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Ethiopian Jewish Ascetic Religious Communities THE HOLY SPRINGS of Gwang Ras (literally, “Source of theGwang”, Ben-Dor 1985a, 43; Leslau 1974, 636) arelocated, as their name suggests, at the source of the GwangRiver, which flows from Dämbəya northwards and thenwest-northwestwards to Sudan near the town of Mätämma. Thisriver, known in Sudan as the Atbara River, flows into the Nile at the townof Atbara. The springs are traditionally the first stop inAbba Ṣəbra and ṢäggaAmlak's journey to Hoḫwärwa and served as aplace of pilgrimage for the Betä Ǝsraʾel community.
The source of the Gwang is located 6.3 km east-northeast of thetown of Čandäbba, on the Aykäl to Dälgi road,and 18 km northwest of the town of Čwahit, on the Azäzo toGor-gora road. A dirt road leads from Čwahit west-northwest to thetown of Sankisa, located 3.8 km from the site. Just northwest of the churchof Ḥanna Maryam is the watershed between the Gwang and thetributaries leading south to Lake Ṭana. The BetäƎsraʾel holy site is located along a tributary of theGwang, 1.4 km north of the watershed (maps21.1–21.2).
We were able to locate the site based on an account provided by DubaläWärqu and published by Rabbi Waldman (2015,119–20), in which the proximity of Gwang Ras toḤanna Maryam church is mentioned. The location of the church appearsin a map exam-ined prior to the survey and was confirmed by informants inthe region. The people whom we met in the vicinity of the church werefamiliar with the Betä Ǝsraʾel holy site and pointedout its location and surrounding features.
The Betä Ǝsraʾel Holy Site
Coordinates: 12.431662, 37.085864. Elevation 1922 m.
The springs and pools comprising the Betä Ǝsraʾel holysite are located along a tributary flowing into the Gwang fromthe west. We identified six water pools in the holy site (map 21.2, fig.21.1). Due to the rains, the tributaries in the area were flowing with waterduring our visit, and it was not possible to identify springs in theriverbed. Thus, only one of the pools documented (no. 3) can also beidentified as a spring due to its location on a slope.
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