History Of Ethiopia Research Articles

Social Differentiation of Ethnic Communities and Professional Groups in the History of Ethiopia

The article analyzes the position and role in the socio-ethno-political processes of Ethiopia’s past of such institutions as professional groups, often referred to as “castes,” and the descendants of slaves. The study is based on the author’s field research and the work of Ethiopian scholars. It contains extensive factual material on various ethnic communities, both the multi-million Amhara or Oromo ethnic groups and ethnic minorities, including the Yem, Sidama, Wolaita, Gurage, hunter-gatherers (using the Manjo as an example). The institutions of discriminated groups, which were established in antiquity, have shown their resilience over several centuries. These institutions include “castes” (the study makes a parallel of this social institution in Ethiopia with a similar one in India), slave descendants, and ethnic hierarchy. In Ethiopia, there was a very unique phenomenon where slavery existed only among women. This is the case of the Raya Kobbo ethnic group in Amhara State in the North Wollo Zone. Another category of ethnic communities is the “castes” of artisans. For centuries, several ethnic groups of Ethiopia have considered physical labor and crafts (blacksmithing, weaving, dyeing, woodworking, and others) “unworthy” occupations compared to agriculture. The author analyzes in detail the status of the various “castes” of craftsmen—blacksmiths, potters, tanners, weavers, and others—and the evolution of attitudes towards them in Ethiopian society. The reason for the persistence of such institutions, in the author’s view, is tradition, which had left its mark on the social structure of Ethiopian society and will take a long time to eradicate.

Rethinking adult education in Ethiopia: the quest for interventions to overcome implementation challenges and foster effectiveness

The introduction of modern education, especially adult education, has a long history in Ethiopia. However, consistent implementation remains a big challenge to reach all adults. Considering this situation in mind,the current study was conducted to scrutinise the fundamental challenges faced by adult education programs and identify promising interventions that need to be taken into account to overcome the exisitng challenges and improve implementation effectiveness. In doing so, the current study employed a qualitative research method with a case study design. Data was collected through interviews with purposefully selected fourteen participants and through document analysis. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data collected. Accordingly, the study results revealed the following major findings: The presence of traditional attitudes and cultural stigma that devalue adult education limits its reach to broader adults. Additionally, the existence of insufficient political commitment from the government often results in limited support for adult education initiatives. There is also criticism that the current adult education practice has limited adaptability due to its ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach and its inability to meet the dynamic learning needs of adults. Furthermore, the presence of inadequate resources poses a multifaceted challenge. To address these issues and promote success, some actionable interventions are identified that could be prioritised into three thematic areas. These include the centrality of equity and access, the need for a context-specific structure, and the importance of aligning adult education programs with the country’s national development goals. These proposed interventions hold multifaceted promise for improving the practices of adult education programs. At the end, further discussions and conclusions are forwarded.

Abolitionist Decrees in Ethiopia: The Evolution of Anti-Slavery Legal Strategies from Menilek to Haile Selassie, 1889–1942

AbstractSlavery and the slave trade were fundamental institutions in Ethiopian history. Their abolition was a protracted process that involved developing, debating, passing, and applying multiple anti-slavery and anti-slave trade edicts and decrees under successive rulers. While slavery existed in various societies that were later integrated in the Abyssinian empire since the second half of the nineteenth century and took different forms based on different legal traditions, this article focuses specifically on the Christian kingdom and its successor empire. It analyzes changes and continuities in legal approaches to slavery and its suppression through consecutive Ethiopian governments starting with a discussion of slavery's regulation in the ancient Christian law code, the Fetha nagast (“The Law of the Kings”). The article then considers how successive Christian emperors developed anti-slavery policies in response to both local and global dynamics.

Gudina Tumsa’s Approach to Human Rights: a Dialogue between Anthropology and Christology

I shall present Rev. Gudina’s approach to the crucial issue of human rights. Put rightly, the very phenomenon that marks that particular period in Ethiopian history was the Marxist [-Leninist] ideology. Marxism emphasized social and economic issues more than anything to the extent of seeing human beings but in terms of this internal logic. Knowing the dangers of this socio-economic view of human beings, Rev. Gudina developed an approach to understanding of human nature from an informed [theological] anthropological perspective. Based on his theological-anthropological analysis of human nature he developed a stance on human rights. But theological anthropology was not the only starting point of Rev. Gudina’s perspective on human rights. In this paper, I shall discuss that Rev. Gudina’s approach to human rights was the result of his creative holding of a dialog between theological anthropology and Christology.

