Aksumite Research Articles

The War on Tigray: Geopolitics and the Struggle for Self-Determination

Tigray continues to be a unique case among ancient kingdoms, Westphalia nation-states, post-colonial Africa, and post-Cold War national liberation struggles. It is one of the oldest civilizations (Aksumite Kingdom) and the historical, cultural, and political soul of ancient and modern Ethiopia. But it was made to be an ‘oppressed nation struggling for regional autonomy and survival from genocidal aggression’ by the empire state of Ethiopia and the ‘garrison state’ of Eritrea. It also survived Egyptian and Mahdist expansionists, and Italian colonialism, though it lost ‘Bahre-Negash’ (Eritrea) to Italy due to the Wuchale Agreement (or Treaty of Wichale) in 1889. Eritrea was handed over to Italian colonialists by Menelik II of Shewa-Amhara in order to weaken Tigray’s geopolitical power base. Tigray was also the hotbed of the first Woyane rebellion in 1943 which sparked the idea of ‘land to the Tiller, fair taxation, and self-rule,’ and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) led the second Woyane rebellion (1975–91) that restructured the empire state of Ethiopia into a federation with the 1995 constitution. Since 2018, after 27 years of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)- led federal experiment, Tigray again became a victim of a ‘genocidal war’ led by the Ethiopian federal army, Amhara forces, Ethiopian regional forces, and Eritrean army, supported by UAE and Turkey drones, and the Somalian army. The international community and the African Union supported Abiy Ahmed and Issaias Afewerki’s genocidal war in the name of “maintaining the territorial integrity of Ethiopia” by neglecting the principles of Responsibility to Protect (R2P), people’s self-determination rights, and the prevention of genocide. Tigray, therefore, is a rare case in the vicious cycle of violence. The Tigrayan ‘two-year’ survival war (from November 2020 to November 2022) against those who practice genocide was destined to break Tigray’s historically vicious cycle of violence perpetrated by Ethiopia and Eritrea. The paper aims to investigate the historical, geopolitical, and security reasons that have trapped Tigray into facing the post-2020 genocidal war.

The development of crop production in the northern Horn of Africa: a review of the archaeobotanical evidence

ABSTRACT This article presents a synthesis of the hypotheses and evidence for plant domestication and the origins of agriculture in the northern Horn of Africa. To date, available archaeological data point to an introduction of agricultural practices to Ethiopia during the late Holocene, c. 1600 BC, influenced by adjacent areas including eastern Sudan, Egypt and southern Arabia. The archaeobotanical record shows that farming in the northern highlands was based on the cultivation of barley, linseed and lentils, combined with the exploitation of local wild grasses from the Panicoideae and Chloridoideae sub-families. This indicates that local populations also played a role in the development of productive activities in the region, a process that might have been in place before the arrival of the southwest Asian agricultural package. After the first millennium BC, amidst an increase in sedentary settlements in the region, new domesticated crops appeared in the archaeological record. These include exogenous crops such as emmer wheat, but also indigenous plants such as t’ef and noog, which were locally domesticated likely throughout the Pre-Aksumite period. With the rise of the Aksumite Kingdom, c. 50 BC – AD 700, the agricultural package again expanded to include of a wide range of pulses, geophytes and other economic crops. Macrobotanical remains of sorghum and finger millet also appear for the first time during this period, although this contrasts with the microbotanical record of the region, which points to an earlier presence. In the southern highlands and southwest Ethiopia, evidence of Plectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew (Ethiopian potato or Oromo potato) has been identified by the late first millennium BC, pointing towards an earlier domestication than previously considered. Similarly, enset and coffee remains have been documented during the early first millennium AD. Altogether, new studies are needed to confirm some of these hypotheses, as archaeobotanical studies in the northern Horn are still limited. The combination of macrobotanical and microbotanical data, along with ethnoarchaeological and experimental research programs and linguistic studies, will be of critical importance for refining our current understanding of the processes associated with plant domestication and the introduction of crop production in the region.

Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite Agricultural Economy at Ona Adi, Tigrai (Ethiopia): First look at a 1000-Year History

Archaeobotanical investigations at the site of Ona Adi in Tigrai were conducted during the 2013–2015 field seasons within the framework of the Eastern Tigrai Archaeological Project (ETAP). The site occupation spanned the Middle/Late Pre-Aksumite period (ca. 750/600 BCE) to the fall of the Aksumite Kingdom (ca. 700 CE), including the Pre-Aksumite to Aksumite transition (ca. 400 BCE–CE 1). The main objective of the study was to examine the agricultural economy in Eastern Tigrai during these periods and to evaluate the impact of social and cultural developments on the agricultural practices at Ona Adi. Recovered macrobotanical remains included wheat, barley, linseed, noog, lentil, and wild/weedy plants. In addition, evidence of finger millet was recovered along with tentative identifications of t’ef. The phytolith record shows evidence of grass processing, including morphotypes associated with Chloridoideae, Panicoideae, and Pooideae grasses. Results indicate that plants of both African and Southwest Asian origins were present in the region from the mid-eighth century BCE to the eighth century CE, but their relative importance varied throughout time in relation to socio-political changes at the regional level. Our data demonstrate a significant degree of continuity in the local agricultural economy, which remained largely unchanged even after the decline of Aksumite state.

An archaeology of conversion? Evidence from Adulis for early Christianity and religious transition in the Horn of Africa

The port-city of Adulis in modern Eritrea was a key node on the Red Sea linking the Kingdom of Aksum to the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean. Recent excavations at Adulis have reinvestigated two early Christian churches. New radiocarbon analysis dates both structures to the sixth and early seventh centuries AD, with multiple phases of architectural development reflecting changing use and liturgy. The author uses evidence for both continuity and change in architectural materials, construction styles and sacred practices to assess religious transition at Adulis, and across the Aksumite Kingdom more broadly. Moving beyond an archaeology of conversion, the article reinforces recent work on cosmopolitanism in the Horn of Africa.

Pagan Religious Practices in Medieval Ethiopia: Development and Resistance of the Christian Kingdom (1434–1468)

In the long religious history of Ethiopia, paganism has been widely practised since ancient times, as evidenced by the inscriptions of ʿEzānā and other archaeological objects. It continued to dominate for centuries even after the introduction of Christianity in the fourth century, which hindered its expansion south of the Aksumite empire until the thirteenth century. However, later in the fourteenth century, Christianity was widely expanded with the military and political support of the Christian emperors, especially King ʾAmda Ṣǝyon (1314–1344), who suppressed pagan practices in the northern highlands of the Christian kingdom. Subsequently, pagan chiefs and priests were forced to be baptised and converted to Christianity, pagan sanctuaries were dismantled, and, in their place, churches and monasteries were built. Resistance against paganism continued in a more organised way in the fifteenth century during the reign of King Zarʾa Yāʿǝqob (1434–1468), who actively engaged in making laws and composing religious books to prevent Christian adherents from practising paganism. In this regard, we have a sizeable collection of Gǝʿǝz texts dating to the time of Zarʾa Yāʿǝqob that provide vivid information to better understand the development and features of paganism, on the one hand, and the measures undertaken by the king as a part of religious reformation to resist and dismantle pagan practices, on the other. Paganism, in general, is a neglected subject in the historiography of medieval Ethiopia, but taking into account the source availability, studying the pagan practices and resistance of this period is indispensable. Thus, this paper attempts to reconstruct the history of pagan practices and its development in the period under discussion to identify the names of the pagan gods as well as to analyse their social role and the measures taken under Zarʾa Yāʿǝqob against paganism.

