WOLAITA SODO UNIVESITY

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

& HUMANITIES
Department of History and
Heritage Management
Common Course: History of
Ethiopia & Horn (Hist. 1012)
 UNIT ONE
The Nature and Uses of History
A. Nature of History
history derived from Greek word Istoria- “inquiry”
or “an account of one’s inquiries.”
 The term History is 1st used by ancient Greek historians,
Herodotus ( “father of history).
Academically, history can be defined as an organized and
systematic study of the past. Historyis what actually
happened in the past;
 It is endless process between past, present & future
The major concern of history is the study of human
society & its interaction with the natural
environment
 Time/period is important in History. It helps to
organize & divide past simply. Putting events is time
framework and sequence is known as Periodization.
History, therefore, for the sake convenience, is
divided into ancient, medieval & modern
Change & Continuities:- Historical developments or
events changed & remained unchanged.
Therefore, the nature of history are continuity and
change, periodization, contextualization, dialogue
 All aspects of human life, social, cultural,
economic, &political in the past have been
changing from time to time; or not practiced exactly
the same way as it was in the lifetime of ancestors.
 But, some things stay the same for long periods.
Example:-Languages; beliefs & religious practices;
agricultural/pastoral ways of life ; social organization
 In the same vein (manner), the basic fabric (ties) of
society in Ethiopia and the Horn remains similar
and continues to have special characteristics.
B. The Uses and Abuses (misuses) of History
1. Helps Better Understand the past, know present & foresee
future
2. Provides a sense of identity
3. A mirror in which society see themselves
4. Provides Basic Background information for other disciplines
like sociology, anthropology, archaeology, law,
philosophy, etc.
 Historical knowledge is valuable for other disciplines
5. Teaches Critical Skills:-helps to get research skills like sources,
arguments, writing, interpretation..
6. Helps Develop Tolerance and Open-Mindedness
7. Supplies Endless Source of Fascination:-sense of
 What factors inspire people to study the past?
 Grasp (understand) how and why things change
 Understand what elements of a society persist
(continue to exist) despite change
 Aesthetic (appealing) and humanistic goals
 When we study History we should avoid personal
bias and abuses. Professional historian is different
from propagandist (the one who influences others)
 A professional historian takes care to document
his judgment and assertions (claim)
 The Abuses of history
 The abuses of history come mainly from deliberate
manipulation (operation) of the past to fit current political
agenda, i.e. the past is described and interpreted to justify the
present. While personal biases are not always avoidable, a
historian is different from a propagandist (manipulative) in
that the former takes care to document his judgment and
assertions (claim) so that they can be subjected to independent
and external verification (confirmation)
1.2. Sources and Methods of Historical Study
Source- Evidence tore construct the past .
 Historians are not creative writers like novelists
 The study of historians must be based on sources.
 It is said that “where there are no sources, there is no
history”
 Sources are, therefore, key to the study and writing of
history
 Historical sources are classified in to two
 A. Primary sources
 original or first hand in their proximity to event both in time &
in space
 Are written and unwritten materials
 EXAMPLES:- manuscripts (handwritten materials), diaries
(daily experiences), letters, minutes, court records and
administrative files, travel documents, photographs, maps, video
and audiovisual materials, memoirs (personal experiences) and
artifacts like as coins, fossils, weapons, utensils and buildings,
chronicles, code of laws, eyewitness accounts, etc.
B. Secondary sources
 Second-hand published and unpublished accounts about past event
 provide historical interpretation of what happened, why it happened,
and how it happened
 are therefore often based on primary sources
 are written material
Examples: articles, books, textbooks, biographies,
and published stories or movies about historical
events.
Nevertheless, no history work can be taken as
final, as new sources keep coming to light.
New sources possible new historical interpretations
