Mizan-Tepi University

Course: History of Ethiopia and the Horn

Prepared by: Samson.k

11/01/2024 1
 CHAPTER ONE
Nature and Uses of History

 The term history derived from the Greek word Istoria, meaning
“inquiry” or “an account of one’s inquiries.”
 The first use of the term is attributed to one of the ancient
Greek historians, Herodotus (c. 484–425 B.C.), who is often
held to be the “father of history.”
 cont.…

• In ordinary usage, history means all the things that

have happened in the human past. The past signifies
events, which have taken place and the facts of the
past, which are kept in writing.
• Academically, 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.
 cont.…

 The study of history also includes the division of history into a historical
time. This is called periodization. Periodization simplifies the work of
historians for it let them to focus on specific period of time and
overcome confusions.
 Periodically, history is divided into ancient, medieval and modern
history.
 The discipline of history is different from other disciplines in that it
studies only the past events (ongoing and future events are not studied
 Uses of History
History Helps Better Understand the Present

 History is the only significant storehouse of information available for the

examination and analysis of how people behaved and acted in the past.
 So knowledge of historical background is essential for a balanced and in
depth understanding of many current world situations.
 People need to produce some sort of account of their past because it is
difficult to understand problems that face humanity and society today
without tracing their origins 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.
• It is only through sense of history that communities define their identity
and understanding the relationship with the past and with other societies.
• History Provides the Basic Background for Other Disciplines

• Historical knowledge is extremely valuable in the pursuit of other

disciplines such as literature, art, philosophy, religion, sociology, political
science, anthropology, economics, etc
 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. 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.
 Cont…

• History provides an endless source of fascination

• Exploring the ways people in distant ages constructed
their lives offers a sense of beauty and excitement, and
ultimately another perspective on human life and
society.
 To conclude, history should be studied because it is essential to the
individual and the society. Only through studying history can we
understanding how and why things change; and only through history
are we able understand what elements of a society persevere despite
change.
 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. Source are
the key in the study of history;
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.
Historical sources are broadly classified into two types: Primary and
Secondary.
 Cont…

Primary sources They are original or first hand in their proximity to

the event both in time and in space. They are surviving traces of the
past available to us in the present.
Examples of primary sources are manuscripts (handwritten materials),
diaries, letters, minutes, court records and administrative files, travel
documents, photographs, maps, video and audiovisual materials, and
artifacts such as coins, fossils, weapons, utensils, and buildings.
 Cont…

 Secondary sources, on the other hand, are second-hand published

accounts about past events. They are 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.
 Conti..

Depending upon the nature of the oral information, Oral sources can be
either primary or secondary.
Oral data constitute the other category of historical sources. Oral sources are
especially valuable to study and document the history of non-literate societies.
They can also be used to fill missing gaps and corroborate written words.
 Historiography of Ethiopia and the Horn
 Historiography is the history of historical writing.

 It is "the history of how history gets written, that is, the history of
history." Historiography does not deal with historical events, but with
how to write history.
 In other explanation, it is the study of the discipline and practice of
history and the writings of past historians.
 Historiography explores changes in historical interpretations through
time.
 Conti..

 In its broadest sense, historiography deals with the process of

historical writing, the identification and use of source materials,
and the techniques and methods applied to the analysis of these
data.
 The organized study and narration of the past was introduced by
ancient Greeks historians notably Herodotus (c. 484–425 B.C.)
and Thucydides (c.455-400 B.C.)
 Conti..

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 including the US.
The German historian, Leopold Von Ranke
(1795–1886), and his colleagues established
history as an independent discipline in Berlin
with its own set of methods and concepts.
Ranke is considered as the the “father of
modern historiography.”
 Conti..
 Historical writing in Ethiopia and the Horn has passed through different
stages.
 The earliest known reference that we have on history of Ethiopia and the
Horn is the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, written in the first century A.D
by an unkown author.
 Another document describing Aksum’s trade and the then Aksumite king’s
(Kaleb’s) campaigns on both sides of Red Sea is the Christian Topography.
It was composed by Cosmas Indicopleustes, a Greek sailor, in the 6th
century A.D.
 Conti..

• Inscriptions provide the sources for the writing of ancient history of Ethiopia
and the Horn
• The earliest written Ethiopian material dates from the seventh century A.D. The
document was found in Abba Gerima monastery in Yeha, Tigray. This was
followed by a manuscript discovered in Haiq Istifanos monastery of present
day Wollo in the thirteenth century A.D. the manuscript cited above contains
the list of medieval kings and their history in brief.
 Conti..

