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Zagwe Dynasty

Zagwe dynasty

The Zagwe Dynasty ruled Ethiopia from the end of the Kingdom of Axum to 1270, when Yekuno Amlak defeated and killed the last Zagwe king in battle. Its best-known king was Gebra Maskal Lalibela, who is responsible for the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. Unlike the practice of later rulers of Ethiopia, Taddesse Tamrat argues that under the Zagwe dynasty the order of succession was that of brother succeeding brother as king, based on the Agaw laws of inheritance.

History

The Zagwe dynasty came from a Christian princely family of the Agaw people. The number of kings belonging to this dynasty are uncertain: Ethiopian King Lists provide from five to 16 names belonging to this dynasty, who ruled for a total of either 133 or 333 years. All agree that the founding king was Mara Takla Haymanot, son-in-law of the last king of Axum, Dil Na'od. However the name of the last king of this dynasty is lost -- the surviving chronicles and oral traditions give his name as Za-Ilmaknun, which is clearly a pseudonym (Taddesse Tamrat translates it as "The Unknown, the hidden one"), employed soon after his reign by the victorious Solomonid dynasty in an act of damnatio memoriae. Taddesse Tamrat believes that this last ruler was actually Yetbarak. The Ethiopian historian Taddesse Tamrat follows the theories of Carlo Conti Rossini concerning this group of rulers. Conti Rossini believed that the shorter length of this dynasty was the more likely one, as it fit his theory that a letter received by the Patriarch of Alexandria John V from an unnamed Ethiopian monarch, requesting a new abuna because the current office holder was too old, was from Mara Takla Haymanot, who wanted the abuna replaced because he would not endorse the new dynasty.

See also


- History of Ethiopia
- Rulers and Heads of State of Ethiopia

Bibliography


- Taddesse Tamrat. "The Legacy of Aksum and Adafa" in Church and State in Ethiopia. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972

External links


- [http://www.ethiopianhistory.com/zagwe/ Ethiopian History]
- [http://www.4dw.net/royalark/Ethiopia/zagwe.htm Zagwe Genealogy]
-

Ethiopia

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Amharic ኢትዮጵያ Ityopp'ya) is a country situated in the Horn of Africa. It has one of the most extensive known histories as an independent nation on the continent, or indeed in the world. Unique among African countries, Ethiopia maintained independence during the Scramble for Africa, and continued to do so except for a 5 year period when it was under Italian occupation. Ethiopia was historically called Abyssinia. The English name "Ethiopia" is derived from the Greek word Αἰθιοπία Æthiopia, from Αἰθίοψ Æthiops ‘an Ethiopian’ -- sometimes parsed by Westerners as a purely Greek term meaning "of burnt (αιθ-) visage (ὄψ)"; however, older Ethiopian sources state that the name is derived from "'Ityopp'is", a son of Cush, son of Ham who according to legend founded the city of Aksum.

History

The Kingdom of Aksum, the first verifiable kingdom of great power to rise in Ethiopia, rose during the first century AD. The Persian religious figure Mani listed Axum with Rome, Persia, and China as one of the four great powers of his time. It was in the early 4th century that a Syro-Greek castaway, Frumentius, was taken to the court and eventually converted king Ezana to Christianity, thereby making it official. For this accomplishment, he received the title "Abba Selama". At various times, including a period in the 6th century, Axum controlled most of modern-day Yemen just across the Red Sea. The line of rulers descended from the Axumite kings was broken several times: first by the Jewish Queen Gudit around 950, then by the Zagwe dynasty. Around 1270, the Solomonid dynasty came to control Ethiopia, claiming descent from the kings of Axum. They called themselves Neguse Negest ("King of Kings," or Emperor), basing their claims on their direct descent from Solomon and the queen of Sheba. During the reign of Emperor Lebna Dengel, Ethiopia made its first successful diplomatic contact with a European country, Portugal. This proved to be an important development, for when the Empire was subjected to the attacks of the Somali General and Imam, Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi (called "Grany", or "the Left-handed"), Portugal responded to Lebna Dengel's plea for help with an army of 400 men, who helped his son Gelawdewos defeat Ahmad and re-establish his rule. However, Jesuit missionaries eventually offended the Orthodox faith of the local Ethiopians, and in the mid-17th century Emperor Fasilidos expelled these missionaries. At the same time, the Oromo people began to question the Ethiopian Christian authorities in the Abyssinian territories, and demanded to keep their own religion. All of this contributed to Ethiopia's isolation during the 1700s. The Emperors became figureheads, controlled by warlords like Ras Mikael Sehul of Tigray. Ethiopian isolationism ended following a British mission that concluded an alliance between the two nations; however, it was not until the reign of Tewodros II that Ethiopia began to take part in world affairs once again. Tewodros II The 1880s were marked by the European colonization of Africa and some modernisation, when the Italians began to vie with the British for influence in bordering regions. Assab, a port near the southern entrance of the Red Sea, was bought from the local sultan in March 1870 by an Italian company, which by 1882 led to the Italian colony of Eritrea. Conflicts between the two countries resulted in the Battle of Adowa in 1896, whereby the Ethiopians surprised the world by defeating the colonial power and remaining independent. Italy and Ethiopia signed a provisional treaty of peace on October 26, 1896. The early 20th century was marked by the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie I, who undertook the rapid modernization of Ethiopia — interrupted only by the brief Italian occupation (1936–1941). British and patriot Ethiopian troops liberated the Ethiopian homeland in 1941, and Ethiopia's regained sovereignty was recognised by Britain upon the signing of the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement in December 1944. Haile Selassie's reign came to an end in 1974, when a pro-Soviet Marxist-Leninist military junta, the "Derg", deposed him and established a one-party socialist state. The ensuing regime suffered several bloody coups, uprisings, wide-scale drought, and a massive refugee problem. In 1977 Somalia attacked Ethiopia in the Ogaden War, but Ethiopia defeated them with Cuban military assistance the following year. The Derg regime was finally defeated in 1991 by the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition of rebel forces. In 1993, the Province of Eritrea became independent from Ethiopia, following a referendum, ending more than 20 years of armed conflict. In 1994, a constitution was adopted, that led to Ethiopia's first multiparty elections in the following year. In May 1998, a dispute over the undemarcated border with Eritrea led to the Eritrean-Ethiopian War that lasted until June 2000. This has hurt the nation's economy, but strengthened the ruling coalition. On May 15, 2005, Ethiopia held another multiparty election, and resulted in the EPRDF's disputed return to power. In early June and again in November, police under the command of the EPRDF shot and killed demonstrators who were protesting the alleged election fraud.
- See also: Rulers and Heads of State of Ethiopia

Politics

The election of Ethiopia's 547-member constituent assembly was held in June 1994. This assembly adopted the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in December 1994. The elections for Ethiopia's first popularly-chosen national parliament and regional legislatures were held in May and June 1995. Most opposition parties chose to boycott these elections, ensuring a landslide victory for the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). International and non-governmental observers concluded that opposition parties would have been able to participate had they chosen to do so. The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was installed in August 1995. The first President was Negasso Gidada. The EPRDF-led government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has promoted a policy of ethnic federalism, devolving significant powers to regional, ethnically-based authorities. Ethiopia today has 9 semi-autonomous administrative regions that have the power to raise and spend their own revenues. Under the present government, Ethiopians enjoy greater political participation and freer debate than ever before in their history, although some fundamental freedoms, including freedom of the press, are, in practice, somewhat circumscribed. Zenawi's government was re-elected in 2000 in Ethiopia's first multi-party elections. The incumbent President is Girma Wolde-Giorgis. Since 1991, Ethiopia has established warm relations with the United States and western Europe and has sought substantial economic aid from Western countries and World Bank. In 2004, the government began a drive to move more than two million people away from the arid highlands of the east, proposing that these resettlements would reduce food shortages [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/3640227.stm]. Ethiopia held another general election in May 2005, were deemed by one international observer team (EU) to fall substantially short of international standards for fair and free elections. The oppostion and some observers led by Ana Gomez charged that the ruling EPRDF engaged in wide spread vote rigging and intimidation. In June 2005, with the results of the election still unclear, a group of university students protested these alleged discrepancies despite a ban on protests imposed by the government. This led to the arrest of thousands of protesters. On June 8, police killed 42 people in Addis Ababa. On September 5, 2005, the National Elections Board of Ethiopia released the final election results in which the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front retained its control of the government, but opposition parties increased their share of parliamentary seats. When street protests broke out as a result of the ensuing political stalemate beginning November 1, government forces once again opened fire with live bullets, killing at least 42 people in Addis Ababa and elsewhere in the country. Tens of thousands were arrested in various detention centers across the country. See also: Foreign relations of Ethiopia

