HARAMAYA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SIENCES AND HUMANITIES

SCHOOL OF HISTORY AND HERITAGE MANAGEMENT

HANDOUT FOR THE COURSE:

ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN TO 1270

COURSE CODE: HiHM. 2111

CREDIT HOUR: 3

BY

HANAN ABDI

HARAMAYA UNIVERSITY

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CHAPTER ONE

PEOPLES, LANGUAGES AND GEOGRAPHICAL SETTINGS OF ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN

INTRODUCTION

Section 1: The Essence of History

In its antique origins, the term "history" is derived from theGreek word, ISTORIA, which meant “learning by inquiry, or an
account of one's inquiries..." Thus, from the very beginning, “history” is connected with making efforts to acquire
knowledge and providing a narrative of the knowledge soacquired. In its more practical usage, however, it has
cometo mean, in particular, study of the ‘past’ in general. The study of the origins and past development of
practicallyeverything can be called "history".

However, the major concern of the historian is the study of human society and its interaction with the natural
environment within which it thrives; and within the framework of the continuous process of change taking place in
time. Thus, Man, in his diverse social, cultural and physical milieu, is the main focus of the study of history. The
intellectual, religious, social, economic, political and various other activities of Man in the past have always
left lasting imprints on society in many different ways. The early actions of past generations of men profoundly affect
the lives and thoughts of their descendants in the present. There is such a continuum between the past and the present
that a proper understanding of the one is not entirely possible without a close examination of the other.

In many ways, the past continues to live in the present. Thus, on the whole, we continue to speak the languages of
our ancestors; follow their beliefs and religious practices; wear the costumes they were wearing; continue to practice
their ancient agricultural or pastoral ways of life; and keep the basic forms of their social organization. Of course, all of
these aspects of life have been changing from time to time; and none of them were practiced in exactly the same way in
the lifetime of our ancestors. Practically all the languages we speak today are bound to have been modified in some
ways; our Religious beliefs and practices will have undergone a number of changes: some of us have
adopted new fashions of clothing, gain our livelihood in different ways ; the forms of our social
organization have started to change drastically and even our ides of the world around us are increasingly
different from those of our ancestors . However, taken as a whole, the basic fabric of our society in this
region of Ethiopia and the Horn remains fundamentally the same and continues to have special
characteristics of its own.

In this natural process of change and continuity, history serves as a living dialogue between the past and the
present. It studies and interprets events of the past, the processes of change themselves and their inherent
meaning.

Since the historian is a man of his own time, he needs basic materials which connect him with the past
which he studies and which he tries to interpret. These materials serve the historian like a bridge between his
own period and the one which he has set out to study. These materials which are thus used by the historian
are called SOURCES. There are different kinds of such sources: but the most important ones are the
following:

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1. Primary Sources: These are direct remains of the period studied and interpreted by the historian. These
may include documents written at the time by contemporary individuals; material remains, like ruins of
buildings monuments, tools ornaments, pottery, coins, and other objects left in the passage of time. For very
ancient times, most of these Objects are buried under the ground and it is through the auxiliary
science of Archaeology that they are systematically recovered and sorted out for the historian to use in
his interpretations. For relatively recent times, however these remains of the past may be found
in well-organized archives, libraries or museums. But, wherever they are found, they have to be collected, properly
sifted and analyzed, studied honestly and carefully interpreted by the historian. It is this careful reconstruction and
interpretation of the past by the historian that is called history.

2. Secondary Sources: These are sources which are not direct products of the period studied by the historian but which may
help him understand it better. These usually include literary works by writers of different times based on the accounts of
others. They may be creative writings like HISTORICAL novels, plays, poems or even works which are results
of religious inspiration. Even the accounts of the historian can only serve as secondary sources on the period
he has studied. However good the historian might be, his works are only his reconstructions and his personal
interpretations of the primary sources for which they cannot be a substitute.

The most sacred responsibility of the historian is to substantiate all his statements with proper citations of the evidence.
He is not a creative writer like the novelist, the playwright or the post. His works are much more mundane and they
must be carefully supported by references to his sources. That is why the writings of historians tend to be rather
overloaded with numerous footnotes.

In recent years historians of non-literate- societies have refined the use of another type of source material which has been
transmitted from generation to generation, not through writing but through the narratives of old folks. This source is
called Oral Tradition and it is being increasingly used by the' historian in conjunction with other auxiliary materials.
Students of Ethiopian history have much use for oral traditions in the reconstruction of their past for which they
do not always have ready-made documentation.

Section 2: Geographical Setting of Ethiopia and the Horn

Introduction

The section among others deals with the main drainage basins of Ethiopia and the Horn; the basic
environmental zones of Ethiopia and the Horn and the most crucial geographical features that bordered the region
and which had much bearing on its long history. Moreover, the section also highlights the major economic
activities practiced in the variegated geographical and environmental settings of Ethiopia and the Horn.

The term"Ethiopia and the Horn" encompasses part of Northeast Africa which now forms the territories of the
modern states of:

 Ethiopia;

 Somalia;

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  Djibouti; and

 Eritrea.

Apparently the region is named Horn of Africa because of the horn-shaped tip of the continent that marks
off the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean.

It is a region of considerable environmental, linguistic and cultural diversity which is, however, tempered
by one of the most ancient and continuous processes of interaction among the various geographical,
linguistic and cultural elements. The most crucial geographical characteristic of this region, with much
bearing on its long history, is that it is bordered:

 in the west, by the Nile Valley which is the cradle ancient and brilliant civilizations of the world in
Ancient Egypt;

 in the north and northeast, by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden which have been, sincetime immemorial a
channel of communication between Northeast Africa the eastern Mediterranean the Near and Middle East; and

 in the east, by the Indian Ocean which has always connected Eastern Africa with the Near East and Middle East, India,
China and Southeast Asia.

River valleys, seas and drainage systems connected with them are very important in the life and
history of the people inhabiting the land. They are not only the source of the economic livelihood of
these people; but they are also valuable lines of interconnections among then People who live within
the same drainage system cannot avoid developing communication among them and, after a long
period of time, they established contacts characterized by a lot of interdependence and mutual
exchange of ideas, beliefs and other cultural forms. It is thus very important to study carefully the
river and drainage systems of a region like Ethiopia and the Horn to follow up and understand
properly the relationships of the people living within the various basins.

The region of Ethiopia and the Horn is the source of FIVE major Drainage Systems each of which
has a profound impact on the life and history of the local peoples and the relationship among then.
These drainage systems are:

1. The Nile River System which, all the way from North to South, dominates practically the whole
of the western part of the region. This system also links the region with the peoples of the Nile Valley
all the way from Uganda in the South to Egypt in the north, with its entire ancient historical and
cultural splendor.

2. The Awash Valley which is an entirely Ethiopian system linking cool rich highlands of Central Ethiopia with
the hot, dry lowland areas of the Danakil Depression.

3.The Gibe-Gojeb-Omo System which links theextremely rich area of southern Ethiopia withthe hot dry, lowlands
ofwhat is today northern- Kenya.

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4. The Ganale/Juba - Shebelle River System with it vast drainage area extending from the rich highland districts
of Arsi, Bale and Sidamo to the very hot coastal lowlands of southern Somalia; and

5. The Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes System which captures all the waters left out in between of the much
bigger basin of the Awash, the Gibe-Gojeb - Omo and Ganale/Juba - Shebelle rivers. It is also in the Rift that the
country’s major chain of lakes is located. Three parts are discernible in the chain: the northern cluster
(including Lakes Zway, Langano, Abyata, Shala and Awasa), Lakes Abbaya and Chamo in the middle, and
Lake Rudolf at the southern tip. There is also a string of volcanic crater lakes around the town of Dabra
Zayt, formerly named Beshoftu, some 31 miles (50 km) to the south of Addis Ababa

Another major feature of Ethiopia and the Horn is that, in terms of the ancient economic formation and
settlement pattern of the people, the whole region can be seen as consisting of the following three basic
environmental zones running roughly from north to south.

1. In the first place, there is the vast hot, lowland region which starts in a narrow coastal strip in the northeastern
tip of Eritrea: Widens gradually southwards to include much of the Sahel and the Danakil Depression, the lower
Awash Valley and the Djibouti Republic and extends to the Ogaden, the lower- parts of Harar, Bale and Sidamo and the
whole territory of the Republic of Somalia.

With the exception of the limited areas along the rivers which traverse this region the lower Awash, the Wabi Shebelle
and the Genale/Juba –this vast lowland region is hot and dry with only shrub bush as its major vegetation. Because of
this, a pastoral economy characterizes the life of the people since very early times. And the inhabitants here are
predominantly nomadic. There are a few off-shore islands (eg. Dahlaq, Socotra) in the Red Sea, the Gulf and the
Indian Oceanwhich are' inhabited by people closely related to those of the immediate mainland districts.

2. Immediately to the west of this lowland region we have the highland massif which starts from northern Eritrea and
continues all the way to southern Ethiopia, with an eastern extension forming the Arsi, Bale and Harar plateau. This is
an extremely rich country in which prosperous economy plow agriculture developed from ancient times. It is
here that the large majority of the populations of the region live. It is also here that the most ancient processes
of state formation took place

3. Further to the west, along the western foothills of the highlands and on the borderlands of what is today
the Republic of the Sudan, from north to south, there is another zone of hot lowlands which were
characterized in earlier times by thick forests particularly on the banks of the Nile and its tributaries. Here
lived, until very recent times, small groups of hunter-gatherers leading a basically nomadic way of life and
being almost entirely dependent on thefruits and animals of the forest.

The history of Ethiopia and the Horn is essentially the story of the economic, social, cultural and
political interaction of the peoples of these zones each with its own distinctive contributions to the overall
social development in the whole region.

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Section III. Peoples and Languages of Ethiopia and the Horn

1. CUSHITIC

The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family spoken in the Horn of Africa,
Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt. The most populous Cushitic language is Oromowith followed by Somali ,
and Sidamo in Ethiopia. Other languages with more than one million speakers are Hadia , Kambata , and Afar.

The region of Ethiopia and the Horn is predominantly Cushitic because the great majority ofthe populations are
speakers of Cushitic languages which are, however very many in number and consist of the following
subdivisions:

4.1 Northern Cushitic which was, in ancient times, more widely spread in the area between the Red Sea and
the Nile Valley. Today, it is represented by the Beja language spoken in the northwestern corner of Eritrea
and the neighbouring districts of the Republic of theSudan.

4.2 Central Cushitic which is believed to have been the ancient "language family covering the highland
districts of much of Eritrea, Tigrai, Gondar, Gojjam, Wallo and northern Shawa. Today, it has the following
branches:

4.2.1. Belen/Bogos in Eritrea;

4.2.2. Agaw spoken today in some parts of Ethiopia: on both sidesof the Takkaze river between Gondar and
Lasta, Qwara, Matakka1 and Agawmeder.

4.3 Lowland East Cushitic; spoken originally in the vast lowlands of the eastern part of the region of Ethiopia
and the Horn all the way from northeastern Eritrea to the Kenyan border and the Indian Ocean. This is the region,
we have seen, as the eastern environmental zone.

The Lowland East Cushitic languages comprise two dozen languages of the Cushitic family within Afro-
Asiatic. They are spoken mainly in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, and by Cushitic groups in northern
Kenya.

Lowland East Cushitic is often grouped with Highland East Cushitic (the Sidamic languages) but that group is
not well defined and considered dubious.

