History of Ethiopia Study Notes
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION\n * The Ministry of Education in Ethiopia has the address: P.O. BOX 1367, ARADA SUB-CITY, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA.
Contact information includes: Tel: +251 11 155 3133, www.moe.gov.et, www.facebook.com/fdremoe, @fdremoe, and info@moe.gov.et.
The date October 15, 2017, and Reference No: BG 3q, regarding the distribution of the revised HISTORY OF ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN (Hist. 1012) module to all higher education institutions.
The original module has been reviewed by the Ethiopian Historical Professionals Association since its release. Adjustments has been made based on the assessment and the revised version should be used for teaching starting from the 2017 academic year. The modified module includes 114 pages.
MODULE: HISTORY OF ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN (Hist. 1012)
Prepared for students of Higher Learning Institutions. Writers:
Surafel Gelgelo (PhD), Addis Ababa University.
Deressa Debu (PhD), Jimma University.
Dereje Hinew (PhD), Wollega University.
Awegichew Amare (PhD), University of Gondar.
Mohammed Hassen (PhD), Haramaya University.
Ketebo Abdiyo (PhD), Jimma University.
Tigab Bezie (PhD), Bahir Dar University.
Samuel Negash (PhD), Addis Ababa University.
Abdu Muhammed (PhD), Dilla University.
Editor: Bahru Zewde (Professor).
Table of Contents
UNIT ONE: INTRODUCTION (3 HOURS)
Nature and Uses of History.
Nature of History.
Uses of History.
Sources and Methods of Historical Study.
Historiography of Ethiopia and the Horn.
The Geographical Context.
UNIT TWO: PEOPLES AND CULTURES IN ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN (4 HOURS)
Human Evolution.
Neolithic Revolution.
Peopling of the Region.
Language and Linguistic Processes.
Settlement Patterns.
Economic Formations.
Religion and Religious Processes.
Indigenous Religion.
Judaism.
Christianity.
Islam.
UNIT THREE: POLITICS, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IN ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN TO THE END OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY (6 HOURS)
Emergence of States.
Ancient States.
North and North East.
East, Central, Southern, and Western States.
Bizamo, Damot, Enarya, and Gafat.
Muslim Sultanates.
External Contacts.
Economic Formations.
Socio-Cultural Achievements.
UNIT FOUR: POLITICS, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY FROM THE LATE THIRTEENTH TO THE BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURIES (4 HOURS)
The "Restoration" of the "Solomonic" Dynasty.
Internal Political Conflict.
Power Consolidation and Spatial Extension.
Administration and Military Organization of the Ethiopian Christian Kingdom.
Administration.
Military Organization.
Temporal Administrative and Military Decline.
Economic Bases of the Kingdom.
Cooperation, Competition and Conflict between Christian and Muslim Rival Powers.
Interaction and Integration of Peoples and Cultures.
Expansion of the Christian Kingdom.
Population Movement, Interaction, and Integration.
Roving Court.
Establishment of Military Garrisons.
Warfare.
Market Centres as Cultural Melting Pots.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Monastic Networks Fostered Integration.
Islam-Promoted Integration, Unity and Collective Identity.
External Relations.
Relations with Egypt.
Relations with Christian Europe.
UNIT FIVE: POLITICS, ECONOMY AND SOCIAL PROCESSES FROM THE EARLY SIXTEENTH TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES (10 HRS)
Conflict Between the Christian Kingdom and the Sultanate of Adal and the Aftermath.
Foreign Intervention and Religious Controversies.
Population Movements.
Population Movements of the Argobba, Afar, and Somali.
Gadaa System and Oromo Population Movement (1522-1618).
Ethnic and Religious Interaction and Integration.
Peoples and States in Eastern, Central, Southern and Western Parts of the Region.
Peoples and States in the East.
Peoples and States in Central and South Central Parts.
Peoples and States in the South.
Peoples and States in the Southwest.
Peoples and States in the West.
The Gondarine Period and Zemene- Mesafint.
The Gondarine Period (1630-1780s).
The Zemene-Mesafint (Era of Princes, 1786-1853).
UNIT SIX: INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS OF ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN, 1800-1941 (10 HOURS)
Nature of Interactions Among the Peoples and States of Ethiopia and the Horn.
Peoples and States in South-Central, Southwestern, and Western Ethiopia.
Trade and Trade Routes.
The Making of the Modern Ethiopian State.