Regions

Main article: Subdivisions of Ethiopia Ethiopia has been divided by the EPRDF into 9 ethnically-based administrative regions (kililoch; singular: kilil):
- Afar
- Amhara
- Benishangul-Gumaz
- Gambela
- Harari
- Oromia
- Somali
- Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region
- Tigray Additionally, there are two chartered cities (astedader akababiwoch, singular: astedader akababi): Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Ethiopia Ethiopia is 1,127,127 km² in size, and is the major portion of the Horn of Africa, which is the eastern-most part of the African landmass. Within Ethiopia is a massive highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley, which runs generally southwest to northeast and is surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semidesert. The great diversity of terrain determines wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation, and settlement patterns. Elevation and geographic location produce three climatic zones: the cool zone above 2,400 meters where temperatures range from near freezing to 16°C; the temperate zone at elevations of 1,500 to 2,400 meters with temperatures from 16°C to 30°C; and the hot zone below 1,500 meters with both tropical and arid conditions and daytime temperatures ranging from 27°C to 50°C. The normal rainy season is from mid-June to mid-September (longer in the southern highlands) preceded by intermittent showers from February or March; the remainder of year generally dry. Ethiopia is an ecologically diverse country. Lake Tana in the north is the source of the Blue Nile. It also has a large number of endemic species, notably the Gelada Baboon, the Walia Ibex and the Ethiopian wolf (or Simien fox).

Economy

Ethiopian wolf Main article: Economy of Ethiopia Ethiopia remains one of Africa's poorest nations: many Ethiopians rely on food aid from abroad. After the 1974 revolution, the economy of Ethiopia was run as a socialist economy: strong state controls were implemented, and a large part of the economy was transferred to the public sector, including most modern industry and large-scale commercial agriculture, all agricultural land and urban rental property, and all financial institutions. Since mid-1991, the economy has evolved toward a decentralized, market-oriented economy, emphasizing individual initiative, designed to reverse a decade of economic decline. In 1993, gradual privatization of business, industry, banking, agriculture, trade, and commerce was underway. Agriculture accounts for almost 41 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), 80 percent of exports, and 80 percent of the labor force. Many other economic activities depend on agriculture, including marketing, processing, and export of agricultural products. Production is overwhelmingly of a subsistence nature, and a large part of commodity exports are provided by the small agricultural cash-crop sector. Principal crops include coffee, pulses (e.g., beans), oilseeds, cereals, potatoes, sugarcane, and vegetables. Exports are almost entirely agricultural commodities, coffee is the largest foreign exchange earner. Ethiopia's livestock population is believed to be the largest in Africa, and as of 1987 accounted for about 15 percent of the GDP.

Demographics

1987 Main article: Demographics of Ethiopia Ethiopia's population is highly diverse. Most of its people speak a Semitic or Cushitic language. The Oromo, Amhara, and Tigrayans make up more than three-fourths of the population, but there are more than 80 different ethnic groups within Ethiopia. Some of these have as few as 10,000 members. Semitic-speaking Ethiopians (as well as some Eritreans) collectively refer to themselves as Abesha or Habesha, though others reject these names on the basis that they refer only to certain ethnicities [http://www.abesha.com/abesha18/aboutus.php]. The name is said to have originally signified "mixture", i.e. of HAm with (BE) SHem, as applied to tribes of partly Cushitic and partly Semitic extraction. The Arabic form of this term is the etymological basis of "Abyssinia," the former name of Ethiopia in English and other European languages.[http://www.time.com/time/europe/timetrails/selassie/hs260809.html] The Axumite Kingdom was one of the first nations to officially adopt Christianity, when St. Frumentius of Tyre converted Ezana of Axum during the fourth century CE. Islam in Ethiopia dates back almost to the founding of the religion; in 616, a band of Muslims were counseled by the Prophet Muhammad to escape persecution in Mecca and travel to Abyssinia, which was ruled by, in the Prophet's estimation, a pious Christian king. Moreover, Islamic tradition states that Bilal, one of the foremost companions of the Prophet Muhammad, was from present-day Ethiopia. A small group of Jews, the Beta Israel, lived in Ethiopia for centuries, though most emigrated to Israel in the last decades of the 20th century. There are numerous indigenous African religions in Ethiopia. In general, most of the Christians live in the highlands, while Muslims and adherents of traditional African religions tend to inhabit lowland regions.

Languages

Ethiopia has 84 indigenous languages. Some of these are: English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is taught in all secondary schools. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya.

Culture

Tigrinya and a drum.]] Main article: Culture of Ethiopia In April 2005, the Axum obelisk, one of Ethiopia's religious and historical treasures, was returned to Ethiopia by Italy [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4458105.stm]. Italian troops seized the obelisk in 1937 and took it to Rome. Italy agreed to return the obelisk in 1947 in a UN agreement. Ethiopia is the spiritual homeland of the Rastafari movement, that believes Ethiopia is Zion. Rastafari view Emperor Haile Selassie I as Jesus, the human incarnation of God.
- Cuisine of Ethiopia
- Music of Ethiopia
- Islam in Ethiopia
- Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

Miscellaneous topics


- List of Ethiopian companies
- Military of Ethiopia
- Monarchies of Ethiopia
- National parks in Ethiopia
- Communications in Ethiopia
- Transportation in Ethiopia

External links

Relief Organizations
- [http://www.thedenanproject.com/ The Denan Project - Provides Qualified Medical Relief For The People Of Denan] Government
- [http://www.ethiopianembassy.org/index.shtml Embassy of Ethiopia in Washington DC] information about the Ethiopian government
- [http://www.mfa.gov.et/ Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia]
- [http://www.moinfo.gov.et/ Ministry of Information of Ethiopia]
- [http://www.ethiopiancrown.org/ The Crown Council of Ethiopia] official monarchy site
- [http://www.ethiopar.net/ The Parliament of Ethiopia] official site News
- [http://www.addistribune.com/ Addis Tribune] newspaper with a weekly online edition
- [http://allafrica.com/ethiopia/ allAfrica - Ethiopia] news
- [http://www.ena.gov.et/ Ethiopian News Agency (ENA)] government agency
- [http://www.nazret.com Nazret.com] Ethiopian news portal
- [http://ethiopianreview.homestead.com/ Ethiopian Review]
- [http://www.helmmagazine.com/ Helm Magazine] art, culture, fashion and talent from Ethiopia
- [http://www.waltainfo.com/ Walta Information Center] news Overviews
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1072164.stm BBC News - Country profile: Ethiopia]
- [http://www.ethiopiantreasures.toucansurf.com Ethiopian Treasures - History, Culture, Language, Religion - Ethiopia]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/et.html CIA - The World Factbook: Ethiopia]
- [http://www.guardian.co.uk/ethiopia2000/0,2759,181415,00.html Guardian Unlimited - Special Report: Ethiopia 2000]
- [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ettoc.html Library of Congress - Country Study: Ethiopia] most data as of July 1991 Directories
- [http://www.ethiosearch.com Ethio Search ]Ethiopian on-line directory and search engine
- [http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317916/us559898/us559899/us10065672/us559917/ LookSmart - Ethiopia] directory category
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Africa/Ethiopia/ Open Directory Project - Ethiopia] directory category
- [http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/ethio.html Stanford University - Africa South of the Sahara: Ethiopia] directory category
- [http://www.afrika.no/index/Countries/Ethiopia/index.html The Index on Africa - Ethiopia] directory category
- [http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Country_Specific/Ethiopia.html University of Pennsylvania - African Studies Center: Ethiopia] directory category
- [http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/countries/ethiopia/ Yahoo! - Ethiopia] directory category Tourism
- [http://www.tourismethiopia.org Ethiopian Tourism Commission] government agency
- Portals
- [http://www.CyberEthiopia.com CyberEthiopia.com] (Ethiopic)
- [http://www.ethiopianreporter.com/ Ethiopian Reporter]
- [http://www.ethiosearch.com EthioSearch.com] (Amharic and English)
- [http://www.ethioindex.com/ EthioIndex.com] (News, Directory, Forums)
- [http://www.ethiozena.net/ EthioZena.net]
- [http://www.myethiopia.info/ myethiopia.info] Other
- [http://www.amharicsoftwares.com Amharic software store] download free Unicode standard Geez software
- [http://electionsinfo.com/election-information/viewforum.php?f=44 ElectionsInfo.com - Forum]
- [http://ethiopundit.blogspot.com/ Ethiopundit] blog of "Eclectic Ethiopian & Ethio-American Commentary"
- [http://www.rastafarian.nl/ethiopia/ethiopia.asp rastafarian.nl - Ethiopia]
- [http://tezeta.org/ Tezeta.org]
- [http://www.EthioNetworks.com Ethio Networks] website developers in Amharic