The most prominent Lowland East Cushitic language is Oromo. Other prominent languages include Somali
(spoken by ethnic Somalis in Somalia, Ethiopia, Yemen, Djibouti, and Kenya) and Afar (in Ethiopia, Eritrea
and Djibouti) with about 1.5 million.
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East Highland Cushitic which consists of the following modern languages:-

A. Hadya D. Libido G. Burji

B. Sidama E. Kambata

C. Alaba F. Gedeo

5. SEMITIC: This language family is represented by anumber of different groups subdivided as follows:

5.1. North Ethio-Semitic

A. Ge'ez, anancient language of northern Ethiopia now used only forreligious books and service,

B. Tegra in Eritrea

C. Tegeregna in southern Eritrea and in Tigray state and its environs in Ethiopia

5.2 South Ethio-Semitic: This branch is divided into the following:

A. Amharic E. Harari

B. Argobba F. Zay and

C. Gafat G. Selti

D. Guragenna

6. OMOTIC

Of languages now spoken mainly in the Omo valley but extending much further north in earlier times. There are as
many as 26 different Omotic languages spoken in Ethiopia. But the major ones among these are: Walayta, Gamo,
Gofa, Kafficho, Dawuro Dizi, Ari, Sheko and Maji. The other languages are spoken by very small groups of
people.

CHAPTER TWO: THEORIES OF STATE FORMATION

STATE FORMATION: A HISTORICAL SYSTEMS APPROACH

A “state" as a preliminary definition meant a form of government in which there exists centralized authority,
hierarchical differences in access to power and basic resources between individuals, reinforced by
institutionalized coercion, usually accompanied by the decline of kin structures. As such, there is no reason to
see these characteristics of "the state" as more important than any other agglomeration of characteristics.
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However, the recurrence of particular sets of traits in diverse areas of the globe (Mesoamerica, South America,
Africa, India, China, etc.) indicates that there may still be some use in talking about "state formation" as
opposed to the more general "political evolution". Political evolution, then, is the process by which societies
change their structures through time, generally in the direction of greater complexity.

3. 1.1. A Theory of the Origin of the State

For the first 2 million years of his existence, man lived in bands or villages which, as far as we can tell, were
completely autonomous.  Not until perhaps 5000 B.C. did villages begin to aggregate into larger political units.
But, once this process of aggregation began, it continued at a progressively faster pace and led, around 4000
B.C., to the formation of the first state in history.  (Here a state means an autonomous political unit,
encompassing many communities within its territory and having a centralized government with the power to
collect taxes, draft men for work or war, and decree and enforce laws.)  Although it was by all odds the most
far-reaching political development in human history, the origin of the state is still very imperfectly understood.  

Explicit theories of the origin of the state are relatively modern.  Classical writers like Aristotle, unfamiliar with
other forms of political organization, tended to think of the state as “natural,” and therefore as not requiring an
explanation.  However, the age of exploration, by making Europeans aware that many people throughout the
world lived, not in states, but in independent villages or tribes, made the state seem less natural, and thus more
in need of explanation.

Of the many modern theories of state origins that have been proposed, we can consider only a few.  Those with
a racial basis for example, are now so thoroughly discredited that they need not be dealt with here.  We can also
reject the belief that the state is an expression of the “genius” of a people, or that it arose through a “historical
accident.”  Such notions make the state appear to be something metaphysical or adventitious, and thus place it
beyond scientific understanding.  In my opinion, the origin of the state was neither mysterious nor fortuitous.  It
was not the product of “genius” or the result of chance, but the outcome of a regular and determinate cultural
process.  Moreover, it was not a unique event but a recurring phenomenon: states arose independently in
different places and at different times.  Where the appropriate conditions existed, the state emerged.

3.1.1.1VoluntaristicTheories

Serious theories of state origins are of two general types: voluntaristic and coercive. Voluntaristic theories hold
that, at some point in their history, certain peoples spontaneously, rationally, and voluntarily gave up their
individual sovereignties and united with other communities to form a larger political unit deserving to be called
a state.  Of such theories the best known is the old Social Contract theory, which was associated especially with

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the name of Rousseau.  We now know that no such compact was ever subscribed to by human groups, and the
Social Contract theory is today nothing more than a historical curiosity.

The most widely accepted of modern voluntaristic theories is the “automatic” theory.  According to this theory
the invention of agriculture automatically brought into being a surplus of food, enabling some individuals to
divorce themselves from food production and to become potters, weavers, smiths, masons, and so on, thus
creating an extensive division of labor. Out of this occupational specialization there developed a political
integration which united a number of previously independent communities into a state.  This argument was set
forth most frequently by the late British archeologist V. Gordon Childe.

The principal difficulty with this theory is that agriculture does not automatically create a food surplus.  We
know this because many agricultural peoples of the world produce no such surplus. Virtually all Amazonian
Indians, for example, were agricultural, but in aboriginal times they did not produce a food surplus.  That it
was technically feasible for them to produce such a surplus is shown by the fact that, under the stimulus of
European settlers’ desire for food, a number of tribes did raise manioc in amounts well above their own needs,
for the purpose of trading.   Thus the technical means for generating a food surplus were there; it was the social
mechanisms needed to actualize it that were lacking.

Another current voluntaristic theory of state origins is Karl Wittfogel’s “hydraulic hypothesis.” Wittfogel sees
the state arising in the following way.  In certain arid and semi-arid areas of the world, where village farmers
had to struggle to support themselves by means of small-scale irrigation, a time arrived when they saw that it
would be to the advantage of all concerned to set aside their individual autonomies and merge their villages into
a single large political unit capable of carrying out irrigation on a broad scale.  Theycreated thebody of officials
to devise and administer such extensive irrigation works brought the state into being.

This theory has recently run into difficulties.  Archeological evidence now makes it appear that in at least three
of the areas that Wittfogel cites as exemplifying his “hydraulic hypothesis”—Mesopotamia, China, and Mexico
—full-fledged states developed well before large-scale irrigation.  Thus, irrigation did not play the causal role in
the rise of the state that Wittfogel appears to attribute to it.

This and all other voluntaristic theories of the rise of the state founder on the same rock: the demonstrated
inability of autonomous political units to relinquish their sovereignty in the absence of overriding external
constraints.  We see this inability manifested again and again by political units ranging from tiny villages to
great empires.  Indeed, one can scan the pages of history without finding a single genuine exception to this rule. 
Thus, in order to account for the origin of the state we must set aside voluntaristic theories and look elsewhere.

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3.1.1.2Coercive Theories

A close examination of history indicates that only a coercive theory can account for the rise of the state.  Force,
and not enlightened self-interest, is the mechanism by which political evolution has led, step by step, from
autonomous villages to the state.

The view that war lies at the root of the state is by no means new.  Twenty-five hundred years ago Heraclitus
wrote that “war is the father of all things.”  The first careful study of the role of warfare in the rise of the state,
however, was made less than a hundred years ago, by Herbert Spencer in his Principles of Sociology.  

Regardless of deficiencies in particular coercive theories, however, there is little question that, in one way or
another, war played a decisive role in the rise of the state.  Historical or archeological evidence of war is found
in the early stages of state formation in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Japan, Greece, Rome, northern
Europe, central Africa, Polynesia, Middle America, Peru, and Colombia, to name only the most prominent
examples.

It should be clear that until very recently, theorists on the topic of state formation have largely been polarized
into two schools: conflict theorists, who emphasize the coercive role of the state in increasing and legitimating
inequality, and integration theorists, who point to the state's greater redistributive ability as its primary causal
feature. Neither of these two extreme positions is wholly satisfactory in every state, and neither is sufficient
explanation in any state. As Machiavelli sharply noted almost four centuries ago, both laws and arms make a
good prince, and it is impossible to have one without the other.

The history of the study of states could theoretically be extended back to the ancient philosophers, and
thenceforth to the Enlightenment philosophers such as Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. It is evident that the
tension between social contract, or integration models, and social conflict, or coercive models, extends
throughout this period. In the anthropological literature on states, one would expect no objection to the claim
that most Marxists and materialists adopt coercive models, while those emphasizing managerial functions
would propound integrative theories of state formation. However, the considerable evidence on both sides of
the debate (which we do not intend to go in detail) immediately leads one to suspect that neither theory is
wholly satisfactory.

Scholars who argue for the primacy of warfare as causal agent in state formation have generally combined the
two orientations of integration and conflict due to the nature of their "prime mover". Webster notes that warfare
facilitated "the emergence and survival of privileged managerial groups" in order to co-ordinate military efforts
and marshal resources. However, this integrative role is contrasted with his assertion that "Concentration of

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power is integrally related to concentration of wealth, and derives from it". This apparent contradiction suggests
that while initially, the need for integration enabled meritorious or cunning individuals to acquire control over
these resources, coercion and differential access to resources reinforced this position due to the resulting power
differential. Warfare is surely a necessary but insufficient condition for state formation.

CHAPTER THREE: ANCIENT STATES IN ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN

1.1.2. Class and State Formation in the Early History of the Horn

History is a discipline which studies the political and social institutions of societies and the economic relationships
which prevail within and between them. It is a discipline which attempts to describe the material and spiritual culture of
societies after they had passed the stage of barbarism and stepped into that of civilization.

As every aspect of man's way of life is implied by theterm of civilization it is difficult to give a simple definition of the
term. Civilization refers to every aspect of man's social life and behavior: his home and all the furniture in it, how and
by whom homes and furniture are made his family life and the way the members of his family, both individually and
collectively, relate to the community of which it is a part, how the community regulates its affairs and how it relates
with other communities around it, etc. The root for the word civilization is in the Latin word for city and citizen, thus
suggesting that a higher and better way of life is linked with living in permanent settlements in which several families
are engaged in diverse economic and cultural activities.

But man had not always lived in permanent settlements. There was a time when he lacked a great deal of the aspects
that characterize civilization. During the long period that man lived as hunter and gatherer, he had only a few basic
tools and the very beginnings of religious conscience. Cavepaintings and some artifacts like fertility statuettes show
that these hunters and food gatherers who lived mostly in natural caves had the beginnings of religion. They made
tools out of stones, bones and wood; and they wore the skins and furs of the animals they killed. As hunters and food
gatherers they moved about in .small groups, the young and able bodied men were specializing in trapping and
hunting the animals, the women and the very young concentrating in the gathering of grass seeds and other plant
foods. The division of labour was thus a natural one based on age. The need to travel light and fast limited their
material culture to what they could carry.

Civilization began when .man's mobile way of life was replaced by a sedentary way of life. The cause for this change
in man's way of life was the domestication of plants and animals. Pre historians have forwarded various explanations
of the radical shift man made from hunting the animals and gathering the seeds and fruits, which nature freely
provided, to growing his own food and caring for and breeding animals for their milk and meat. They suggest that a
combination of global warning of the climate accompanied by and an increase of the population of hunters brought

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about a diminishing in the numbers of animals. This, it seems, forced people to be concentrated in those areas where
food plants were most available. To keep people and animals out those spaces where particular kinds of grasses which
yielded edible seeds grew thick might have been fenced in. As food gatherers people were already aware of the
growing cycle of most of the grass types and they began to grow those which were most common and yielded more
seeds. The big animals which depended on dense bushes for their sustenance were reduced by hunting and the
animals that people were able to domesticate easily were the smaller once like sheep and goats. In China the pig was
one of the animals to be domesticated first.

