Habesha people 2300927 226186992 2008-07-17T06:17:07Z Yom 713855 /* Ancient Period */ a bit inaccurate, given Axum is thought to be the successor kingdom to D`mt, sharing, if not a later form of the same language, at least sisters; page no is wrong for my addition {{ethnic group| |group=Habesha |image=[[Image:Habeshabox002.jpg|350px]] |poptime=varies depending on definition; high of 80,000,000 (all Ethiopians and Eritreans), low of 31,363,300 (all Amharas and Tigray-Tigrinyas) |popplace= (Strict definition)<br>[[Ethiopia]]:<br/>29,300,000<ref name="josh">{{cite web|url=http://www.joshuaproject.net/peoples.php|title=Tigrinya, Amhara, Gurage|accessdate=2006-09-11}}</ref> <br /> [[Eritrea]]:<br/>2,300,000<ref name="josh" /> <br /> [[United States]]:<br/>250,000<ref name="josh" /> <br /> [[Sudan]]:<br/>111,000<ref name="josh" /> <br /> [[United Kingdom]]:<br/>75,000<ref name="josh" /> <br /> [[Israel]]:<br/>64,000<ref name="josh" /> <br /> [[Italy]]:<br/>53,000<ref name="josh" /> <br /> [[Yemen]]:<br/>18,000<ref name="josh" /> <br /> [[Canada]]:<br/>16,000<ref name="josh" /> <br /> [[Egypt]]:<br/>6,000<ref name="josh" /> <br /> [[Germany]]:<br/>6,000<ref name="josh" /> <br /> [[Djibouti]]:<br/>3,500<ref name="josh" /> <br /> [[Saudi Arabia]]:<br />1,900<ref name="josh" /> <br /> |rels= Predominantly [[Tewahedo Church|Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox (Coptic) Christianity]]; [[Beta Israel|Jewish]], [[Islam|Muslim]] and [[P'ent'ay]] minorities exist |langs=[[Ge'ez language|Ge'ez]], [[Hebrew]], [[Amharic language|Amharic]], [[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]], [[Tigre language|Tigre]], [[Gurage]] and all other Semitic languages in Ethiopia |related= }} The term '''Habesha''' ([[Ge'ez alphabet|Ge'ez]] ሐበሻ ''ḥabaśā'', [[Amharic language|Amh.]] ''hābešā'', [[Tigrinya language|Tgn.]], ''ḥābešā''; sometimes Amh. '''Abesha''', አበሻ ''`ābešā''; [[Arabic language|Arabic.]] ''al-ḥabašah'' الحبشة) refers to a [[South Semitic|South Semitic-speaking]] group of people whose cultural, linguistic, and in certain cases, ancestral origins trace back to the tribes of the [[Axumite Kingdom|Axumite]] (Habasha) and the [[D'mt|Da'amat kingdom]]. Today they include the [[Amhara people|Amhara]] and [[Tigray-Tigrinya people|Tigray-Tigrinya]] ethnic groups of Ethiopia and Eritrea who are predominantly [[Tewahedo Church|Orthodox Christians]]. The Amhara and Tigray ethnicities combined make up about 36% of Ethiopia's population (ca. 23 million Amhara, 4.5 million Tigray) while Tigrinyas make up about half of Eritrea's population (ca. 2.25 of 4.5 million). It should be noted, however, that a broader definition of this term may include some segments of the Semitic-speaking [[Gurage]] groups (in the southwest) and the [[Harari]] (in the east/southeast), as well, because of their strong historical links to the Amhara and Tigray. In the broadest sense, the word "Habesha" may refer to anyone from Ethiopia or Eritrea, while some would exclude themselves from this association.<ref name=abesha>{{cite web|url=http://www.abesha.com/basic/AboutUsP.html|title=About Us|accessdate=2007-08-22|format=HTML|work=Abesha.com|language=English|quote=The name of this web page was chosen due to our desire to select a neutral and commonly shared term of reference for both Ethiopians and Eritreans. Since the site's inception, however, we have learned that many in Ethiopia do not associate with the term h/abesha, as it excludes groups such as Oromo's, Somale's, and the many Southern Nationalities And Peoples. We have also learned that there are a number of Eritreans who do not refer to themselves as 'habesha' such as Rashaidas, Kunamas and others.}}</ref> ==Etymology== The modern term derives from the vocalized [[Ge'ez language|Ge'ez]] ሐበሣ (''ḥabaśā''), first written unvocalized as ሐበሠ (''ḥbś'', but probably pronounced ''ḥbs'') or the "pseudo-Sabaic ''ḥbštm''".<ref name="Encyclopaedia" /> The earliest known use of the term dates to the [[2nd century|second]] or [[3rd century|third]] century AD [[Sabaeans|South Arabian]] [[South Arabian alphabet|inscription]], recounting to the defeat of the [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksumite]] [[Kings of Axum|king]] (''nigus'') [[GDRT]] (vocalized ''Gadarat'' or ''Gedara'') of [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]] and HBSHT.<ref>Stuart Munro-Hay. ''Aksum: A Civilization of Late Antiquity''. Edinburgh: University Press. 1991. pp. 39.</ref> The term "Habashat" seems to refer to a group of peoples, however, rather than a specific ethnicity, as evidenced by a Sabaean inscription about the alliance between the [[Himyar]]ite king Shamir Yuhahmid and Aksum under King [[`DBH]] in the first quarter of the 3rd century AD. They have been living alongside the Sabaeans who lived across the Red Sea from them for many centuries: <blockquote>''Shamir of Dhu-Raydan and Himyar had called in the help of the clans of Habashat for war against the kings of Saba; but Ilmuqah granted . . . the submission of Shamir of Dhu-Raydan and the clans of Habashat.''