Ethiopia

HISTORY

The word "Ethiopia" is from the Greek word Αἰθιοπία meaning sun light burned face.

Some of the oldest evidence for modern humans is found in Ethiopia, which is widely considered the region from which Homo sapiens first set out for the Middle East and points beyond.

Homer (c. 8th century BC) was the first to mention "Aethiopians" He mentioned that they were to be found at the southern extremities of the world, divided by the sea into "eastern" (at the sunrise) and "western" (at the sunset). He also refers to the "Aethiopians" as a "blameless race" and "amongst the noblest of men."

The Kingdom of Aksum, the first known kingdom of great power to rise in Ethiopia, rose during the first century AD. The Persian religious figure Mani listed Axum with China, Rome and Persia as one of the four great powers of his time.

The Kingdom of Aksum had a complex political system and a strong military, and it controlled a strategic location on the Red Sea, which allowed it to engage in trade with various parts of the world.

The Kingdom of Aksum is known for its achievements in architecture, engineering, and agriculture. It is also known for its cultural and linguistic contributions to the region, including the development of the Ge'ez script, which is still used today as a liturgical language in Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

Ethiopia adopted Christianity in 330 AD, just 17 years after the Roman empire during the reign of Ezana of Axum. 

The Kingdom of Semien was an ancient Jewish kingdom that was established in the fourth century, right after the kingdom of Axum turned to Christianity during the reign of Ezana of Axum. Centered in the northwestern part of the Ethiopian kingdom of Ethiopian Empire, it was effectively independent for over 1000 years and was the second most powerful African empire for 300 years. The Kingdom of Semien came to an end in 1627 during the reign of emperor Susenyos.

The Ras Dashen area which used to be part of the kingdom. Wikipedia

The first Hijra in Islamic history occurred in 615 when a group of Muslims was counseled by Muhammad to escape persecution in Mecca and travel to Ethiopia, which was ruled by a Christian king, the Negus.

Despite the rise of Islam, fall of the Byzantine Orthodox Church, and being cut off from all other Christians for centuries Ethiopia remained Christian. They remain the only majority Orthodox Christian African nation.

One time King Lalibela of Ethiopia  (reign early 13th century) fell ill and whilst in a coma, he was visited by God in a vision. When he awoke he begun at once to carry out the order he received: to build a spectacular group of churches, hewn out of the rock of this mountainous region. It is speculated that the lost Ark of the Covenant can be found here.

The Zagwe dynasty ruled the northern parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea from approximately 900. A local ruler, Yekuno Amlak, deposed the last Zagwe King Za-Ilmaknun, and seized the imperial throne of Ethiopia on August 10, 1270. This began the reign of the Solomonic dynasty, which would last for more than 700 years. The Solomonid dynasty claimed that they were related to the kings of Axum. They called themselves Neguse Negest ("King of Kings," or Emperor), basing their claims on their direct relation to Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Unlike most African nations, Ethiopia has been never a European colony.

In the 18th and 19th century, blocks of salt were used as currency in Abyssinia (now Ethiopia).

The First Italo-Ethiopian War was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895 to 1896. It originated from the disputed 1889 Treaty of Wuchale, which the Italians claimed turned Ethiopia into an Italian protectorate.

During the First Italo-Ethiopian War General Oreste Baratieri wanted to retreat but was told, "Italy would prefer the loss of two or three thousand men to a dishonorable retreat" and so had to fight the
Battle of Adwa. Italy lost the climatic battle fought on March 1, 1896 and 3,643 men were slain. They were forced to retreat out of Ethiopia and the country's sovereignty was secured until the Second Italo-Ethiopian War forty years later.

Ethiopia derived prestige for its uniquely successful military resistance during the late 19th-century Scramble for Africa, and subsequently many African nations adopted the colors of Ethiopia's flag following their independence.

The Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, signed the nation's first constitution on July 16, 1931. It was intended to officially replace the Fetha Nagast, which had been the supreme law since the Middle Ages. The constitution represented the first time in history that an absolute ruler had voluntarily shared sovereignty with his subjects.

In 1935 Italy attacked Ethiopia. Haile Selassie was forced to flee the country, with the Italian troops entering Addis Ababa to proclaim an empire by May 1936, making Ethiopia part of Italian East Africa. Italy was thrown out of the League of Nations as a result of their aggression.  Fighting between Italian and Ethiopian troops persisted until February 1937. 