Pre historians place the beginning of the domestication of plants and animals about 11.000 or 10, 000 years before
present (BP). The process of domestication took place independently in the various parts of the world. The kinds of
plants and animals that people domesticated were those which were more common in the various parts. Inthe Tigris
Euphrates or Mesopotamian valley, the Nile valley, China, India, the Horn of Africa, Tropical Africa as well as in
North and South America people began to cultivate those types of grasses which we now call cereals and other food
plants, especially vegetables.

It was more or less about this time that the domestication of plants replaced hunting and food gathering in the Horn of
Africa, especially in the more elevated and wetter-parts of it. We do not know anything yet about the animals, if any,
which may have been first domesticated in this region. The plants of the grass type which were domesticated here
were tefEragrotis tef and dagusaa (Eleusine coracana). Other plants which originated in this region were the oil seed
nug(Guiaotia abvssinica), a type of cabbage and the enset (Ensete ventricosum). At the early stage of his career as a
farmer the highland cultivator knew very little about crop rotation or any other way of slowing down soil exhaustion
and diminishing harvest. The ordinary response to this would have been shifting cultivation, and the domestication of
the enset plant (Ensete edule) reduced the need for continuous clearing of new plots. There are now archaeological
indications suggesting that the enset was widely cultivated over much of central and northern Ethiopia until the
increasing demands of states which had to support many units of professional, soldiers forced the farmers to cultivate
cereals only.

Instead of living in caves the farming man was forced to descend from the mountain sides and live near his cultivated
plots. He had thus to build his own house and to protect both house and plots by putting up fences about them. The
harvested crops had to be stored in such a way that they were protected from humidity and rodents. For better security
and to help each other in putting up houses and fences families now preferred to live together by forming larger
communities.

When man was hunter and food gatherer the size of his family was limited by the availability of food. Farming lifted
all the limitations on family size and the number of people began to grow at a faster rate. But the rate of growth was

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not the same everywhere. In river valleys where fertile soil was deposited by the annual floods crop yields were high.
The number of people in these naturally irrigated river valleys increased so much that slowly, in order to grow more
food, man had to innovate new ways of irrigating additional plots. Using the stick or hoe for planting seeds had to be
replaced by other methods of opening the earth. It was thus that the oxen drawn plough came into use in Egypt, from
which it was eventually introduced into the Horn.

We have seen that a primitive form of religion centered on nature worship and fertility rites had begun long before
man became a sedentary cultivator. At this early stage the process of worship was so simple that it might not have
required a priest or Shaman. With agriculture religion became more complex to the extent that there emerged priests
who specialized in performing the ceremonies for fertility prayers and in explaining the wishes and demands of the
spirits. To get from the labour of irrigation the needed results people needed to know and remember the periods of the
rise and fall of the water level. Likewise in areas which were not river valleys people needed to know the times when
the rains would begin and end. The responsibility of understanding these vital climatic cycles fell on the priests. It
was thus that calendars were invented. In most cases the length of the month was based on the movement of the
moon or the apparent movement of the sun. Otherwise the number of days in the week or in the year varied from
region to region. Where dykes or irrigation canals had to be built priests supervised the constructions because they
kept the records that allowed them to predict the levels of the rise and fall.

InMesopotamia, the Sumerian civilization grew around temples whose priests regulated, in the name of the various
gods and goddesses, the everyday activities of the people. We do not know whether in Egypt, China and India the
first states were also theocratic, with priests playing the role of governors and administrators "But it seems that
everywhere-the first tributes which the emerging farmers paid were to their gods and goddesses. These tributes which
were the earliest surplus products sustained the priests and were payments for the sculptors of the idols and the
builders and decorators of the temples. After the making of shelters, potteries and tools more complex decorative
types of crafts developed connected to a great extent with the whole system of worship.

Our knowledge of the prehistory of the Horn is still superficial and we still do not know what factors, in addition to
the primary factor of the beginning of farming, lay behind the emergence of complex societies. When class and
wealth differentiation began it was probably linked with the duties of priesthood and arbitration. Right at the
beginning both offices could have been exercised by the same person. But gradually a separation of responsibilities
-took place and the chief or headman became the leader and representative of his community and people. Before the
advent of colonialism -the chiefs or headmen of many Central and West African peoples had around them an aura of
sanctity and holiness to the extent that they did not need soldiers to protect them or enforce their wishes. They were
only assisted by a small body of advisers, amongst who were the head priests in the settlements of disputes and the
direction of matters connected with relations with other communities. We may assume that a similar situation
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prevailed among the peoples of the Horn of Africa, except that social transformation here took place longbefore the
era of colonialism. The development of classes and states with the characteristic institutions of militias and some kind
of bureaucratic administrations was hastened by the trade began to flow first within the highland communities
themselves and second between the highland peoples and those of the eastern and southern lowlands.

Exchange of some sort was a very old form of economic and social interaction. It existed even before man became
sedentary. With sedentary life, however, improvements in tool making enabled each farmer to produce more than
what he needed for his own and his family's bare subsistence. With his surplus produce he acquired better tools, better
pots and perhaps better woven clothing. This enabled some of the craftsmen to concentrate on the production of these
items while obtaining all or a good part of their food items from the farmers. At the beginning craftsmen and farmers
met at predetermined places in order to exchange their products. Gradually, however, some people would intervene as
intermediaries, buying the produce of both to take to these predetermined places or markets and to sell. By way of
protecting markets and traders’ chiefs and headmen would begin to receive contributions, so to speak protection
payments, which in time would become regular tributes. It was most probably in such ways that the voluntary
contributions which supported priests and chiefs were converted into compulsory tributes with which the state, its
militias and primitive bureaucracy were maintained.

In the early stages of the development of exchange relationship environmental differences could have played
important roles. Pots, for example, could be made from any kind of soil, but clay soil which was not found
everywhere was best for making durable pots. Farming communities living at the edge of the escarpments would in
time establish some kind of exchange relationship with neighboring lowland pastoralists. Salt being essential for both
human beings and animals, it was one of the oldest trade commodities. Communities living near hot water springs
(ambo) or those living near salt-pans in the lowlands were definitely in a 'position to benefit from what nature freely
provided.

To sum up the domestication of plants and animals which began to take place some 11,000 to 10,000 years ago made
man to lead a sedentary way of life. Improvements in nutrition and in his living and working conditions were brought
by the increasingly better tools that he made. Initially because of environmental differences but gradually because of
advances in craft technology which led to specialization of labour exchange relationships developed between
communities. The social affairs of such communities was at first regulated by priests who acted as mediators between
their people and the spirits which were believed to control human life from birth to death and natural phenomena such
as light and darkness, rain and drought, growth of plants, multiplication of domestic animals, etc. As production,
agricultural as well as craft, became market oriented the priests were gradually replaced by chiefs who began
collecting compulsory tributes with which they maintained themselves, their supporters and other followers. Societies

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all over the world followed this pattern of social transformation, although favorable environmental conditions helped
to hasten the rate of transformation in some regions of the world.

3.3. The Pre-Aksumite Sates

3.3.1.1. Punt

The state of Punt is one of the earliest states appeared in the Greater African Horn long before the rise of
Aksum. It is believed to exist in this Greater African Horn region in the very distant time. Egyptian sources
indicate that Egyptian rulers particularly the famous queen, Hatshepsut (r.1490-1468BC), sent a naval
expedition comprising five ships to the land of Punt under the command of a black captain named Nehasi. All
the five Egyptian ships are reported to have safely arrived in the land of Punt, and the invading Egyptians are
also said to have been warmly welcomed by the king of Punt, Perehu, his wife, Ati, his sons and daughters, and
his followers.

The Egyptian expedition is finally said to have brought back from the land of Punt various types of incense,
myrrh (brown gum obtained from trees used for making perfume and incense), cinnamon (sweet-smelling woods
(sandal)), ivory, rhinoceros horn, gold, ebony (hard black wood), leopards and leopard skins, as well as different
kinds of live monkeys.

Scholars, however, have not reached at an agreement as to the exact location of Punt. The varieties of incense and
myrrh brought back from the land of Punt during the early Egyptian expedition have suggested northern or north-
eastern Somalia to some scholars. Others are inclined more towards northern Ethiopia because of the
reference made to gold, ebony and monkeys. The latter point of view is reinforced by the fact that, at that early
stage in Egyptian history, its sailboats might not have been strong enough to pass through the Strait of Bab el-
Mandab into the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Wherever its precise location, it is clear that there was a
state in North-east Africa which had extensive trade links with Pharaonic Egypt over a long period of time.

3.3.1.2. Yeha

We have relatively better primary and secondary sources about Yeha as compared to that of the state of Punt.
Yeha is the other Pre-Aksumite state and a large Bronze Age archaeological site located to the northeast of
Aksum. Specifically, it is found at about 25km northeast of the modern town of Adwa.

The first reference to Yeha was made by Francisco Alvarez who visited the site in 1520 and mentioned the Pre-
Aksumite temple of Yeha in his book. The second European visitor of the site was James Bruce who visited

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Yeha in 1769. Henry Salt was the 3 rd European traveler to visit Yeha in 1810. Salt copied the inscription he
found at Yeha.

In 1906, members of the German expedition visited Yeha and prepared architectural designs of the temple and
copied the inscription he found at the site.

Yeha probably emerged around 1000BC and appears to have

reached the zenith of its power between 750 and 500BC. It is the
largest and most impressive site in the Horn of Africa showing
evidence of contact with South Arabia. According to scholars, Yeha
was probably the oldest town in Ethiopia.

According to Gedle Afsé, which was the hagiography of Aba Afsé, one of the Nine Saints, the South Arabians
came and settled in Yeha even before 1000BC (probably around 1990BC). They brought technicians from
Babylon to build great buildings, and dug earthen caves like boxes for their treasury, and put their precious
stones in. They built a great palace which took fifteen years to complete. In the palace, there lived two kings of
Semitic origin by the name Soba and Noba.

The first excavation at Yeha was carried out by Francis Anfray in

1960. Anfray discovered 17 tombs. He also found artifacts such as
ceramics and fine bronze objectives. Between 1971 and 1973, Anfray
undertook additional excavations and revealed a Pre-Aksumite
building.

The major excavation sites in Yeha include the Great Temple, a “palace” (perhaps an elite residence) at Grat
Be’al Gebri and the cemetery at Daro Mika’el with shaft tombs. The German expedition to Aksum had also
found some fragments of Sabean inscriptions. An altar with Sabean inscriptions was also found in the same
region in 1955. The temple of Yeha which is still found in a good condition belongs to the 6 th century BC.
Alvarez described the temple of Yeha as “a very large and handsome tower both for its height and the good
workmanship of its walls.” Except the roof and the wall on the western side, the temple still stands.

The archaeological mission to Yeha in 1959 also discovered well-hewn box like caves in which many objects
were found which today are displayed in the Archaeological Museum (like pottery, axes, etc). Generally, the
chronology of Yeha archaeology is as follows:

Yeha I:8th - 7th centuries BC = During this time, a small temple was built at the place where the latter Great
Temple was built. The earliest structure was also set at the palace at Grat Be’al Gebri.
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Yeha II: 7th - 5th centuries BC = During this time, the Great Temple and the palace at Grat Be’al Gebri were
built, and the construction of the elite cemetery at Daro Mika’el was begun.

Yeha III: Late first millennium BC = This is the late phase of construction at Grat Be’al Gebri, tombs T5 and
T6 at Daro Mikael.