Domestic religious pilgrimage in Ethiopia: Validating Ethiopian orthodox Tewahido church monasteries sacredness through the name of Jerusalem and its significance

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Christians have a long history of pilgrimage. The Ethiopian Orthodox pilgrims' journey to Jerusalem, in particular, was very well known and ancient. However, when Jerusalem was under the control of Muslim leaders, Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Christian pilgrims used domestic pilgrimage as an alternative to the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The fall of Jerusalem at the hands of Muslim leaders and the recurrent problems of pilgrims while they travelled to the sacred places of Jerusalem were the turning points for the proliferation of holy places in Ethiopia. King Lalibela was a man of great inspiration regarding domestic pilgrimage (the journey to sacred places in Ethiopia). The domestic pilgrimage, initiated by King Lalibela to replace Jerusalem in Ethiopia, reached its climax in medieval Ethiopian history. This study explores how the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (EOTC) validated and authenticated Ethiopian monasteries and other holy places' sacredness by the name of Jerusalem to develop and encourage domestic pilgrimage. It also shows the significance or implications of domestic pilgrimage in building good social values such as peaceful coexistence, kindness, compassion, and social harmony among diverse communities. By taking Debre-Libanos Monastery (DLM) and Gishen Debre Kerbe (GDK) as the litmus tests, this study shows that religious promises (Qalikidanoch) written in hagiographies and other writings of the EOTC are the main ways for validating and authenticating Ethiopian monasteries sacredness. The religious promises promote and sanctify monasteries and other pilgrims' destinations. It initiates pilgrims to enter the seven-day prayer (Subae) and celebrate the saints’ feasts. The practices and various experiences in the monasteries make pilgrims humble and kind, as well as teach them to develop the values of social harmony and peaceful coexistence. Apart from tourism attractions, therefore, these monasteries have a great possibility of significance for realizing good social values such as national unity, kindness, tolerance, social harmony, and peaceful coexistence. Thus, domestic pilgrimage should be encouraged, as Ethiopia is in the throes of ethnic divisions and the destructive effects ethnicization.

Aliens within homeland: Ethiopian Muslims and their request for “Ethiopianness”

ABSTRACT Being and becoming an Ethiopian has been one of the debating points for Ethiopian Muslims. Throughout the imperial periods of Ethiopia, Muslims were not seen as Ethiopians. They were labeled aliens in their homeland and called ‘Muslims living in Ethiopia.’ Accordingly, for centuries, Islam has not been recognized for its central role in Ethiopia’s socio-political landscape, and Muslims have been regarded as second-class citizens. However, Ethiopian Muslims are indigenous peoples like their Christian fellows. This article assesses the place of Ethiopian Muslims in Ethiopian history and how Ethiopian Muslims have been portrayed in the Ethiopian past by the elites of the country and the state from the 1850s until the 2010s. This article, therefore, focuses on modern Ethiopia’s nation-building and state-making process from the 19th century onwards. A comparison is made regarding the treatment of Ethiopians of Muslims among the imperial Ethiopia, the socialist military, the EPRDF “secular” state, and beyond.

Oromo Tarih Yazımının Bazı Yönleri ve Etiyopya Siyasi Yönelimleri (16-21. Yüzyıllar)

This article investigates the Oromo historiography vis-a-vis the Ethiopian political orientations, 16th-21st centuries. Oral and written sources and the researchers’ empirical knowledge have been analyzed qualitatively to produce this work. Ethiopian history has centered on the north, Semitic and elitist revolving around politics. For so long, Oromo historiography has been a neglected object though the Oromo are the largest ethnic group in the Horn of Africa. This study is thus undertaken to portray how far and in what way the Oromo have been studied historically. The study shows that social, economic, and cultural studies of the Ethiopian people have been neglected even after professional history was launched in Ethiopia in 1963. The Oromo historiography has not only been neglected but also distorted, prejudiced, and exposed to controversy. Recent studies however have been trying to redress these imbalances. This is however far from enough and popular history should be given more attention.