or entirely new historical reconstructions
Sources should be carefully/thoughtfully scrutinized
(examined), analyzed, checked, cross checked, and
counter-checked for their reliability, authenticity
(reality, truthfulness), verified, check for objectivity
and interpreted correctly with out misinterpretation
& abuses.
 Oral tradition (data) is information that transmit from
one generation to another spoken words .
 It is one source of historical writing
 It is valuable to study and document the history of non-
literate societies like the Africa
 Oral data may
 lose its originality and authenticity due to distortion
through time
 Serve as primary source (when it is eye witness
account (information ) and secondary sources when
1.3. Historiography of Ethiopia and the Horn
 Historiography is defined as
 history of historical writing
 an intentional attempt to understand and represent
descriptions of past events
 changing interpretations of past events in the eyes
of individual historians
 Herodotus and Thucydides the Greek historians who
introduced organized study & narration (telling) of past.
Herodotus was, therefore, the father of history.
 Sima Qian, who lived during the Chinese Han dynasty
(206 B.C-221 A.D.) is reminded for Chinese tradition of
historical thinking.
 The German historian, Leopold Von Ranke (1795–1886)
established history as an independent academic discipline
in Berlin, Germany. Therefore, he is considered as the
“father of modernhistoriography”
 Sources and Historiographical Tradition of Ethiopia and the Horn
Sources
1. The Periplus of Erythrean Sea
 The earliest known reference (1st c A.D.) on history of Ethiopia
& Horn written by an anonymous (unknown) Greek traveler
(author)
2. Christian Topography- a documents composed by a
Greek traveler, Cosmos Indicopleustes in the 6thC A.D.
 It describes Aksum’s trade and the then Aksumite king's
campaigns on both sides of the Red sea.
3. Inscriptions- writings engraved on rocks, stones, walls,
monument shows past events.
 the earliest written Ethiopian documents dates from the 7 th c A.D.
 found in Abba Gerima monastery in Yeha.
 4. Manuscripts - hand written records of past in
forms of books.
 The earliest one was discovered in Haiq Istifanos
monastery in Wollo in the 13th c A.D.
 Despite their religious value, manuscripts contain the list of
medieval kings and their history in brief.
5. Hagiography (gedle)- written documents about life of
saints/ martyrs (died for religious reason) of EOC and the
Muslim as well. It deals about both state and religion.
 They were written in Geez enhancing the prestige of saints
and the development of the church & the state including
territorial conquests by reigning monarchs.
 Examples of hagiographies (gedle)
 Hagiography (Gedle ) of Tekle Haymanot)
 Muslim Shaykh Ja’far Bukko of Gattira, in Wollo
6..Chronicles are records of the kings and life at court.
 historical accounts of Kings without analysis
 Ethiopia’s indigenous tradition of history writing.
 was written by court scribes or clergymen, who were assigned by the
reigning monarch
 It was first written by Geez and then by Amharic containing content
mainly religious aspects
 The earliest &last surviving chronicles are GoriousVictories of
Amde-Tsion & Chronicle of Abeto Iyasu and Empress Zewditu
respectively.
 They are known for their factual detail & strong chronological
framework(arranged by time) with out analysis & interpreted
7. Arab sources
 Left by Arabic speaking visitors like al-Masudi and Ibn
Battuta, who described about the culture, language and
import-export trade in the east African coast in the 10 th and
in the 14th centuries respectively
 Two eye witness account documents composed in 16thc by
Yemeni writers are
A. Futuh al Habesha (the Conquest Habesha) was composed
by Shihab al- Din in which he recorded the conflict b/n
Christian kingdom & Muslim principalities in the 16th C
( 1527-1535).
B.Al-Haymi, led a Yemeni delegation in 1647 to the
court of Fasiledes (r. 1632-67)
8. European missionaries & travelers
A. Francisco Alvarez- the Portuguese Catholic priest wrote
about “ThePrester John of Indies”
 He was accompanied by the Portuguese mission to the
court of Lebne-Dengel in 1520.
B. James Bruce-a Scottish traveler who left travel account
and wrote “Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile”
 Other materials that appeared in the 16thc include
Abba Bahrey’s Geez work on the Oromo written in
1593.
 Hiob Ludolf (1624-1704) -founded Ethiopian studies in
Europe, Germany in 17th c

