UNIT 3

PEOPLES AND STATES IN ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN To The End Of The 13th. C

3.1 Languages, Religions and Peoples of Ethiopia and the Horn

3.1.1 Languages families

I. Afro-Asiatic Super – Family

 This super-family covers the largest sector of Ethiopian population.

A. Cushitic
 The vast majority speaks Cushitic language family in terms of both areal coverage and size of
speakers.
1. Northern Cushitic
 In ancient times, Northern Cushitic was widely spread between the Red Sea and the Nile
Valley.
 North Cushitic is represented only by the Beja people's language, spoken in what is today
Northwestern Eritrea.
2. Central Cushitic
 Bilen in Eritera
 Agaw including Bilen, Agaw, Qimant, Himitagna and Awign in Ethiopia.
3. Eastern Cushitic
 is both the largest and the most diverse branch of the Cushitic family languages in Ethiopia.
For this reason, it has been subdivided into Highland and Low land East Cushitic.
 Lowland Cushitic:- Oromo, Afar, Somali, Konso, Gidole, Erbore, Dassenech and Saho.
 Eastern Highland Cushitic:- Hadiya, Kambata, Tambaro, Halaba, Sidama, Gedeo, and Burji.

B. Semitic
1. Northern Semitic:
 Geez
 Tegra ( in the Eriterean low lands )
 Tigeregna ( Southern Eritera & Tigeray )

2. Southern Semitic
 Amharic
 Aregoba
 Gafat ( now extinct )
 Guragegna
 Silte
 Harari & Zay

C. Omotic
 Most of the Omotic speakers live in and around the Omo River basin

Ari, Banna, Basketo, Bench, Chara, Dawuro, Dime, Dizi, Dorze, Gamo, Ganza,
Gayil, Gofa, Hozo, Kachama, Ganjule, Karo, Keficho, Konta, Korete, Male, Melo, Nayi,
Oyda, Sezo, Shekkacho, Sheko, Wolaita, Yem, Zayse etc.

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II. Nilo - Saharan Super – Family

 In Ethiopia, the Nilo-Saharan superfamily speakers

mainly live on the Ethio-Sudanese border.
 But some of these peoples are living in the Abay gorge and along the banks of the
tributaries of Abay in Wallaga.
 This superfamily has two families, A & B

A. Chari-Nile:
Anuak, Nuer, Mi'en, Majang, Benishangul, Kunama, Mursi,
Surma and Tirma.

B. Koman:

Gumuz, Koma, Sese, Ma'o, and Komo

3.1.2 Major Religions of Ethiopia

A. Indigenous Religions
 Indigenous religions are beliefs that are practiced only within a given culture.
 A distinctive mark of indigenous religion is belief in one Supreme Being, but special powers
are attributed to natural phenomena considered.
 For example, the Waqeffanna of the Oromo is based on the existence of one Supreme Being
called Waqa.
 Waqa's power is manifested through the spirits called Ayyana. Revered experts, Qallu (male)
and Qallitti(female), have maintained a link between the Ayyana and the believers.
 An exciting feature of indigenous religion is its practices and beliefs are fused with
Christianity and Islam. This phenomenon of mixing of religions is known as syncretism

B. Judaism
 Judaism is established in the teachings of the Old Testament part of the Bible and share
common practices with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
 Both follow the Old Testament practices and use Geez for liturgy.
 Their priests were likewise identical in dressing, symbolism, behavior and hierarchy
 Today it is practiced by a community of people known as Bete-Israel (literally, house of
Israel). Until their mass exodus to Israel in the 1980s and 1990s, they used to live in
northwestern Ethiopia, to the north of Lake Tana in the provinces of Dembiya, Semen, and
Wegera.

C. Christianity

 Christianity was introduced to Ethiopia around 330AD by Frumentius (also known as

Freminatos), who converted king Ezana (r.320 - 350AD) and his close associates.
 With the coming of monks called the ‘Nine Saints’ towards the end of the fifth century,
Christianity spread more among the broad masses.