<ref>Stuart Munro-Hay. ''Aksum: A Civilization of Late Antiquity''. Edinburgh: University Press. 1991. pp. 66.</ref></blockquote> The term "Habesha" was formerly thought by some<ref name="Encyclopaedia">Herausgegeben von Uhlig, Siegbert, Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: D-Ha. Wiesbaden:Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005. pp. 948.</ref> to be of [[Arabic language|Arabic]] descent (who used the word ''Habash'', also the name of an Ottoman province comprising parts of modern-day Eritrea), because the English name [[Abyssinia]] comes from the Arabic form.<ref>Stuart Munro-Hay. ''Aksum: A Civilization of Late Antiquity''. Edinburgh: University Press. 1991. pp. 19.</ref> South Arabian expert Eduard Glaser claimed that the hieroglyphic ''ḫbstjw'', used in reference to "a foreign people from the incense-producing regions" (i.e. [[Land of Punt|Punt]], probably located around southern [[Eritrea]], northern [[Ethiopia]], and the [[Sudan]]ese border) used by Queen [[Hatshepsut]] ca. 1460 BC, was the first usage of the term or somehow connected, a claim repeated by others; however, this etymology is not at all certain, given the large time difference in the usage of the terms.<ref name="Encyclopaedia" /> == History == Historically, the [[Tigray province|province of Tigray]] and central [[Eritrea]] was where [[Ethiopia]]n and [[Eritrea]]n [[Habesha]] civilization had its origins. The first kingdom to arise was that of [[D`mt]] in the [[8th century BC]]. The [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksumite Kingdom]], one of the powerful civilizations of the ancient world, was centered there from at least 400BC to the 10th century AD. Spreading far beyond Tigray and Eritrea, it molded the earliest culture of Ethiopia and left many historical treasures: towering finely carved stelae, the remains of extensive palaces, and the ancient places of worship still vibrant with culture and pageantry. ===Ancient Period=== [[Image:EthiopiaArms.JPG|right|thumb|250px|Ethiopia Arms]] Throughout history, indigenous peoples had been interacting through population movement, warfare, trade, and intermarriage in the Horn of Africa region, resulting in a predominance of peoples speaking languages of the Afro-Asiatic family. The main branches represented were the Cushitic and the Semitic. (Munro-Hay 62) As early as the third millennium BCE, the pre-Aksumites had begun trading along the Red Sea. They mainly traded with Egypt. Earlier trade expeditions were taken by foot along the Nile Valley. The Egyptians main object in the trade from the Ethiopian region (which they may have called Punt) was to acquire myrrh, which the northern Horn of Africa region had much of. The foundation of the Kingdom of Aksum’s is suggested to be as early as 300 BCE. Very little is known of the time period between the mid-first millennium BCE to the beginning of Aksum’s flourish around the first century CE. Aksum is thought to be a successor kingdom of [[D'mt]] (usually vocalized Da`amat) a kingdom in the early 1st millennium BC most likely centered at nearby [[Yeha]](Munro-Hay 1991, 4). The Aksumite kingdom was located in the northern Ethiopian province of Tigray and Eritrea and it Aksum remained the capital until the seventh century CE. Aksum owes its prosperity to its location. The Blue Nile basin and the Afar depression are both within a close proximity of Aksum. The former is rich in gold and the latter of salt: both materials having a highly important use to the Aksumites. Aksum was also within an accessible distance to the port of Adulis, on the coast of the Red Sea, hence maintaining trade relations with other nations, such as Egypt, India, and Arabia. Aksum’s ‘fertile’ and ‘well-watered’ location produced enough food for its population as well as its exotic animals, such as elephants and rhinoceros (Pankhurst 1998, 22-3). From its capital on the Tigray Plateau, Aksum was in command of the trade of ivory with Sudan. It also dominated the trade route leading south and the port of Adulis on the Gulf of Zola. Its success depended on resourceful techniques, production of coins, steady migrations of Greco-Roman merchants and ships landing on the port of Adulis. In exchange for Aksum’s goods, traders bid many kinds of cloth, jewelry, metals and steel for weapons. At its peak, Aksum controlled territories as far as southern Egypt, east to the Gulf of Aden, south to the Omo River, and west to the Nubian Kingdom of Meroe. The South Arabian kingdom of the Himyarites and also a portion of Western Saudi Arabia was also under the power of Aksum. At this point in time the majority of the citizens of Aksum were one of the ancestors of the present day [[Amhara people|Amhara]] and [[Tigray people|Tigray]],the [[Biher-Tigrigna]] (also Tigrinya speakers) and Tigre of [[Eritrea]].<!