• The largest groups of sources available for medieval Ethiopian

history are hagiographies. They are originated from Ethiopian
Orthodox Church. Invariably written in Ge’ez, an important function
of hagiographies is enhancing the prestige of saints.
• A parallel hagiographical tradition existed within the Muslim
communities of the country. One such account offers great
understanding into the life of a Muslim saint, Shaykh Ja’far Bukko
of Gattira, in present day Wollo, in the late 19 th century.
 Conti…

• 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 (sometimes in Amharic) into the
early 20th c.
• The earliest and the last chronicles are the Glorious Victories of Amde-
Tsion and the Chronicle of Abeto Iyasu and Empress Zewditu respectively.
• Chronicles incorporate both legends and facts about the monarch’s
genealogy, military achievements, devotion and diplomacy.
 Conti..

• Written accounts of Arabic-speaking visitors to the coast also provide useful

information on various aspects of the region’s history.
• For example, al-Masudi and Ibn Battuta described the culture, language and
import-export trade of the east African coast in the 10 th and in the 14th centuries
respectively.
• For the 16th and 17th c, we have two documents composed by Yemeni writers
who were eyewitnesses to the events they described. The 1 st document titled
Futuh al Habesha (The Conquest of Abyssinia) was composed by Shihab al-
Din, who recorded the conflict between the Christian kingdom and the Muslim
principalities in the 16th century.
 Conti..

• Besides the operation of the war including the conquest of northern and central
Ethiopia by Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al Ghazi, the document describes major
towns and their inhabitants in the southeastern part of Ethiopia, although the
discussion abruptly ends in 1535.
• The other first-hand account is left to us by Al-Haymi, who led a Yemeni
delegation in 1647 to the court of Fasiledes (r. 1632- 67).
• Other materials that appeared in the 16th century include Aba Barley’s
Amharic script the history of the Oromo.
 Conti..

• The contribution of missionaries and travellers to the development of Ethiopian

historiography is also significant.
• From the early 16th until the later 19 th c, missionaries (Catholics and
Protestants) left to us valuable information covering a considerable period.
• Some of the major topics covered by missionary sources include religious and
political developments within Ethiopia, and the country’s foreign relations.
• An example of such account is The Prester John of the Indies, composed by a
Portuguese priest, Francisco Alvarez, who led the Portuguese mission to the
court of Lebne-Dengel in 1520.
 Conti..

• Added to missionary sources, travel documents had important contribution to

the development of Ethiopian historiography. One example of travel documents
is James Bruce’s Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile.
• Foreigners also developed interest in Ethiopian studies. One of these figures was
a German, Hiob Ludolf (r.1624-1704). Ludolf was the founder of Ethiopian
studies in Europe in the 17th century. He wrote Historica Aethiopica (translated, A
New History of Ethiopia).
• Ludolf never visited Ethiopia; he wrote the country’s history based on
information he collected from an Ethiopian priest named Abba Gorgorios
(Abba Gregory) who was in Europe at that time.
 Conti..

• Historical writing made some departures from the chronicle tradition in the early
20th century. In this period, traditional Ethiopian writers emerged. The earliest
group of these writers includes Aleqa Taye Gebre Mariam, Aleqa Asme Giorgis
and Debtera Fisseha-Giorgis Abyezgi. Later, Negadras Afework Gebre-Iyesus
and Gebre-Hiwot Baykedagn joined them.
• The early twentieth century Ethiopia was Blatten Geta Hiruy Wolde-Selassie.
Hiruy published four major works.
• In contrast to their predecessors, Gebre-Hiwot and Hiruy exhibited relative
objectivity and methodological sophistication in their works.
 Conti..

• After liberation, Tekle-Tsadik Mekuria formed a bridge between writers in pre-

1935 and Ethiopia professional historians who came after him. Tekle-Tsadik has
published about eight historical works.
• Another work of importance in this period is Yilma Deressa‟s Ye Ityopiya Tarik
Be’asra Sidistegnaw Kifle Zemen (A History of Ethiopia in the 16 th Century).
• The book addresses the Oromo population movement and the wars between the
Christian kingdom and the Muslim sultanates as its main subjects. Blatten Geta
Mahteme-Selassie Wolde-Meskel also contributed his share.
 The Geographical Context
• The term “Ethiopia and the Horn” refers to that part of Northeast
Africa, which now contains the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, and Somalia. The region consists chiefly of mountains
uplifted through the formation of the Great Rift Valley.
• The Rift Valley is a fissure in the Earth’s crust running down from
Syria to Mozambique and marking the separation of the African and
Arabian tectonic plates.
 Conti..

• The major physiographic features of the region are a massive

highland, complex of mountains and plateaus divided by the
Great Rift Valley and surrounded by lowlands, semi-desert, deserts
and tropical forests along the periphery.