Modernization Attempts.
Socio-Economic Developments.
Agriculture and Land Tenure.
Slavery and Slave Trade.
Manufacturing.
Urbanization.
External Relations.
Agreements and Treaties.
Major Battles Fought Against Foreign Aggressors and Patriotism.
The Italian Occupation (1936-41) and the Patriotic Resistance.
Nature and Uses of History.
UNIT SEVEN: INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS, 1941-1995 (5 HOURS)
Post-1941 Imperial Period.
External Relations.
Socio-Economic Developments.
Consolidation of Autocracy.
Oppositions and the Downfall of the Monarchical Regime.
The Derg Regime (1974-1991).
Rise and Consolidation of the Derg.
Attempts at Socio-Economic Reform.
Political Movements and Opposition.
Transitional Government.
Introduction to the Module
The module aims to help students understand history's role in human life, its goals, and its importance in nation/state building and identity formation.
It explains how past socio-cultural, religious, economic, and political experiences are interwoven and instrumental in creating current Ethiopia and the Horn Region by focusing on the causes, courses, and consequences of major historical events in the region.
The module emphasizes the history of peoples rather than the history of the ruling elites and includes local histories across periods.
The module is divided into seven units.
Objectives
The general objective is to acquaint students with the extent to which interactions between diverse peoples in the region and with the outside world have shaped its history.
The specific objectives of the module are to:
Understand the meaning, nature, uses and abuses of history.
Identify pertinent sources for studying the history of the region.
Demonstrate the region's importance in human evolution and the Neolithic Revolution.
Trace the origin, development, and cultural achievements of the ancient states.
Explain the region's ancient external contacts and their effects.
Analyze the role of the legend of the Queen of Sheba in the region from 1270 to 1974.
Show dynamics of relations between the Christian kingdom and the Muslim Sultanates.
Explicate the role of population movements in shaping the history of the region.
Assess states and societies in the eastern, central, southern and western parts of the region.
Illumine socio-economic, religious and political achievements of the Gondarine period.
Discuss the salient features and effects of the Zemene-Mesafint.
Expound the political process for the formation of Modern Ethiopia.
Explain the efforts and challenges of modernization in the region.
Point out the legacies of major battles and the patriotic struggle against colonialism.
Examine the major socio-economic and political developments from 1941 to 1974.
Discuss the political momentum, reforms, and oppositions during the Derg period.
Analize the socio-economic and political developments from 1991 to 1995.
UNIT ONE: INTRODUCTION (3 HOURS)
1.1. Nature and Uses of History
1.1.1. Nature of History
History comes from the Greek word istoria, meaning "learning through enquiry."
Herodotus (c. 484-425 BC) systematically investigated and documented historical events and is regarded as the "father of history."
History is a systematic study and organized knowledge of the past involving the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events.
The purpose is to find patterns and establish meaning through rigorous study and interpretation of sources.
Historians select topics and problems they wish to study.
History studies the interaction between humans and their environment in the past within the framework of the continuous process of change taking place in time.
Historians divide the past into distinct periods (periodization) and assign a label to each period to convey the key characteristics and developments of that era.
History is conventionally divided into ancient, medieval, and modern.
All aspects of human life in the past have been changing from time to time, but some things remain more or less the same for long periods.
1.1.2. Uses of History
History is the only storehouse of information available for the examination and analysis of how people behaved and acted in the past.
Knowledge of history is indispensable for understanding who we are and where we fit in the world.
Studying different societies in the past contributes to freeing ourselves from some of our inherent cultural provincialism.
Students of history acquire broader perspectives that give them the broad-mindedness and flexibility required in many life situations.
Studying history helps students develop key research skills, analytical and communication skills.
Historical knowledge is valuable in the pursuit of other disciplines such as literature, art, philosophy, religion, sociology, political science, anthropology, economics, etc.
Exploring the ways in which people in distant ages managed their lives offers a sense of wonder and excitement, and ultimately another perspective on human life and society.
History should be studied because it is essential to the individual and society.
Just as history can be useful, it can also be abused through deliberate manipulation of the past to fit current political agenda.
Historians take care to document their ideas about the past so that they can be subjected to independent and external verification.
1.2. Sources and Methods of Historical Study
Historical sources are vital to the study and writing of history and bring to life what appears to have been dead.
Historical sources are broadly classified into two types: primary and secondary.