Nineteen fragmentary inscriptions written in South Arabian

script on stone slabs, altars and seals have been discovered at
Yeha.

Yeha is in general one of the notable Pre-Aksumite sites witnessing the Pre-Aksumite technology of
architecture, metal working (metallurgy), pottery and inscriptions. The material objects provide a precise
knowledge of the nature of the Pre-Aksumite culture during this early time.

3.3.1.3. Hawulti - Melazo

Hawulti and Melazo are the two adjoining Pre-Aksumite sites located southeast of Aksum. The first excavation
was conducted in 1955/56 by Leclant with the support of the Ethiopian Institute of Archaeology. Leclant
discovered stones with Sabean inscriptions at Melazo. The excavation carried out in the region revealed a
complex structure with staircases. In 1958, additional excavations were undertaken under the leadership of
Contenson. The excavation revealed building structures dated to the pre-Christian period.

Contenson embarked on a large scale excavation at Hawulti covering a site about 3000 square meters in 1959.
The excavation uncovered two small temples made of dressed (cut and shaped) stones. In addition, statues of
seated women, bronze sculptures of a bull and an ibex were uncovered. All these artifacts were products of the
Pre-Aksumite culture.

The similarities between Yeha and Hawulti-Melazo could be as

follows:

 Both of them are found in the resent Tigray region not far
from Aksum.
 Both bear the discovery of pre-Aksumite temples.
 Both were excavated by archaeologists, and still are
archaeological sites.
 Both of them witnessed the discovery of various artefacts.

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3.3.1.4. Adulis

Being located south of the present port of Massawa, Adulis was visited in the 6 th century AD by Cosmas
Indicopleustes, who copied the Greek inscription there and included it in his great book, “The Christian
Topography”. Later, in the modern period of 1868, the British military expedition which was sent against
Emperor Tewodros II and which is sometimes known as the Napier Expedition, visited Adulis and discovered
ruins of the ancient buildings there. But it was in 1906 that the first scientific excavation was undertaken in
Adulis by the German expedition. Members of the expedition under the supervision of R. Sundstorm excavated
the northern part of Adulis. The large rectangular structure uncovered through the excavation was called by
Sundstorm “the Palace of Adulis.” The team also found coins of the Aksumite period. Through another
excavation, two other structures were discovered.

The archaeological research in Adulis continued between 1961

and 1962 during which time the Ethiopian Institute of
Archaeology conducted excavations under the leadership of
Anfray. The remains of buildings discovered indicate that fired
bricks were used. Fragments of pottery and grinding stones
were also found at Adulis. In addition to locally made artefacts,
amphoras of Mediterranean origin were discovered.

The charcoal and ash discovered in Adulis caused scholars to believe that Adulis might have been pillaged and
destroyed by fire.

Dear students! You need to underline that some of the artifacts discovered in Adulis belong to the Pre-Aksumite
times, while others are dated to the Aksumite period. This, therefore, indicates that Adulis remained as an
important port both during the Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite times.

Amphora is a clay pot used in the past for storing wine or oil. The
amphoras found in Adulis were imported from the Mediterranean
region. The discovery of amphoras indicates that wine and oil were
also imported to Ethiopia from the Mediterranean world.
3.3.1.5. Metara

The other Pre-Aksumite settlement site found half way between the town of Aksum and the ancient port city of
Adulis is Metara. It is one of the well documented and intensively excavated sites. Before the arrival of the

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German expedition, individual travelers reported the existence of ancient architectural remains at Metara. In
1906, the German team visited the site and drew sketches of a stele and a stone–throne found there.

In 1959, the Ethiopian Institute of Archaeology sent a team to Metara under the leadership of Anfray. The first
excavation was conducted at a site located 100 meters northwest of the Metara stele. The excavation witnessed
a building complex, several tombs and many artifacts. Excavations continued until 1965 under Anfray’s
supervision. The excavations conducted between 1961 and 1963 uncovered multi-room architectural complex
with fine objects made of gold, bronze and stone. The excavations of 1965 also witnessed similar multi-room
structures. The various architectural remains indicate that Metara was an important urban center during the Pre-
Aksumite era.

Some of the sites in Metara were excavated as deep as five meters. The excavated sites show two layers: the
lower layer belongs to the Pre-Aksumite and the upper one to the Aksumite times. Some of the artifacts are
dated to 500 – 300BC. There are also remains of the late Aksumite period dated to 700AD.

Excavations were undertaken at Metara between 1959 and 1965

by the Ethiopian Institute of Archaeology under the leadership of
Anfray. The excavations uncovered multi-room architectural
complexes and various artefacts made of gold, bronze and stone.
The dating of the artefacts discovered ranges between 500BC and
700AD.

3.3.1.6. Kaskase, Kohaito (Qohaito) and Tekonda

Kaskase, Kohaito (Qohaito) and Tekonda are the other Pre-Aksumite states located north of Metara. They yield
some pre-Aksumite remains. Particularly Kaskase revealed the discovery of undecorated stele and an inscription
to which reference is made to the people living there, while Kohaito witnessed the discovery of a dam. It is
believed that the three states had been important settlements, possibly small towns, during the Pre-Aksmite
times.

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3.3.1.7. Damat (D'mt)

The state of Damat was the immediate precursor of the state of Aksum with its centre a little to the south of
Aksum. It is the first locally identified state in Ethiopian history. Inscriptions of the king of Damat, tentatively
dated to the fifth century BC, show that he used the South Arabian politico-religious title of mukarrib. The
people also worshiped the principal god of South Arabia, Almouqah, in addition to Astar, god of heaven, and
Sin, god of moon.

It is an undeniable fact that beginning from the late 6th century BC, Soth Arabian (Sabean) culture started to
dominate the indigenous Ethiopian culture because of the migration of the South Arabians to the different
places in northern Ethiopia: Yeha, Metara and Coloe; and the cause of their migration was the existing close
commercial relation between their country and Ethiopia. As a result of this strong Sabean influence, most of
the inscriptions of this period were written in Sabean language. The rulers also used another south Arabian
title, mlkn, in addition to Mukarrib. One peculiar feature of the Sabean inscriptions is the absence of vowels
in the written words. Most of the words written are consonants. For instance, the state of Damat was
described as D’mt, while its three consecutive kings as RDM, RBH and LMN.

It is quite possible that the port of Adulis, which was to attain international fame in Aksumite times, was used by
Da'mat and perhaps also by its predecessors.

3.3.2. The Aksumite State

3.3.2.1. The Rise of Aksum

The genesis of the Aksumite state is now dated to the middle of the second century BC, particularly to 150BC.
Initially, its power was limited to a relatively small area comprising the town of Aksum and its environs.
Gradually, however, it expanded to include large territories in all directions. At the height of its power, its
territories extended from the Red Sea coast in the east to the western edge of the Ethiopian plateau overlooking the
Nile valley in the west, and from the northernmost corners of what is today Eritrea as far south as the northern
parts of Shawa. On a number of occasions, between the third and the sixth centuries AD, Aksum even had
territories in the southern parts of the Arabian Peninsula, in the present-day Yemen Republic.
The major factor for the expansion of Aksum from a small state to a large empire seems to be its strategic
geographical location. Aksum’s location between the Red Sea and the rich interior helped the Aksumite
kings to control not only the source of the main trading items but also Adulis (the key port) and the Red
Sea. By the fourth century AD, for instance, Aksum was the largest exporter of ivory and animal skin in
the region. In general, it was the economic prosperity of the Aksumite kings which brought their political
superiority in the region. Page 20 of 42
In 525 AD, King Kaleb of Aksum led a mighty naval expedition to South Arabia (which is now the Republic of
Yemen) when local opposition to Aksumite rule erupted into an anti-Christian movement which resulted in the
massacre of many Christians. Many inscriptions, coins and other archaeological remains attest to the Aksumite
rule over the area. The Aksumite kingdom was considered one of the most powerful states in the region,
particularly between the fourth and seventh centuries AD. During that period, it was in regular diplomatic and
commercial contact with the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium), Persia and other countries in the Near East
and the Indian Ocean.

King Kaleb’s expedition to South Arabia was directed against the Jewish Himyarite king, YusufAsar Yathar
(Dhu-Nuwasin the Arab accounts) who was persecuting the Christian population in Yemen of South
Arabia.This ostensible reason formounting the expedition across the Red Sea probably covers a number of
other causes,since it seems that Yusuf may have also acted against Aksumite interests, and those ofher
Roman allies, in the political and commercial spheres.

When Kaleb's forces arrived in Yemen, fighting continued at the end of which the Himyarite king, Yusuf,
was killed and his forces were decisively defeated. With the liberation of the Christian population in South
Arabia, a Christian ruler named Sumyafa` Ashwa` was appointed becoming a viceroy for the kings of
Aksum, particularly to Kaleb.

In economy, the Aksumite state was based on thriving plow agriculture in its highland provinces. It is since that
time that the traditional system of land tenure seems to have developed. The subjects had rest rights in their
respective provinces and they paid tribute to the royal court in Aksum in one of the two ways: in kind or in cash.
In the early days of their incorporation, the subjects paid their tribute regularly through their community elders or
chiefs. Gradually, however, the power of the Aksumite state became more firmly established and the tribute was
collected more directly, through a complex hierarchy of court functionaries. These functionaries or officials were
given gult right over the areas and populations they administered on behalf of the central court.

Plow agriculture constituted the base of the Aksumite economy. The mastery of the technology of irrigation,
along the lines practiced in south Arabia, contributed to the growth of agricultural production. The peasantry
was thus at the base of the social pyramid. In addition, the frequent campaigns conducted by the Aksumite kings
encouraged the institution of slavery, as the vanquished were customarily converted into captives. The
magnificent obelisks and other large edifices attest to the capacity of the ruling class to mobilize labour,
presumably conscripted, on a large scale. The apex of the social pyramid was formed by the royal family and its
lineage group.

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Trade was another important economic activity of the Aksumite Empire and the state obtained considerable
income from both internal and international trade. Indeed, trade seems to have been one of the major factors in
the initial formation of states in northern Ethiopia. The earliest states in the region seem to have been also major
centers of trade. At first, Aksum itself was probably only a watering station on one of the long distance trade
routes starting from Adulis and other trading posts on the Red Sea coast and going inland through such centers as
Coloe, Kaskasse, Matara, Yeha, and Hawilti-Malazo further west across the Takkaze river.

The area was criss-crossed by various trade routes connecting various market places in all directions. The regular
flow of trade was so vital to the state of Aksum in that one of its major concerns was to protect the trade routes
and make them safe from robbers. Only very few of these ancient market centers have been studied by
archaeologists. These studies, few as they are, have revealed ruins of palaces, temples, churches and ordinary
houses; important monuments like stelae and water dams; and different objects of trade like pottery, glassware,
jewellery, and coins spanning a long period of time.

The city of Aksum was the biggest of such ancient market centres and lasted for many centuries. It was also the
centre of the state where the kings and the nobility lived in handsome palaces and fortresses within the city and at
cooler sites on the neighboring hill tops. A number of temples, churches, public squares, parks, and a series of
royal cemeteries with elegant stone monuments (the obelisks that have made Aksum so world-famous) adorned
the city. A network of roads connected Aksum with the coast and various dependencies in the interior. Local and
international merchants frequented these roads. The road from the Red Sea port of Adulis to Aksum was the
most important thoroughfare used by merchants and other visitors.

Aksum also had a large fleet of ships which was used not only for trade but also for its wars across the Red Sea.