The Gә’әz Bible: Notes on its origins and translation techniques

The aim of the present contribution is to offer some information about the birth of the Gә’әz version of the Bible. Gә’әz is one of the languages used in what is commonly known as the Kingdom of Aksum (early 1st century to the 10th century), in the northern part of the Horn of Africa. In the African continent, Gә’әz is a rare example of a language with its own homegrown alphabet and a tradition of writing, which was as important as orality. Gә’әz, in its written heritage came into existence as religious literature, and the Bible has pride of place among some other Christian works, such as the Cyrillian Corpus, translated during the apex of the Aksumite kingdom’s influence in the region (4th to 7th centuries). Although the few surviving, large and oldest scriptural witnesses are the Garima Gospels I, II (their dating is a subject of different hypotheses), there is no doubt that the whole Bible was translated from Greek to Gә’әz from the 4th to the end of the 6th century. The Old Testament was initially rendered from the Septuagint. The Vorlagen of the New Testament are more complicated to trace back. In this paper, several concrete examples have been selected to try to establish the matrix of the Gә’әz Bible, which as a matter of fact contains 81 canonical books. The Gә’әz Bible is the first version carried out in the context of a black African Christian Community, a Community that has for centuries preserved in its integrity, texts attested by fragments only such as 1 Enoch, Jubilees to mention some of the most famous ones.

Triumphal Inscription of Ptolemy III at Adulis

The complex triumphal inscription of King Ptolemy III of Egypt (246-222/221 BC) ‘Great King descended from Heracles and Dionysus’ stands out among the great epigraphic documents of the Ptolemaic dynasty. It includes the official genealogy of the sovereign, a panorama of the territories inherited from Ptolemy II and, above all, the list of the conquests of the first phase of the Laodicean war (246-245 BC), which culminated in an anabasis up to Central Asia. We know this historical and meta-historical document only through the autopsy of the Alexandrian merchant Cosmas Indicopleustes, who saw it in Adulis (Kingdom of Axum), in the heart of ancient Aithiopia, in 547-549 AD. The inscription raises numerous questions, and must be examined keeping in view the concepts of memory and tradition. Added to this is the fascinating intellectual history of his reception, which played a role in the birth of the concept of ‘Hellenism’ itself.

L’arredo liturgico delle chiese adulitane (Adulis-Eritrea). Nuovi dati dai recenti scavi del Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana alla chiesa “del British Museum”

The recent PIAC excavations at the so-called “British Museum church” have led to the discovery of a significant number of new fragments in various types of marble and alabaster, related to the decoration of the church. Moreover, the excavation of its presbytery area brings to light essential data for a better understanding of its liturgical space organization. This paper is trying to restore an image of the interior of the largest of the Adulitan basilicas, supported by a comparative analysis with data on liturgical installations and decorative solutions, also identified in other city churches. The liturgical installations as the main topic with the comparisons proposed suggest a chronological reference for the monumentalization of the urban landscape, established around the middle of the 6th century, the apogee of the Aksumite kingdom, characterized by an unprecedented and flourishing season of openness towards the Mediterranean, Near Eastern and South Arabian political realities.

For an Archaeology of Religious Identity in Adulis (Eritrea) and the Horn of Africa: Sources, Architecture, and Recent Archaeological Excavations

Abstract The aim of this paper is to present new archaeological data coming from the recent excavations in Adulis (Eritrea) in the so-called “Church of the British Museum”, discovered in 1868 by Captain Goodfellow. New excavations that began in 2018 have led to highlight the biggest church known so far in Adulis, probably the ecclesia episcopalis. It stands as a 30 meters long building, which follows the typical Aksumite architectural layout. Also, the great quantity of decorated marbles coming from the church are of great interest, revealing important contacts with Yemen and Byzantium, mostly in the 6th century AD. The new archaeological data will be contextualized in the wider scenario of the rise and establishment of early Christianity in the Aksumite kingdom, until the arrival of Islam.

Human-woodland interactions during the Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite periods in northeastern Tigray, Ethiopia: insights from the wood charcoal analyses from Mezber and Ona Adi

