THE FALL OF ANGELS IN ETHIOPIAN TRADITION

Two episodes can be referred to under the rubric of the Fall of Angels, a narrative that was particularly popular in Ethiopic literature. One deals with the descent of the 'sons of God', understood as angels, to earth and their cohabiting with 'daughters of men' (Gen 6:2-4). This moral 'fall', present in the 'Book of Enoch', was, however, less popular with the Ethiopian public than the other fall of certain angels from heaven as a result of their following Satan who had rebelled against God. The two main texts for this version are the anonymous 'Miracles of Jesus' and 'Aksimaros' by Pseudo-Epiphanius of Cyprus. Both were translated from Arabic, and both influenced other Ethiopic compositions, to the extent that accounts of the fall of angels can be found in several original Ethiopic texts.