References


-
- Pankhurst, Dr. Richard.
- Category:African Union member states Category:Peace and Security Council Category:Landlocked countries zh-min-nan:Ityop'iya ko:에티오피아 ms:Habsyah ja:エチオピア th:ประเทศเอธิโอเปีย

1270

For broader historical context, see 1270s and 13th century.

Events

13th century

Europe


- December - Crucial aspects of the philosophy of Averroism (itself based on Aristotle's works) are banned by the Catholic church in a condemnation enacted by papal authority at the University of Paris.
- The Summa Theologiae, a work by Thomas Aquinas that is considered within the Roman Catholic Church to be the paramount expression of its theology, is completed (year uncertain).
- Witelo translates Alhazen's 200-year-old treatise on optics, Kitab al-Manazir, from Arabic into Latin, bringing the work to European academic circles for the first time.
- The Sanskrit fables known as the Panchatantra, dating from as early as 200 BCE, are translated into Latin from a Hebrew version by John of Capua.
- Construction of the Old New Synagogue in Prague is completed.
- The cathedral on the Rock of Cashel in Ireland is completed.

Asia


- In Korea, the Sambyeolcho Rebellion begins against the Goryeo Dynasty, a puppet government of the Mongol Empire.
- The ancient city of Ashkelon is captured from the crusader states and utterly destroyed by the Mamluk sultan Baibars, who goes so far as to fill in its important harbor, leaving the site desolate and the city never to be rebuilt.
- The city of Tabriz, in present-day Iran, is made capital of the Mongol Ilkhanate empire (approximate date).
- The independent state of Kutch is founded in present-day India.
- A census of the Chinese city of Hangzhou establishes that some 186,330 families reside within it, not including visitors and soldiers. (Historian Jacques Gernet argues that this means a population of over 1 million inhabitants, making Hangzhou the most populous city in the world.)

Africa

The Eighth Crusade


- Before August - King Louis IX of France launches the Eighth Crusade in an attempt to recapture the crusader states from the Mamluk sultan Baibars; the opening engagement is a siege of Tunis.
- August 25 - King Louis IX of France dies while besieging the city of Tunis, possibly due to poor quality drinking water.
- October 30 - The siege of Tunis and the Eighth Crusade end by an agreement between Charles I of Sicily (Louis IX's brother) and the sultan of Tunis.

Other events in Africa


- Yekuno Amlak overthrows the Ethiopian Zagwe dynasty, claims the throne and establishes the Solomonid dynasty (approximate date).

Births


- March 12 - Charles of Valois, son of Philip III of France (died 1325)
- Jacob ben Asher, Spanish rabbi and religious writer
- Theodore Metochites, Byzantine statesman and author
- Michael of Cesena, Franciscan theologian (died 1342)
- Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk (died 1306)
- Marsilius of Padua, Italian scholar (died 1342)
- Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (died 1324)
- Cino da Pistoia, Italian poet (died 1336)
- Ma Zhiyuan, Chinese poet

Deaths


- February 23 - Saint Isabel of France, daughter of Louis VIII of France (born 1225)
- July 14 - Boniface of Savoy Archbishop of Canterbury
- August 25 - King Louis IX of France
- August 25 - Alphonso of Brienne
- December 4 - Theobald V of Champagne, King of Navarre
- Philip of Montfort, Lord of Castres
- Béla IV of Hungary (born 1206)
- Mansa Wali Keita, second mansa of the Mali Empire
- Roger Bigod, 4th Earl of Norfolk (born 1212)
- Philip of Montfort, Lord of Tyre
- David VII Ulu, King of Georgia (born 1215)
- Isaac ben Moses of Vienna, Jewish rabbi and scholar (born 1200) Category:1270 ko:1270년

Yekuno Amlak

Emperor Yekuno Amlak (throne name Tasfa Iyasus) was neguse negest (1270 - 1285) of Ethiopia and founder (or some say restorer) of the Solomonid dynasty. He traced his ancestry through his father, Tasfa Iyasus, to Dil Na'od, the last king of Axum. Much of what we know about Yekuno Amlak is based on oral traditions. Most sources state that his mother was the slave of an Amhara chieftain in Sagarat (located on the main road between Begemder and Lake Hayq), and that the churchman who raised and educated him, and helped him to depose the last Zagwe king, was Saint Takla Haymanot. However, the British historian G.W.B. Huntingford believes "a better case can be made out" for Iyasus Mo'a, the abbot of Istafanos monastery in Lake Hayq, "if either of these saints had any part in the politics of the day.1 Traditional history further reports that Yekuno Amlak was imprisoned by the Zagwe king Za-Ilmaknun ("the unknown, the hidden one") in Malot, but managed to escape. He gathered support in the northern Amhara provinces and in Shewa, and with an army of followers, defeated the Zagwe king. Taddese Tamrat argued that this king was Yetbarak, but due to a local form of damnatio memoriae, his name was removed from the official records.2 A more recent chronicler of Wollo history, Getatchew Mekonnen Hasen, flatly states that the last Zagwe king deposed by Yekuno Amlak was none other than Na'akueto La'ab himself.3 Yekuno Amlak campaigned against the Kingdom of Damot, south of the Abbay River. Recorded history affords more certainty as to his relations with other countries. At first, his interactions with his Muslim neighbors were friendly; however his attempts to be granted an Abuna for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church strained these relations. A letter survives that he wrote to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars, who was suzerain over the Patriarch of Alexandria (the ultimate head of the Ethiopian church), for his help for a new Abuna in 1273; the letter suggests this was not his first request. When one did not arrive, he blamed the intervention of the Sultan of Yemen, who had hindered the progress of his messenger to Cairo. Taddesse Tamrat interprets Yekuno Amlak's son's allusion to Syrian priests at the royal court as a result of this lack of attention from the Patriarch. Taddesse also notes that around this time, the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch were struggling for control of the appointment of the bishop of Jerusalem, until then the prerogative of the Patriarch of Antioch. One of the moves in this dispute was Ignatius III David's appointment of an Ethiopian pilgrim as Abuna. This pilgrim never attempted to assume this post in Ethiopia, but -- Taddesse argues -- the lack of Coptic bishops forced Yekuno Amlak to rely on the Syrian partisans who arrived in his kingdom.4 Yekuno Amlak ordered the construction of the Church of Gennete Maryam near Lalibela, which contains the earliest surviving dateable wall paintings in Ethiopia.5

References

# G.W.B. Huntingford, The Historical Geography of Ethiopia (London: The British Academy, 1989), pp. 74f. # Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 68n.1. # Getachew Mekonnen Hasen, Wollo, Yager Dibab (Addis Ababa: Nigd Matemiya Bet, 1992), p. 28-29. # Taddesse, Church and State, pp. 69ff # Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time, A History of Ethiopia (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 59. Category:Rulers of Ethiopia

Lalibela

Lalibela is a city in the Amhara ethnic division, or kilil, of Ethiopia. It lies within the former province of Wollo. It is located over 2,500 m above sea level at and its estimated population (as of 2005) is 11,152.1 Lalibela is one of modern Ethiopia's holiest cities, second only to Aksum, and is a center of pilgrimage for much of the country. Unlike Aksum, the population of Lalibela is very nearly 100% Ethiopian Orthodox Christian.

