The following Ethiopic text explains that Apostle Mark / Marqos was of Ethiopian ancestry. St. Mark the Evangelist was a nephew of St Barnabas and a very close companion of the Apostles Peter and Paul . When St. Mark arrived in Alexandria, Egypt, it was the cultural capital of the world. Its famous School was the center of science and philosophy with a library filled with hundreds of thousands of books. The population of Alexandria was estimated to be from half to three quarters of a million, who were Egyptians, Greeks, Jews, Romans, Ethiopians, Nubians and other races. In Ethiopia there are many churches in named after St. Mark. The main Church and monastery are located in Addis Abeba. There is also a pleasant city called ” Debra Marqos” meaning Mount Mark. The name ‘Mark’ meant a ‘hammer’. St. Mark was the hammer that broke down idols. The church called St. Mark “The breaker of idols”
ሐዋርያው ማርቆስ ዘሩ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነው
ከአማረ አፈለ ብሻው
ጌታችን መድኃኒታችን ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ በዓለም ላይ ካሰማራቸው ሐዋርያት መካከል ሐዋርያው ማርቆስ አንዱ ነው።
ሐዋርያው ማርቆስን በሚመለከት መሪራስ አማን በላይ “ሐዋርያው ማርቆስ ዜግነቱ ሮማያዊ ሲሆን፡ ትውልዱ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነው። በዚያን ጊዜ ግብጾች ቦታ አልነበራቸውም ሲሉ ተናግረዋል። ሐዋርያው ማርቆስ ቤተሰቦቹ ኢትዮጵያዊ ሲሆኑ ነዋሪነታቸው ግብጽና ኢየሩሳሌም እንደነበረ በታሪክ ተጠቅሷል።
አባ ተስፋ ሥላሴ ሞገስ፡ ቅዱስ ማርቆስ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነው መድኃኒዓለም ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ የይሁዳ አንበሳ ነው ሲሉ መጽሐፍ ጽፈዋል። ቅዱስ ማርቆስ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነው መድኃኒዓለም ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ የይሁዳ አንበሳ ነው የተባለው መጽሐፍ ገጽ 100 ላይ “ማርቆስ ሙሉ በሙሉ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነው” ሲሉ ጽፈዋል። እኒህ አባት ሐዋርያው ማርቆስን ብቻ ሳይሆን ሌሎች ሐዋርያት ኢትዮጵያዊ ደም ያላቸው መሆናቸውን በማመለከት ከፍ ተብሎ በተጠቀሰው መጽሐፍ ገጽ 42 ላይ፡ “ከኢትዮጵያውያን ዘር የሚወለደው ፊልጶስም ነው” ሲሉ ሁለቱ ሐዋርያት ከጌታችን ጋር ያደረጉትን የቃላት ልውውጥ በሚመለከት ጽፈዋል።