-- The people cited are not pure Axumites as their ancestors included an amalgamation of people such as the Agew, Argobba, Oromo ancient Beja and so on. An Agew in Gojam who became Amharized is not a direct descendant of the Axumites, but maybe cultural descendants? --> ===Medieval Period=== [[Image:FasilidesPalace.jpg|right|thumb|250px|[[Fasilides of Ethiopia|Fasilides]]' [[Fasil Ghebbi|Castle]] in [[Gondar]], [[Amhara Region]].]] Some time in the early Middle Ages, the [[Amharic language|Amharic]] and [[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]] languages began to be differentiated, and Ge'ez eventually became extinct (except in churches). Amhara warlords often competed for dominance of the realm with Tigrayan warlords. While many branches of the Imperial dynasty were from the Amharic speaking area, a substantial amount were from [[Tigray province|Tigray]]. The Amharas seemed to gain the upper hand with the accession of the so-called [[Gondar]] line of the Imperial dynasty in the beginning of the 17th century. However, it soon lapsed into the semi-anarchic era of [[Zemene Mesafint]] ("Era of the Princes"), in which rivalling warlords fought for power and the [[Yejju Oromo]] [[inderase]]s (or regents) had effective control, while [[Emperor of Ethiopia|emperors]] were just considered to be figureheads. The Tigrayans only made a brief return to the throne in the person of [[Yohannes IV]], whose death in 1889 allowed the base to return to the Amharic speaking province of [[Shewa]]. [[Image:Yohannesson.jpg|thumb|150px|left|His Imperial Majesty Emperor [[Yohannis IV]] of Tigray origin, Emperor of Ethiopia and King of Zion, with his son and heir, Ras Araya Selassie Yohannis]] Some consider the Amhara to have been Ethiopia's ruling elite for centuries, represented by the line of Emperors ending in [[Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia|Haile Selassie]]. Many commentators, including Marcos Lemma, however, dispute the accuracy of such a statement, arguing that other ethnic groups have always been active in the country's politics. One possible source of confusion for this stems from the mislabeling of all [[Amharic language|Amharic-speakers]] as "Amhara", and the fact that many people from other ethnic groups have Amharic [[Onomastics|names]]. Another is the fact that most Ethiopians can trace their ancestry to multiple ethnic groups. In fact, the last Emperor, [[Haile Selassie]] I, often counted himself a member of the [[Gurage]] ethnicity{{Fact|date=March 2007}} on account of his ancestry, and his Empress, Itege [[Menen Asfaw]] of [[Ambassel]], was in large part of [[Oromo]] descent.<ref>[http://www.angelfire.com/ny/ethiocrown/Haile.html Emperor Haile Selassie I, Part 1], Official Ethiopian Monarchy Website.</ref> The expanded use of Amharic language results mostly from its being the language of the court, and was gradually adopted out of usefulness by many unrelated groups, who then became known as "Amhara" no matter what their ethnic origin. ===Modern Period=== <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:EPLFrebels.jpg|right|thumb|260px|Members of the [[EPLF]].]] --> The Eritreans mounted a revolt against the status of Eritrea as a province in 1961, which culminated in the defeat of the [[Derg]] in 1991 and independence by referendum in 1993. During the time of the Derg in the 1970s, various movements arose in [[Tigray province|Tigray]] and throughout [[Ethiopia]] against its persecution. One of these, the [[Tigrayan People's Liberation Front]], formed in the mid 1970s, grew disgruntled with the Derg and advocated the secession of Tigray. By 1991, however, when both groups collectively defeated the Derg, TPLF's views had changed, and it became the helm of the [[EPRDF]], created under its guidance (and dominated by the TPLF), the current [[Dominant-party system|dominant party]]. As a result the nation [[Eritrea]] finally became an independent state, separating itself from the failed federation with Ethiopia. However, despite being of different nations, the Tigrinya people in Eritrea are of the same ethnic background and share the same language (ignoring small dialect differences) as the Tigrayans in Ethiopia. Today, there exists a large amount of habesha in the diaspora of the western world and many European countries. ==Origins== [[Image:Lion-judah.jpeg|right|thumb|220px|[[Lion of Judah#Lion of Judah in Ethiopia|Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah]], [[Ethiopia]].]] The Imperial family of [[Ethiopia]] (which is currently in exile) claims its origin directly from the offspring of [[King Solomon]] and the Queen of Sheba ([[Ge'ez alphabet|Ge`ez]]: ንግሥተ ሣብአ ''nigiśta Śab'a'' , who is named '''Makeda''' (Ge`ez: ማክዳ) in the Ethiopian account. The Ethiopian epic 'Glory of Kings', the [[Kebra Negast]], is supposed to record the history of Makeda and her descendants. King Solomon is said in this account to have seduced the Queen, and sired a son by her, who would eventually become [[Menelik I]], the first Emperor of Ethiopia. The tradition that the biblical Queen of Sheba was a ruler of Ethiopia who visited King Solomon in Jerusalem in ancient Israel is supported by the 1st century AD Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who identified Solomon’s visitor as a queen of Egypt and Ethiopia. In the past, scholars like [[Hiob Ludolf]] and [[Carlo Conto Rossini]] postulated