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  The introduction of Christianity further reinforced the exposure of Aksum to the outside
world. One significant development was the long-lasting relationship between Ethiopia and
Egypt.
 Patriarch Atnatewos of Alexandria consecrated Freminatos as Abuna Salam, the first bishop
of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
 This tradition of consecrating and sending a bishop to Ethiopia continued until 1959 when
Abune Baselios became the first Ethiopian Patriarch. Until that year, the head of the Church
was always from Egyptian.
 At the end of the fifteenth century, Portuguese voyages of discovery opened the way for
contacts between Catholicism and Ethiopia.
 From the mid-sixteenth to the early seventeenth centuries, the Catholics, namely the Jesuits,
unsuccessfully tried to convert Ethiopian Orthodox Christians to Catholicism.
 In the mid-16th century, Ethiopian rulers allowed Jesuits to preach in the country.
 In 1622, Susneyos publicly announced his adherence to Catholicism, a strategy to reinforce
his political power.
 The Portuguese Jesuit Afonso Mendes was appointed Patriarch of Ethiopia in 1622 by Pope
Urban VII and imposed changes against the former Orthodox religious practices.
 These actions led to uprisings, social unrest and civil war in Gondar.
 It was concluded with the expulsion of the Jesuits from the country. As a result, Susneyos
was forced to resign. His son, Emperor Fasilidas, expelled the Patriarch and the European
missionaries in 1636. This action led to the complete closure of Ethiopia to further contact
with Europeans until the early 19th century.
 At the opening of the 19th century, Catholic and Protestant missionaries started
evangelization activities in Ethiopia.
 The Catholic missionaries led by Giuseppe Sapeto,
Giustino De Jacobis, and Cardinal Massaja, were active.

 Systematic approach by trained Protestants enabled them to win the confidence of local
people.
 Protestant missions included the Anglican Church Missionary Society, the Church
Missionary Society of London and the Wesleyan Methodist Society led by Samuel Gobat, C.W.
Isenberg and J. L. Krapf. In the early 20th century, the Sudan Interior Mission started its
work in Wolaita, Hadiya and Kambata.

 However, the missionaries were forced to leave the regions due to the Italian occupation.
 They returned after Italians were expelled from Ethiopia and Protestantism expanded
further.
C. Islam

 Islam arose in the early 7th century in the Arabian Peninsula and spread to other parts of
the world. When Prophet Mohammed began teaching Islam in Mecca, he came into a series of
conflicts with the Quraysh tribe.
 When the persecution against his followers became serious, the Prophet sent a small group
of his followers, including his daughter to the kingdom of Aksum in 615AD. Jafar Abu Talib
led this first group of refugees.
 In his advice to his followers, the Prophet said of Ethiopia, “…a king under whom none are
persecuted. It is a land of righteousness, where God will give relief from what you are
suffering.”

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  As a result, the Aksumite king, Armah Ella Seham (Ahmed al-Nejash in Arabic sources), gave
them asylum from 615-28.
 The warm reception and good attitudes of the king of Aksum towards the Muslim refugees
moved Prophet Mohammed not to conduct jihad against Ethiopia.
 After returning the Muslim immigrants to Arabia safely around 628AD, the Prophet
continued to maintain closer links and exempted the kingdom of Aksum from jihad in the
future.
 Islam was introduced to the Horn through peaceful means following the trade routes.
 Muslim clerics and merchants served as the missionaries of Islam in the Horn of Africa,
 Islam was introduced to the region through three main gateways. These were:
a. the Red Sea in the north,
b. the Gulf of Aden in the, east and
c. the Indian Ocean in the southeast.
 After the destruction of Adulis in 702AD Muslim Arabs had occupied the Dahlak Islands.

3.1.3 Ancient states in Ethiopia & the Horn

1. Punt:

 Punt was an ancient and historically known state in the Horn of Africa.
 However, Punt's exact location and territorial limits are not well known. Historians suggest
that its territory falls in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean coastal parts of present-day Djibouti,
Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia.
 According to an Egyptian hieroglyphic, the land of Punt was located south of Egypt and had
trade relations with Egypt since the third millennium BC. The trade was conducted by land
and sea routes.
 Egyptian inscriptions and pictorial reliefs dating from early times indicate the objects that
punt supplied to

 Other Pre-Aksumite states emerged since 1000BC. These include Yeha, Hawlti-Melazo, Addi-
Seglemeni, Metera, Kaskase, Coloe, etc.

2. Yeha
 Yeha is located 30 kms to the northeast of Aksum and was the oldest of these centers.
 It probably emerged around 1000BC as a small emporium where South Arabian merchants
and their agents bought and stored ivory, rhinoceros horn and other commodities coming
from the interior.
 The period of its prosperity (zenith) was from about 750 to 500BC.

3. Hawulti Melazo
Hawulti Melazo is situated to the southeast of Aksum, where stone tablets inscribed in the
rectangular temple surrounded by a wall decorated with paintings representing herds of
cattle have been excavated.
4. Damat:
 Damat existed just before the rise of Aksum.

