Editing Gudit (section)

== Ethnicity ==
[[Carlo Conti Rossini]] first proposed that the account of this warrior queen in the ''[[History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria]]'', where she was described as ''Bani al-Hamwiyah'', ought to be read as ''Bani al-Damutah'', and argued that she was ruler of the once-powerful [[Kingdom of Damot]], and that she was related to one of the indigenous [[Sidama people]] of southern [[Ethiopia]].{{efn|Conti Rossini's argument is taken from Taddesse Tamrat's summary {{harv|Tamrat|1972|p=39}}.}}

Modern historian [[Enrico Cerulli]] discovered Arabic documents that mention a [[Muslim]] queen named Badit daughter of Maya in the tenth century who reigned under the [[Sultanate of Showa|Makhzumi dynasty]].{{sfn|Tamrat|1977|p=106}} According to historian Tekeste Negash, Gudit was a Cushitic queen based at [[Lake Hayq]] in [[Wollo Province]] of Ethiopia. He further explains that there may have been a regional power struggle between Aksum and this queen of Wollo whom had ties to Yemeni traders through the port of [[Zeila]].{{sfn|Negash|2006|pp=123–124}}  [[Somalis|Somali]] folklore also mentions a queen named [[Arawelo]], who governed from [[Sanaag]] into much of the interior of Eastern Africa.{{sfn|Rayne|1938|pp=568–578}}

In more recent perspectives on the issue of the ethnicity of Gudit, there has been less certainty on to her actual identity and yet more certainty on the unlikelihood of her being of Judaic belief or associated with the [[Beta Israel]]. According to Steven Kaplan: <blockquote>Despite the Judith legend's popularity and its prominent position in the traditions of both Jews and Christians to this day, there appears to be several good reasons for rejecting the depiction of the tenth century queen of the Bani al-Hamwiyah as a Falasha. Although some Ethiopic sources do portray Yodit as a Jewess, these generally identify her as a convert rather than the product of a well entrenched indigenous religious community. The material recorded by Bruce, which contains the earliest complete account of the legend, must be considered suspect on several grounds...</blockquote>

<blockquote>The suggestion that the Falasha queen Yodit, putative conqueror of Aksum, is in fact the pagan queen of the Sidama, vanquisher of the haḍani is not as startling as it might appear at first glance. By transforming the queen from a pagan to a Jewess and her primary area of activity from the south of Aksum, Christian tradition neatly places her within the primary categories of Ethiopian political-religious discourse. On some levels, the Judith traditions can be said to mirror the themes of the [[Kebra Nagast]]. Both the Queen of Sheba and Judith are depicted as converts to Judaism.{{sfn|Kaplan|1992|pp=128–129}}</blockquote>