FOR ALL ETHIOPIAN

UNIVERSITIES

History of Ethiopia and the Horn Common Course

1
 Unit One

The Nature and Uses of History

2
 Nature…cont’d
The term history derived from the Greek word Istoria,
meaning “inquiry”
The first use of the term is attributed to one of the ancient
Greek historians, Herodotus who is often held to be the
“father of history.”
History can be defined as an organized and systematic
study of the past.
The study involves the discovery, collection, organization,
and presentation of information about past events.
The major concern of history is the study of human society
and its interaction with the natural environment, which
is also the subject of study by many other disciplines.
 Nature…cont’d
What differentiates history from other disciplines?
Other disciplines study the interaction between humans
and their environment in the present state,
History studies the interaction between the two in the
past within the framework of the continuous process
of change taking place in time.
 So, historians organize and divide the human past into
discrete periods after identifying significant developments
in politics, society, economy, culture, environment etc.
through the rigorous study of documents and artifacts.
 Then they give a label to each period to convey the key
characteristics and developments of that era.
 Nature…cont’d
Accordingly, history is conventionally divided into ancient,
medieval and modern history. This is what we call
periodization in history
 Uses of History
 History Helps Better Understand the Present
History is the only significant storehouse of
information for the examination and analysis of how
people behaved and acted in the past.
History Provides a Sense of Identity
Knowledge of history is indispensable to understand
who we are and where we fit in the world.
History Provides the Basic Background for Other
Disciplines.
Historical knowledge is extremely valuable in the
pursuit of other disciplines.
 Uses…cont’d
 History Teaches Critical Skills
Studying history helps students to develop key research
skills. These include:-
how to find and evaluate sources;
how to make coherent arguments based on
various kinds of evidence and present clearly in
writing.
History Helps Develop Tolerance and Open-Mindedness
Most of us have a tendency to regard our own cultural
practices, styles, and values as right and proper.
 Uses…Cont’d
Studying different societies in the past is like going to
a foreign country, which contributes to free ourselves
from some of our inherent cultural provincialism.
By studying the past, students of history acquire broad
perspectives that give them the range and flexibility
required in many life situations.
 History Supplies Endless Source of Fascination
 Uses…Cont’d
 To conclude, history should be studied because it is
essential to the individual and the society.
 Only through studying history can we grasp how and why
things change; and only through history are we able
understand what elements of a society persist despite
change.
 1.2 Sources and Methods of Historical study
 Historians are not creative writers like novelists.
Therefore, the work of historians must be supported by
evidence arising from sources.
Sources are instruments that bring to life what appear to
have been dead.
It is said that “where there are no sources, there is no
history”.
Sources are, therefore, key to the study and writing of
history.
 Sources…Cont’d
 Historical sources are broadly classified into two types:
Primary and Secondary.
1) Primary sources
surviving traces of the past available to us in the
present.
original or first hand in their proximity to the event
both in time and in space.
Examples of primary sources are
manuscripts, diaries, letters, minutes, court records
and administrative files, travel documents,
photographs, maps, video and audio-visual
materials, and artifacts such as coins, fossils,
weapons, utensils, and buildings.
 Sources…Cont’d
2) Secondary sources
second-hand published accounts about past events.
written long after the event has occurred.
providing an interpretation of what happened, why it
happened, and how it happened, often based on primary
sources.
Examples of secondary sources are
articles, books, textbooks, biographies, and
published stories or movies about historical events.
 Uses…Cont’d
 Oral data
constitute the other category of historical sources.
valuable to study and document the history of non-
literate societies.
They can also be used to fill missing gaps and
corroborate written words.
In many societies, people transmit information from one
generation to another through folk songs and folk
sayings. This type of oral data is called oral tradition.
People can also provide oral testimonies or personal
recollections of lived experience. Such source material is
known as oral history.
 Uses…Cont’d
For the history of Ethiopia and the Horn, historians use a
combination of the sources described above.
However, whatever the source of information-primary or
secondary, written or oral- the data should be subjected to
critical evaluation before it is used as evidence.
Primary sources have to be verified for their originality
and authenticity because sometimes primary sources like
letters may be forged.
Secondary sources have to be examined for the reliability
of their reconstructions.
 Uses…Cont’d
 Oral data may lose its originality and authenticity due to
distortion through time.
 Therefore, it should be crosschecked with other sources
such as written documents to determine its veracity or
authenticity.
 Historians must find evidence about the past, ask
questions of that evidence, and come up with explanations
that make sense of what the evidence says about the people,
events, places and time periods they study about.
 Historiography of Ethiopia & the Horn
 What is Historiography?
defined as the history of historical writing,
studying how knowledge of the past is obtained and
transmitted.
Historiography as an intentional attempt to understand
and represent descriptions of past events in writing has
rather a briefer career throughout the world.
 Historiography…Cont’d
The Development of Historical writing
The organized study and narration of the past was introduced by
ancient Greek historians notably Herodotus (c. 484–425
B.C.E.) and Thucydides (c.455-400B.C.E.)
The other major tradition of thinking and writing about the past
is the Chinese.
The most important early figure in Chinese historical thought
and writing was the Han dynasty figure Sima Qian (145–86
B.C.E.).
History emerged as an academic discipline in the second half
of the nineteenth century first in Europe and subsequently in
other parts of the world.
 Historiography…cont’d
 Leopold Von Ranke
Established history as an independent discipline in
Berlin with its own set of methods and concepts.
By which historians collect evidence of past events,
evaluate that evidence, and present a meaningful
discussion of the subject.
Greatest contribution to the scientific study of the past
is considered as the father of modern historiography.
Historiography of Ethiopia and the Horn has changed
enormously during the past hundred years .
 Historiography…cont’d
 The Greek Sources
Periplus of the Erythrean Sea
The earliest known reference that we have on
history of Ethiopia and the Horn.
Written in the 1stc A.D by an anonymous author.
Christian Topography
Document describing Aksum’s trade.
Aksumite king’s campaigns on both sides of the
sea.
Composed by Cosmas Indicopleustes, a Greek
sailor, in the sixth century A.D.
 Historiography…cont’d
Ethiopian Sources
There are earliest written Ethiopian material dates from
the seventh century A.D.
Found in Abba Gerima monastery in Yeha.
Discovered in Haiq Istifanos monastery in the13thc .
The value of manuscripts is essentially religious.
They have the benefit of providing insights into the
country’s past and contains the list of medieval kings
and their history in brief.
They are hagiographies originating from Ethiopian
Orthodox Church.
 Historiography…cont’d
 The function of hagiographies
Enhancing the prestige of saints and Kings.
Discussed in detail such as the development of the
church and the state
Introduced territorial conquests by reigning monarchs.
A parallel hagiographical tradition existed among Muslim
communities of the country.
Shaykh Ja’far Bukko of Gattira
Account offers tremendous insight into the life of a
Muslim saint, in the late 19th century.
The development of indigenous Islam and
contacts between the region’s Muslim community
and the outside world.
 Historiography…cont’d
Ethiopia had also an indigenous tradition of history writing
called chronicles.
Chronicles in the ancient Ethiopian Ge’ez tongue first
appeared in the 14th century and continue into the early
20th century.
Kings entrusted the writing of chronicles to court
clergymen of recognized clerical training and calligraphic
skills.
The earliest and the last of such surviving documents are
The Glorious Victories of Amde-Tsion
The Chronicle of Abeto Iyasu
The Chronicle of Empress Zewditu
 Historiography…cont’d
 Chronicles incorporate both legends and facts-past and
contemporary about the monarch’s genealogy, upbringing,
military exploits, piety and statesmanship.
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 Historiography…cont’d
 Furthermore, chronicles explain historical events mainly in
religious terms.
They offer little by way of social and economic
developments even in the environs of the palace.
 Historiography…cont’d
Arabic Sources
 Written accounts of Arabic-speaking visitors to the
coast also provide useful information on various
aspects of the region’s history.
 It described the culture, language, war and import-
export trade in the main central region of the east
African coast
 It began to appear after the rise of Islam and after the
development of Arab scholars like:-
 Historiography…cont’d
Arab writers