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  Its center was little to the south of the town of Aksum.
 Some of Damat’s rulers used the South Arabian political and religious title called Mukarib.
This indicates that Damat had established external relations with South Arabia.
 Damat used the port of Adulis on the Red Sea coast

5. Aksumite Kingdom

 The term Aksum was derived from two terms, Ak/ku means water in Agaw and sum/shum
means chief in Semitic; hence ‘chief of water’. Therefore, the Aksumite civilisation resulted
from the fusion of Cushitic and Semitic cultures.
 Aksum emerged in the 1st century AD with its nucleus at Aksum.
 The City of Aksum was its political and religious center.
 Economically, the Aksumites depended on plough agriculture and trade conducted via the
port of Adulis on the Red Sea coast.
 To facilitate trade, coins of bronze, silver and gold were minted. In the first three centuries,
Ge’ez evolved as a written language.
 Sabean and Greek languages were used in Aksume before Ge’ez.
 The use of the Greek language possibly resulted from trade contact with the Greco-Roman
world.
 Greek was the lingua-franca of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean region by then.
 The kingdom of Aksum include
 East- territories beyond the Red Sea (southern Arabia),
 West- the River Abay in the west,
 North- the northern tip of Eritrea
 South- north Shewa
6. Zagwe Dynasty

 The Zagwe dynasty came from the local Agaw ruling class in Lasta, part of the Aksumite
Empire.
 The Zagwe dynasty was founded around 1150AD by Mera Tekle Haymnot.
 He established a new capital at Adefa (Roha) in Lasta.
 The founding of the Zagwe dynasty is not a new kingdom, but it is all about a political power
shift.
 The economy of the Zagwe dynasty was based on agriculture. Trade brought additional
income to the state.
 The Zeila port was the main outlet during the Zagwe time. The Dahlak Islands on the Red
Sea coast served as an outlet.
 The Zagwe dynasty is known in Ethiopian history for its remarkable architectural
achievement. This was the technology of building the monolithic rock-hewn Churches at
Roha; later, the capital was renamed Lalibela.
 The surviving pieces of evidence are the eleven rock-hewn churches constructed during the
reign of Emperor Lalibela in the first half of the thirteenth century.

 factors contributed to the downfall of the Zagwe dynasty:-

1. The roblem of succession to the throne among the Zagwe princes. Most of the time, they
settled this issue by force of arms. However, they could not be able to arrange a smooth
succession to the throne.
2. Strong opposition to the Zagwe kings throughout their rule.

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 This opposition was from the regions of Tigray and Amhara. Particularly in Tigrai, the
leading clergy members of the Churches of Aksum and Debre Damo spread anti-Zagwe
propaganda related to the legend of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon of Israel. Hence,
the Zagwe kings were seen as illegitimate successors of Aksum.

 The intention behind this legend was the restoration of the ancient dynasty of Aksum.
 However, despite the strong opposition in Tigrai, the initiative to overthrow the Zagwe came
from the Amhara region.
 The Amhara region was located to the south of Lasta, around
southern Wollo and northern Shawa.
 An Amhara chief Yekuno Amlak organised a movement against the Zagwe rule. He defeated
Yetbarek, the last Zagwe king, on the
battlefield in 1270AD.
 Yekuno Amlak established a genealogy that made him a descendant of the last Aksumite
king, Dil Naod, who was deposed by the Zagwe dynasty around 1150AD
 Yekuno Amlak (r. 1270-1285) declared himself an Emperor and, at the same time, became
the restorer. of the so-called "Solomonic dynasty".
 Yekuno Amlak and his successors used this legend as an ideological arm to legitimise their
political power.
6. The Sultanate of Shewa

 The introduction of Islam to the Horn was followed by the emergence of a series of Muslim
states since the ninth century AD.
 The first to be established was the sultanate of Shawa
 Since the founders of this sultanate claimed descent from the Makhzunmite clan of southern
Arabia, the dynasty became known as the Makhzunmite dynasty.
 Its location was in the hot lowland region on the left of the Awash River.
 The ruling family of this state had an internal power struggle which later led to its final
decline.
7. Ifat
 Ifat emerged to the south of Shewa, founded by Umar Walasma (hence the Walasma dynasty)
in 1285AD, it would have destroyed the older Makhzumite dynasty.
 Instead IFAT became the strongest Muslim sultanate in the region.
 Ifat controlled a vast territory through which the long-distance trade routes of Zeila passed.
Therefore, most of the profitable Zeila trade came under the control of Ifat.
 Eventually, Ifat became the strongest rival of the Christian highland state.
 Since 1270 the Christian highland state had also developed a great interest in the Zeila trade
and trade routes. Therefore, the need to control the Zeila trade became the main source of
conflict between the two states.

End

“REMEMBER WHAT YOU ARE, YOU ARE A LIGHT BEING ENTITLED WITH INFINITE POTENTIAL”

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