The Tigray region in Ethiopia witnessed the rise and fall of the Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite communities between the mid 2nd millennium BCE and the late 1st millennium CE. Despite the importance of these entities in recent African prehistory, the issue of how they interacted with their surrounding environment has only been addressed very recently. Here, we present the first systematic anthracological analysis from the region. Wood charcoal samples from two archaeological sites were analysed, the Pre-Aksumite rural site of Mezber (ca. 1600 BCE-1 CE) and Ona Adi (ca. 600 BCE-700 CE), an urban centre occupied continuously from the Late Pre-Aksumite period to the fall of the Aksumite kingdom. A total of 2,708 charcoal fragments from 25 samples and nine archaeological phases were analysed and 19 plant taxa associated with at least three different vegetation types were identified. The results demonstrate rather stable environmental conditions at a local level, with no major or abrupt environmental changes. They also evidence a process of landscape degradation as a result of human activity during the early to mid 1st millennium BCE, as well as a subsequent recovery that occurred gradually during the next ca. 1,500 years. Finally, differences in firewood use were identified in relation to the rural or urban nature of each settlement, showing an evolution in wood selection, management and strategies of use which indicates that both Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite peoples had a significant degree of resilience and adaptive capacity.

Nation-Building Predicament, Transition Fatigue, and Fear of State Collapse

Ethiopia, evolved from Tigray, is known by its history of having been an empire (e.g., the Axumite kingdom) and having been independent. The fundamental weakness of the Ethiopian state has been the lack of inclusive national consensus, hampered by national oppression and the dilemma of democratizing a feudal state. The post-1991 TPLF-EPRDF-led Ethiopia has been experimenting with federalist nation-building to address Ethiopia’s historical contradictions: national and class oppression. The 1995 FDRE Constitution established a federal system and subsequently recognized the right of nations to self-determination including secession, self-administration, and local development. The constitution also declared that the Ethiopian nations were the “sovereign owners” of the constitution. However, the coming of Abiy Ahmed to power and his policy reforms based on ‘neo-pan-Ethiopianism’ opened the box of Pandora of secessionist, irredentist, and federalist forces opposing his plan to recentralize the ethnic federation, as it happened similarly in the case of former Yugoslavia. PM Abiy’s reforms have been branded as those of the ‘Mikael Gorbachev of Ethiopia’ for his sweeping campaign against the 27 years of federalist control. The article investigates the nation-building aspirations, transition fatigue, the predicaments of secessionist, federalist, and assimilationist narratives, and the subsequent fear of ‘state collapse’ in the post-2018 crisis in Ethiopia.

The Invention of a Chair Tradition in Ethiopia: A Case Study of Liminoid Design

Abstract Both design and invention deal with future materializations, facilitating the environment and artefacts into different categories. These categories are conceptual constructs and any transgression of, combination of, or entering interstices between their imagined conceptual borders is Liminoid Design. Liminoid design is defined in this article as a momentary state of liminality: unstructuredness, transience, inter-categorical or uncategorizable. Though a very common phenomenon, it potentially creates new configurations of reality and new categories in design. This article describes manifestations of liminoid design, through the development of a contemporary Ethiopian chair with the merging of two categories: a side chair with imagery of the historic Aksum stelae. The Aksum stelae are monolithic stone monuments in northern Ethiopia erected during the ancient Kingdom of Aksum (in the early Christian period between the fourth and sixth centuries AD). This amalgamation emphasizes the contemporary connection to the past with a significant moment in Ethiopian history. Though seemingly traditional, this article identifies these chairs as a newly invented design type—the Aksum chair. During several visits to Ethiopia, I visited furniture workshops in Addis Ababa and Aksum and visited purchasers of the chairs as well. This helped the research to trace the proliferation and initiation of an invented traditional style.

Beta Samati: discovery and excavation of an Aksumite town—Corrigendum

Beta Samati: discovery and excavation of an Aksumite town—Corrigendum

Gemmological Analysis of a Roman Sapphire Intaglio and Its Possible Origin

The gemmological analysis of a Roman intaglio engraved with a hippocamp (winged ‘sea-horse’) reveals that it was carved from a sapphire of basaltic origin. Its bluish grey appearance is due to Rayleigh scattering by sub-microscopic inclusions and is not related to an intervalence charge transfer process. In light of historically documented extensive trade relations between ancient Rome and Ethiopia (the kingdom of Aksum), we hypothesise that the recently documented basalt-related sapphire deposits in northern Ethiopia are a possible source of raw material for this Roman intaglio (as well as other basaltic sapphires used in Roman times), in addition to previously held views that ancient sapphires originate from deposits in Sri Lanka, France and perhaps South East Asia. This rare opportunity to characterise in detail one of the very few engraved sapphires from the Roman period permits a better understanding of gem materials used in classical antiquity.