that the ancient communities that evolved into the modern Ethiopian state were formed by a migration across the Red Sea of Semitic-speaking South Arabians around 1000 BC who intermarried with local non-Semitic-speaking peoples. Indeed, the ancient Ethiopian [[kingdom of Aksum]] ruled much of Southern Arabia including [[Yemen]] until the rise of [[Islam]] in the 7th century, and both the indigenous languages of Southern Arabia and the [[Amharic]] and [[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]] languages of [[Ethiopia]] are [[South Semitic]] languages. However, the ancient Semitic language of Ethiopia, is now known to not have derived from [[Sabaean language|Sabaean]], and there is evidence of a Semitic speaking presence in Ethiopia and Eritrea at least as early as [[2000 BC]].<ref>''ibid''.</ref><ref>Herausgegeben von Uhlig, Siegbert. ''Encyclopaedia Aethiopica'', "Ge'ez". Wiesbaden:Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005, pp. 732.</ref> There is also evidence of ancient Southern Arabian communities in modern day Ethiopia and [[Eritrea]] in certain localities, attested by some archaeological artifacts and ancient [[Sabaeans|Sabaean]] inscriptions in the old [[South Arabian alphabet]]. However, scholars like Stuart Munro-Hay point to the existence of an older [[D’mt]] or Da'amot kingdom, prior to any Sabaean migration ca. 4th or 5th c. BC, as well as evidence of to Sabaean immigrants having resided in Ethiopia for little more than a few decades<ref>Munro-Hay, ''Aksum'', pp. 57.</ref> Furthermore, there is archeological evidence of a region in Northern Ethiopia and Eritrea also called Saba, now referred to as Ethiopian Saba to avoid confusion. [[Image:Early nineteenth century warriors Colour.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Early nineteenth century warriors in Abyssinia]] There is little archaeological evidence to verify the story of the Queen of Sheba &mdash; and the longstanding presumption that Sabaean migrants had played a direct role in Ethiopian civilization has recently come under attack.<ref>Pankhurst, Richard K.P. ''Addis Tribune'', "[http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2003/01/17-01-03/Let.htm Let's Look Across the Red Sea I]", January 17, 2003.</ref> Sabaean influence is speculated by some recent authors to have been minor, limited to a few localities, and disappearing after a few decades or a century, perhaps representing a trading or military colony in some sort of symbiosis or military alliance with the Ethiopian civilization of [[D`mt]].<ref>Stuart Munro-Hay, Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity. Edinburgh: University Press, 1991, pp.57.</ref> In the reign of King [[Ezana of Axum|Ezana]] (ca. early 4th c. AD, the term is listed as one of the nine regions under his domain, translated in the [[Greek language|Greek]] version of his inscription as [[Ethiopia|Αἰθιοπία]] (''Aithiopia'', i.e. "Ethiopia"), the first known use of this term to specifically describe the region known today as Ethiopia (and not [[Kush]] or the entire [[Africa]]n and [[India]]n region outside of Egypt).<ref name="Encyclopaedia" /> The 6th c. author [[Stephanus of Byzantium]] later used the term "Αβασηγοί" (i.e. Abasēnoi) in reference to: <blockquote>an Arabian people living next to the [[Sabaeans]] together with the [[Hadramaut|Ḥaḍramites]]. The region of the Abasēnoi produce[d] myrrh, incense and cotton and they cultivate[d] a plant qhich yields a purple dye (probably ''wars'', i.e. ''Fleminga Grahamiana''). It lies on a route which leads from [[Zabid|Zabīd]] on the coastal plain to the [[Himyar|Ḥimyarite]] capital [[Zafar|Ẓafār]].<ref name="Encyclopaedia" /></blockquote> The Abasēnoi spoken of by Stephanus was located by Hermann von Wissman as a region in the Jabal Hubaysh (perhaps related in etymology with the ḥbš [[triliteral|root]]). Other places names in Yemen contain the ḥbš root, such as the Jabal Habashi (Ḥabaši), whose residents are still called al-Ahbuš (pl. of Ḥabaš).<ref name="Encyc2">Herausgegeben von Uhlig, Siegbert, Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: D-Ha. Wiesbaden:Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005. pp. 949.</ref> The location of the Abasēnoi in Yemen may perhaps be explained by remnant Aksumite populations from the 520s conquest by [[Kaleb of Axum|King Kaleb]]; [[Ezana of Axum|King Ezana's]] claims to Sahlen (Saba) and Dhu-Raydan (Himyar) during a time when such control was unlikely may indicate an Aksumite presence or coastal foothold.<ref>Stuart Munro-Hay. ''Aksum: A Civilization of Late Antiquity''. Edinburgh: University Press. 1991. pp. 72.</ref> Traditional scholarship has assumed that the Habashat were a tribe from modern-day Yemen that migrated to Ethiopia. However, the [[South Arabian alphabet|Sabaic]] inscriptions only use the term ḥbšt to the refer to the [[Kingdom of Aksum]] and its inhabitants, especially during the 3rd c., when the ḥbšt (Aksumites) were often at war with the Sabaeans and Himyraites.