ከዚህ ላይ ማየት ያለብን እነዚህ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝቦች ቀድሞ ጀምረው ራሳቸውን ዝቅ የሚያደርጉና ለክብር የማይሮጡ በመሆናቸው ማንነታቸው ሊታወቅ አልቻለም። እንኳን ቀድሞ በቅርቡ የዳ/ዊ አጤ ቴዎድሮስን ታሪክ የፃፉት አንዱ ደራሲ መጽሐፉን የዘመኑ የታሪክ ሊቃውንቶችን ጥቅስ ለመውሰድ ሲሉ “የማይታወቀው ደራሲ” እንደጻፈው እየተባለ ነው የሚጠቀሰው። የጥንት ኢትዮጵያውያን “እወቁልን” የማይሉ በመሆናቸው ብዙ የታሪክ አባቶቻችን ስምና ታሪክ ተደብቆ ቀርቷል። በዚህ ባለንበት አገር አሉ ከሚባሉት ሊቆች መካከል ለአንዱ የሊቀ–ጠበብት ማዕረግ ዩኒቨርስቲው ሲሰጣቸው አስተዳዳሪው ለተሰብሳቢው እንግዳ እንዲህ ብለው ነበር፦
“ኢትዮጵያውያን ይህን ሰርተናል የማይሉ በስራቸው እንጂ ለወረቀት የማይጓጉ በመሆናቸው ይህ ዶ/ር እገሌ እንደሌሎች ዶክተሮች ማመልከቻ ይዞ ወደ ጽሕፈት ቤቱ መጥቶ አስቸግሮኝ አያውቅም። የስራውን ጥራትና ብቃት ዩኒቨርስቲው በማየቱ የሌቀ–ጠበብት ማዕረግ ሰጥቶታል” ብለዋል።
ትቤ አክሱም ገጽ 67 “ቅዱስ ማርቆስም ያባቱን ሀገር አስቀድሞም ያውቀው ስለነበረ መጥቶ እንዳስተማረ” ሲሉ ጽፈዋል። ከዚህ ላይ የኢትዮጵያውያን ከቀድሞ ጀምሮ የመጣው ታሪክ የሚያመለክተው ለክርስትና ሃይማኖት ከፍተኛ ተጋድሎ ማድረጋቸውን ነው። ሐዋርያው ማርቆስን የመሰለ መምሕር ያስገኘች ኢትዮጵያ ናት። ላይ እንደተጠቀሰው ዛሬ ድረስ በህይወት ያሉ ደራሲያን ኮሎኔልነታቸውን፣ ጠበብትነታቸውን ወይም ሊቅነታቸውን ሳይጠቅሱ መጽሐፍ የጻፉ ደራሲያን ነበሩ። ምክኒያቱም ኢትዮጵያውያን አብዛኛው እወቁኝ የማይሉ ናቸው። በዚህ ምክንያት ከቀድሞ ጀምሮ ተያይዞ በመምጣቱ ሐዋርያው ማርቆስ ኢትዮጵያዊ መሆኑ ሳይታወቅ ኖሮ ነበር።
መሪራስ አማን በላይ፡ “ጉግሣ” መጽሔት ቅጽ 2 ቁጥር 3 መጋቢት 1993 ዓ.ም. ገጽ 17 ላይ “የማርቆስን አክስት ማለት የበርናባስንና የአርስጦሎስን እህት ጴጥሮስን አግብቶ ነበር። እንዲሁሙ ዜግነቱ ኢትዮጵያዊ የቤተ እስራኤል የሌዊና የይሑዳ ነገድ የሆነ ወደ ቀሬና ቀራኒዮ ወደ ቤተ መቅደስ ሊሰግድ መጥቶ ስሙም ስምዖን ይባል ነበር። በበነጋታው ከአባቱና ከናቱ ዘመድ ከስምዖን ጋር ማርቆስ የጌታችንን የክርስቶስን ግርፋትና ሕማማቱን እየተከተለ ተምልክቷል። አጎቱንም የአባቱን ዘመድ ኢትዮጵያዊ ስምዖን የተባለ የቀሬና ሰው የጌታን መስቀል እንዲሸከም አይሁዳ ሊያስገድዱት አይቷል ተመልክቷል” ሲሉ ጽፈዋል። ስምዖን ኢትዮጵያዊ መሆኑን የሚያረጋግጥበት ምክንያት ስምዖን ኢትዮጵያዊ መሆኑን የሚያረጋግጥበት ምክንያት ስምዖን ጥቁር መሆኑን በሌሎችም ታሪክ ታውቋል።
ሐዋርያው ማርቆስ ኢትዮጵያዊ ስለሆነና ታሪኩን ስላወቁ ቀዳማዊ አጤ ኃይለ ሥላሴ አጽሙ አጽሙ ቬነስ ግዛት / ከተማ ከሚቀር ግብጽ መግባት ይኖርበታል ብለው ከቬነስ መንግሥትና ቤተ ክርስቲያን ጋር ያደረጉት ጥረት ቀላል አይደለም። ቀደም ሲል ግብጾች ሊያስመልሱ ያልቻሉትን አጤ ኃይለ ሥላሴ በጥረታቸው የቅዱስ ሐዋርያው ማርቆስ አጽም ወደ አፍሪቃዋ ግብጽ እንዲገባ ሆነ። ይህ ታሪክ በመሆኑ ሊገለጽ የሚገባው ሲሆን፡ ጃንሆይ መሠረት ያደረጉት ዋናው ነጥብ ሐዋርያው ቅዱስ ማርቆስ በዘሩ ኢትዮጵያዊ በመሆኑ ነው።