Primary sources are surviving original traces of the past that are available to us in the present and includes manuscripts, diaries, letters, minutes, inscriptions, chronicles, hagiographies, court records and administrative files, travel documents, photos, maps, audiovisual materials, coins, fossils, weapons, utensils, and buildings.
Secondary sources are second-hand published and unpublished accounts of past events written after the event has occurred and includes articles, books, textbooks, biographies, theses, dissertations, reports and stories or movies about historical events.
Oral data constitute the other category of historical sources and are especially valuable for studying and documenting the history of non-literate societies.
Oral sources includes folk songs, folk sayings, called oral tradition and oral testimonies of their lived experiences which is known as oral history and serves as primary source.
For the history of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, historians use a combination of the sources described above.
Regardless of the source of information, the data should be subjected to critical evaluation before it is used as evidence.
Historians must find evidence about the past, ask questions about that evidence, and come up with explanations that make sense of what the evidence says about the people, events, places, and the periods they study.
1.3. Historiography of Ethiopia and the Horn
Historiography refers to the history of historical writing and studies how knowledge of the past is obtained and transmitted and how it has changed over time.
The organized study and narration of the past was introduced by ancient Greek historians like Herodotus and Thucydides (c.455-400 BC).
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.
Leopold Von Ranke (1795-1886) is considered as the "father of modern historiography."
The historiography of Ethiopia and the Horn has changed enormously during the past century.
The earliest known written source for the history of the region is the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, written in the first century by an anonymous author, followed by the Christian Topography written by Cosmas Indicopleustes, a Greek sailor, in the sixth century.
The earliest written Ethiopian material dates from the seventh century found at Abba Gerima monastery near the town of Adwa and a manuscript discovered in Haiq Estifanos monastery of present-day Wollo in the thirteenth century.
The largest groups of sources available for medieval Ethiopian history are hagiographies originating from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as anecdotes of historical importance. A parallel hagiographical tradition exists among Muslim communities.
Ethiopia had an indigenous tradition of history writing called chronicles, composed by court scribes or clergymen with recognized clerical training and calligraphic skills.
Accounts of Arabic-speaking visitors to the coast also provide useful information on various aspects of the region's history.
Another vital contemporary material is Abba Bahrey's Ge'ez account of the socio-political organization and movement of the Oromo people written in 1593.
European missionaries and travelers also contributed to the development of Ethiopian historiography.
Hiob Ludolf (1624-1704) regarded as the founder of Ethiopian studies as an academic discipline in Europe, wrote Historia Aethiopica largely based on information he collected from an Ethiopian priest named Abba Gorgorios.
Historical writing made some departures from the chronicle tradition in the early twentieth century by Ethiopian writers who made conscious efforts to distance themselves from chroniclers.
After liberation, Tekle-Tsadik Mekuria and Yilma Deressa served as a bridge between the writers of the pre-1935 period and the subsequent generation of Ethiopian professional historians.
The 1960s history emerged as an academic discipline and The Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) was founded.
During the 1960s Foundational research was conducted at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London and the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
1.4. Geographical Context
The term "Ethiopia and the Horn" refers to that part of Northeast Africa, which now constitutes the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia.
Drainage systems, topography, and climate has shaped the region's history.
The region has five principal drainage systems:
The White Nile meets the Blue Nile in Khartoum and drains through Egypt into the Mediterranean Sea.
The Awash River System entirely links the cool rich highlands of Central Ethiopia with the hot, dry lowlands of the Danakil Depression.
The Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes System is a self-contained basin that includes a string of lakes stretching from Lake Ziway in the north to Lake Turkana on the Ethio-Kenyan border.
The Gibe-Gojeb-Omo River System links southwestern Ethiopia to the semi-desert lowlands of northern Kenya.
The Shebele and Genale rivers originate in the Eastern highlands and flow southeast toward Somalia and the Indian Ocean.
These watersheds are crucial in the life and history of the peoples inhabiting the region.
The major physiographic features of the region are the massive highland complex of mountains and plateaus created through the formation of the Great Rift Valley and surrounded by lowlands, semi-desert, desert, and tropical forests along the periphery.
Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa can be divided into three major environmental zones:
The vast Eastern lowland covers the narrow coastal strip of northeastern Eritrea to the Ogaden, the lower parts of Hararghe, Bale, Borana, Sidama, and the whole territory of the Republic of Somalia
the highland massif that starts from northern Eritrea and continues all the way to southern Ethiopia
along the western foothills or on the periphery of the plateau and on borderlands of the Sudan stretching from north to south are hot lowlands.