<ref name="Encyc2" /> ===South Arabian/Sabean Origin theory=== [[Image:Thequeenofsheba.jpg|left|thumb|205px|Nigist (Queen) [[Queen of Sheba|Makeda]] of [[Sheba]]]] The Sabean theory was the most common one explaining the origins of the "Habashat" (Habesha) before the 20th century. It was first suggested by [[Hiob Ludolf]] and revived by early 20th century Italian scholar [[Conti Rossini]]. The theory states that at an early epoch South Arabian tribes, including one called the "Habashat" emigrated to the opposite African coast. According to this theory, Sabaeans brought with them South Arabian letters and language, which gradually evolved into the [[Ge'ez language]] and [[Ge'ez alphabet]]. However, though the Ge'ez alphabet did develop from [[South Arabian alphabet|Epigraphic South Arabian]] (whose oldest inscriptions are found in both Ethiopia and Eritrea and Yemen), it is now known that Ge'ez is not descended from any of the Old South Arabian languages.<ref>Stefan Weninger. "Ge'ez" in von Uhlig, Siegbert, ''Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: D-Ha'' (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005), pp.732, 2005.</ref> In the large corpus of South Arabian inscriptions, however, there has never been mention of migration to the west coast of the Red Sea, nor of a tribe called "Habashat." All uses of the term date to the 3rd century AD and later, where they are always used in reference to the people of the [[Kingdom of Aksum]].<ref>>Matthew C. Curtis, "Ancient Interaction across the Southern Red Sea: cultural exchange and complex societies in in the 1st millennium BC" in ''Red Sea Trade and Travel''. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2002, p.60</ref><ref>A. K. Irvine, "On the identity of Habashat in the South Arabian inscriptions" in ''Journal of Semitic Studies'', vol. 10, 1965, pp. 178-196</ref> In recent times, this theory has been debated with another theory in the Indigenous development of Habesha civilization.<ref>Stuart Munro-Hay, Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity. Edinburgh: University Press, 1991, pp.57.</ref><ref>Pankhurst, Richard K.P. ''Addis Tribune'', "[http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2003/01/17-01-03/Let.htm Let's Look Across the Red Sea I]", January 17, 2003.</ref> ==Culture== [[Image:Mymom52^.jpg|thumb|Woman coffee farmer filling cups with coffee in Ethiopia]] The way of life among the Habesha evokes images of Biblical times. Camels, donkeys, and sheep are everywhere. Fields are plowed using oxen. The Orthodox Church is a large part of the culture. The church buildings are built on hills. Major celebrations during the year are held around the church, where people gather from villages all around to sing, play games, and observe the unique mass of the church, which includes a procession through the church grounds and environs. Coffee is a very important ceremonial drink. The "coffee ceremony" is common to the Tigrinya and the Amhara. Beans are roasted on the spot, ground and served thick and rich in tiny ceramic cups with no handles. This amount of coffee can be finished in one gulp if drunk cold, however, it is traditionally drunk very slowly as conversation takes place. When the beans are roasted to smoking, they are passed around the table, where the smoke becomes a blessing on the diners. The traditional food served at these meals, consists of [[injera]] a spongy flat bread, served with [[sebhi]] or [[wot]] (a spicy meat sauce). The country houses are built mostly from rock, dirt, and a few timber poles. The houses blend in easily with the natural surroundings. Many times the nearest water source is more than a kilometer away from the house. In addition, people must search for fuel for the fire throughout the surrounding area. The Habesha people have a rich heritage of music and dance, using drums and stringed instruments tuned to a [[pentatonic scale]]. Arts and crafts and secular music are performed mostly by artisans who are regarded with suspicion. Sacred music and iconic art is performed by monastically trained men. ===Language and Literature=== "...an ancient tongue spoken in this region fissured into the modern languages of the [[Afro-Asiatic]] (formerly Hamito-Semitic) family. This family includes the [[Cushitic]] and [[Semitic]] languages now spoken in Ethiopia.... During the 2nd millennium BC...a people speaking Ge'ez (a Semitic language) came to dominate the rich northern highlands of Tigray. There, in the 7th century BC, they established the kingdom of [[D'mt|Da'amat]].... [[Aksum]]'s culture comprised Ge'ez, written in a modified South Arabian alphabet, sculpture and architecture based on [[South Arabian]] prototypes, and an amalgam of local and Middle Eastern deities. Thus, evidence exists of a close cultural exchange between Aksum and the [[Arabian peninsula]]...." ("History of Ethiopia," Encyclopaedia Britannica) All Habesha people speak Semitic languages, which originate from the Ancient language of Ge'ez. The Ge'ez language is classified as a [[South Semitic language]]. It evolved from an earlier proto-[[Ethiopian Semitic languages|Ethio-Semitic]] ancestor used to write royal