Churches

This rural town is known around the world for its monolithic churches, which were built during the reign of Saint Lalibela (a member of the Zagwe Dynasty) who ruled the Ethiopia in the 13th century. There are 11 churches, assembled in three groups: The Northern Group: Bete Medhane Alem, home to the Lalibela Cross and believed to be the largest monolithic church in the world, probably a copy of St Mary of Zion in Aksum. It is linked to Bete Maryam (possibly the oldest of the churches), Bete Golgotha (known for its arts and said to contain the tomb of King Lalibela), the Selassie Chapel and the Tomb of Adam. The Western Group: Bete Giyorgis, said to be the most finely executed and best preserved church. The Eastern Group: Bete Amanuel (possibly the former royal chapel), Bete Merkorios (which may be a former prison), Bete Abba Libanos and Bete Gabriel-Rufael (possibly a former royal palace), linked to a holy bakery. Farther afield lie the monastery of Ashetan Maryam and Yimrehane Kristos church (possibly eleventh century, built in the Aksumite fashion but within a cave). Contrary to certain spurious myths, the great rock-hewn churches of Lalibela were not built with the help of the Knights Templar; rather, they were produced solely by medieval Ethiopian civilization. (This is testified to by the presence of many architectural decorations and styles similar to those of the ancient Ethiopian capital city of Aksum.)

History

During Lalibela's reign, the current town of Lalibela was known as Roha. "Lalibela" itself means "the bees recognise his sovereignty." The saintly king was given this name due to a swarm of bees said to have surrounded him at his birth, which his mother took as a sign of his future reign as Emperor of Ethiopia. The names of several places in the modern town and the general layout of the monolithic churches themselves are said to mimic names and patterns observed by Lalibela during the time he spent in Jerusalem and the Holy Land as a youth. Lalibela is said to have seen Jerusalem and then attempted to build a new Jerusalem as his capital. As such, many features have Biblical names - even the town's river is known as the River Jordan. It remained the capital of Ethiopia from the late 12th century and into the 13th century. The first European to see these churches was the Portuguese priest Francisco Alvarez, who accompanied the Portuguese Ambassador on his visit to Lebna Dengel in the 1520s. His description of these structures concludes: :I weary of writing more about these buildings, because it seems to me that I shall not be believed if I write more ... I swear by God, in Whose power I am, that all I have written is the truth2 Although Ramuso included plans of several of these churches in his 1550 printing of Alvarez's book, it is not known who supplied him the drawings. The next reported European visitor to Lalibela was Miguel de Castanhoso, who served as a soldier under Christovão da Gama and left Ethiopia in 1544.3 After de Castanhoso, over 300 years passed until the next European, Gerhard Rohlfs, visited Lalibela at some time between 1865 and 1870.

Other features

Lalibela is also home to an airport, a large market, two schools and a hospital. Ethiopian wolves can be seen near the town.

See also


- Church of St. George

References

# # Francisco Alvarez, The Prester John of the Indies translated by C.F. Beckingham and G.W.B. Huntingford (Cambridge: Hakluyt Society, 1961), p. 226. Beckingham and Huntingford add an appendix which discuss Alvarez's description of these churches, pp. 526-42. # De Castanhoso's account is translated in R.S. Whiteway, The Portuguese Expedition to Ethiopia (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1902), pp. 94-98.

External links


- [http://www.ethiopiantreasures.toucansurf.com/pages/lalibela.htm Ethiopian Treasures - Zagwe Dynasty, Rock-hewn Churches - Lalibela]
- [http://www.ethiopiatravel.com/Lalibela_eng.htm Lalibela, a city carved from legend]
- [http://www.imperialethiopia.org/history2.htm www.imperialethiopia.org/history2.htm]
- [http://www.utoronto.ca/deeds/pubs/golgotha/golgotha.html History of Lalibela churches]
- [http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=18 UNESCO World Heritage Site] Category:Cities in Ethiopia Category:World Heritage Sites in Africa

Inheritance

: Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an extremely important role in human societies. Both anthropology and sociology have made detailed studies in this area. Many cultures feature patrilineal succession, also known as gavelkind, where only male children can inherit. Some cultures also employ matrilineal succession only passing property along the female line. Even more radical than the patrilineal succession is the practice of primogeniture whereby all property goes to the eldest child, or often the eldest son (the first-born). Conversely there are also systems where everything is left to the youngest child. Some ancient societies and most modern states employ partible inheritance, whereby every child inherits (usually equally). There was also mixed systems:
- in Swedish culture beginning from 13th century and up until 19th century, a son inherited twice as much as his sister. This rule was introduced by the Regent Birger Jarl, and it was regarded as an improvement in its era, since daughters were previously usually left without.
- among ancient Israelites, the eldest son received twice as much as the other sons. Many modern states have inheritance taxes, whereby a portion of any estate goes to the government, though the government technically is not an heir. Employing differing forms of succession can effect many areas of society. Gender roles are profoundly affected by inheritance laws and traditions. Primogeniture has the effect of keeping large estates united and thus perpetuating an elite. With partible inheritance large estates are slowly divided among many descendants and great wealth is thus diluted, leaving higher opportunities to individuals to make a success. (If great wealth is not diluted, the positions in society tend to be much more fixed and opportunities to make an individual success are lower.) Inheritance can be organized in a way that its use is restricted by the desires of someone (usually of the decedent). An inheritance may have been organized as a fideicommission, which usually cannot be sold or diminished, only its profits are disposable. A fideicommission's succession can also be ordered in a way that determines it long (or eternally) also with regard to persons born long after the original decedent. Cf also trust. Royal succession has typically been more or less a fideicommission, the realm not (easily) to be sold and the rules of succession not to be (easily) altered by a holder (a monarch). In more archaic days, particularly the possession of inherited land has been much more like a family trust than a property of an individual. Yet quite recently in many European countries, sale of the whole of or a significant portion of a farm required consent from certain heirs, and/or heirs had the intervening right to obtain the land in question with same sales conditions as in the sales agreement in question. In common law jurisdictions an heir is a person who is entitled to receive a share of the decedent's property via the rules of inheritance in the jurisdiction where the decedent died or owned property at the time of his death. Strictly speaking, one only becomes an heir upon the death of the related person: it was improper to speak of the "heir" of a living person since the exact identity of the persons entitled to inherit would not be determined until the time of death. However, it is not totally wrong to speak about "heir" during the lifetime of the decedent at least in cases where the heir has such a position that only her/his own demise before, may prevent becoming a heir at the death (for example, if the birth of another person cannot take away the position as a heir) - this is a heir apparent.

See also


- Intestacy
- Majorat
- Nobility
- Order of succession
- Probate
- Royal family
- Will (law)
- Remainderman Category:Family Category:Property law

Agaw

The Agaw are a people of Ethiopia. They are mostly bilingual, speaking both a Cushitic language, as well as Amharic. The Agaw are first mentioned in an inscription of king Kaleb of Axum, and referred to in the writings of Cosmas Indicopleustes; based on this evidence, a number of experts embrace a theory first stated by Carlo Conti-Rossini that they are the original inhabitants of the Ethiopian highlands, and were either forced out of their original settlements or assimilated by Tigrinya and Amharic peoples.1 They currently exist in a number of scattered enclaves, which include the Bilen near Keren in Eritrea; the Qemant and the Kwara, who live in the Amhara region west of the Tekezé River and north of Lake Tana; a number of Agaw live south of Lake Tana towards the national border with Sudan; and another group live in the former province of Lasta, now part of the Amhara province, along its border with the Tigray region. The Beta Israel formerly lived in the northern Amhara region with the Qemant and Kwara, but in the late 1990s nearly all of this group had emigrated to Israel.

