Ras (title)

Ras (Amharic: ራስ, Arabic: رأس) is a title belonging to a wider Semitic titulary tradition, derived from the root r-ʾ-s, meaning “head” or “chief”, which is attested across the Semitic language family, including Arabic raʾs and raʾīs, Hebrew rōš, and Geʽez rəʾs.^[1]^[2]

Usage

One of the clearest attestations is at Palmyra, where Odaenathus and his son Hairan I bore the Palmyrene title ras in bilingual inscriptions, rendered in the Greek text as exarchos. Modern scholarship treats this as a local title of supreme authority or lordship, probably created for Odaenathus in response to the Sasanian threat and vested with exceptional civil and military authority.^[3]^[4]

In the Ethiopian Empire, ras developed into a high aristocratic and political title in the Ethiopian Semitic languages, and is commonly translated as “duke” or “chief”.^[5] It was one of the most powerful non-imperial titles, and the combined title Le'ul Ras was borne by senior members of the imperial family and major regional rulers.^[6] Historian Harold G. Marcus equates the Ras title to a duke;^{[citation needed]} others have compared it to "prince".^[7] The combined title of Leul Ras (Amharic: ልዑል ራስ) was given to the heads of the cadet branches of the Imperial dynasty, such as the Princes of Gojjam, Tigray, Ras Tafari Makonnen and the Selalle sub-branch of the last reigning Shewan Branch, and meaning "Lord of Lords", the highest title of lord.

Historic Ras

Ras of Tayma (attested 203 CE), title known from a grave slab mentioning a syh, or chief, of Tayma^[8]
Ras of Palmyra (attested October 251 CE), title borne by Hairan I
Ras of Palmyra (attested 252–267 CE), title borne by Odaenathus
Ras of Hegra (attested 356 CE), title known from a late Nabataean inscription as ryš ḥgrʾ (“chief of Hegra”)^[9]
Ras Hamalmal of Kambata (16th century)
Ras Fasil
Ras Wolde Selassie (1736–1816)
Ras Sabagadis Woldu (1780–1831)
Ras Alula (1827–1897)
Ras Gobana Dacche (1821–1889)
Ras Mekonnen Wolde Mikael (1852–1906)
Ras Mengesha Yohannes (1868–1906)
Ras Araya Selassie Yohannes (1869/70-10 June 1888)
Ras Sebhat Aregawi (1892–1914)
Ras Gugsa Welle
Ras Gugsa Araya Selassie
Ras Kassa Haile Darge (1881–1956)
Ras Tafari (the latter emperor Haile Selassie, 1892–1975)
Ras Darge Sahle Selassie (1830 – 23 March 1900)
Ras Abebe Aregai (1903–1960)
Ras Wubneh Tessema (1943–1974)

References

[1]
Bulakh, Maria (2010). "Observations on Some "Broken" Plurals of Gəʿəz". Aethiopica. 13: 131–149. the possibility that a Proto-Semitic biform *ra'š ~ *ri'š existed, that both variants were inherited in Gəʿəz
[2]
Yon, Jean-Baptiste (2010). "Kings and Princes at Palmyra". In Ted Kaizer; Margherita Facella (eds.). Kingdoms and Principalities in the Roman Near East. Franz Steiner Verlag. pp. 239–240. As we have seen, even his title of 'chief' could belong to a local tradition... See parallel denominations of local 'chiefs' in a late Nabataean inscription: resh Hegra and resh Teima.
[3]
"Palmyra from the Severans to Zenobia". The Oxford Handbook of Palmyra. Oxford University Press. 2024. One is dedicated to the son of Odaenathus, Septimius Ḥairān, in October 251 ... and another to Odaenathus, in April 252 ... in both inscriptions Odaenathus and his son Ḥairān are called 'Roman senator' and exarchos. In the third, undated, inscription, 'Ogeilū, son of Maqqaī, calls Odaenathus only 'head of Tadmōr'.
[4]
Potter, David (1996). "Palmyra and Rome: Odaenathus' Titulature and the Use of the Imperium Maius". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 113: 271–285. The same conclusion can be drawn about the description of Odaenathus as lamprotatos hypatikos on three inscriptions from the grand colonnade at Palmyra ... In this connection it may also be significant that he styled himself "Lord of Palmyra".
[5]
Marcus, Harold G. (1994). A History of Ethiopia. University of California Press. p. 232. ras Literally, "head"; a title of nobility equivalent to duke.
[6]
Marcus, Harold G. (1994). A History of Ethiopia. University of California Press. p. 45. Iyasu I decreed that the imperial ras (equivalent to duke; literally, "head"), or commanding general, had primacy over all court officials.
[7]
E.g., Don Jaide, "An Etymology of the word Ras-Tafari – By Ras Naftali", Rasta Liveware, June 2, 2014; accessed 2019.06.24.
[8]
Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Musée du Louvre / Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. 2010. The only written source from this period found in Tayma so far is a grave slab in the form of a tabula ansata from the year 203, mentioning a syh, or chief, of Tayma, plus a series of other Judaic names.
[9]
Politis, Konstantinos D. (2007). "The Nabataeans in the Hawran and the Archaeology of Everyday Life". The World of the Nabataeans. Volume 2. Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 188. another Nabataean inscription now stored in Jeddah, refers to a man with the title 'chief of Hegra' and is dated to A.D. 356.

Usage

Historic Ras

See also

References

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