al-Yaqubi in 9th c,
al- Masudi in 10th c,
Ibn-Haukal in 10th c,
al-Umari in 14th c
Ibn Battuta in 14th c
al-Maqriz in 15th c.
Shihab ad-Din 16th c
Al-Haymi 17th c
 Historiography…cont’d
III. European Sources
 It began to appear in the 16th c with the coming of
the portuguse diplomatic mission to Ethiopia
between 1520-1526 and 400 portugues soldiers in
1541.
 Thus, the missionaries’ sources provide us with
valuable information covering a considerable period.
 Some of the major topics covered by these sources
include religious and political developments within
Ethiopia, and the country’s foreign relations.
 Historiography…cont’d
III. European Sources
 An example of such account is The Prester John of
the Indies,
 Jusuits, and Firanciso Alvarez, Jose
Bermudez, Almerda, Tellez and Poez
 Historiography…cont’d
In the early 20th c, a number of Ethiopian intellectuals
write on various aspects of their country’s past
Of these, the most notable ones are. Aleqa Taye Gebre-
Maryam, Aleqa Atseme-Giyorgis, Blattengeta Hiruy Welde-
Sellase, Negadras Afework Gebre-Iyesus and Negadras
Gebre-Hywot Baykedagn.
After 1941, they were followed by Tekle-Tsadiqi Mekurya
who has written a number of books covering the whole
span of Ethiopian history from Aksum to the twentieth
century.
 Geographical Context
In the study of history, geography has important
contributions.
The Horn is a region of considerable geographical,
linguistic and cultural diversity.
It is also the region that has witnessed considerable
interaction over a long period of time.
The Horn in particular is the region where the physical and
human resources form significant impact on the historical
processes.
Ethiopia and the Horn refers the Northeast Africa that
forms the modern states of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and
Somalia.