Notes

# Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (1270 - 1527) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 26.

See also


- Zagwe dynasty Category:Ethnic groups of Ethiopia

Axum

:This article is about the city of Axum. For the kingdom, see Kingdom of Axum Axum, properly Aksum, is a city in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, located at near the base of the Adoua mountains. It was the center of the Axumite Kingdom, which emerged around the time of the birth of Jesus and declined in the 12th century due to the shift of the power center of the Ethiopian Empire further south. Seventy-five percent of the people in the city are Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. The remainder of the population is Sunni Muslim and P'ent'ay. Due to its historical value, the ruins were included by UNESCO, in 1980, in the list of World Heritage Sites.

Axumite kingdom and Orthodox Christianity

World Heritage Site The kingdom of Axum had its own written language called Ge'ez, and also developed a distinctive architecture exemplified by giant obelisks. The kingdom was at its height under king Ezana, baptized as Abriha, in the 300s AD (which was also when it officially embraced Christianity). The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims that the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum houses the Biblical Ark of the Covenant in which lies the Tablets of Law upon which the Ten Commandments are inscribed. This same church was the site Ethiopian emperors were crowned for centuries until the reign of Fasilidos, then again beginning with Yohannes IV until the end of the empire. Axum is considered to be the holiest city in Ethiopia and is an important destination of pilgrimages. Significant religious festivals are the T'imk'et Festival (known as the Epiphany in western Christianity) on 7th January and the Festival of Maryam Zion in late November. In 1937, a 24-meter tall, 1700-year-old obelisk standing in Axum was cut into three parts by Italian soldiers and shipped to Rome to be re-erected. The obelisk is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of engineering from the height of the Axumite empire. Despite a 1947 United Nations agreement that the obelisk would be shipped back, Italy balked, resulting in a long-standing diplomatic dispute with the Ethiopian government, which views the obelisk as a symbol of national identity. In April 2005, Italy finally returned the obelisk pieces to Axum amidst much official and public rejoicing. It is due to be re-erected in November 2005. [http://english.people.com.cn/200510/30/eng20051030_217733.html]

Axum and Islam

Although Axumite Muslims have attempted to build a mosque in this most holy of Ethiopian towns, Orthodox residents have replied that they must be allowed to build an Ethiopian Orthodox church in Mecca (officially Makkah) if the Muslims are to be allowed to build a mosque in Axum. The connection of Axum with Islam is very old. According to ibn Hisham, when Muhammad faced oppression from the Quraish clan, he sent a small group that included his daughter Ruqayya and her husband Uthman ibn Affan, whom Ashma ibn Abjar, the king of Axum, gave refuge to, and protection to, and refused the requests of the Quraish clan to send these refugees back to Arabia. These refugees did not return until the sixth year of the Hijra (628), and even then many remained in Ethiopia, eventually settling at Negash in eastern Tigray. There are different traditions concerning the effect these early Muslims had on the ruler of Axum. The Muslim tradition is that the ruler of Axum was so impressed by these refugees that he became a secret convert. On the other hand, one Ethiopian tradition states that one of the Muslim refugees who lived in Ethiopia during this time converted to Orthodox Christianity, thus becoming the first known convert from Islam to Christianity. Worth mentioning is a second Ethiopian tradition, that on the death of Ashama ibn Abjar, Muhammed is reported to have prayed for the king's soul, and told his followers, "Leave the Ethiopians in peace, as long as they do not take the offensive."

Sites of interest

The major Aksumite monuments in the town are stelae; the largest number lie in the Northern Stelae Park, ranging up to the 33 metre-high Great Stele (believed to have fallen during construction) and the tallest standing 24m high King Ezana's Stele. They are believed to mark graves and would have had cast metal discs affixed to their sides, which are also carved with architectural designs. The Gudit Stelae, unlike the northern area, are interspersed with mostly fourth century tombs. Other features of the town include St Mary of Zion church, built in 1665 and said to contain the Ark of the Covenant (a prominent twentieth century church of the same name neighbours it), archaeological and ethnograpic museums, the Ezana Stone written in Sabaean, Ge'ez and Ancient Greek in a similar manner to the Rosetta Stone, King Bazen's Tomb (a megalith considered to be one of the earliest structures), the so-called Queen of Sheba's Bath (actually a reservoir), the fourth century Ta'akha Maryam and sixth century Dungur Palaces, the monasteries of Abba Pentalewon and Abba Liqanos and the Lioness of Gobedra rock art. Local legend claims the Queen of Sheba lived in the town. The city is also home to a small airport.

Bibliography


- Stuart Munro-Hay. Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity. Edinburgh: University Press. 1991. ISBN 0748601066 [http://users.vnet.net/alight/aksum/mhak1.html online edition]
- Yuri M. Kobishchanov. Axum (Joseph W. Michels, editor; Lorraine T. Kapitanoff, translator). University Park, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania, 1979. ISBN 0271005319
- Sergew Hable Sellassie. Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270 (Addis Ababa: United Printers, 1972).
- African Zion, the Sacred Art of Ethiopia, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993).

External links


- [http://www.ethiopiantreasures.toucansurf.com/pages/aksum.htm Ethiopian Treasures - Queen of Sheba, Aksumite Kingdom - Aksum]
- [http://archaeology.about.com/cs/africa/a/aksum.htm Kingdom of Aksum] article from About Archaeology
- [http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=15 UNESCO – World Heritage Sites - Aksum]
- [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aksu/hd_aksu_1.htm The Metropolitam Museum of Art – The Foundation of Aksumite Civilization]
- [http://www.ethiopiatravel.com/Axum_eng.htm On Axum]
- [http://www.selamta.net/axum.htm More on Axum]
- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02163a.htm Axum from Catholic Encyclopedia]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4472259.stm Final obelisk section in Ethiopia], BBC, 25 April 2005 Category:Axum Category:World Heritage Sites in Africa Category:Cities in Ethiopia

Damnatio memoriae

Damnatio memoriae (Latin for "damnation of memory", in the sense of removed from the remembrance) was a form of dishonor that could be passed by the Roman Senate upon traitors or others who brought discredit to the Roman Empire. The sense of the expression and of the sanction is to cancel every trace of the person from the life of Rome, as if he had never existed, in order to preserve the honour of the Urbs; in a town that stressed the social appearance and respectability (and the pride of being a civis romanus) as a fundamental requirement of the citizen, it was perhaps the severest punishment. Its most visible practice was in the condemnation of unpopular Emperors upon their deaths. The first emperor to be so condemned was Caligula (reigned 37-41), followed by Nero. Another notable example is the damnatio memoriae of Geta by his brother Caracalla. Upon passage of the damnatio memoriae, the person's name was stricken from any rolls of honor on which he may have appeared (some of them were called memoriae), and in the case of the Roman Emperors so condemned, their statues were destroyed and their name removed from public buildings.

Similar practices in other societies

The cartouches of the heretical pharaoh Akhnaton were mutilated by his successors. Herostratus set fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus to become famous. The Ephesus leaders decided that his name should never be repeated again. Marino Faliero, fifty-fifth Doge of Venice, was condemned to damnatio memoriae after a failed coup d'état. A famous example of the concept of damnatio memoriae in modern usage is the "vaporization" of "unpersons" in George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four ("He did not exist; he never existed"). Rumor among students at Harvard College holds that a special punishment is reserved for persons who falsified application materials; the College "expunges" the falsifier's record, damning his memory from any record of having associated with the institution. More modern examples of damnatio memoriae in actual practice was the removal of portraits, books, and any other traces of Stalin's opponents during the Great Purge.

