Résumé
Knowledge about the Ethiopians in Jerusalem, attested in the city since at least the 12th century, owes much to Enrico Cerulli’s documentary work, which consisted in collecting and editing documents from various origins mentioning Ethiopians from medieval to contemporary times. In this Cerulli took a fundamental step forward in our knowledge, which nonetheless, for medieval and modern times, has not since been surpassed. Cerulli compiled his inventory in the 1930s and 1940s. Thus, he collected only the documents he could see at the time. Since then, some archival collections have been opened, while others, which had been totally neglected by historiography, have been brought to light. By the examination of some case studies, this paper aims to present the untapped potential of Jerusalem Patriarchate archives to write the history of the Ethiopian community in Jerusalem and abroad. Twenty-two documents (of the 70 already inventoried) preserved in the Armenian patriarchate archives and two kept in the Franciscan Custody archives, both so far impenetrable, deal exclusively with Ethiopians in Jerusalem and the Bilād al-Shām, especially in Damascus. Not only these documents concern the rights of the Ethiopian community, its members, and its territorial anchorage (purchase of houses and land in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Damascus), but they will inform both local and regional, intra- and inter-community networks, especially with the other Christian denominations, the Mamluk authorities, and the Kingdom of Ethiopia.