Traditional bone setting service users and associated factors among people with trauma in Mecha district, Ethiopia

World Health Organization stated that traditional medicine is an important part of health care and countries need to consider integrating it into their primary health care system. Traditional bone setting has a long history in Ethiopia and it enjoys enormous acceptance in the community. However, these methods are raw, there is no standardized training and at the same time, complications are common. Therefore, this research aimed to assess the prevalence of traditional bone setting service utilization and associated factors among people with trauma in Mecha district.Methods A Community- based cross-sectional study design was employed from January 15 to February 15, 2021. A total of 836 participants were selected using a simple random sampling technique. Binary and multiple logistic regressions were employed to assess the association between the independent variables with traditional bone setting service utilization.Results The prevalence of traditional bone setting service utilization was 46.05%. Factors significantly associated with TBS utilization were: Age ≥ 60 years (AOR = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.03- 0.43), rural residence (AOR = 3.63, 95% CI: 1.76 -7.50), occupation (merchant (AOR = 0.21, 95% CI: 0.07 -0.61), and housewife (AOR = 4.12, 95% CI: 1.33 -12.70), type of trauma: dislocation (AOR = 6.40, 95% CI: 3.69–11.10), and strain (AOR = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.05- 4.14)), site of trauma: extremity (AOR = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.11, 0.37), trunk (AOR = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.03–0.22), and shoulder (AOR = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.11–0.37), cause of trauma: fall down and natural deformity (AOR = 9.87, 95% CI: 5.93–16.42) and household annual income greater than > 36,500 (AOR = 2.33, 95% CI: 1.29–4.22).Conclusion The prevalence of traditional bone setting practice is high in the study area, despite recent advancements in the practice of orthopedics and trauma in Ethiopia. Since TBS services are more accepted in society, the integration of TBS into the health care delivery system is recommended.

Changes and continuities in Ethiopian secondary school history education curriculum

Ethiopia is a home of nations and nationalities. In countries with diverse nations and nationalities, such as Ethiopia, history education plays an important role in promoting national consensus, unity, and peaceful coexistence. The main aim of this study is to investigate how the history of all Ethiopian peoples has been incorporated into the secondary school historical education curriculum. To address the intended objectives, the researchers conducted interviews with key informants who are familiar with the contents of Ethiopian history education materials, as well as document analysis of books, articles, journals, theses, history syllabi, history teaching materials, and other relevant historical sources were also examined. The findings gathered through interviews, and document analyses were cross-checked with existing literature and qualitatively analyzed. The study's findings reveal that the secondary school history education curricula has been revised from time to time to organize history education based on Ethiopian realities. The study findings indicate that the secondary school history curriculum did not accurately reflect the country's history. Ethiopia is a country in the Horn of Africa with over 80 ethnocultural and linguistic groups. The study also reveals that secondary school history teaching materials still today lack comprehensiveness and do not accurately depict the history of Ethiopia's nations, nationalities, and peoples. The study emphasizes that Ethiopian history teaching materials contents have been dominated by political history, certain regions and foreign history rather than the history of the diverse Ethiopian populations. There are still complaints concerning the content of Ethiopia's history education curriculum. So, it is recommended that historians, educators, curriculum designers, and stakeholders at the local, regional, and national levels work together to incorporate the Social, political and economic history of all Ethiopian peoples into the national history curriculum in a balanced manner.

Geographical imagination as portrayed in contemporary Ethiopian creative works that feature the Battle of Adwa

In the late 19th century, Ethiopia defeated Italy in the mountainous area of Adwa. The Battle of Adwa was a pivotal moment in Ethiopian history. It was a decisive victory for the Ethiopian army against the invading force. The battle has become a symbol of Ethiopian resistance to foreign rule and serves as a source of national pride for Ethiopians to this day. Historians interpret this landmark victory in historical terms. However, this article argues that geographical ideas help interpret Adwa. The purpose of this study is to understand Adwa using geographical concepts. The results show that the works imagine the time before the battle of Adwa as biblical Ethiopia and a temporarily disturbing nature. The battlefield is depicted as a spiritual landscape and a grain of wheat. The significance of Adwa is transfigured as a boundless space and a flowing river. The study concludes that the time before the battle, the battle, and the victory of Awa are geographically reconstructed, where the spirit of the times comes into play. Although Ethiopia had less technology during the Battle of Adwa, it emerged victorious. In the minds of Ethiopians, the Battle of Adwa is a symbol of bravery, resilience, and national pride. It represents a moment when Ethiopian forces stood their ground against a powerful foreign invader and were victorious. The geographical features of Adwa, from the rolling hills to the sacred sites, reinforce this powerful symbolism and help keep the memory of the battle alive in the national consciousness. It follows that Ethiopian literature should edify citizens about military science, technology, geography, and biology to counter Ethiopia's imagined enemies.