Two contemporary documents provide us detailed accounts of the internal and international trade of Aksum. The
first is The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, written around the middle of the first century AD, particularly around
50AD. Though the author of the book is not perfectly known, scholars suggest that he was a Greek sailor
coming from Egypt and developing the book as a commercial guidebook. The author describes in the book the
important ports of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, the main items of trade imported and exported, and even the
name of the Aksumite king, who is further characterized as mean but with a mastery of the Greek language, the
lingua franca of the Mediterranean world at the time

The second important document about Aksum is an inscription published in a book entitled The Christian
Topography. The book was written by a traveler named Cosmas Indicopleustes. It was Cosmas who copied the
Greek inscription of the unknown king mentioned above and included it in The Christian Topography. The
inscription is generally referred to as the Inscription of Adults because it was found in Adulis. The inscription,
Page 22 of 42
which was clearly written before the adoption of Christianity in Aksum, describes the various campaigns of the
king on both sides of the Red Sea. The main reasons for those campaigns the Aksumite king led were
commercial considerations, particularly the need to safeguard the trade routes and control those naturally rich
areas which were so crucial for the trade exchange. Another historical value of Cosmas's book is its description
of the "silent trade" practiced in the southwestern periphery of the Aksumite kingdom. According to this custom,
the two parties exchanged their goods without verbal communication.

According to The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, the major exports of the Aksumite
state and other parts of the Horn consisted mainly of natural products, ivory
(extracted from the huge herds of elephants which abounded in the area at the time
and which were systematically hunted down), myrrh, emeralds, frankincense, spices
(like ginger, cassia and cinnamon), gold, rhinoceros horns, hippopotamus hides,
tortoise shells, and some curiosity animals like apes. In exchange, a number of
manufactured goods were imported: different kinds of garments and textiles from
Egypt, India, Italy, and Persia; glassware and jewellery from Egypt and other places;
metallic sheets, tools, and utensils of various kinds; and even olive oil and wine
from Italy and Asia Minor (Laodicea).

An indicator of the very importance of the local and international trade in Aksumite times is the widespread use
of coins. The kings of Aksum minted and issued gold, silver, and bronze coins from the third to the seventh
centuries AD. These coins were usually adorned with Ge'ez and Greek inscriptions, the busts of the kings, and
symbols of their power and religious affiliation. The discovery of these coins in different parts of the world attests
to the wide extent of the international trade links of Aksum. Aksumite coins have been found in South Arabia in
great numbers, in Egypt, in Israel, and in the kingdom of Meroe (in present-day Sudan).

3.3.2.2. Aksumite Architecture

As the state of Aksum expanded, architecture also began to flourish and one of the unique architectural
technologies of this time was the engraving of stelae. According to the “Book of Aksum”, there were totally 58
(fifty eight) stelae in and around Aksum; and these stelae can be grouped into three: well made and decorated,
half completed and megaliths (not hewn). As local tradition says, the stelae were engraved in east Adwa region
specifically at a place called Hinzat and it was from this place that they were transported and were planted in
Aksum.

Page 23 of 42
From among the 58 stelae of Aksum, the longest one measures 33meters height and it is the first in the world in
its height. Unlike the rest stelae, this giant stele is highly decorated in all of its four sides. It represents a - 14
storied building with many windows and a false door at the bottom. It also bears a pre-Christian symbol which
is a disc and a crescent (half moon) at the top. Archaeologists have conducted a research on how this giant stele
was engraved. However, the stele has been broken down and is still lying on the ground. Different assumptions
are there on the reasons for the fragmentation of the stele. Some suggest that it was broken while the people
were trying to erect it. Some others conclude that it was broken during war especially during those destructive
years of Yodit (Gudit). Whatever the reasons, therefore, the giant stele has been broken down and is changed
into pieces in its original place in Aksum.

The second longest stele measures 24 meters height and it was successfully erected at Aksum. It was there until
the Fascist occupation of 1935. During the occupation period particularly in 1937, however, it was looted and
was taken to Rome, Italy, by the Fascist rulers.

In 1947, both Ethiopia and Italy signed a Peace Agreement by which Italy promised to return the looted obelisk
to Ethiopia and this promise was to be practical after 68 years in 2005.

The stele was cut into three pieces for the transportation purpose, and being loaded on the huge Antonov An-
124cargo plane, the first piece of the stele, which was the middle part of the stele, arrived in Ethiopia on 19
April 2005, while the second piece of the stele, which was the upper part of the stele, arrived in Ethiopia on 22
April 2005. Finally, the third and last piece of the stele, which was the bottom part of the stele, arrived in
Ethiopia on 25 April 2005.

The stele remained in storage in Ethiopia until the Ethiopia decided how to reconstruct it without disturbing
other ancient treasures still in the area of Aksum (especially the standing stele). By March 2007, the foundation
in Aksum had been poured for the re-erection of the stele near the standing stele, structurally consolidated in
this occasion. Reassembly began in June 2008, with a team chosen by UNESCO and led by Engineer Giorgio
Croci (who had also surveyed the stele’s dismantling in Rome in 2003) and the monument was resurrected in its
original homeland in Aksum and unveiled on 4 September 2008.

This second longest standing stele of Aksum represents a ten storied building with many windows and a false
door at the bottom.

The third longest stele of Aksum measures 21 meters and it represents a nine storied building with many
windows and a false door at the bottom. Unlike the first longest but broken stele, this third longest stele of
Aksum is smooth at the back of its side. It is without any decoration.

Page 24 of 42
In addition to the above decorated stelae, there are also stelae without any decoration in and around Aksum.

What makes the stelae of Aksum different from other monuments in the world is their
common shape at the top. All are monk-head shaped at the top. Regarding the Egyptian
pyramids, however, they are sharp pointed at the top. In some of the stelae, there also disc
and crescent shapes at the top indicating the worshiping of gods by the people. In some
others, there are small holes at the same top part; and in these holes, bronze and iron
objects were inserted. The reason why the people put these objects in the holes is still
obscure.

The Aksumite stelae witness the much technical talent of the Aksumite people and also the high standard of
their civilization. Most of them were engraved around the 3rd century AD, i.e. before the introduction of
Christianity. Nevertheless, the purpose for the erection of these stelae is still controversial among scholars. The
stelae say nothing about the purpose of their erection: No inscription describing the purpose is there on them.

Concerning the Egyptian pyramids, it is obvious to everyone that they were tombs for the rulers; i.e. the
Pharaohs. But to those stelae of Aksum, the purpose remains hidden. Some suggest that they were erected for
the Sun god. While others propose that they were erected as tombs for the prominent persons of the time.
According to archaeological evidence, however, the latter suggestion; i.e. their erection as tombs for the
prominent individuals, seems probable since most of the stelae are located near the tombs.

The stelae of Aksum can be compared to the obelisks (pyramids) of Egypt in length. In other aspects, however,
they are different. Inscription written from bottom to top is there on Egyptian obelisks, but is absent on most of
the stelae of Aksum. Moreover, the obelisks (pyramids) are sharp pointed at the top, while the stelae are monk-
head shaped.

In erecting the stelae, the Ethiopians most probably employed the Egyptian method for raising obelisks; i.e.
pulling the stelae using ropes.

The other technology of the Aksumite architecture was the construction of tombs. Different tombs have been
discovered in and around Aksum, especially around the stelae sites, and most of these tombs have horse-shoe
shaped entrances sometimes to underground rooms (classes). The dead bodies of kings and noblemen together
with some ornaments and goods were put in a stone coffin, and were buried in these tombs. The stone coffin
was used to protect the treasures from robbers. One good example of this architectural technology could be the
tomb of Kaleb and Gebre-Mesqel found to the north of the town of Aksum.

Page 25 of 42
3.3.2.3.The Introduction of Christianity

The Aksumite society was worshipping several gods before the introduction of Chritianity. King Ezana, one of
the Aksumite kings, for instance, was worshipping those gods of Mahrem (god of war), Bahir (god of the sea)
and Midir (god of the earth). These gods are mentioned in the pagan inscription of Ezana. According to this
inscription, Ezana attributed his victory to Mahrem and made offering to it.

Ezana was converted to Christianity by Fremnatos (Frumentius according to

Europeans) around 333AD. Fremnatos was a Christian from the eastern
Mediterranean region, particularly from Tyre of the Asia Minor. It was he who
caused Ezana to embrace Christianity by abandoning his pagan practice. Hereafter,
Christianity became the state religion of the kingdom of Aksum.

Ezana’s conversion into Christianity can be attested by the inscriptions written and
coins minted before and after his conversion. In those inscriptions written before his
conversion, he described himself as “son of Ares” (god of war). But in the latter
inscription written after his conversion, he begins his statement by saying “In the
faith of God and the power of the Father, and the son and the Holy Ghost who have
saved my kingdom ………..”

Similarly, on the coins minted before his conversion, disc and crescent shapes were
depicted. But on those coins minted after his conversion, the sign of the cross
replaced the position.

In fact, the faith of Christianity was initially limited to the king and his family in its earlier age. Its expansion
among the masses was to wait for the arrival of a group of monks known in Ethiopian tradition as the ‘Nine
Saints’ from the same eastern Mediterranean region in the late 5 th century AD, particularly in 480AD. The
monks came from the different parts of the then Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire and contributed
a lot to the expansion and consolidation of Christianity in Ethiopia.

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 Among other things, the ‘Nine Saints’:

Built churches and monasteries in and around Aksum;

Translated the Holy Bible and other religious books into Ge’ez;

Preached the Christian religion among the large sections of the Aksumite
society.

Dear learner, you need to note that the introduction and expansion of Christianity brought about some
significant changes.

Firstly, the Aksumite Empire strengthened its relationship with the Christian world. Aksum had even an
alliance with the major Christian power in the eastern Mediterranean region, i.e. the Byzantine Empire.

Secondly, Christianity brought about religious ties between Ethiopia and Egypt. The instrumental Fremnatius
was appointed as the first bishop of the Ethiopian church by the Patriarch of the Alexandrian Church, St.
Athnasius (St. Atnatewos). Since then until 1959 during which Ethiopia could consecrate its own first
Patriarch namely Abune Basliyos, the Ethiopian church had remained dependent on the church of Alexandria
in Egypt to get bishops. In other words, who had the upper hand in the administration of the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church until 1959 were the Egyptian bishops since Ethiopia was not in a position to consecrate
bishops because of its devoid of its own patriarch.

Lastly, Christianity gave rise to a new kind of relationship between the church and the state. The close
association with the church enhanced the power of kings by giving them ideological support. The church
preached the masses to be loyal and obedient to the king. The kings, in return, built churches and monasteries.
They also granted gult land to the church. This mutual benefit, therefore, resulted in a complete fusion of the
church and the state thereby enabling the king to act as head of both the church and the state.

3.3.2.3. The Decline of Aksum

Dear learner, as you have already noted, Aksum had even a territory in South Arabia during the time of its
heyday. As of the early decades of the seventh century AD, however, Aksum began to decline. The main
factor for this decline seems to have been the general change in the international situation following the
dramatic rise and rapid expansion of the Muslim Arabs throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and the Nile
Valley. Aksum was not the only state to feel the pressure of this new power.

The old powerful states of Byzantium and Persia, exhausted after their long struggle for supremacy, succumbed

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to the Islamic power with amazing speed in the years between 637and 641. Byzantium, which had been an ally of
Aksum, lost its rich provinces of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria to the Arabs, as well as eventually the whole of Asia
Minor to the Turks. Its rival, the Persian Empire, was also conquered by the Arabs in 640.