“የአጤ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ታሪክ” ከሚለው መጽሐፋቸው ገጽ 1132 ላይ “ሐዋርያው ቅዱስ ማርቆስ ወደ ግብጽ ገብቶ ክርስትናን በማስተማር ላይ እያለ የክርስቲያኖችን ዕምነት የሚጠሉና በጣዖት የሚያመልኩ ከብዙ ጊዜ ጀምሮ ለምደውት ለቆየው አምላካቸው በጣም ቀናኢ የሆኑ በአሌክሳንድርያ መንገድ ላይ እየጎተቱ አሰቃይተው ገደሉት። እንደሞተም አሌክሰንድርያ በሚገኘው ቤተ ክርስቲያን ቀበሩት። በዚህ ቦታ ተቀብሮ ለብዙ ዘመን ከቆየ በኋላ በ820 ዓ.ም ሁለት የቬኑስ ነጋድያን አጽሙን በድብቅ ከተቀበረበት አስወጥተው ወደ ቬነስ ነጋድያን አጽሙን በድብቃ ከተቀበረበት አስወጥተው ወደ ቬነስ ወሰዱት በዚህ ከተማ በሚገኘው በቅዱስ ማርቆስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን አኑረውት ቦታው የበላይ ቅዱስ ሆኖ በክብር ይኖር ነበር። ስለሆነም የግብጽ ቤተ ክርስቲያን እንዲሰጣት በየጊዜው ከመጠየቅ አልቦዘነችም ነበር። ግርማዊ ንጉሠ ነገሥታት ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴም ለግብጽ እንዲመለስ ብዙ ጊዜ ጠይቀዋል።
“ነገር ግን ሁሉም የሚፈጸመው እግዚአብሔር በፈቀደው ጊዜ ስለሆነ ጊዜው ሲደርስ የሮማው ርዕሠ ሌቀ ጳጳስ ጳውሎስ 6ኛ ስለፈቀዱ በሞተ በ1900 በተወሰደ 1140 ዓመት ወደ ጥንተ ቦታው ለመመለስ በቃ።” ካለ በኋላ አጽሙ የገባበትን ቀን ሲገልጹና ጃንሆይም በስፍራው መኖራቸውን ሲያብራሩ ገጽ 1133 ላይ፡ “የቅዱስ ማርቆስ አጽም ከቬነስ ወደ ግብጽ የገባው ግርማዊ ንጉሠ ነገሥት በአለበት ሰኔ 17 ቀን 1960 ዓ.ም ነው።” ብለዋል።
የሐዋርያው ማርቆስ አጽም ግብጻውያን ራሳቸው ካልሸጡት አልያም ጠቋሚ ካልሆኑ ቁጥራቸው ትንሽ በሆነ ነጋዴዎች ተሰርቆ ሊወሰድ አይችልም። መሠረቱን ካወቁ ጀምሮ አጽሙን ለማስመለስ ብዙ ሙከራ ቢያደርጉም አልተሳካላቸውም ነበር። በዚህ ምክንያት የሐዋርያው ማርቆስን አጽም ለማስመለስ የቻሉት ኢትዮጵያዊው ቀዳማዊ አጤ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ናቸው። ያም በመጀመሪያ ጌታ ሲወለድ የእጅ መንሻ የሰጡ ሰብዓ ሰገል ኢትዮጵያውያን ሲሆኑ ኋላም ጌታችን በስደት መጥቶ የኖረባት ስትሆን ተመልሶም መጥቶ ወንጌልን ያስተማረባት አገር ናት። ከዚያም በጅሮንድ ጃንደረባ ባኮስ በ34 ዓ.ም ተጠምቆ ተመልሶ ወንግጌልን ያስተማረባት ኢትዮጵያ አገራችን ናት።
Mummy Mask May Reveal Oldest Known Gospel
A text that may be the oldest copy of a gospel known to exist — a fragment of the Gospel of Mark that was written during the first century, before the year 90 — is set to be published.
At present, the oldest surviving copies of the gospel texts date to the second century (the years 101 to 200).