The impacts of armed conflicts on the heritage tourism of Dessie and its environs, Northern Ethiopia

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the impacts of war on cultural tourism within the context of northern Ethiopia, which is a known cultural tourism destination in the country. Ethiopia, one source of ancient civilization in the African continent, has kept a unique heritage treasure in different parts of its land. Its northern part is particularly rich in cultural heritage. During the ongoing war in northern Ethiopia, cultural tourism attractions were attacked, vandalized, pillaged and looted. The act of iconoclasm of historic photos and images was widely practiced. Therefore, this article appraises the impacts of this conflict on cultural institutions such as museums, historical halls and libraries and proposes resilience mechanisms in a post-conflict tourism landscape. The study is an exploratory study that employs qualitative research methods, including extensive systematic field observation, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. The study findings indicate that the cultural institutions such as heritage houses, churches, mosques, museums, libraries and public spaces that express Ethiopian history and culture were damaged and pillaged during armed conflicts. Vandalism and iconoclasm were widely practiced in Dessie and Merho museums. Tourism infrastructure was damaged, and this, in turn, affected heritage tourism in the post-war periods.

The Jesuits Politico-Religious Strategy to Catholicize Ethiopia from Top to Bottom Approach: Opportunities and Challenges, 1557 to 1632

The Catholic Missionaries in Ethiopia was encouraged since the beginning of the Portuguese assistance against the Muslims in the war of Ahmed Grañ. The successive Ethiopian monarchal authority was engaged to defend a full-scale war between the Muslim Sultanates of Adal, led by Ibin Ibrāhīm al-Ġāzī usually known by many writers as Ahmed Grañ. The Portuguese expansion with the succeeding Jesuit mission in Ethiopia was a turning point in the history of Ethiopia. Moreover, the Portuguese and Spanish Jesuit missionaries were more attracted by the strategic location of the country. This, in fact, enabled them to monitor the expansion of Islamic power in the Red Sea and the long experienced Christian faith in the country that had further consolidated the Ethiopian and Portuguese alliance. Initially, a Jesuit undertaking led by Father Andrés D. Oviedo first entered the country in 1557 to have started the top-down conversion process. This research aims to assess the opportunities and challenges of the Jesuits missionary strategy for the Catholicization of Ethiopia from top to down Approach. To achieve the objectives of this study, the researcher used qualitative research approach to investigate the issue and used historical research design for this study as well. Historical research requires access to the original events or records that took place in the past as distinct procedure for the investigation. Thus, the primary sources that were produced at the time under study as well as secondary sources were used. Primary data sources such as Royal chronicles, Tarike Nagast, Diaries of eye witness, Jesuit texts and European travel accounts by travelers who visited the northern part of the country by the time have been used. Published and unpublished secondary sources such as books, articles, journals and internet sources were utilized. More significantly, the researcher verified the authenticity and credibility of the acquired historical source through accuracy, occurrence, relevance and authority. The findings of the research revealed that the Jesuits missionary ambition to implant Catholicism remained in vain with bloody wars that claim thousands of human lives. Ultimately, the Jesuit missionaries expelled from the country. However, they left behind a theological controversy that gave it to local theme to Catholicism in Ethiopia that finally resulted in the doctrinal debate particularly centered on the teaching of the two natures of Christ. The intense doctrinal debate which was held during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Ethiopia hastens to the absence of strong centralized monarchial authority that eventually led to the era of the princes.

A Companion to Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea, ed. Samantha Kelly