Thus, in a short period of time, the whole network of theinternational trade which
had sustained Aksum fell under the control of a new power. Aksum was cut off from
its old diplomatic and commercial partners. Although relations between the
Aksumite king and the new religion of Islam was friendly at the beginning,
commercial rivalry soon put Aksum at odds with the Islamic state. Rivalry between
Adulis, the Aksumite port, and the newly emerging port of Jeddah, on the Arabian
coast of the Red Sea, led to various confrontations both on sea and on land.

Adulis appears to have been sealed off when the Arabs occupied the Dahlaq Islands around 702.

As its international life line was cut, the Aksumite state began to decline economically. This naturally led
to the decline of its political and military power not only on the Red Sea coast but also in its interior
provinces where Aksumite hegemony was challenged by local rebellions. The impressive network of
trade routes was disrupted. The old market places and urban centers crumbled. The defense system of the
state broke down and there are reports of some subject peoples, notably the Beja in the north, openly
fighting against the Aksumite forces and even invading parts of its (Aksum’s) northern provinces.

This process of decline continued until about the middle of the eighth century when the city of Aksum could no
longer continue to be the capital. As a result, a general shift of the state center southwards started. The Christian
kingdom henceforth became a rural state. Having lost its old urban centers on the coast and along the ancient
trade routes, it became, instead, firmly established in its inland provinces. Its power was now strictly limited to
the highland environmental zone. That became the setting for a fundamental transformation of the Ethiopian state
and society. Unfortunately, little is known of these changes which took place between the eighth and twelfth
centuries. It is an unwitting admission of their ignorance, not of the inconsequentiality of the period, that some
writers, borrowing the term from European history, call it "the Dark Age".

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 Generally, the factors for the decline of Aksum can be summarized as internal
and external. The external factor was initially the growing power of the
Muslim Arab and the subsequent decline of Aksum’s external trade due to the
occupation of its outlet, Adulis, by the Muslim Arabs. The decline of
Aksum’s economy also brought about the decline of its political power. The
internal factor was, on the other hand, the rise of the local opposition from the
northern people of Beja that followed the weakening military power of
Aksum. All these two factors, therefore, finally brought about the decline and
collapse of the kingdom of Aksum.

CHAPTER FOUR: THE ZAGWE KINGDOM

After the downfall of the Aksumite kingdom in the mid-8th century AD, the
Ethiopian state was re-established in the mid twelfth century AD in the Agaw
province of Wag and Lasta, more specifically at Adafa (near present Lalibela) in
the district of Bugna, by a new Christian ruling house, the Zagwe dynasty. The
name Zagwe is derived from the name of the founders of the dynasty, the Agaw,
who were the most ancient peoples of northern Ethiopia.

The Agaw had long been included within the Aksumite Empire. When the power of
Aksum declined in its northern provinces, it was among the Agaw that the state
tookshelter, maintaining its center there for at least four centuries. Naturally, the
Agaw constituted the majority of the population in the new location. That apparently
gave them the opportunity to take part in large numbers in the state structure,
serving as soldiers andfunctionaries. After several centuries, the Agaw elite had
integrated so well with the ruling groups of ancient Aksum so that they could
compete successfully and take over the state administration finally.

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As noted above, the center of this new state of Zagwe was located in the district of Bugna in Lasta, more exactly
at a place called Adafa near the present site of Lalibala. The Agaw of this region had long been converted to
Christianity and they continued the ancient Aksumite political traditions almost intact.

The territory of the Zagwe kingdom extended from most of the highland provinces of the
ancient Aksumite kingdom in the north down to northern Shewa in the south; the Lake Tana
region and the northern part of what is today Gojjam in the west and the Zeila port of the Gulf
of Aden in the east.
Tax and tributes were the major income sources of the Zagwe rulers. Hence, the rulers used to encourage trade
from the coasts of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden through the Dahlaq Islands and the port of Zeila,
respectively.

The Zagwe pursued an active policy of re-establishing more regular contacts with Egypt and the Holy Places in
Palestine. This seems to have brought about a revival in Ge'ez literature with the introduction of several
documents which were later translated into Ge'ez.

From Egypt, the Zagwes used to bring bishops, while to Palestine (the Holy Land), the Zagwes used to conduct
the pilgrimage (holy journey).

The first ruler of the Zagwe dynasty was Mera Teklehaimanot or Zewge-Michael and he is believed to have three
sons: Tetewudim (the eldest), Girma Seyoum and Jan Seyoum (the youngest). After Mera Teklehaimanot,
Tetewudim ascended the throne to be succeeded later by the son of Girma Seyoum – Yimrihane Kristos.
Yimrihane Kristos was the first Zagwe emperor recognized as saint in the church calendar.

On his death, Yimrihane Kristos was succeeded by Harbie or Gebre-Maryam, who was son of Jan Seyoum and
brother of Lalibela. King Harbie is known in Ethiopian church history for his great attempt to get the consecration
of seven Ethiopian bishops at one time. For the success of his plan, he insisted the Alexandrian bishop in
Ethiopia, Aba Michael; the Alexandrian patriarch in Egypt, Aba Gebriel; and also the Egyptian sultan. Both
parties, however, refused to accept the request of King Harbie fearing the future religious autonomy of the
Ethiopians and hence, the loss of their influence over Ethiopia. Because of this unwillingness of the Egyptian
authorities, therefore, King Harbie became unable to succeed in his objective.

King Harbie was later succeeded by his brother, Lalibela or in his throne name - Gebre-Mesqel. As mentioned
above, Lalibela was the son of Jan Seyoum, who was the governor of the district of Bugna in the province of
Lasta. His mother was known as Kirewerna, while his wife was named Mesqel-Kibra. He spent some years in
Jerusalem because of the existing political rivalry between him and his brother, King Harbie.
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King Lalibela is known in Ethiopian history in particular and that of the world in general for his construction of
the outstanding eleven rock-hewn churches in his ruling province of Lasta, particularly at his capital, Roha (the
present Lalibela). He is said to have ruled the Zagwe kingdom for about forty years, probably from 1185-1225.

In fact, rock-hewn church construction was not the new technology introduced by the Zagwe rulers since there
were a number of rock-hewn churches in many parts of Tegray before the rise of the Zagwe dynasty. It was,
however, during the Zagwe period that this tradition attained its highest level of refinement. Thus the Zagwe
churches, reckoned to be some of the finest architectural and artistic achievements of the Christian world, have
been recognized by UNESCO as part of the World Cultural Heritage. The eleven rock-hewn churches of
Lalibela are, for instance, inscribed on the World Heritage List, as the unique architectural achievement of
humankind, in 1978.

The eleven rock-hewn churches of king Lalibela are grouped into three:

The first group constitutes those churches as Bete-Medhanialem, which is the largest of all the eleven rock-hewn
churches; Bete-Mariyam; Bete Mesqel; Bete Denagil; Bete-Debresina (Bete Mikael) and Bete Golgota, where
king Lalibela is said to have been buried.

The second group constitutes those churches of Bete Amanuel; Bete-Merqoriwos; Bete Abba Libanos and Bete
Gebriel we Rufa’el.

The third group constitutes a single church, i.e. the church of Bete Giyorgis.

Lalibela began the construction of the above eleven rock-hewn churches in the 10th year of his reign and is
believed to have spent some 24 years to complete the whole work.

There are three types of monolithic churches in Ethiopia. These are:

1. Cave churches: Churches with some decoration inside. They are almost similar with a natural cave. Eg.
Bete-Mesqel

2. Semi-hewn churches: Churches with detailed interior decoration and partial decoration outside. They are
not totally separated from the surrounding rock. Their roofs or walls are still attached to the rock. Eg. Bete
Denagil; Bete-Debresina (Bete Mikael), Bete Golgota, Bete Merqoriwos and Bete Aba Libanos.

3. Monolithic churches: Churches with detailed decoration both inside (including the roof) and outside. They
are completely separated (carved out) from the surrounding rock. Bete Amanuel, Bete Giyorgis, Bete
Mariyam and Bete Medhanialem.

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The first two types of churches are not separated from the main rock. It is only the third type of church, i.e.
monolithic church, which is hewn being separated from the main rock.

All the above three types of churches are, therefore, found at Roha – Lalibela, where they are hewn out of the
red volcanic rock.

Lalibela built the eleven rock-hewn churches in his ruling province of Lasta to
establish the second Jerusalem in this part of the country and hence, to satisfy the
needs of Christian Ethiopians, who used to travel to the Holy Lands in Jerusalem at
least once in their lifetime. By constructing these churches in Ethiopia based on the
model of the Holy Lands in the Middle East, therefore, Lalibela wanted to mitigate
and even avoid the difficulties which Ethiopian Christian travelers encountered in
their journey to Jerusalem.

The eleven rock-hewn churches were designed to symbolize both the heavenly and earthly life: the first and
third group of the churches represents earthly Jerusalem comprising the symbolic holy places like Getesemani,
Qeraniyo, Goligotha, Debre-Zeit, etc; while the 2nd group represents the heavenly life both the paradise and hell.

The eleven monolithic churches of Roha are continuation and development of the Aksumite art and architecture,

The legitimate son of Lalibela was Yitbarek. Following Lalibela’s death, however, the throne was given to
Lalibela’s nephew named Ne’akuto Le’ab, who was the son of king Harbie and his wife, Merkeza. Like
Yimrihane Kristos, Ne’akuto Le’ab is also recognized as a saint in the calendar of the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church.

On his natural death, Ne’akuto Le’ab was in turn succeeded by Emperor Emnet. The new emperor faced a
difference on the observance of Sabbath: one group supporting the observance of the two Sabbaths: Saturday
and Sunday, while the other group supporting the observance of only one Sabbath; i.e. Sunday. Finally the
emperor decided in favor of the 2nd group, i.e. to observe only one Sabbath, i.e. Sunday. Consequently,
supporters of the 1st group began to agitate against him considering him as a Catholic.

The last Zagwe king was Yitbarek, son of Lalibela. He was deposed from power by the 1 st ruler of the ascending
Solomonic dynasty, Yekuno-Amlak, who was the son of Tesfa Iyesus (the father) and Emine Sion (the mother).

3.3.3.1. The fall of the Zagwe Kingdom

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The end of the Zagwe rule came about through an internal problem of royal succession and political opposition
from power groups claiming descent from the ancient rulers of Aksum. These opposing elements were from the
ancient Cathedral of Aksum and the monastery of Debre Damo. They considered the reigning Agaw kings as
illegitimate successors of Aksum since they needed all the successive kings of Aksum to be direct descendants
of Menilik I, who was son of Queen Sheba and King Solomon of Israel.

It is not very clear how widespread in the country the political opposition to Zagwe rule was. But the immediate
beneficiary of this anti-Zagwe movement was a person by the name Yekuno-Amlak from Southern Wallo of the
Amhara province. Yekuno Amlak was considered to be the direct descendant of the last Aksumite king named
Dil Ne’ad. By using the military and moral supports of chieftains of southern Wallo and northern Shewa,
Yekuno-Amlak defeated the last Zagwe king, Yitbarek, and restored the Solomonic dynasty in 1270.