inscriptions of the kingdom of [[Dʿmt]] in [[South Arabian alphabet|Epigraphic South Arabian]]. As a member of South Semitic, it is closely related to [[Sabaean language|Sabaean]], and the Ge'ez alphabet later replaced Epigraphic South Arabian in the [[Kingdom of Aksum]] (although Epigraphic South Arabian was used for a few inscriptions into the [[8th century]], though not any South Arabian language since Dʿmt). Early inscriptions in Ge'ez and Ge'ez alphabet have been dated<sup>[[#Notes|2]]</sup> to as early as the [[5th century BC]], and in a sort of proto-Ge'ez written in ESA since the [[9th century BC]]. Ge'ez literature properly begins with the Christianization of Ethiopia (and the civilization of Axum) in the [[4th century]], during the reign of [[Ezana of Axum]]. While Ge'ez is an extinct language that is only used in churches, the three languages that have branched off from it are [[Tigre]], [[Tigrinya]] and [[Amharic]]. Tigre is a direct descedant of Ge'ez while Tigrinya has a small and Amharic a large [[Cushitic]] influence. ==Religion== ===Christianity=== [[Image:Ark of the Covenant church in Axum Ethiopia.jpg|thumb|right|220px|The Chapel of the Tablet at the [[Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion]] allegedly houses the original ''Ark of the Covenant''.]] Many people think of [[Christianity in Africa]] as a European import that arrived with colonialism, but this is not the case with the Habesha. The empire centered in [[Axum]] and [[Adowa]] was part of the [[Mediterranean]] world in which Christianity grew. The arrival of Christianity in Tigrayan lands happened about the same time that it arrived in [[Ireland]]. The Tigrayans, in fact, had been converted to Christianity hundreds of years before most of Europe. Many Tigrayan churches were cut into cliffs or from single blocks of stone, as they were in [[Turkey]] and in parts of [[Greece]], where Christianity had existed from its earliest years. The church is a central feature of communities and of each family's daily life. Each community has a church with a [[patron saint]]. Ethiopia has often been mentioned in the [[bible]]. A great example of this is the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch as written in [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]], Chapter 8, verse 27: "Then the angel of the Lord said to Philip, Start out and go south to the road that leads down from Jerusalem to Gaza. So he set out and was on his way when he caught sight of an Ethiopian. This man was a eunuch, a high official of the Kandake (Candace) Queen of Ethiopia in charge of all her treasure." The passage continues by describing how Philip helped the Ethiopian understand one passage of [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] that the Ethiopian was reading. After the Ethiopian received an explanation of the passage, he requested that Philip baptize him, which Philip obliged. Queen [[Gersamot Hendeke VII]] (very similar to Kandake) was the Queen of Ethiopia from the year 42 to 52. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church was founded in the fourth century by [[Syria]]n monks. Historically, the Ethiopian and Eritrean churches have had strong ties with the [[Egyptian Coptic Church]], the Egyptian Church appointing the archbishop for the Eritrean Church. They gained independence from the Coptic church in the 1950s, although the [[Eritrean Orthodox Church]] has recently reforged the link. Over 5 million of these people are Coptic Orthodox, with one priest for every 92 members--the highest concentration in Ethiopia. The remainder are [[Muslim]]s. There are many Muslims in Tigray Province, but they generally belong to other people groups. The Tigray are reported to have fewer than 500 evangelical believers. {{Fact|date=June 2008}} There are more believers among the Tigrinya in Eritrea. [[Image:Ethiopian Painting 2005 SeanMcClean.JPG|thumb|left|250px|This leather painting depicts [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Ethiopian Orthodox]] priests playing [[Sistrum|sistra]] and a [[drum]].]] The faith of the Coptic Church is very intimately woven into the culture of the Tigrinya people and is central to their way of life. It is loosely defined as a Christian church, but a major icon in the church is the [[Ark of the Covenant]]. The people accept the Bible as true, but the Orthodox canon includes some books unique to their tradition. Church services are conducted in [[Ge´ez language|Ge´ez]], the ancient language of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is considered the holy church language, just as [[Latin language|Latin]] once was in the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. Unlike Latin, however, Ge´ez is taught to only a few educated scholars. Even the average priest only memorizes his part of the service. Much has been added to Christianity. The Church grounds, like the Biblical temple, are filled with beggars and people selling religious paraphernalia such as candles and pictures of Mary and the Saints. Orthodox beliefs are law-oriented with emphasis on the rigid