This cohesive volume offers a comprehensive yet highly readable introduction to the ‘medieval’ history of Ethiopia and Eritrea, covering a broad range of subjects from the seventh to the mid-sixteenth centuries. The editor, Samantha Kelly, has brought together more than a dozen leading scholars, international experts in their respective fields, whose articles explore the religious, political and cultural history of the Christian, Muslim and local-religious realms of the North-East African highland plateau and adjacent areas, as well as the history of women, diasporas and trade in and out of the region. Kelly’s introduction clearly sketches out the aims and content of the volume; it introduces the reader to the region’s specific historical and historiographical terminology and draws attention to several threads running through the book, among them the centrality of the region’s links with the eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea area. The very first chapter, by Marie-Laure Derat, casts the history of the Christian kingdom(s) in the post-Aksumite and Zagwe eras, and thus the seventh to late thirteenth centuries, in an entirely new light, significantly revising long-held scholarship beliefs on the ethnic identity, territorial anchorage and even chronology of Zagwe rule. Deresse Ayenachew subsequently traces the territorial and political expansion of the Solomonic dynasty from 1270 CE to the mid-sixteenth century, delineating the development and adaption of the Christian kingdom’s administrative structure, and how the evolution of courtly and military offices enabled the Solomonic kings to govern their highly diverse and geographically challenging realm. Amélie Chekroun and Bertrand Hirsch contribute two chapters to the volume: the first, on the Sultanates of medieval Ethiopia, combines the findings of recent archaeological research with new readings of textual sources. It offers a cohesive view of the Islamic history of the region between the ninth and sixteenth centuries, tracing two different axes of Islamisation, shedding light on the different polities’ political organisation, and their conflicts and connections with their Christian neighbours. François-Xavier Fauvelle, meanwhile, uses recent archaeological findings to shine a light onto the political and economic history of the local-religious societies that resisted conversion to monotheistic faiths, from the regions of Šäwa to Damot.

History Education in Ethiopia Post-1991: Rethinking the Nation’s History in the Context of “Decolonization” Debates

African postcolonial national identities are under (re)construction, facing persistent problems of disparity and social and “ethnic” inequality. Ethiopia, despite a heritage of State identity and “unity in diversity,” is vulnerable to fragmentation and identity politics, notably since the “ethno-federalist” political model introduced by the EPRDF regime (1991-2018). The resultant questioning of shared historical identity is also reflected in history education and curricula. Based on the last product of the process of rethinking Ethiopian history teaching (the “History Module” of 2020) and against the background of the recent academic movement towards “decolonizing” the historical and social sciences, I discuss the main positions in the current debate. I raise the question of whether a common, minimally shared history of Ethiopia—as a nation and a political entity—is now illusory or still an aim and if so, how it could be taught.

Estimation of biomass and carbon sequestration capacity of the Surra mountain plantation forest in Gamo Highlands, Southern Ethiopia

AbstractThis study was aimed at estimating the carbon sequestration potential of the Surra planted forest on Gughe massive of the Gamo highlands in Southern Ethiopia based on tree species type. The plantation was established on degrading pasture land in the mid‐1980s during the golden era of plantation forest expansion history in Ethiopia. The Surra plantation forest was stratified upon three tree species namely E. globulus, C. lusitanica, and P. radiata. The data were collected from 32 sample plots (20 E. globulus, 10 C.lusitanica, and 2 P. radiata plots, each having 10 m*10 m in size), and were laid at random at the inner part of the plantation. The Species‐specific allometric equations and the pan‐tropical allometric model were used to estimate the aboveground biomass and carbon stock of the forest. The average “tree height,” “diameter at breast height,” and “tree stand density” per hectare were the highest for C. lusitanica and the lowest for E. globulus (except the wood density). The wood‐specific density/g/cm3 was the largest for E. globulus. The average carbon sequestered in C. lusitanica (53.9 ton/ha) was significantly larger than E. globulus (35.6 ton/ha) and P. radiata (43.8 ton/ha). The estimated average carbon stock/ha of eucalyptus was the lowest due to its low stand density caused by illegal encroachment for construction, energy, and cash income purposes. The total dry biomass and carbon sequestrated are determined by area proportion; hence, eucalyptus covered an extensive area accounting for slightly less than two‐thirds of the total Surra plantation forest followed by Cupressus. The mean carbon stock (40.3 ton/ha) of the Surra plantation is lower compared with many plantation forest stock values under better management. The findings revealed that the significant variation in carbon stock with other forests despite the similarities in age, climate, location, and aspect was the result of encroachment, illegal cutting, frequent grazing, and limited protection, and call for policy attention from the Ethiopian government.

The Royal Texts of the History of Abyssinia During the Reign of Emperor Amda Seyon (1314-1344): Translation and Analytic Study

Researchers divide Ethiopian history into two main eras, the first of which begins in the fourth century AD with the entry of Christianity into Ethiopia during the era of King Ezana (1). The history of this period depends on a group of inscriptions and excavations. Some historical news continues until the end of the fifth century AD, almost until the era of Caleb and his campaigns to southern Arabia, then Ethiopia enters its dark ages, which extended until the middle of the thirteenth century AD, through which we do not receive any documents, manuscripts or inscriptions that tell what happened in those days. The historical period, except for some scattered news about the Agawi dynasty that ruled Ethiopia from the tenth century until the thirteenth century AD.

