Theatrical Performance of the Joseph Story: The Ethiopic Story of Joseph

Abstract

A rich library of Slavonic texts about patriarch Joseph from Genesis, called Їѡсифь ПрѢкрасни “Joseph the Beautiful,” circulated among medieval Slavic Christians. Prone to dramatization, the biblical story of Joseph (Gen 37–50) has long inspired literature and theatre. Although there are seven types of medieval Slavonic Joseph texts, because of their frequent inclusion in miscellany manuscripts, little is known about their use or Sitz in Leben. Therefore, despite the official emergence of Slavic theatre about Joseph in the 16th century, early medieval manuscripts can hide dramatic scripts lacking clear identifiable evidence of theatre such as stage directions and cues for actors. This paper analyzes the content and historical, literary, and religious context of a medieval Ethiopic apocryphon about Joseph, Ethiopic Story of Joseph (EMML 1939 fols. 124a–162a) from a 14th–15th-century Ge’ez manuscript. I shall suggest that it meets all six Aristotelian key elements of a drama. I propose that medieval Ethiopic scribes drew on known Joseph traditions to create a dramatic script, The Ethiopic Story of Joseph, for performance during the Christmas season. Probably staged on church or monastery grounds by Ethiopian däbtära, this work invites comparable searches for dramatic scripts in Slavonic manuscripts.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Religions, 2026 · DOI ↗