• He Wrote Historia Aethiopica (A New History of

Ethiopia) collecting information from Abba
Gorgorios (Abba Gregory), who was an Ethiopian
monk living in Europe at that time.
 August Dillman published two studies on ancient
Ethiopian history. Compared to Ludolf, Dillman
demonstrated objectivity in his historical research
endeavors.
 The 20th C, Historical writings separated from chroniclers
traditions.
• The Earliest traditional group of Ethiopian writers were
 Aleqa Taye Gebre Mariam

Aleqa Asme Giorgis

Debtera Fisseha-Giorgis Abyezgi
Negadras affework Gebre-Iyesus
Gebre-Hiwot Baykedagn

 Unlike chroniclers, these writers dealt with a range of

topics from social justice, administrative reform and
economic analysis to history.
 • Taye & Fisseha-Giorgis wrote history of Ethiopia.
• Asme wrote about the Oromo people.
• Afework wrote Tobiya (the first Amharic novel)
•Gebre-Hiwotwrote Atse Menilekna Ityopia (Emperor
Menilek and Ethiopia) & Mengistna Yehizb Astedader
(Government & Public Administration) to his name.
 Blatten Geta Hiruy Wolde-Selassie was the most
prolific writer of the early 20thc. He published four
major works:
 Ethiopiana Metema (Ethiopia and Metema
 Wazema(Eve)
 Yehiwot Tarik (A Biographical Dictionary)
 Yeityopia Tarik (A History of Ethiopia)
 Tekle-Tsadik Mekuria formed a bridge between
writers in pre-1935 and Ethiopia professional historians
who came after him
 Another work of importance in this period is
A. Yilma Deressa’s Ye Ityopiya Tarik Be’asra Sidistegnaw
Kifle Zemenb (A History of Ethiopia in 16th C). This book
addresses the Oromo population movement & the
Christian-Muslim conflict as its main subjects.
B. Blatten Geta Mahteme-Selassie Wolde-Meskel
 wrote Zikre Neger, which was a comprehensive account
of Ethiopia’s prewar land tenure systems & taxation
C. Dejazmach Kebede Tesema wrote memoir of imperial period

as Yetarik Mastawesha in 1962 E.C

 The 1960s was a crucial decade and turning point in the development
of Ethiopian historiography for it was in this period that history
emerged as an academic discipline
 The pursuit of historical studies as a full-time occupation began with
the establishment of Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) and the
opening of Department of History in 1963 at the Haile Selassie I
University (HSIU)
 The production of BA theses began towards the end of 1960s

 The Department of AAU launched MA & PhD programs in1979 and

1990 respectively.
• Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) :- institutional home of
professional historiography of Ethiopia, was founded in
1963
• Richard Pankhurst is the first Director and founding
member of IES.
• IES has been publishing Journal of Ethiopian
Studies for dissemination of historical research.
• Professionalization of history is post-colonial
development in Africa including Ethiopia. Africans
begun the works in this era with new methodology.
Key Elements to Study History:-
 Evaluation of Sources
 Objectivity-writing without bias, for/against
Chronology
Interpretation and analysis- checking the reliability
and authenticity .
Avoiding misinterpretation / wrong interpretation/
 4. The Geographical Context
• The term “Ethiopia and the Horn” refers to that
part of Northeast Africa, which contains the
countries : -
* Djibouti * Eritrea,
* Ethiopia, and *
Somalia
• Diversity of the terrain (landscape) led to regional
variations in climate, natural vegetation, soil
composition, & settlement patterns of the horn
• Regions’ Geography has impact on the way people
live & organize themselves into societies.
• Spatial location in relationship to other spaces &
locations in the world is one geographical factor
• Ethiopia & Horn lies between the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden
and Indian Ocean.
• Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden linked Northeast Africa
to the Eastern Mediterranean,
• Indian Ocean has linked East Africa
to the Near and Middle East, India and the
Far East
Drainage system Another element of geography factor
that had profound impact on human history
 The 5 principal drainage systems of Ethiopia and the Horn are
 Nile River
 Gibe/Omo–Gojeb,
 Genale/Jubba-Shebele
 Awash River
 Ethiopian Rift Valley
 the drainage systems
 facilitated the movement of peoples and goods across
diverse environments
 results in the exchange of ideas, technology, knowledge,
cultural expressions, and beliefs.
 The three major distinct environmental zones
of the region are
A. Eastern lowland covers the narrow coastal
strip running from northeastern Eritrea to
Somalia.
It include much of lowland Eritrea, the
Sahel, the Danakil Depression, the lower
Awash valley
B. highland massif: Starts from northern Eritrea &
continues all the way to southern Ethiopia. It
consists the Arsi, Bale and Hararghe plateau
C. Rift valley is the major divide between the
western and eastern parts of this zone
 The major physiographic features of the zone
are complex of mountains, deep valleys, and
extensive plateaus.
Countries of Horn of Africa are, for the most
part, linguistically and ethnically linked together

THE END!