AMHARIC

Mezmure Kristos is an extremely rare volume; very few African nations claim such an extensive indigenous document, written in a totally indigenous language and script at such early date. Bahrey, author of Mezmure Kristos (Songs of Christ), composed the book during the reign of Emperor Tserste Dengel (1550-1597). Written in Geez, an ancient religious language, it serves as a meditation on issues such as sainthood, prayer, and the qualities of just rulers. The subjects tackled by Bahrey are indicative of the kind of questions--those regarding peace and war, justice and injustice, disorder and social harmony--that troubled medieval Ethiopia. New scholarship dealing with this text could help establish a narrative of traditional Ethiopian philosophical understanding of these issues--issues still relevant to Ethiopians today.

After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in economics and the UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, Brian Braff worked as a criminal lawyer in Los Angeles for twenty years. He then moved into more creative pursuits as a lyricist, producer, and photographer. Eventually, he found his passion in creating large projects to benefit others. First was Age Looks at Aging, in which older Americans were given cameras and support to document their experience of aging. Finally, Brian founded and directs High School Yearbook, a support group for teens and young adults with cancer, from which this book was created.