ETHIOPIA IS A LANDLOCKED REPUBLIC IN NORTHEASTERN AFRICA.
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CLIMATE |
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The Ethiopian highlands are cooler and wetter than the lowlands. Night frosts can dust the mountainous areas, and snow falls on the peaks. Most rain falls between June and September.
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The Empire of Aksum
The earliest-known people in Ethiopia (ee-thee-OE-pee-uh) were hunter-gatherers who lived by hunting animals, gathering wild fruits and vegetables, and catching fish in local rivers. Then, probably more than seven thousand years ago, they began farming, learning to grow wild grasses as food crops. Teff, the staple grain of the Ethiopian diet today, was one such wild grass. At about the same time, livestock raising was introduced, probably by peoples who migrated to the region from Asia.
Over a period of about four thousand years, the population of farmers grew in number. They improved their farming methods, settled in small villages and towns, and began trading with people in other towns and regions. Then, in about the sixth century B.C.E., farmers from southwest Arabia (modern Yemen) crossed the Red Sea and set up trading settlements on the coast. They soon intermarried with the local peoples. The Aksum (AHK-soom) Empire emerged from these early developments about two thousand years ago in the northern highlands of Ethiopia.
Today’s information about the Aksum Empire comes from both written and archaeological evidence. The empire was first described by the Greeks in the first century C.E. In the third century a Persian writer claimed it was one of the four great kingdoms of the world. For more than five hundred years, it was one of the most important civilizations of its time. Aksum minted its own coins, manufactured glass, copper, and brass goods, and practiced advanced agriculture, using skillful irrigation techniques.
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FACTS AND FIGURES |
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Official name: Ityop’iya Federalawi Demokrasiyawi Ripeblik Status: Independent state Capital: Addis Ababa Major towns: Dese, Dire Dawa, Gonder, Harer, Jima, Mekele, Nazret Area: 471,775 square miles (1,221,897 square kilometers) Population: 74,800,000 Population density: 159 per square mile (61 per square kilometer) Peoples: 40 percent Oromo; 32 percent Amhara and Tigre; 9 percent Sidama; 6 percent Somali; 4 percent Afar; 2 percent Gurage; 7 percent others, including Hareri, Anuak, Nuer Official language: Amharic Currency: Birr National days: Battle of Adwa (March 2); Patriots’ Victory Day (May 5); National Day (May 28) Country’s name: The country’s name probably comes from the Greek word ethiopic, meaning "burned faced," and was used to describe the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa.
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The Aksumite Empire covered the northern highlands of Ethiopia, controlled the coast of the Red Sea, and, at its height, expanded into part of Arabia. In 350 C.E. it conquered the Meroë Empire in modern-day Sudan (see SUDAN). One of the main reasons why Aksum became so powerful was because it controlled the Red Sea trade routes between India, the Roman Empire, and Arabia. Some of the main items it exported were gold, incense, ivory, rhinoceros horn, and obsidian, a black glasslike rock used to make jewelry. Cloth, glass, iron, olive oil, and wine were imported.
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The Pillars of Aksum |
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In the northern town of Aksum you can still see the stelae (plural), tall pillars made of solid granite, that adorned the Aksum Empire. The largest stela, which has now fallen, was 108 feet (33 meters) high and weighed approximately 555 tons (500 metric tons). The granite was carried, probably by elephants, from a nearby quarry. Nobody knows how the stelae were lifted into place. The tallest standing stela is 75 feet (23 meters) high and was probably built in the time of King Ezana in the fourth century C.E. Historians think that stelae were built to show the power of the king; the bigger and more impressive a stela was, the more powerful the king seemed to his people.
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The people of Aksum developed a written language called Geez (GIH-ehz), which is still used in the sacred writings of Ethiopian Christianity. Christianity spread widely in the fifth century, when a small group of Christian monks, fleeing persecution in the Roman Empire, arrived in Aksum and began to preach throughout the empire. They built many churches, one of which still remains.
The Aksum Empire began to decline in the seventh century. No one knows exactly why, though different causes have been suggested. The most likely cause was that Muslims from Arabia took control of the Red Sea trade routes.