observance of worship rituals such as church attendance, fasting, prescribed prayers, and devotion to saints and angels. A child is never left alone until baptism and cleansing rituals are performed. Boys are baptized forty days after birth, whereas girls are baptized eighty days after birth. Defrocked priests and deacons commonly function as diviners, who are the main healers. Spirit possession is common, affecting primarily women. Women are also the normal spirit mediums. ====Similarities to Judaism & Islam==== The Ethiopian church places a heavier emphasis on Old Testament teachings than one might find in the Roman Catholic or Protestant churches, and its followers adhere to certain practices that one finds in Orthodox or Conservative [[Judaism]]. Ethiopian Christians, like some other [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christians]], traditionally follow dietary rules that are similar to Jewish [[Kashrut]], specifically with regard to how an animal is slaughtered. Similarly, [[pork]] is prohibited, though unlike Kashrut, Ethiopian cuisine does mix [[dairy]] products with [[meat]]- which in turn makes it even closer to [[Islamic dietary laws]] (see [[Halal]]). Women are prohibited from entering the church during their [[menses]]; they are also expected to cover their hair with a large scarf (or ''shash'') while in church, but contrary to popular belief and the actual practice of most other Christian denominations, it is not in the Old Testament that this is commanded, but rather in the New (1 Cor. 11). As with Orthodox [[synagogue]]s, men and women are seated separately in the Ethiopian church, with men on the left and women on the right (when facing the altar). However, women covering their heads and separation of the sexes in the Church building officially is common to many [[Oriental Orthodox]], [[Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Catholic]] Christians and not unique to Judaism. Ethiopian Orthodox worshippers remove their shoes when entering a church, in accordance with [[Exodus]] 3:5 (in which [[Moses]], while viewing the [[burning bush]], is commanded to remove his shoes while standing on holy ground). Furthermore, both the [[Shabbat|Sabbath]] (Saturday), and the Lord's Day (Sunday) are observed as holy, although more emphasis, because of the [[Resurrection of Jesus Christ]], is laid upon the Holy Sunday. === Judaism === Judaism in Ethiopia is believed to date from very ancient times. Precisely what its early history was, however, remains obscure. The now dominant Coptic Ethiopian Church claims it originated from the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon back in the Tenth Century B.C.E. This visit is mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures (I Kings 10:1), but [[Sheba]] probably was a kingdom in the south of the Yemen, but is very close to Ethiopia from the Red Sea, and it has been recorded that Ethiopia was heavily influenced by the Sabean kingdom. Moreover, the details of the queen's visit, including the alleged theft of the Holy Ark as well as Solomon getting her pregnant with a child who established the "Solomonic" lineage in Ethiopia, as given in Christian Ethiopian tradition, are not in the Bible. They instead developed in the Middle Ages, first written down in full in the 13th century [[Kebra Nagast]], inspired partly to legitimize the [[Solomonic dynasty]] as compared to the previous [[Zagwe dynasty]] of Agew descent (Cushitic, not Semitic-speaking, though passionately Christian). What we call the Jewish Pre-settlement Theory essentially states that starting around the 8th century BCE until about the 5th century BCE, there was an influx of Jewish settlers both from Egypt & Sudan in the north, and southern Arabia in the east. Whether these settlers arrived in great numbers is yet a matter of debate. What is certain, however, is that these settlers must have preceded the arrival of Christianity. Evidence for their presence exists not only in historical books, but also in material artifacts depicting ancient Jewish ceremonies. For instance the Temple at [[Yeha]] (in Tigray province), which is said to have been erected in the 8th century BCE, is believed to be an architectural copy of other Jewish temples found in Israel and Egypt during the pre-Babylonian era (before 606 BCE).{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Another example is found on the monastery islands of Lake Tana (northern Gojjam), where several archaic stone altars, fashioned in the manner of Jewish sacrificial alters of pre-8th century BCE Israel, have been found not only preserved in good condition but also containing blood residue.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} The manner of the blood placed on the stone altars was found to be typical of a culture that strongly adhered to Mosaic Law.