Haile Selassie returned from exile in 1941.  On May 5, Selassie and an army of Ethiopian Free Forces entered Addis Ababa.

Haile Selassie in 1942

Haile Selassie was Ethiopia's Emperor for 44 years from 1930. He was deposed by a military coup on September 12, 1974. The Rastafari movement considers him to be the Biblical messiah, the incarnation of God who will lead followers into a new golden age, hence his importance to Jamaican reggae musicians.

The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. 

3000 Ethiopian soldiers fought with the Americans in the Korean war due to Haile Selassie's belief in global cooperation and the UN.

Virtually unknown, and running in bare feet, the Ethiopian Abebe Bikila (1932-73), won the marathon at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, setting a new world record and becoming the first black African to win a gold medal.

In 1974, at the end of Haile Selassie's reign, power fell to a communist military junta known as the Derg, backed by the Soviet Union, .

Ethiopia underwent a series of famines in the 1980s, exacerbated by civil wars and adverse geopolitics.

In 1985 Bob Geldof, the ex lead singer of an Irish punk band known as the Boomtown Rats was prompted by the devastating famine in Ethiopia to organize Live Aid, a 16-hour concert held at Wembley Stadium then continued at the JFK stadium in Philadelphia. Many of the world’s biggest acts participated, raising more than £80 million.

A substantial population of Ethiopian Jews, known as Beta Israel, resided in Ethiopia until the 1980s. It was claimed Ethiopian Jews were descendants of the tribe of Dan.

In 1985 Israel admitted that it had been secretly resettling Ethiopian Jews in Israel since 1977. More than 10,000 Ethiopians had been escaping the country’s communist regime and the recent famine by being secretly airlifted to Israel.

The Derg communist regime was defeated by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1991. A Transitional Government of Ethiopia, composed of an 87-member Council of Representatives and guided by a national charter that functioned as a transitional constitution, was set up. The EPRDF has ruled ever since.

The current flag of Ethiopia was adopted on October 31, 1996. It is a horizontal tricolour of green, yellow, and red with the national emblem, a golden pentagram on a blue disc, superimposed at the center. While the combination of green, yellow, and red held symbolic importance since at least the early 17th century, the modern tricolour was first adopted on October 11, 1897 by Menelik II. The pentagram represents the unity of the Ethiopian people and the five rays of light represent the bright prospects for their future. The blue disc represents peace.

Passenger services were inaugurated on January 10, 2017 on the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway, a fast electric railway connecting the Ethiopian capital to the the port of Djibouti, providing landlocked Ethiopia with railroad access to the Red Sea.

FUN ETHIOPIA FACTS

With about 87.9 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world.

Ethiopians are extraordinarily genetically diverse. An Ethiopian person will likely have less in common genetically with a Sudanese person than they do with people from other continents.

African is extraordinarily genetically diverse. An Ethiopian person will likely have less in common genetically with a Sudanese person than they do with people from other continents.

Though Ethiopia is landlocked, the state-owned shipping company has 17 ships

The Ethiopians are the only people in Africa with their own indigenous written alphabet. The alphabet, Ethiopic, is one of the world’s oldest and — with 345 letters — longest.

Ethiopia is several years behind the rest of the world. Since the country is so strongly influenced by the Coptic Orthodox Church, it still adheres to the traditional calendar of that church, which is seven years behind the rest of the world.

The coffee bean originated in Ethiopia.

Teff, the staple food crop of Ethiopia, is a highly nutritious "superfood" like quinoa. After European and American health food trends created a huge demand for quinoa, prices skyrocketed in Bolivia, where it is a staple food. Fearing their own food shortage, Ethiopia banned the export of teff in 2006

With approximately 52 million heads of cattle, Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa.

Dallol, a settlement in the Dallol woreda of northern Ethiopia, currently holds the official record for record high average temperature for an inhabited location on Earth, where an average annual temperature of 35°C (96°F) was recorded between the years 1960 and 1966.

Known as the “gateway to hell”, the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is one of the hottest and most alien places on the planet. The air is toxic to humans and organisms were found living in pure acid without any oxygen.

England shares its patron saint - St George - with Ethiopia. A cathedral in Addis Ababa is named after him and so is the main football club, as well as Ethiopia's oldest brand of beer, which was first brewed in 1922.

Ethiopia has the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa with nine sites.

Source Wikipedia