UNIT FIVE: THE EMERGENCE OF MUSLIM SULTANATES

THE SPREAD OF ISLAM IN ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN (MEANS, AGENCY, DIRECTION)

Aksum was the foundation of Ethiopian Christianity. What is less known is that Aksum had an important place
in the early history of the other important world religion, Islam, as well. In the year 615, the Prophet
Muhammad, sent a small group of his followers, including his daughter and her husband Uthman (who later
became the third caliph of the Islamic state) to Aksum to seek refuge from the persecutions they were suffering
in the hands of the rulers of Mecca. The Aksumite king, known as Ella Saham (or as Ashama b. Abjar in Arabic
sources) granted them asylum and permitted them to exercise their religion freely until they left back to Arabia
in 628.

As a result of this early contact, there has grown a tradition, particularly in Arabic sources and among Ethiopian
Muslims, that the Aksumite king (known as Ahmad al-Najashi) was converted to Islam.

After these early contacts, Islam then began to enter Ethiopia and the Horn on a larger scale through two points,
the Dahlak Islands on the Red Sea and Zeila on the western coast of the Gulf of Aden. It had been well
established in the Dahlak Islands by the beginning of the eighth century. By the beginning of the tenth century,
the prosperous Muslim community on the islands had developed a sultanate. At about the same time other
places on the Red Sea coast were settled by Muslims. It was from these coastal centers that Islam gradually
spread among the predominantly pastoral communities of the interior, largely through the agency of preachers
and traders. The Dahlak route, however, played a minor role in the introduction of Islam into the interior. This
was because Christianity was strongly entrenched as a state religion in Axum and later states of present day

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northern Ethiopia and open propagation of Islam was prohibited. Nonetheless, small Muslim trading
communities emerged in the principal centers along the major trade routes in the region.

The port of Zeila served as the second and more important gateway for the penetration of Islam into central and
eastern Ethiopia, particularly eastern Shawa, Wallo, and Harar. Islam had firmly established itself in the coastal
areas by the eighth and ninth centuries. From there, it radiated to southern and eastern Ethiopia by means of
Muslim clerics who followed in the footsteps of traders.

By the beginning of the eleventh century, a number of Muslim sultanates had begun to emerge in Harar and
among the Semitic- and Cushitic-speaking peoples inhabiting the eastern foothills of the Shawan plateau. The
earliest of these sultanates was the Sultanate of Shawa (not to be confused with the Shawan kingdom that
emerged in the 17th century) ruled by what came to be known as the Makhzumite dynasty, after the Makhzumi
clan of Mecca to which the founders claimed to belong. In the late thirteenth century, the sultanate of Ifat was
founded by Umar Walasma, who annexed the Sultanate of Shawa. Other Muslim states included Dawaro,
Fatagar, Bali, and Hadiya.

Unlike the Islamization process in North Africa and the Sudan, Islam in Ethiopia and the Horn was not followed
by Arabization. Although the Muslims in the region take pride in their association with early Islam, and some
of their languages reflect Arabic influence, they have remained attached to their national and ethnic identities.
Religious orders (turuq, sing, tariqa) have played an important role in the propagation and deepening of Islamic
faith. Three orders were particularly important in winning the allegiance of Muslims in the region. The
first was the Qadiriyya order, which was introduced from the Yemen into Massawa and Zeila and thence to
Harar in the early 16th century. It then spread into Wallo in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The second
was the Tijaniyyawhich spread mainly in Jimma and the surrounding region in the late 19th century.

Islam and Christianity have existed in the region for many centuries. As in the case of Christianity, the
establishment and growth of Islam contributedto the development andenrichment of the cultures of the region.
Like the Christian churches and monasteries, the mosques and Islamic centers of learning and pilgrimage have
been sources of collections of the cultures, traditions and literature of indigenous Muslims. At the same time,
Muslims of the region have maintained close links with the Islamic centers of Arabia, Egypt, and the Yemen
through trade, pilgrimage and visits undertaken for religious purposes.

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MUSLIM STATES IN THE ETHIOPIAN REGION & THE HORN

SULTANATE OF IFAT

Shawa, to the extent that it did not become part of the Christian empire, was replaced by the Muslim state of
Ifat. In A.D. 1277 the sultan of a rival state began to attack Shawa and finally deposed its Mahzumi ruler in
1285. A certain, whose name was Umar Walasma', became the founder of a new dynasty which traced its origin
from Arabia. The new state was also called Ifat by the ChristiansasWafat or Awfat by Muslim writers. Umar
Walasma owed his rise to power to the Christian emperor is clearly stated in a literary document.

Ifat was an autonomous kingdom with a mixed Muslim population. Its capital was situated upon an elevation
above a river valley. The country was fertile and well watered because of a sufficient rainfall, and its inhabitants
cultivated bananas and sugar cane, typical lowland plants.

Data concerning the first half of the fourteenth century were also transmitted through the historiography of the
Ethiopian Christians. The soldiers' songs in honor of Amda Sayon listed Ifat among the conquered areas of the
empire. The Amharic troops ravaged it in 1329, after its sultan Sabr al-Din had afforded refuge to Amano, the
rebel from Hadiya.

Additional information about the early days of the Ifat sultanate is provided by the famous historian Ibn
Khaldun (A.D. 1332-82), who also derived most of his materials from Ibn SacTd, but a reference to the then
current ruler brings his report up to his own time. Hakk al-Din, a sultan of the Walasma dynasty, was followed
by his brother Sa’ad al-Din in 1386. Ifat's political situation remained precarious: sometimes its rulers
recognized the suzerainty of the Christian emperor; sometimes they successfully fought for their independence.

Before the Ethiopian empire had established its hegemony in the area, the Ifat sultanate had been tributary for a
while to the kingdom of Damot, which was located south of the Abbay.

Al-Umari's description is the most substantial historical document relating to Ifat, and it also contains valuable
information about human life, customs, and material culture. The Ifat people earned their living from the
cultivation of wheat, sorghum, millet, and teff and from animal husbandry. Sugar cane, bananas, a variety of
fruits, beans, squashes, cucumbers, and cabbage completed the diet. Chat, habituated plant of the moist east
Ethiopian and Yemenite Muslims, is described for the first time as being consumed as a stimulant. Gold was
imported from Damot and from Siham, the latter a region somewhere in the west but not precisely identified.
The Ifat people did not develop their own coinage but instead used Egyptian dinars and dirhams for trading
activities. Its army, when fully recruited in case of need, could muster 5,000 horsemen and more than 20,000

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foot soldiers. It is also interesting to note that Shawa and Adal were mentioned among the seven districts of the
Ifat sultanate.

Ifat was a relatively wealthy, economically important, and a politically potent kingdom. All the agricultural
products mentioned by al Umari and Makrizi, including chat, are still typical today for the provinces of eastern
Shawa and northern Hararge between an average altitude of 1,800 and 2,000 meters.

Makrizi also provided details concerning the political history of the Ifat sultanate. Hakk al-Din II, who
succeeded to the throne in 1376 after a series of internal struggles between different pretenders, declared
himself independent of the Christian empire. But ten years later the Christian kingdom ruler Dawit I (1382-
1413) conquered and killed him. His successor, sultan Sa’ad al-Din II, continued the war and gained some
initial successes. Finally, however, the Ifat Muslims were beaten by the Christian army under the command of a
general called Barwa.

The sultan fled to the island of Zayla' where he was besieged and killed in A.H. 817 (A.D. 1415), and his sons
took refuge with Ahmad al-Ashraf Ismail, king of Yemen. When Zayla' was occupied by Christian kingdom
troops during the reign of Emperor Yashaq (1414-29), this meant the end of the Ifat sultanate as an independent
political entity. The center of Islamic power shifted eastward to the kingdom of Adal, which became inheritor of
the Ifat tradition and took suzerainty over the Muslim hemisphere in northeast Africa.

Emperor Yashaq's victories, on the other hand, resulted in the establishment of Christian domination over Ifat's
principal territories in the west. Emperor Zar'a Yacaqob consolidated Ethiopian control by the settlement of
military colonists. Zar'a Yacob's successor Ba'ida-Maryam (1468-78) preferred the principle of indirect rule and
appointed a native leader as ruler of Ifat, but at the same time he concentrated his efforts on the expansion of
Christianity.

From about 1300 until its decline in 1415, Ifat had also imposed its rule over other Muslim states like Adal,
Mora, Hubat, and Gidaya, thus controlling a large territory between the Shawan mountains and the northern
Somali coast. Ifat proper, however, when it became defined as a separate unit after splitting away from Shawa
in 1280-85, was much more restricted in size. It seems to have been a long narrow area running in a northeast-
southwesterly direction in the Afar plain. In the west is bordered Shawa. How far Ifat proper extended eastward
towards the Awash is uncertain. The name Ifat was preserved for a small district on the escarpment of eastern
Shawa, which is predominantly inhabited by Muslim Argobba.

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SULTANATE OF ADAL

According to Rochet, Adal's emergence as a powerful state, initiated by sultan Jamal al-Din was actively
continued by his brother Shihab al-Din Badlay. A new residence of the principality was established at Dakar
near Harar. When at the end of a disastrous epidemic a reconsolidation of the Christian empire took place and it
reached the peak of its power under Zar'a Yacob, Adal for its part was severely threatened. During Ba'ada-
Maryam's rule invading Adal troops were heavily defeated by the Ethiopians and their leaders captured. Already
in 1452 Sultan Badlay had sent an embassy to Cairo in order to report the deteriorating situation of his struggle
against Zar'a Yacob, but the Islamic coreligionists were unable to provide any practical help. His son
Muhammad was obliged to visit Zar'a Yacob's successor Ba'ada-Maryam with a quantity of gifts to implore him
for peace.

In the document relating to this emperor the Ethiopian chronicler for the first time calls the Walasma' ruler
"king of Adal" instead of Ifat. After Muhammed’s, death his successor Ladace-Asman (Lada°TcUtman) again
took up the fight against the Christian kingdom, but he seems to have been beaten by the Christian Emperor
Eskandar (1478-94).

According to information obtained by Alvares at the beginning of the sixteenth century, the troops of Mahfuz,
who was governor of Zayla and de facto ruler of Adal, used to raid the Christian kingdom territories in Amhara,
Shawa, and Fatagar every year during the fasting time, when the Christians were considerably weakened. To the
same author, Alvares, we owe the following short description of Adal on the eve of the so-called "great
conquest".

In 1516 the Adalites under Sultan Muhammad led a regular invasion into Fatagar, but they met the vigorous
counterattack of the well-prepared Ethiopian forces. Emperor Libna Dangal's (1508-40) army overwhelmed
Adal and destroyed the castle of the sultan at a place called Zankar. At the same time a Portuguese fleet
surprised Zayla when the garrison was away on the Ethiopian battlefields and burned the town.

Just at the time in which the Muslim rivalry to the Christian empire seemed totally to have been eliminated, a
new leader arose in Adal. He was Ahmad Ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (1506-43). He was destined to reconstitute
Adalite political power in today’s southeastern Ethiopia - at least for some decades - and which brought three-
quarters of the Christian empire under his control. From Ahmad's first spectacular victory over the Christians at
Shimbra Kure in 1529 until his final defeat and death at WaynaDaga near Lake Tana in 1543.

After Imam Ahmad's death, the new Adal leader, Amir Nur b. Mudjahid (1551-67) made another attempt to
break the Christian power.

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SULTANATE OF SHAWA

After Islamic had gained a foothold on the northeast African coast, it not only sporadically infiltrated the
hinterland over the course of centuries, but relatively early it also established a politically organized outpost on
the eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian highlands, Shawa. The etymological origin of the nameremains unclear.

