Pantelewon, Abba Sehma, Abba Yem’ata)
Active c. 4th–5th century around the kingdom of Aksum

• Driven out of Byzantine provinces (including Syria, Constantinople, Anatolia, and Rome) following a series of doctrinal conflicts, these missionaries were welcomed by King Ella Amida into the kingdom of Aksum in northern Ethiopia.
• The Nine Saints established a number of monasteries throughout Aksum, winning converts to the Christian faith broadly. The Garima Gospels, said to have been written by Abba Garima, are now considered to be the world’s oldest extant Christian illuminated manuscripts.
• King Ella Amida’s son and successor, King Ezana, was baptized and established the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as the kingdom’s state religion.