This first-century gospel fragment was written on a sheet of papyrus that was later reused to create a mask that was worn by a mummy. Although the mummies of Egyptian pharaohs wore masks made of gold, ordinary people had to settle for masks made out of papyrus (or linen), paint and glue. Given how expensive papyrus was, people often had to reuse sheets that already had writing on them.
In recent years scientists have developed a technique that allows the glue of mummy masks to be undone without harming the ink on the paper. The text on the sheets can then be read.
The first-century gospel is one of hundreds of new texts that a team of about three-dozen scientists and scholars is working to uncover, and analyze, by using this technique of ungluing the masks, said Craig Evans, a professor of New Testament studies at Acadia Divinity College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
“We’re recovering ancient documents from the first, second and third centuries. Not just Christian documents, not just biblical documents, but classical Greek texts, business papers, various mundane papers, personal letters,” Evans told Live Science. The documents include philosophical texts and copies of stories by the Greek poet Homer.
The business and personal letters sometimes have dates on them, he said. When the glue was dissolved, the researchers dated the first-century gospel in part by analyzing the other documents found in the same mask.
One drawback to the process is that the mummy mask is destroyed, and so scholars in the field are debating whether that particular method should be used to reveal the texts they contain.
But Evans emphasized that the masks that are being destroyed to reveal the new texts are not high quality ones that would be displayed in a museum. Some are not masks at all but are simply pieces of cartonnage.
Evans told Live Science, “We’re not talking about the destruction of any museum-quality piece.”
The technique is bringing many new texts to light, Evans noted. “From a single mask, it’s not strange to recover a couple dozen or even more” new texts, he told Live Science. “We’re going to end up with many hundreds of papyri when the work is done, if not thousands.”
Debate
Scholars who work on the project have to sign a nondisclosure agreement that limits what they can say publicly. There are several reasons for this agreement. One is that some of the owners of these masks simply do not want to be made known, Evans said. “The scholars who are working on this project have to honor the request of the museums, universities, private owners, so forth.”
The owners of the mummy masks retain ownership of the papyrus sheets after the glue on them is dissolved.
Evans said that the only reason he can talk about the first-century gospel before it is published is because a member of the team leaked some of the information in 2012. Evans was careful to say that he is not telling Live Science anything about the first-century gospel that hasn’t already been leaked online.
Soon after the 2012 leak, speculation surrounded the methods that the scholars used to figure out the gospel’s age.
Evans says that the text was dated through a combination of carbon-14 dating, studying the handwriting on the fragment and studying the other documents found along with the gospel. These considerations led the researchers to conclude that the fragment was written before the year 90. With the nondisclosure agreement in place, Evans said that he can’t say much more about the text’s date until the papyrus is published.
Destruction of mummy masks
The process that is used to obtain the papyri, which involves the destruction of the mummy masks, has also generated debate. For instance, archaeologist Paul Barford, who writes about collecting and heritage issues, has written a scathing blog post criticizing the work on the gospel.
Roberta Mazza, a lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Manchester, has blogged her concerns about the text as has Brice Jones, a doctoral candidate in religion at Concordia University.
When the texts are published the debate is likely to move beyond the blogosphere and into mainstream media and scholarly journals.
Biblical clues
Although the first-century gospel fragment is small, the text will provide clues as to whether the Gospel of Mark changed over time, Evans said.
His own research is focused on analyzing the mummy mask texts, to try to determine how long people held onto them before disposing or reusing them. This can yield valuable information about how biblical texts were copied over time.
“We have every reason to believe that the original writings and their earliest copies would have been in circulation for a hundred years in most cases — in some cases much longer, even 200 years,” he said.
This means that “a scribe making a copy of a script in the third century could actually have at his disposal (the) first-century originals, or first-century copies, as well as second-century copies.”
Set to publish
Evans said that the research team will publish the first volume of texts obtained through the mummy masks and cartonnage later this year. It will include the gospel fragment that the researchers believe dates back to the first century.
The team originally hoped the volume would be published in 2013 or 2014, but the date had to be moved back to 2015. Evans said he is uncertain why the book’s publication was delayed, but the team has made use of the extra time to conduct further studies into the first-century gospel. “The benefit of the delay is that when it comes out, there will be additional information about it and other related texts.”
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