Islam, Ethnicity, and Conflict in Ethiopia: The Bale Insurgency, 1963–1970 by Terje Østebø

Østebø’s study of a major insurrection in Ethiopia during the 1960s presents a significant example of contemporary trends in the study of religious and ethnic movements. This book is an in-depth study of an important movement in modern Ethiopian history. It is also a clearly presented argument, reflecting important current trends in scholarship, for utilizing inclusive analytical frameworks to study religious and ethnic movements.The ambitious goal of this study is to provide an “understanding of the intertwined roles of religion and ethnicity in fomenting identity, demarcating boundaries, and causing conflict” (1). Østebø’s approach goes beyond redefining terms; it reshapes the modes of analysis. Much of the current study of movements is shaped by sets of binary conceptualizations, like traditional vs. modern or religious vs. ethnic. Østebø argues that the “either-or” perspective involved in such binary approaches hinders an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of group and communal identity.In this study, religion and ethnicity are understood to be “intimately connected” as dimensions of group definition and identity (317). A movement is not viewed as either ethnic or religious but can be both. This framework opens the way for a different understanding of important historical developments. For example, the process of Islamization of African communities (like the Oromo in Østebø’s study) is often viewed as the spread of some kind of “mainstream” or “pure” Islam, and when local religious traditions and practices are maintained within the Muslim framework, they are seen as departures from “mainstream” Islam. However, Østebø views “the expansion of Islam as a dialectical process of Islamization of the Oromo and the Oromization of Islam” (52). This interactive synergy is also seen in what Østebø describes as the “localization” of contemporary Muslim Salafism in Ethiopia. Within this framework, he concludes that in viewing insurrections in the Horn of Africa, “the integrated nature of religion and ethnicity … makes it impossible to dissect such conflicts as either religious or ethnic” (258).The introduction to the book presents a general discussion of the approaches to the study of religion and ethnicity. It introduces Østebø’s concept of “peoplehood” as an inclusive analytical concept that “enables us to move beyond either-or perspectives in relation to conflicts” (28). Chapters 2 and 3 provide the ethnographic and historical backgrounds for the insurrection, followed by two chapters about the insurrection itself—texts that Østebø describes as a “historical ethnography of the insurgency” (29). This historical account, which utilizes important interviews with surviving participants, is a distinctively important source.Østebø follows this historical account with a series of interpretive discussions. His assertion, in Chapter 6, that the Bale insurgency “was not a peasant rebellion” precedes discussions of how changing systems of land tenure were related to the insurrection (180). The final chapters of the book look at the meaning and role of religion and ethnicity, with concentrated discussions of the evolution of Ethiopian Christianity, Islam, and local Oromo nationalism. In this concluding section, Østebø includes a consideration of the “relevance of class in relation to religion and ethnicity,” arguing that “interpretations that favor and isolate one of these categories at the expense of the other inevitably bring forth a one-sided and incomplete picture” (259).How does Østebø’s broadly conceived analysis change our understanding of the nature of the secular? During the 1960s, many scholars identified activist movements as secular-nationalist rather than as instances of religious revivalism. Accordingly, as Østebø notes in this book, insurgencies in southeast Ethiopia were more influenced by “secular Arab nationalism and pan-Arabism” than by Islamic revivalism (245). If he had gone beyond an analysis based on the old binary of religious vs. secular in this book as he did with the paradigm of religious vs. ethnic, this book might have been even more useful.In a time like the present when ethnic conflicts and religious militancy are important elements in global affairs, it is important to study the relationships. Østebø presents an important study that goes beyond old exclusivist conceptual binaries in examining the relations between religion and ethnicity. The book is a valuable addition to the library of studies working to understand the nature of identity and conflict in the modern and contemporary world.

Achievements of Women during the Battle of Adwa and Its Aftermath: A Case Study of Empress Taytu Betul (1880s–1910s)

This study is about the achievements of women during the Battle of Adwa and its aftermath, with a focus on Empress Taytu Betul (1880s–1910s). The study was conducted based on primary and secondary sources. In most cases the researcher has relied on data from secondary sources, as no elderly people could be found who could offer information about the role of Empress Taytu and her followers during and after the battle of Adwa. In the study of Ethiopian history, there are still misperceptions related to the division of power based on gender. It is thought that wars were fought mainly by men. However, the empress was one of the women who played a significant role in mobilising troops, organising and transporting supplies and provisions, raising the morale of fighters, gathering intelligence, nursing the wounded, and participating in actual fighting, during the Battle of Meqelle in particular and during the Battle of Adwa. Moreover, women who did not go to the battlefield had the responsibility of carrying the burden of men's work at home.