The Tale of the Theban Scholastikos, or Journeys in a Disconnected Sea

This article takes the under-used anonymous Roman source, the Tale of the Theban Scholastikos, to argue for a distinct Late Antique phase in the history of the western Indian Ocean. This late third- or fourth-century account of a Roman’s journey to India and eventual return from captivity, has been too easily dismissed as inaccurate or mined for decontextualised details. The present study, by contrast, situates the tale within both its immediate epistolary context and seeks to offer a new interpretation of its global-scale setting. It offers a survey of the regions likely referred to in the text - the Roman Empire, the Aksumite Empire, south India and Sri Lanka -, alongside examination of related textual and archaeological data. The picture presented of these regions is, in turn, situated within the wider framework of a ‘global hierarchy of value’ proposed by Michael Herzfeld in 2004, and applied for the first time to Late Antiquity. What emerges is an initial framing of the western Indian Ocean in Late Antiquity as a space in which long-distance connections continued from earlier centuries, and in some places even thrived, but were systematically devalued, politically and ideologically, with concrete effects for those involved.

ORIGINS OF MODERN DIPLOMACY: AKSUM, SYRIA AND BIZANTIUM BETWEEN THE WEST AND THE EAST

Purpose of the article. This article conceptualizes diplomacy in diachronic as a political practice of negotiating peace, trade, and war through standardized communications with other foreign policy actors. It is assumed that although the forms and conditions for the implementation of diplomacy changed over time, the foundations of such interaction were developed in ancient times in numerous and diverse networks of contacts and exchanges not only of large and small proto-states of the world, but also between fractions, parties, aristocratic unions, trading companies. Methodology . Historical-logical and systematic methods of analysis are used to clarify the origins of the phenomenon of diplomacy as a mechanism of international relations, external relations, trade of the elite of Axum. The scientific novelty consists in positioning the diplomacy of the Aksumite kingdom as a mechanism for resonating the social dimensions of human existence (spirituality, culture, economic and political interests) of ancient Rome, Byzantium in the synergistic effect of the further development of communications of the East and the West. Conclusions. During its heyday, the kingdom of Aksum was the most prominent and important example of the African proto-power. During this period Aksum kingdom made the greatest contribution to the history of mankind. Facts from the eventful history of Axum, his political and commercial influence, active participation in world politics of that time allow us to speak of the outstanding role of Aksum in world history. Aksum kingdoms' elite had strong ties with the peoples of Tropical Africa, the high civilizations of the Mediterranean, the population of the Nile Valley, South Arabia, the Persian Kingdom (including Mesopotamia), India, Ceylon and other distant countries. The multi-vector policy of the Aksumite elite was a product of a long historical development in conditions that are significantly different from the conditions in which civilizations of Europe and Asia developed.

Assessment of Nature Tourism Potential, in Rural Development in West Wollega Zone in The Case of Sayo Nole and Nole Kaba Districts, Ethiopia

<p>Tourism is not just the temporary movement of people to destinations outside their normal places. Tourism includes many geographic, economic, environmental, social, cultural and political dimensions. A tourism industry has a strong relationship with those dimensions because of its dependency and impact on it, and the interests of its stakeholders (Kauffmann 2008).</p><p>As stated by Sinha (2007) the study of tourism is the study of people away from their usual habitat of the establishments which responds to the requirement of travelers and the impact of that they have on the economic physical and social well-being of their hosts. Tourism is an attractive tool for economic development, specifically in the developing world. Viewed as an export industry of three Gs -- "get them in, get their Money, and get them out" – tourism has assisted many developing countries to move away from a dependency on agriculture and manufacturing (Tooman, 1997. </p><p>Chosen forits ability to bring in needed foreign exchange earnings, income and employment, tourism has become a popular addition to economic development policies in many African, Asian, South and Central American countries. Although tourism seems to beading substantially to the economic growth of many of these regions, many developing countries are not reaping full benefits from tourism (Vaugeois, 1990).</p><p>Tourism in Ethiopia dates back to the pre-Axumite period when the first illustrated travel guides to Ethiopia can be found in the friezes of the pyramids and ancient sites of Egypt. These depicted travels to the land of Punt, which the Egyptians knew was the source of the Nile, and where they traded for gold, incense, ivory and slaves. The fourth century Persian historian Mani described the Kingdom of Axum as being one of the four great empires of the world, ranking it alongside China, Persia and Rome (World Bank, 2006). Modern tourism in Ethiopia can be said to have started with the formation of a government body to develop and control it in 1961: The Ethiopian Tourist Organization (Y.Mulualem, 2010).</p>