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} [[Image:Tekle.jpg|left|thumb|200px|King Tekle Haimanot of [[Gojjam]]]] The chief Semitic languages of Ethiopia also suggest an antiquity of Judaism in Ethiopia. "There still remains the curious circumstance that a number of Abyssinian words connected with religion -- [[Hell]], [[cult image|idol]], [[Easter]], [[purification]], [[alms]] -- are of Hebrew origin. These words must have been derived directly from a Jewish source, for the Abyssinian Church knows the scriptures only in a Ge'ez version made from the Septuagint" <ref>{{cite book | last = Monroe | first = Elizabeth | title = The History of Ethiopia | publisher = Simon Publications | page = page 40 | location = London | year = 2001 | isbn = 1931541620 }}</ref> Beta Israel traditions claim that the Ethiopian Jews are descended from the lineage of Moses himself, some of whose children and relatives are said to have separated from the other Children of Israel after the Exodus and gone southwards, or, alternatively or together with this, that they are descended from the tribe of Dan, which fled southwards down the Arabian coastal lands from Judaea at the time of the breakup of the Kingdom of Israel into two kingdoms in the 10th century B.C.E. (precipitated by the oppressive demands of [[Rehoboam]], King Solomon's heir), or at the time of the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel in the 8th century B.C.E. Certainly there was trade as early as the time of King Solomon down along the Red Sea to the Yemen and even as far as India, according to the Bible, and there would therefore have been Jewish settlements at various points along the trade routes. There is definite archaeological evidence of Jewish settlements and of their cultural influence on both sides of the Red Sea well at least 2,500 years ago, both along the Arabian coast and in the Yemen, on the eastern side, and along the southern Egyptian and Sudanese coastal regions. === Islam=== <!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:Ethiopia museum old koran.jpg|thumb|left|300|An ancient Ethiopian Islamic manuscript.]] --> Islam in Ethiopia dates back to [615]. During that year, a group of Muslims were counseled by the Prophet Muhammad to escape persecution in Mecca and [[Migration to Abyssinia|travel to Ethiopia]], which was ruled by, in the Prophet Muhammad's estimation, a pious Christian king.The Prophet Muhammad's followers crossed the Red Sea into Ethiopia and sought refuge in the Kingdom of Aksum, possibly settling at Negash, a place in Northern Ethiopia, Tigray region. Moreover, Islamic tradition states that Bilal, l, one of the foremost companions of the Prophet Muhammad, was from Ethiopia. Ethiopia was thus the earliest home outside of Saudi Arabia for the dispersal of the Islamic world faith. Ethiopia is almost evenly split between Orthodox Christians and Sunni Muslims. [edit]Literature [[Image:Mosque in Harar, Ethiopia.jpg|thumb|Mosque in [[Harar]]]] Most of Ethiopia's Muslims are [[Sunni]] Muslims and much as the rest of the [[Muslim world]], the beliefs and practices of the [[Muslim]]s of '''Ethiopia''' are basically the same: embodied in the [[Qur'an]] and the [[Sunnah]]. There are also [[Sufi]] Orders present in Ethiopia. According to the 1994 census of Ethiopia (with similar numbers for the 1984 census), about half of its population is adherent of Islam and members of the Muslim community can be found throughout the country. Islam in Ethiopia is in the Oromo and Ogaden region. The most important Islamic religious practices, such as the daily ritual prayers (''[[Salat]]'') and Fasting ([[Arabic]] صوم, ''[[Sawm]]'', [[Ethiopian Semitic languages|Ethiopic]] ጾም, ''S.om'' or ''Tsom'' - used by [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church|Christians]] as well) during the holy month of [[Ramadan]], are observed both in urban centers as well as in rural areas, among both settled peoples and nomads. Numerous Ethiopian Muslims perform the pilgrimage to [[Mecca]] every year. ==References== {{reflist}} * {{loc}} * Pankhurst, Dr. Richard. {{cite web | title=History of Northern Ethiopia - and the Establishment of the Italian Colony or Eritrea | work=Civic Webs Virtual Library | url=http://www.civicwebs.com/cwvlib/africa/ethiopia/pankhurst/history_of_northern_ethiopia.htm | accessmonthday=March 25 | accessyear=2005}} * {{factbook}} == Literature == * Eduard Glaser: ''Die Abessinier in Arabien und Afrika''. München 1895, S. 8 f. * Wilhelm Max Müller: ''Asien und Europa nach altägyptischen Denkmälern''. Leipzig 1893, S. 116. * Wolbert Smidt: ''Selbstbezeichnung von Təgrəñña-Sprechern (Habäša, Tägaru, Təgrəñña)''; in: Bogdan Burtea / Josef Tropper / Helen Younansardaroud, Studia Semitica et Semitohamitica [Festschrift für Rainer Voigt], Münster 2005, S. 385 ff., 391 f. * Hatem Elliesie: ''Der zweite Band der Encyclopaedia Aethiopica im Vergleich''; in: Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, Band 102, Heft 4-5, Berlin 2007, S. 397 ff. (398-401). ==See also== *[[Beta Israel]] *[[Amhara people]] *[[Tigray-Tigrinya people]] *[[History of Ethiopia]] *[[Sheba]] *[[Solomonic Dynasty]] *[[Semitic]] *[[Ethiopian Orthodox Church]] [[Category:Ethnic groups in Ethiopia]] [[Category:Ethnic groups in Eritrea]] [[ar:أحباش (شعب)]] [[bs:Abesinci]] [[de:Habesha]] [[eo:Habeŝaoj]] [[he:חבשים]]