Related article


- Forced disappearance

External links


- [http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/commissar_vanishes/vanishes.htm "The Commissar Vanishes"] — Yezhov airbrushed out of a picture with Stalin Category:Ancient RomeCategory:Roman EmpireCategory:Roman law

Pope John V of Alexandria

His Holiness John V was the Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark (1146 - 1166). According to the History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria, the Emperor of Ethiopia wrote to John in 1152 for a new abuna or metropolitan, because Abuna Mikael was too old; his request was denied. Although the name of the Emperor was not recorded, the scholar Carlo Conti Rossini identified him as Mara Takla Haymanot, arguing from this exchange that the true reason a new abuna was wanted was that Abuna Mikael refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the new Zagwe Dynasty.1

References

# Taddesse Tamrat. "The Legacy of Aksum and Adafa" in Church and State in Ethiopia. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972, p. 55. John V of Alexandria

History of Ethiopia

Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world. It has long been an intersection between the civilizations of North Africa, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Earliest History

Ethiopia has seen human habitation for longer than almost anywhere else in the world, with modern homo sapiens perhaps evolving there. There is some confusion over the usage of the word Ethiopia in ancient times and the modern country. The ancient Greeks used the word (Αιθιοπία) to refer to the peoples living immediately to the south of ancient Egypt, specifically the area now known as Nubia; modern usage has transferred this name further south to the land and peoples known until the early 20th century as Abyssinia. As a result, the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica states the connection between Egypt and Ethiopia is at least as early as the Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt was very intimate, and beginning with Piye, a ruler of the Twenty-fifth dynasty, occasionally the two countries were under the same ruler; however, the capital of these two dynasties was in the north of modern Sudan, at Napata. It is now known that in ancient times the name Ethiopia was used to refer to the nation based in the upper Nile valley south of Egypt, also called Cush, which in the 4th century CE was invaded by the Axum from the highlands close to the Red sea. The first records of Ethiopia proper come from Egyptian traders from about 3000 BC, who refer to lands south of Nubia or Cush as Punt and Yam. Detailed information about these two nations is sparse, and there are many theories concerning their locations and the ethnic relationship of their peoples. The state of Sheba mentioned in the Old Testament is sometimes believed to have been in Ethiopia, but more often is placed in Yemen. Others believe it covered parts of both the Yemen and present-day Ethiopia. According to legend, Menelik I, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, founded the Ethiopian Empire. Remains of a large stone temple dating to about 500 BC survive at Yeha, near Axum. Under the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt the arts as well as the enterprise of the Greeks entered Ethiopia, and led to the establishment of Greek colonies. A Greek inscription at Adulis, no longer extant, but copied by Cosmas Indicopleustes of Alexandria, and preserved in his Topographia Christiana, records that Ptolemy Euergetes, the third of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, invaded the countries on both sides of the Red Sea, and having reduced most of the provinces of Tigre to subjection, returned to the port of Adulis, and there offered sacrifices to Jupiter, Mars and Neptune. In Ancient Greece the Ethiopians were viewed as a sacred people that was mostly loved by the Gods. Memnon was regarded as one of the noblest heros that participated in the Trojan war and as the handsomest man of his time, bested in battle only by Achilles. According to a version of the myth, the Gods admired him so much that after his death from the sword of Achilles they decided to grant him immortality. According to Greek Mythology Ethiopians acquired their dark colour when the sun came once very close to their country. During the Persian expedition against Ethiopia, Herodotus describes Ethiopians as the tallest, handsomest and strongest people of the earth. According to his historical accounts, the Ethiopian King gave his huge bow as a gift to the Persian King and advised him to reorganise an attack against the Ethiopian realm only after he has managed to draw it (Histories - 3.22.1).

The Axumite Kingdom

Main article: Kingdom of Aksum The first verifiable kingdom of great power to rise in Ethiopia was that of Axum in the first century CE. The Persian religious figure Mani listed Axum with Rome, Persia, and China as one of the four great powers of his time. The origins of the Axumite Kingdom are unclear, although experts have offered their speculations about it. Even whom should be considered the earliest known king is contested: although C. Conti Rossini proposed that Zoskales, mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, should be identified with one Za Haqle mentioned in the Ethiopian King Lists (a view embraced by later historians of Ethiopia such as Yuri M. Kobishchanov1 and Segrew Hable Sellasie), G.W.B. Huntingford argued that Zoskales was only a sub-king whose authority was limited to Adulis, and that Conti Rossini's identification can not be substantiated.2 Inscriptions have been found in southern Arabia celebrating victories over one GDRT, described as "nagashi of Habashat [= Abyssinia] and of Axum." Other dated inscriptions are used to determine a flourit for GDRT (interpreted as representing a Ge'ez name such as Gedur, Gadurat or Gedara) around the beginning of the 3rd century. A bronze sceptre or wand has been discovered at Atsbi Dera with in inscription mentioning "GDR of Axum". Coins showing the royal portrait began to be minted under King Endubis toward the end of the Third Century. Christianity was introduced into the country by Frumentius, who was consecrated first bishop of Ethiopia by Saint Athanasius of Alexandria about 330. Frumentius converted Ezana, who has left several inscriptions detailing his reign both before and after his conversion. One inscription found at Axum, states that he conquered the nation of the Bogos, and returned thanks to his father, the god Mars, for his victory. Later inscriptions show Ezana's growing attachment to Christianity, and Ezana's coins bear this out, shifting from a design with disc and crescent to a design with a cross. From the scanty evidence available it would appear that the new religion at first made little progress. Towards the close of the 5th century a great company of monks known as the Nine Saints are believed to have established themselves in the country. Since that time monasticism has been a power among the people and not without its influence on the course of events. The Axumite Kingdom is recorded once again as controlling part -- if not all -- of Yemen in the 6th century. Kaleb invaded Yemen about 520 in order to depose the Jewish king Dhu Nuwas, and appoint Sumuafa' Ashawa' as his viceroy. Procopius records that after about five years, Abraha deposed the viceroy and made himself king (Histories 1.20). Despite several attempted invasions across the Red Sea, Kaleb was unable to dislodge Abreha, and acquiesed to the change; this was the last time Ethiopian armies left Africa until the 20th century when several units participated in the Korean War. Eventually Kaleb abdicated in favor of his son Wa'zeb and retired to a monastery where he ended his days. Despite this reverse, under Ezana and Kaleb the kingdom was at its height, benefitting from a large trade, which extended as far as India and Ceylon, and were in constant communication with the Byzantine Empire. Details of the Axumite Kingdom, never abundant, become even more sketchy after this point. The last king known to mint coins is Armah, whose coinage refers to the Persian conquest of Jerusalem in 614. An early Muslim tradition is that the negus Ashama ibn Abjar offered asylum to a group of Muslims fleeing persecution during Muhammad's life (615), but Stuart Munro-Hay believes that Axum had been abandoned as the capital by then3 -- although Kobishchanov states that Ethiopian raiders plagued the Red Sea, preying on Arabian ports at least as late as 702.4 The end of the Axumite Kingdom is as much of a mystery as its beginning. Lacking a detailed history, the kingdom's fall has been attributed to a persistant drought, overgrazing, deforestation, plague, a shift in trade routes that reduced the importance of the Red Sea -- or a combination of these factors. Munro-Hay cites the Arab historian Abu Ja'far al-Khuwarizani (who wrote before 833) as stating that the capital of "the kingdom of Habash" was Jarma. Unless Jarma is a nickname for Axum (hypothetically from Ge'ez girma, "remarkable, revered"), the capital had moved from Axum to a new site, yet undiscovered.5

The Ethiopian Dark Ages

About 1000, a non-Christian princess, Judith, conceived the design of murdering all the members of the royal family, and of establishing herself in their stead. During the execution of the nobles, the infant king was carted off by some faithful adherents, and conveyed to Shewa, where his authority was acknowledged, while Judith reigned for forty years over the rest of the kingdom, and transmitted the crown to her descendants. At one point in the next century, the last of Judith's successors were overthrown by an Agaw named Mara Takla Haymanot, who founded the Zagwe dynasty. One of the lights of this dynasty was the reign of Gebra Maskal Lalibela, in whose reign the stone churches of Lalibela were carved. In about 1270, the kingdom was restored to the royal house in the person of Yekuno Amlak, who deposed the last of the Zagwe kings.