In Adule, Aethiopum urbs maritima. L'impatto monumentale del cristianesimo ad Adulis e nel Corno d'Africa in età tardo antica

The excavations carried out in the city of Adulis, in present day Eritrea, represent an important magnifying glass on the dynamics of formation and development of Early Christianity in the late antique Horn of Africa. The city, known also from written sources, was the major port of the Aksumite Empire between at least the 1st and the 7th century AD, and went through massive changes during Late Antiquity. In the 5th and 6th centuries, in fact, monumental churches were built within the urban frame of the town, imposing significant cultural and topographical evolutions. The material diffusion of Christianity spread also throughout the whole Empire, in towns such as Aksum, Matara and Qohaito: this paper will then focus on this phenomenon, starting with the new results from the recent archaeological excavations in Adulis, that will be compared to the other material traces of Christianity within the Aksumite Kingdom, North Africa and the Arabian peninsula.

Geochemistry and Geochronology of Phonolitic and Trachytic Source Rocks of the Axum Obelisks and Other Stone Artifacts, Axum, Ethiopia

The northern Ethiopian Kingdom of Axum (ca. 100–700 AD) is known for its underground royal tombs and monolithic obelisks, which were probably carved and erected before/during the fourth century A.D. Most or almost all of these structures have been sculpted or made from only the phonolitic and trachytic rocks, which are part of the Ethiopian post-trap volcanic sequences. The post-trap volcanic suites have two end-members, the basalts and the nephelinites. Based on geochemistry, the nephelinites cover a wide spectrum of alkaline rocks. Our new 40Ar/39Ar dates for samples of phonolite and trachyte sampled at various levels of the sequence show that the Axum phonolites and trachytes erupted in the mid-Miocene, between 19.5 and 15.0 Ma. The rocks from which the monuments were sculpted correspond to the 19.29 ± 0.22 Ma old Gobo-Dura phonolites. Other stone-made artifacts have geochemical signatures similar to the 15.04 ± 0.53 Ma Adi-Tsehafi phonolitic trachyte. Despite the large numbers of quarry sites in the Axum area, most of the Axum relics were mined from three local quarries: two of the quarry sites are found at the flanks of the Gobo-Dura ridge, whereas the third quarry site is located at the Adi-Tsehafi village.

Mapping the Archaeology of Somaliland: Religion, Art, Script, Time, Urbanism, Trade and Empire

This paper presents the results of some of the surveys conducted to map archaeological sites of Somaliland and includes almost 100 new and previously unpublished sites. The survey work was conducted by several of Somaliland’s Department of Archaeology staff, including Mohamed Ali Abdi, a Departmental survey officer, and the present author. This report is an archaeological testimony to the social complexity and cultural diversity of this region as a cultural crossroads for millennia, being strategically located on the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. However, the maps by no means exhaust the number of archaeological sites known to us in Somaliland. The region had vast Cushitic, pre-Christian and pre-Islamic Empires that at times formed part of the Himyarite and Sabaean cultures of Southern Arabia, the Aksumite Empire and early Islamic Empires of the Horn of Africa. The coastal populations were active seafarers according to Greek records as well as archaeological remains, linking to the Phoenician and Graeco-Roman worlds. They also formed part of an early global economy including the Silk Road. Islamic Empires of the Horn of Africa show an enormous wealth of long-distance trade—including material from Tang Dynasty to Ming Dynasty China—and the magnitude of some of their capitals such as the ruined town and burials of Aw-Barkhadle.