Abstract

This paper gives an overview about the transmission of Greek popular philosophical writings in Ethiopian literature. Information about the historical and religious background in Ethiopia until the 13th century is very scanty, and also the conditions of transmission of Greek philosophy in monastic circles are poorly attested. An analysis of the ambivalent attitude towards Greek philosophy and secular education in Syriac and Coptic monasticism could shed some light on intellectual preconditions in Ethiopian monasteries, because they were significantly influenced by these circles. The manuscript tradition of relevant writings gives us an additional clue which themes and works were preferred among monks in Egypt. Manuscripts containing popular philosophy circulated in the existent network of monasteries in Egypt and Ethiopia, and an increased interest, especially in the 15th/16th centuries, in these writings give rise to their translation from Arabic into Ethiopic.