Portuguese Influence

Under the Solomonid dynasty, the chief provinces became Tigray (northern), Amhara (central) and Shewa (southern). The seat of government, or rather of overlordship, has usually been in Amhara, the ruler of which, calling himself negus negusti (king of kings, or emperor), has exacted tribute, when he could, from the other provinces. The title of negus negusti has been to a considerable extent based on the blood in the veins of the claimant. All the emperors have based their claims on their direct descent from Solomon and the queen of Sheba; but it is needless to say that in many, if not in most, cases their success has been due more to the force of their arms than to the purity of their lineage. Towards the close of the 15th century the Portuguese missions into Ethiopia began. A belief had long prevailed in Europe of the existence of a Christian kingdom in the far east, whose monarch was known as Prester John, and various expeditions had been sent in quest of it. Among others who had engaged in this search was Pedro de Covilham, who arrived in Ethiopia in 1490, and, believing that he had at length reached the far-famed kingdom, presented to the negus, or emperor of the country, a letter from his master the king of Portugal, addressed to Prester John. Covilham remained in the country, but in 1507 an Armenian named Matthew was sent by the Emperor to the king of Portugal to request his aid against the Muslims. In 1520 a Portuguese fleet, with Matthew on board, entered the Red Sea in compliance with this request, and an embassy from the fleet visited the Emperor, Lebna Dengel, and remained in Ethiopia for about six years. One of this embassy was Father Francisco Alvarez, who wrote one of the earliest and not the least interesting account of the country. Between 1528 and 1540 armies of Muslims, under the renowned general Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, entered Ethiopia from the low country to the south-east, and overran the kingdom, obliging the emperor to take refuge in the mountain fastnesses. In this extremity recourse was again had to the Portuguese. John Bermudez, a subordinate member of the mission of 1520, who had remained in the country after the departure of the embassy, was, according to his own statement (which is untrustworthy), ordained successor to the Abuna (archbishop), and sent to Lisbon. Bermudez certainly came to Europe, but with what credentials is not known. Be that as it may, a Portuguese fleet, under the command of Christovão da Gama, was sent from India and arrived at Massawa in February 1541. Here he received an ambassador from the Emperor beseeching him to send help against the Moslems, and in the July following a force of 400 musketeers, under the command of Christovão da Gama, younger brother of the admiral, marched into the interior, and being joined by native troops were at first successful against the enemy; but they were subsequently defeated at the Battle of Wofla (28 August 1542), and their commander captured and executed. On February 21, 1543, however, Ahmad was shot and killed in the Battle of Wayna Daga and his forces totally routed. After this, quarrels arose between the Emperor and Bermudez, who had returned to Ethiopia with da Gama and who now wished the emperor publicly to profess himself a convert to Rome. This the Emperor refused to do, and at length Bermudez was obliged to make his way out of the country. The Jesuits who had accompanied or followed the da Gama expedition into Ethiopia, and fixed their headquarters at Fremona (near Adowa), were oppressed and neglected, but not actually expelled. In the beginning of the 17th century Father Pedro Páez arrived at Fremona, a man of great tact and judgment, who soon rose into high favour at court, and gained over the emperor to his faith. He directed the erection of churches, palaces and bridges in different parts of the country, and carried out many useful works. His successor Alfonso Mendez was a man of much less conciliatory manners, and the feelings of the people became strongly excited against the intruders, till at length, on the death of Emperor Sissinios, and the accession of his son Fasilidos in 1633, the Jesuits were expelled.

The Period of the Princes

This bitter religious conflict contributed to hostility toward foreign Christians and Europeans, which persisted into the 20th century and was a factor in Ethiopia's isolation until the mid-19th century, when the first British mission, sent in 1805 to conclude an alliance with Ethiopia and obtain a port on the Red Sea in case France conquered Egypt. The success of this mission opened Ethiopia to many more travellers, missionaries and merchants of all countries, and the stream of Europeans continued until well into Theodore's reign. This isolation was pierced by very few European travellers. One was the French physician C.J. Poncet, who went there in 1698, via Sennar and the Blue Nile. After him James Bruce entered the country in 1769, with the object of discovering the sources of the Nile, which he was convinced lay in Ethiopia. Accordingly, leaving Massawa in September 1769, he travelled via Axum to Gondar, where he was well received by Emperor Tekle Haymanot II. He accompanied the king on a warlike expedition round Lake Tana, moving South round the eastern shore, crossing the Blue Nile (Abay) close to its point of issue from the lake and returning via the western shore. On a second expedition of his own he proved to his own satisfaction that the river originated some 40 miles southwest of the lake at a place called Geesh (November 4, 1770). He showed that this river flowed into the lake, and left it by its now well-known outlet. Bruce subsequently returned to Egypt (end of 1772) by way of Gondar, the upper Atbara, Sennar, the Nile, and the Korosko desert. During the 18th century the most prominent rulers were the emperor Dawit III of Gondar (died May 18 1721), Amha Iyasus of Shewa (1744-1775), who consolidated his kingdom and founded Ankober, and Tekle Giyorgis of Amhara (1779-1799). The first years of the 19th century were disturbed by fierce campaigns between Ras Gugsa of Begemder, and Ras Wolde Selassie of Tigray, who fought over control of the figurehaed Emperor Egwale Seyon. Wolde Selassie was eventually the victor, and practically ruled the whole country till his death in 1816 at the age of eighty. Dejazmach Sabagadis of Agame succeeded Wolde Selassie in 1817, through force of arms, to become warlord of Tigre.

Leaving the Medieval World

Under the Emperors Tewodros II (1855 - 1868), Yohannes IV (1872 - 1889), and Menelik II (1889 - 1913), the kingdom began to emerge from its medieval isolation. Emperor Tewodros II was born Lij (= Mr) Kassa in Kwara, a small district of Western Amhara, in 1818. His father was a small local chief, and his uncle Ras Kinfu was governor of the districts of Dembea, Qwara and Chelga between Lake Tana and the undefined northwestern frontier. On the death of his uncle he was made chief of Kwara. He turned his attention to conquering the remaining chief divisions of the country, Gojjam, Tigray and Shewa, which still remained unsubdued. On February 11, 1855, Kassa was crowned negus negusti of Ethiopia under the name of Tewodros II. He soon after advanced against Shewa with a large army. Chief of the notables opposing him was Haile Melekot, a descendant of Asfa Wossen. Dissensions broke out among the Shewans, and after a desperate and futile attack on Theodore at Dabra Berhan, Haile Melekot died of exhaustion and fever, nominating with his last breath his eleven-year-old son Menelik as successor (November 1855). Darge, Haile's brother, took charge of the young prince, but after a hard fight with Angeda, one of Theodore's Rases, was obliged to capitulate. Menelik was handed over to the Emperor, taken to Gondar, and there trained in Theodore's service. Theodore afterwards devoted himself to modernizing and centralizing the legal and administrative structure of his kingdom, against the resistance of his governors. In 1865, Menelik, now a dejazmach of Tigray, arrived in Shewa, and was there acclaimed as Negus. On the death of Tewodros, many Shewans, including Ras Darge, were released, and Menelik II began to feel himself strong enough, after a few preliminary minor campaigns, to undertake offensive operations against the northern princes. But these projects were of little avail, for Kassai of Tigre, had by this time (1872) risen to supreme power in the north. Proclaiming himself negus negusti under the name of Yohannes or John, he conquered Menelik and Shewa.