The dynasty called Mahzumi, claimed to originate from a famous Meccan clan, established the Shawan
sultanate in around 896/7A.D. ,which from then on had a continuous existence for nearly 500 yearsand
weakened by struggles with neighboring Muslim dependencies which were seeking to throw off their
allegiance. There were ten rulers of this state, one of them female, between 896 and 1285, when the adjacent
sultanate Ifat gained control of it under Umar Walasma. This meant the end of Shawa's existence as an
independent principality.

During the rule of Emperor Amda Siyon, when the first important southward expansion of Christian settlement
took place, Shawa was among the Muslim territories ravaged from the north. In the second half of the
fourteenth century, a Shawa at least partially dominated by Muslims still existed. This inference can be drawn
from Makrizi's report that Hakk al-Din, ruler of Ifat who began his reign about 1363/64A.D, after he had won a
triumphant victory against the combined forces of his Muslim rivals and the Christian army.

During the fifteenth century territorial and cultural changes took place, but we do not know about their
processes. The difficulty of locating Shawa is that a Muslim sultanate and a Christian province of this name
seem to have existed simultaneously during a certain period. A mere sequence of these two political entities can
therefore definitely be excluded, andthe question arises whether they had by accident identical names or
whether there was a traceable connection both geographically and historically.

The Muslim principality of Shawa must be sought in the lowland areas east of the Ethiopian plateau since there
seems to be no tangible evidence to show that it ever comprised districts in the highland area west of the
escarpment.

By the time of Amda Siyon, Ethiopian rule had reached the region of Tagulat, where a capital existed in a place
called Maradi. As far as we know from the primary source materials, during his reign the regions of Indagabtan,
Garaya, Katata, Madra Zega, Mugiir, Sarmat, Tagulat, and Wagda constituted the Christian province of Shawa.
Two hundred years later the Portuguese located it between the southeastern loop of the Abbay and the upper
Awash.

It is not impossible, although it cannot be explicitly proved from the documents, that this Low Shawa, which
seemed to have included some boundary districts of the old sultanate, adopted the name from it and later
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transferred it to the Christian province. The extension of place names to other areas has always been a
widespread phenomenon in Ethiopia. In more recent times, it is well known that the geographical scope of the
political entity Shawa became more and more enlarged to the south.

The history of Muslim Shawa, which we must accept as the oldest political foothold of Islam in southeast
Ethiopia, is still an unsolved problem of research. It differed from principalities established later in that it did
not start its inland push from the Somali coast but from the north and then seems to have undergone a gradual
dislocation to the east.

SULTANATE OF FATAGAR

The first reference to the name Fatagar is found in the chronicle of Emperor Amda Sgyon, who annexed this
area as part of the Christian kingdom’s province and installed a governor. From the fourteenth century up to the
Inter-state wars, Fatagar was, without intermission, a dependency of the Christian empire. This is substantiated
by the fact that it is not listed by the Arabic historiographers (al-Umari, Makrizi, and so on) as one of the
Islamic principalities. In the beginning of the sixteenth century, Emperor Labna Dangal temporarily resided in
Fatagar. The Portuguese traveller Alvares, who met him there, transmitted a rather general description of the
country. Fatagar was a hilly lowland area with thoroughly cultivated fields of wheat and barley, fruit trees, and
extensive grazing grounds full of numerous herds of cattle, sheep, and goats.

Ahmad Gran's troops invaded Fatagar for the first time in 1531 and then devastated the area in several
subsequent campaigns. The Christian commander Salam-Saggad was killed in the battle of Aifars and was
replaced by a rebel called KurcayUthman, who immediately betrayed Labna Dangal, reconverted to Islam, and
joined the Muslim party with the forces of his province. For a short period Fatagar was then a sultanate under
the suzerainty of Adal, until Emperor Galawdewos conquered it after a decisive victory over the Muslim
governor Abbas in 1545. It was also in Fatagar four years later that Galawdewos himself was killed in a battle
against the Adalite leader, Amir Nur Mudjahid.

STATE OF HADIYA

In the case of Hadiya the problems of location and ethnic identification possess a special complexity, and there
is in fact no other old state in southeast Ethiopia about which so many speculations and mistaken analyses have
been made.

The famous chronicle KibraNagast ("glory of the kings"), written in the thirteenth or early fourteenth century, is
presumably the earliest literary document, as far as we know, in which the name "Hadiya" is mentioned. Within
it we are told that the Ethiopian emperor defeated the Hadiya, hereditary enemies of the Christian state, and
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devastated their lands. In 1286/87 the name "Hadiya" was also referred to, without any further comment, in
connection with the Sultanate Shawa.

Some details about the military conflicts of Christian kingdom of Ethiopia with the Hadiya were reported in the
Amda Sayon chronicle. A "false prophet" is said to have incited the Hadiya leader Amano to wage war against
the emperor. The Christian kingdom’s troops did not hesitate to invade Hadiya (1329), killed many enemies,
carried a large quantity into captivity, and then deported them into their own country. Beginning in this period,
Hadiya was listed among the dependencies of the Christian empire. In order to keep the conquered people in
check, Amda Sayon prohibited them from carrying offensive weapons and from riding bridled horses. In 1332 a
rebellion was suppressed, and a military contingent was recruited from the Hadiya to join the Christian
kingdom’s army in its campaigns against Ifat.Towards the end of Amda Sayon's reign, an important land grant
was made to a resourceful courtier from Hadiya who suggested the establishment of stables in his country
toassure a cheaper supply of horses for the imperial cavalry.

During this time also a process of evangelization started, and missionaries were sent into Hadiya. The fact that
Hadiya had indeed become a tributary of the Christian empire in the fourteenth century is confirmed by the
reports of Arab historians. Ibn Fadl Allah al-Umari repeated this information in his work and referred to Hadiya
as the largest and militarily most important among the seven states of the Muslim federation of Zayla'. Its army
was estimated at 40,000 horsemen and doubles the amount of foot soldiers. Makrizi's History of the Islamic
Kingdoms in Ethiopia (1434) presents no more than a scanty summary of al-Umar’s materials. Additionally he
reported that the Ifat/Adal sultan Hakk al-Din once defeated (c. A.D. 1370) the Amano, prince of Hadiya, who
fought against him as a vassal of the Christian emperor.

Throughout the entire fifteenth century, Hadiya struggled repeatedly to obtain its independence from the
Christian kingdom. Zar'a Yacob's chronicle reported a conspiracy initiated by the Hadiya leader Mahiko, son of
the Garad Muhammad. The rebellion failed because another chief, Gadaytogarad, revealed the conspirator's
plans to the emperor and advised him to entrust the command in the Hadiya country to GaradBamo, who had
been loyal. With the assistance of imperial troops from the Damot province, Bamo, Muhammad’s brother,
conquered the rebels and re-established Christian suzerainty. The emperor himselfmarried a Hadiyya princess,
the daughter of Garad Mohammed, who under her Christian name Elleni (Helena) played a very important role
in Ethiopian history until her death in 1532. She was also well known to the early Portuguese travellers and
ambassadors who negotiated with Labna Dangal. It continued to be customary for princesses from Hadiya to be
provided for the imperial court. In connection with the title garad (which is, incidentally, still used today), a
series of names, clearly identifiable as denominations of contemporary subgroups, were mentioned in the Zar'a
Yacob’s chronicle.
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The relations between the Christian empire and the Hadiya remained dangerous under the rule of Zar'a Yacob's
successor Ba'ada-Maryam. Following the principles of indirect rule, this emperor appointed an indigenous
garad in that country.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the "Queen" of Hadiya came to the court of Emperor Labna Dangal to
ask him for military aid in order to crush a rebellion against her husband's throne. The eyewitness Alvares
described her visit in these terms: "This queen came quite like a queen, and brought with her fully fifty
honorable, well-dressed Moors on mules, and one hundred men on foot, and six women on good mules. Labna
Dangal offered 15,000 soldiers but then he decided to lead the expedition himself.

During the wars of Imam Ahmad Ibrahim, troops invaded Hadiya from the region of Dawaroin 1531/32. Since
the majority of the Hadiya were themselves Muslims, they seem to have agreed voluntarily to the change in rule
and joined the Adal armies in their campaigns against the Christians.

After Ahmad’s death, Emperor Galawdewos sent an army against the allied Hadiya and Oromo, conquered
them, and took many prisoners. A last important document concerning the relations of Christian kingdom with
the Hadiya is preserved in Sarsa' Dangal's chronicle. After the complete surrender of the Hadiya chiefs,Sarsa
Dangal left their country in 1570.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the name "Hadiya" was still repeatedly mentioned. From then on
the vassalage of this principality to the Ethiopian empire was only nominal.

The political-geographical situation as it appeared after the upheavals of the Oromo expansion induced scholars,
attempting to reconstruct the historical map, to locate the territory of the old state of Hadiya in the region on
both sides of the upper Gibe.

According to Ibn Sa’ad, Hadiya was situated south of Ifat, which by that time (in the thirteenth century) reached
eastward as far as the Somali coast. Analysis of the Arabic geographers, especially their information that
Hadiya was part of the Zayla' confederation, induced some later scholars to equate it with Adal.

According to Alvares in the beginning of the sixteenth century, Hadiya extended from the middle of Adal and
from Wag almost as far as Mogadishu. In Hadiya, according to the reports of the Gran campaigns in a part of its
course constituted the boundary with Bale. From the seventeenth century Hadiya appeared on the maps as a
relatively small area west of Lake Zway. Alvares's report that Hadiya extended to Mogadishu can only mean
that it reached so far to the southeast that it went beyond the geographical horizons of the informants. A direct
connection with the Somali coast can nevertheless be excluded.

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The discrepancies of location largely resolve themselves if we visualize a more dynamic process of ethnic and
geographical displacement. It can indeed be concluded from the written records that in the case of Hadiya a
territorial shift took place from the east, from Hararge, to the highlands west of the Rift Valley. This is very
clearly confirmed by the people's oral traditions about their migrations. In an early period of the Islamic states,
before they expanded towards the interior of Ethiopia, they were all concentrated within a limited area on the
East African Horn, and in later times, when a political and territorial differentiation had occurred, they were
occasionally still referred to with the general name Zayla.

Various place names, which were occasionally mentioned in records concerning the Hadiya. On the other hand,
as already mentioned, the old denomination for their leaders, garad, has been preserved by the Cushitic-
speaking Hadiya.

In the vicinity of Hadiya some smaller political entities were sometimes mentioned, which seem to have been
inhabited by similar ethnic groups. In Amda Sayon's time the Christian kingdom had established suzerainty
over a territory called Sharka. The emperor's chronicler later accused the "ruler of Sharka" of having cooperated
with the Muslims of Dawaro against the Christian army. Passing through Dawaro, 'Amda Sayon led a punitive
expedition against Sharka, bound its governor Yusuf, and plundered the land, which seems to have been
considerably rich in livestock. Scattered information, probing hardly more than its existence as a political entity,
was transmitted by al-Umari and Makrizi. The people of Sharka were very similar in their life style and their
economic conditions to those of Dawaro and Arababni. Its army could muster 3,000 cavalrymen and double that
number of foot soldiers.

When the inter war broke out, the conquered area was then put under the command of the Adal and the Futuh
repeatedly mentioned it in its reports of campaigns to break the resistance of the Ethiopian general. From then
on, Sharka was definitely lost for the Christians, who, after Adal's decline, did not make an attempt to re-
establish.

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