Making Scientific Sense of Traditional Medicine

The search for medicinal plants often accompanied the expansion of empire in Africa during the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries. Although Ethiopia was never formally colonized, European naturalists carried out plant collecting expeditions within Ethiopia’s borders in ways that resembled the unequal power relationship between Europe and colonized African territories. Ethiopian plant material was sold to botanical gardens in Europe, studied, and even incorporated into European pharmacopeia with little credit given to local wisdom. By the mid-twentieth century, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health supported local efforts to transform endemic plants into standardized commercial products and into pharmaceuticals for domestic markets while limiting foreign bioprospecting. Ethiopian scientists struggled to have their local knowledge and scientific expertise recognized in the context of highly unequal global power relations. Meanwhile, gender and class inequalities built into the local institutions directing medicinal plant research and development in Ethiopia also reproduced exploitative relationships. This paper argues that the history of Ethiopia’s efforts to make “traditional medicine” legible to science demonstrates the complicated global politics of scientific knowledge production and highlights the problems of exploitation in medicinal plant research within African countries.

دور المطارنة المصریین فی التاریخ الإثیوبی (1635-1699) دراسة وصفیة من واقع بعض النصوص الجعزیة

يتناول البحث الدور الديني والسياسي للمطارنة المصريين الذين رأسوا الکنيسة الإثيوبية الأرثوذکسية في الفترة من(1635-1699م)، وترجع أهمية تلک الفترة إلى عودة الکنيسة الإثيوبية إلى کنف الکنيسة القبطية الأرثوذکسية، بعد تخلص إثيوبيا من محنة التحول إلى المذهب الکاثوليکي، وبداية عصر الفوضى في التاريخ الإثيوبي، وتهدف الدراسة إلى أن: دراسة دور المطارنة المصريين خلال الفترة (1635-1699م)، والوقوف على الإسهام الديني والسياسي لکل منهم من واقع بعض النصوص الجعزية، واعتمادا على ما ذکرته المصادر العربية والأجنبية، باستعمال المنهج الوصفي التاريخي، ثم المنهج النقدي المقارن للنصوص التاريخية التي تعتمد عليها الدراسة، وخلصت الدراسة إلى: الدور الديني والسياسي للمطارنة المصريين فرض نفسه على تدوين تاريخ إثيوبيا، وکان موقف المطارنة المصريين من الجدل الديني حول طبيعة السيد المسيح متغيرا، اعتمادا على الحاکم وقناعاته، وقد کان ظهور الدور التشريعي لهم محدودا في فترة الدراسة، وکان تداخل الدورين السياسي والديني للمطارنة المصريين في تاريخ إثيوبيا حتميا، وکانت رغبة الحاکم في إضفاء الشرعية على حکمه وقراراته السياسية تدفعه للاستعانة بالمطران المصري، لإضفاء صفة الشرعية الدينية على القرارات السياسية المختلفة کضمانه لقبول الشعب الإثيوبي بها. Abstract The research deals with the religious and political role of the Egyptian Bishops, who headed the Ethiopian Orthodox Church from (1635-1699), and the importance of that period is due to the return of the Ethiopian Church to the Coptic Orthodox Church, after Ethiopia ridded of converting to Catholicism. The beginning of the chaotic era in Ethiopian history. The study aims to: Study the role of Egyptian bishops during the period (1635-1699), and to identify the religious and political contribution of each of them from the reality of some of Ge’ez texts, and based on what Arab and foreign sources stated, using the descriptive method, and the study concluded: the religious and political role of Egyptian Bishops imposed itself on the codification of the history of Ethiopia, The Egyptian Bishops' position on the religious debate over the nature of Christ was changing, depending on the ruler and his convictions, and the appearance of their legislative role was limited during the study period, the overlap of the political and religious roles of Egyptian bishops in Ethiopia's history was inevitable, and the governor's desire to legitimize his rule and political decisions prompted him to use the Egyptian bishop, to legitimize various political decisions as a guarantee of acceptance by the Ethiopian people.