UNIT TWO: PEOPLES AND CULTURES IN ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN (4 HOURS)
2.1. Human Evolution
Archeological evidence shows that the East African Rift Valley is the cradle of humanity.
A fossil named Chororapithecus date
d 10 million BP was unearthed in Anchar (in West Hararghe) in 2007.
Ardipithicus kadabba (dated 5.8-5.2 million years BP) was discovered in the Middle Awash.
Ardipithicus ramidus (dated 4.2 million B.P.) was discovered at Aramis in Afar in 1994.
Earlier forms of Australopithecines were uncovered at Belohdelie (dated 3.6 million years BP) in Middle Awash.
A 3-years old child's fossil termed Australopithecus afarensis, Selam, dated to 3.3 million years BP.
Australopithecus afarnesis (Lucy/Dinkinesh, dated c. 3.18 million years BP) was discovered at Hadar in 1974 AD.
A fossil named Australopithecus anamensis was discovered around Lake Turkana in 1995.
An eco-fact named as Australopithecus garhi (literally 'surprise' in Afar language) dated to 2.5 million years BP was discovered at Bouri in Middle Awash between 1996 and 1999.
The development of the human brain was the main feature of the next stage, which produced the genus Homo, believed to have emerged 2-2.5 million years BP.
A partial skull of a fossil dated 1.9 million years BP and termed Homo habilis was found in the Lower Omo.
A fossil named Homo erectus (walking upright) and with 900-1100 cc brain size, dated 1.6 million years BP, was discovered at Melka Kunture, Konso Gardula and Gadeb.
A fossil of Archaic Homo sapiens ("wise" human being, dated 400,000 years BP) named Bodo with a brain size of 1300-1400cc was discovered in Middle Awash.
Fossils of Homo sapiens sapiens (100,000 years BP) were discovered at Porc Epic near Dire Dawa and Kibish around Lower Omo in 1967.
Kibish fossils were re-dated in 2004 to 195,000 BP, the oldest date in the world for modern Homo sapiens.
Homo sapiens idaltu, another sub-species of Homo sapiens that was found in the Middle Awash in 1997, lived about 160, 000 years BP.
Cultural evolution is related to socio-economic transformations, conventionally grouped into the Stone, Bronze and the Iron Ages.
Stone tools were grouped into Mode I (Oldowan), Mode II (Acheulean), and Mode III (Sangoon).
Examples of these tools have been found in the Horn.
Fossilized animal bones dating back to 3.4 million years BP were found with stone-tool-inflicted marks (the oldest evidence of stone tool in the world) at Dikika (in the Afar Region) in 2010.
Artifact findings suggest that Oldowan tools made by Homo habilis were discovered near Gona (2.52 million years BP) in 1992 and at Shungura, both in the Afar Region.
The Gademotta site in the central Ethiopian Rift Valley has been dated back to 200,000 BP.
Stone Age is divided into three sub-periods.
Paleolithic (Old Stone Age, from 3.4 million to 11,000 years BP).
Humans developed language, sheltered in caves, and used stone, bone, wood, fur and skin materials to prepare food and clothing.
There was a division of labor based on sex and age whereby the able-bodied males hunted fauna (animals), and children and females gathered flora (plants).
Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age/11,000-10,000 BP) was a transition from Paleolithic to Neolithic (New Stone Age/10, 000-6,000 BP) periods.
2.2. Neolithic Revolution
During the Neolithic period, human beings transformed from a mobile to sedentary way of life with a radical shift from hunting and gathering to the domestication of plants and animals.
Climatic change and an increased population of hunters and gatherers resulted in a decline in the number of animals and the availability of plants.
The process of domestication took place independently in various parts of the world.
In more elevated and wetter parts of the Horn, plants like eragrotis teff, dagussa (eleusine coracana), nug (guzotia), ensete ventricosum etc. were cultivated.
The discovery of polished axes, beads, ceramics, grinding stones, stone figures and animal remains in Emba-Fakeda around Adigrat in Tigray as well as Aqordat and Barentu in Eritrea is evidence of Neolithic material culture.
Stone tools used for cutting grass and rock paintings of tamed animals have been found at the Laga Oda rock shelter in Chercher.
2.3. Peopling of the Region
2.3.1. Languages and Linguistic Processes
There are approximately 90 languages with 200 dialects in Ethiopia and the Horn.
