Until the 16th century, the texts reveal patterns of non-consumption of meat that were common to most populations of the region, Christian or not. But until recently, the dietary prohibitions of the Pentateuch do not seem to have had many practical effect whatsoever. Indeed, Ethiopian Christians have behind them a long history of identification with the chosen people. Today, respect for the Biblical dietary prohibitions is considered a hallmark of Ethiopian Christianity. In so doing, it highlights various moments of a history in which dietary practices and religious identity have overlapped and interpenetrated in different ways.
This article proposes a new reading of this limited corpus. Only a few sources exist that allow us to tackle directly the question of the relation between Ethiopian Christianity and dietary prohibitions. Food Taboos and the Ethiopian Christian Community (13th-18th Centuries)', Annales d’Éthiopie, vol. Guindeuil T., 2015, 'What Do Christians (Not) Eat.