Interactions with European Colonial Powers

Ethiopia stands with Liberia as one of the two places in Africa which were never colonized by European powers (if one excludes the brief Italian invasion and occupation between 1936 and 1941). However, several colonial powers had interests and designs on Ethiopia in the context of the "Scramble for Africa." In 1867, when Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, did not answer a letter King Theodore sent her, he took it as an insult and imprisoned several British residents, including the consul. An army of 12,000 was sent from Bombay to Ethiopia to rescue the captured nationals, under the command of Sir Robert Napier. The Ethiopians were defeated, and the British stormed the fortress of Magdala (now known as Amba Mariam) on April 13, 1868. When King Theodore heard that the gate had fallen, he fired a pistol into his mouth and killed himself. His son was taken to England to be educated at the expense of the nation. He died there in 1879, at the age of 17. Sir Robert Napier was raised to the peerage, and given the title of Lord Napier of Magdala.
Map of Ethiopia in 1908
Ethiopia in 1908, based on a Rand McNally map
The Italians now came on the scene. Assab, a port near the southern entrance of the Red Sea, had been bought from the local sultan in March 1870 by an Italian company, which, after acquiring more land in 1879 and 1880, was bought out by the Italian government in 1882. In this year Count Pietro Antonelli was despatched to Shewa in order to improve the prospects of the colony by treaties with Menelik and the sultan of Aussa. In April 1888 the Italian forces, numbering over 20,000 men, came into touch with the Ethiopian army; but negotiations took the place of fighting, with the result that both forces retired, the Italians only leaving some 5000 troops in Eritrea, as their colony was now called. Meanwhile Yohannes had not been idle with regard to the dervishes, who had in the meantime become masters of the Egyptian Sudan, continued, and in 1887 a great battle ensued at Gallabat, in which the dervishes, under Zeki Tumal, were beaten. But a stray bullet struck the king, and the Ethiopians decided to retire. The king died during the night, and his body fell into the hands of the enemy (March 9, 1889). Immediately the news of Yohannes's death reached Menelik, the king of the Shewa, he proclaimed himself emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia, and received the submission of Begemder, Gojjam and several other provinces. On May 2, 1889 Menelik, signed the Treaty of Wichale with the Italians, granting them a portion of Northern Ethiopia, the area that would later be Eritrea and part of the province of Tigray in return for the promise of 30,000 rifles, ammunition, and cannons (Pakenham, The Scramble for Africa p. 472-3). The Italians notified the European powers that this treaty gave them a protectorate over all of Ethiopia. Menelik protested and showed that the Amharic version of the treaty said no such thing. The conflict with the Italians came to head with their defeat at the Battle of Adowa on March 1, 1896. On October 26, 1896 a provisional treaty of peace was concluded at Adis Ababa, recognizing the absolute independence of Ethiopia. Regarding the question of railways, the first concession for a railway from the coast at Djibouti (French Somaliland) to the interior was granted by Menelik, to a French company in 1894. The railway was completed to Dire Dawa, 28 miles from Harrar, by the last day of 1902. When Menelik II died, his grandson, Lij Iyassu, succeeded to the throne but soon lost support because of his Muslim ties. He was deposed in 1916 by the Christian nobility, and Menelik's daughter, Zauditu, was made empress. Her cousin, Ras Tafari Makonnen, was made regent and successor to the throne.

Modern History

In 1930, after the empress died, Ras Tafari Makonnen, adopting the throne name Haile Selassie, was crowned emperor. His reign was interrupted in 1936 when Italian Fascist forces invaded and occupied Ethiopia (they first invaded on October 2, 1935, took the capital Addis Ababa on May 5 and formally annexed Ethiopia on May 9). The emperor was forced into exile in England despite his plea to the League of Nations for intervention. Five years later, the Italians were defeated by British and Ethiopian forces, and the emperor returned to the throne. Over the following decades, Emperor Selassie exerted numerous efforts to promote the modernization of his nation. The country's first important school of higher education, University College of Addis Ababa, was founded in 1950. The Constitution of 1931 was replaced with a new one in 1955, which expanded the powers of the Parliament. While improving diplomatic ties with the United States, he also sought to improve the nations' relationship with other African nations in helping to found the Organisation of African Unity in 1963. Despite these attempts at modernization, by the early 1970s the advanced age of Emperor Selassie was becoming a major problem for the future of his nation. As Paul B. Henze explains, "most Ethiopians thought in terms of personalities, not ideology, and out of long habit still looked to Haile Selassie as the initiator of change, the source of status and privilege, and the arbiter of demands for resources and attention among competing groups."6 Ethiopians worried for their future following his impending death, and whether his successors would continue his campaigns for modernization and economic development. After a period of civil unrest which began in February 1974, the aging Haile Selassie I was deposed on September 12, 1974, and a provisional administrative council of soldiers, known as the Derg ("committee") seized power from the emperor and installed a government which was socialist in name and military in style. The Derg summarily executed 59 members of the royal family and ministers and generals of the emperor's government; Emperor Haile Selassie died on August 22, 1975, allegedly strangled in the basement of his palace. Lt. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam assumed power as head of state and Derg chairman, after having his two predecessors killed. Mengistu's years in office were marked by a totalitarian-style government and the country's massive militarization, financed by the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, and assisted by Cuba. In December 1976, an Ethiopian delegation in Moscow signed a military assistance agreement with the Soviet Union. The following April, Ethiopia abrogated its military assistance agreement with the United States and expelled the American military missions. In July 1977, sensing the disarray in Ethiopia, Somalia attacked across the Ogaden in pursuit of its irredentist claims to the ethnic Somali areas of Ethiopia (see Ogaden War). They were assisted in this invasion by the armed Western Somali Liberation Front. Ethiopian forces were driven back far inside their own frontiers but, with the assistance of a massive Soviet airlift of arms and Cuban combat forces, they stemmed the attack. The last major Somali regular units left the Ogaden March 15, 1978. Twenty years later, the Somali region of Ethiopia remains under-developed and insecure. From 1977 through early 1978, thousands of suspected enemies of the Derg were tortured and/or killed in a purge called the "red terror." Communism was officially adopted during the late 1970s and early 1980s; in 1984, the Workers' Party of Ethiopia (WPE) was established, and on February 1, 1987, a new Soviet-style civilian constitution was submitted to a popular referendum. It was officially endorsed by 81% of voters, and in accordance with this new constitution, the country was renamed the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on September 10, 1987, and Mengistu became president. The regime's collapse was hastened by droughts and famine, as well as by insurrections, particularly in the northern regions of Tigray and Eritrea. In 1989, the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF) merged with other ethnically-based opposition movements to form the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). In May 1991, EPRDF forces advanced on Addis Ababa. Mengistu fled the country and was granted asylum in Zimbabwe, where he still resides. In July 1991, the EPRDF, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), and others established the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) which was comprised of an 87-member Council of Representatives and guided by a national charter that functioned as a transitional constitution. In June 1992, the OLF withdrew from the government; in March 1993, members of the Southern Ethiopia Peoples' Democratic Coalition also left the government. A border war with Eritrea (which separated from Ethiopia following the fall of the Derg in 1992) erupted in May 1998, lasting until June 2000. While this has hurt the nation's economy, it has also strengthened the ruling coalition. :See also : Ethiopia Subdivisions of Ethiopia

Additional Reading


- Sergew Hable Sellassie. Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270 (Addis Ababa: United Printers, 1972).
- African Zion, the Sacred Art of Ethiopia, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993).

Notes

# Yuri M. Kobishchanov, Axum, Joseph W. Michels, editor; Lorraine T. Kapitanoff, translator, (University Park, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania, 1979), pp.54-59. # As expressed, for example, in his The Historical Geography of Ethiopia (London: the British Academy, 1989), p.39. # Stuart Munro-Hay, Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity (Edinburgh: University Press, 1991), p.56. # Kobishchanov, Axum, p.116. # Stuart Munro-Hay, Aksum, pp.95-98. # Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia (New York: Palgrave, 2000.), p. 282.

External links


- Pankhurst, Dr. Richard.
- [http://tezeta.org/14/prince-alamayou-of-ethiopia Prince Alamayou of Ethiopia, by Lord Amulree]

Category:Emperors of Ethiopia

Category:Emperors Category:History of Ethiopia Category:Rulers of Ethiopia

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