Linguists classify the languages of Ethiopia and the Horn into two major language super families: Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan.
Afro-Asiatic: subdivided into Cushitic, Semitic, and Omotic.
Cushitic: Northern, Central, Eastern and Southern.
Semitic: North and South.
Transverse: Amharic, Argobba, Harari, Silte, Wolane and Zay.
Outer: Gafat (extinct) and Gurage.
Nilo-Saharan.
Language classification does not remain static.
2.3.2. Settlement Patterns
Since early times, Cushitic and Semitic peoples have inhabited the area between the Red Sea in the east and the Blue Nile in the west, from where they have dispersed in different directions.
The Cushites have evolved to be the largest linguistic group in the Horn of Africa.
The Semites spread over a large area and eventually settled in the northern, north central, northeastern, south central and eastern parts of the Horn
Except for the Bambasi and Boro, who live in Benishangul-Gumuz and Anfillo in Wallaga, most Omotic peoples have inhabited southwestern Ethiopia along the Omo River basin.
The Nilotes are largely settled along the Ethio-Sudanese border, although some of the Chari-Nile family, identified as the Karamojo cluster, inhabited as far as Turkana Lake.
2.3.3. Economic Formations
The domestication of plants and animals gave humanity two interdependent modes of life: arable and pastoral farming.
A predominantly pastoral economy (rearing camel, goat, cattle, etc.) has characterized the eastern lowlands of Afar, Saho, and Somali as well as Karayu and Borana Oromo.
Most of the highland population (the Cushites, Semites, and Northern Omotic groups) has been engaged in mixed farming since 10,000 years BP, whereas southern Omo predominantly practiced pastoralism and fishing.
The Nilotes along the Blue Nile and Baro-Akobo rivers have been shifting cultivators, with sorghum as the staple food.
2.4. Religion and Religious Processes
2.4.1. Indigenous Religion
Includes various beliefs and practices followed by the people of the region since ancient times, distinctive beliefs in a Supreme Being, special powers attributed to natural phenomena.
Spiritual functionaries have officiated rituals and propitiated divinities as intermediaries between society and the spirits.
Waqeffanna of the Oromo is based on the existence of one Supreme Being called Waqa and revered experts maintained a link between the Ayyana and believers through Dalaga (ecstasy) at Galma (ritual house).
The Kambata have had Negita/Aricho Magano (Sky God) and Magnancho (religious officials).
The Wolayta called God Tosa, spirits Ayyana, including Tawa-Awa/Moytiliya, Sawuna, Wombo, Sharechuwa (religious practitioners).
The Nuer believe in Kuoth Nhial (God in Heaven).
An interesting feature of indigenous religion is the way in which its beliefs and practices are fused with Christianity and Islam which is known as syncretism.
2.4.2. Judaism
In northern and northwestern Ethiopia, the Bete-Israel practiced Haymanot from the Dan Tribe.
2.4.3. Christianity
Christianity became a state religion in 334 AD during the reign of King Ezana who embraced Christianity.
Christianity was expanded among the mass of the people during the reign of Ella Amida II (478-86) by the Nine Saints.
The Jesuits attempted to convert EOC to Catholicism from the mid-sixteenth to the early seventeenth centuries which led to bloody anti-Catholic rebellions and civil war.
2.4.4. Islam
When the Prophet Muhammad started preaching Islam in Makkah in 610 AD, he sent some of his early followers to Aksum seeking asylum.
Islam spread to the Horn by peaceful means, including trade.
Islam was well established in the Alalay (Dahlak) Islands on the Red Sea by the beginning of the eighth century.
The port of Zeila on the western coast of the Gulf of Aden served as an important gateway for Islam, which was firmly established in the coastal areas by the eighth and ninth centuries from which it radiated to the eastern, northeastern, central and southern parts of the Horn.
UNIT THREE: POLITICS, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IN ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN TO THE END OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY (6 HOURS)
3.1. Emergence of States
State refers to an autonomous political unit with population, defined territory, sovereignty and government with power to decree and enforce laws that arose independently.
One important factor in the emergence of states was the beginning of sedentary agriculture contributing to the specialization of labor.
The growth of trade facilitated the development of states.
Ethiopia and the Horn is one of the regions in Africa where early state formation took place.
3.2. Ancient States
3.2.1. North and Northeast
Punt is the earliest recorded state in Ethiopia and the Horn. The evidence for Punt comes from Egyptian hieroglyphic writings.
Pharaoh Sahure (r. 2743-2731 BC) sent an expedition to collect myrrh, ebony and electrum (gold and silver alloy).
The best described and illustrated expedition was undertaken during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut/Hashepsowe (1490-1468 BC).
Da'amat had its center a little to the south of Aksum where kings used the politico-religious title Mukarib and worshipped various gods and goddesses.
Among the major cultural centers in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea were
Yeha.
Hawulti Melazo.
Addi-Seglemeni.
Nucleus of the Aksumite state was formed in a small area comprising Aksum town and its environs c. 200-100 BC and at its height extended from the Red Sea coast to the Nile.
Export items included ivory, emerald, spices, rhinoceros horns, hippopotamus hides, tortoise shells and curiosity animals and imports included garments and textiles, glassware and jewelry, metallic sheets, tools or utensils, oil and wine.
The Aksumite ships were the main means of transportation and the Aksumite kings had extensive contacts including conflicts notably with South Arabia.
The decline of the Aksumite state was commenced in the late seventh century attributed to the disruption of its international and domestic trade network, devastation of the port of Adulis, ecological degradation, decreased agricultural productivity, and possibly plague outbreaks.
After its decline, the center of Aksumite state shifted southwards to the Kubar rural highland in the territory of the Agaw starting the Zagwe rule during which rulers renewed trade contact with the eastern Mediterranean region through famous monolithic churches of Lalibela.
The Zagwe Dynasty came to an end due to internal problems of royal succession and opposition from a group claiming descent from the ancient rulers of Aksum which was followed by Yekunno-Amlak claiming to have "restored" the ancient "Solomonid" dynasty of Aksum.
3.2.2. East, Central, Southern, and Western States
Bizamo was a kingdom on the southern bend of the Abay River founded in the eighth century in connection with Damot.
Damot expanded its territories into most of the lands to the south of Abay and north of Lake Turkana as well as to the west of the Awash River and east of the Didessa River and Motalami was a prominent king of Damot in the thirteenth century.
Enarya was a kingdom in the Gibe region in southwestern Ethiopia whose kingship was deemed divine.
Gafat historically, Gafat's territory lies south of the Blue Nile River on the southwestern periphery of the Christian Kingdom.
With the spread of Islam Muslim communities and states were established especially along the main trade routes from Zeila creating:
Shewa.
Fatagar.
Dawaro.
Bali.
Ifat.
Moqadishu.
3.3. External Contacts
Ethiopia had contacts with Egypt and relations with commercially active South Arabian kingdoms starting before 1,000 BC.
Expansion and eventual control of the Muslim Arabs led to decline of Aksumite trade routes and shipping lines.
Successive Egyptian sultans used the consecration and sending of a bishop as an instrument to further their own foreign policy objectives.
The tradition of visiting holy places in the Middle East began at the end of the first millennium AD.
A myth about a very rich and powerful Christian ruler known as "Prester John" began to circulate in Europe around the middle of the twelfth century, triggering an alliance between Europe and the Ethiopian Christian Kingdom to check Muslim powers.
3.4. Economic Formations
The mainstay of these early states' economy was agriculture and mastery of irrigation technology contributed to the growth of agricultural production.
The rules according to which members of the society hold, share, and use the land constitute what is known as the land tenure system or the communal land tenure with rist and gult.
The conditions of ancient states allowed the emergence of metal workers, carpenters, potters, tanners etc. in various fields who were mostly despised and marginalized, contributing minimum improvements to locally produced agricultural implements and house furniture did not show any significant improvement or sophistication.
The political centers of early states seem to have also been major trade centers with wide-ranging contacts within the region and across the international water bodies.
3.5. Socio-cultural Achievements
One of the unique architectural technologies was the carving of stelae.
Zagwe architecture used softer material like sandstone, which was cut and shaped all round, except the floor, in various delicately decorated churches.
The Sabean language had an alphabet written from left to right and right to left alternatively as early variants of Ge'ez script and variants of which evolved into Ge'ez script alphabet (an alpha syllabary).
People needed to know and remember the times when the rains would begin and end as well as the rise and fall of the water level contributing to the invention of time, calendars and adoption of astronomical expertise.
Ge'ez numerals comparable to those of the Hebrew, Arabic and Greek appeared at the beginning of fourth century AD.