27
votes
Does modern scholarship accept an Ethiopian or Nubian origin for Egyptian hieroglyphs?
The short answer is no. Although the origins of hieroglyphic writing are disputed to some extent, modern scholarship leans towards the idea that it developed independently in Egypt, but "no definitive ...
- 107k
26
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Britain or any other European power colonize Abyssinia/Ethiopia before 1936?
Abyssinia / Ethiopia (the borders of which expanded and contracted frequently over the centuries) maintained its independence until 1936 by a combination of diplomatic skill in playing would-be ...
- 107k
25
votes
Did Japanese modernisation have an effect on Ethiopia?
Addis Hiwet first used the term 'Japanizer' to one group of modernisers in post-WWI Ethiopia who took the example of Meiji Japan as giving a model for development away from feudal forms. The model ...
19
votes
Are the Sabean people of Cushitic or Ethiopian origin?
tl; dr
Are the Sabean people of Ethiopian origin?
No. The evidence suggests that they originated in the region now known as South Arabia.
Did the Sabean people truly exist?
We have the remains of ...
- 77k
18
votes
What were the Ethiopians doing in Xerxes' army?
From the Oxford English Dictionary (1928):
Ethiop
...
The Ethiopians are mentioned by Homer as a people dwelling in the far east and far west; in later Gr[eek] the name was applied chiefly to the ...
- 71.3k
16
votes
On the Ezana Stone, who are the black and red people that the Ethiopian king was referring to?
The short answer is that we really don't know with any certainty, and there is - as yet - no scholarly consensus on the subject.
The names given to ancient peoples (in this case from the early ...
- 77k
15
votes
Why didn’t Christianity spread southwards from Ethiopia in the Middle Ages?
There wasn't anything for it to spread south to.
OK, there is one exception that Mr. de Bernardy pointed out in the comments. Somalia is south of Ethiopia (when it wasn't part of its empire), and ...
- 115k
13
votes
What were the Ethiopians doing in Xerxes' army?
The "Aethiopia" of Herodotus was not the same thing as modern Ethiopia. Rather, the term described anyone from non-Mediterranean Africa. At the time of the Battle of Thermopylae, the Persian Empire ...
- 8,458
11
votes
Accepted
What was the flower of Empress Taytu?
Ascertaining details in legends might be a good thing. But it is a legend and curiously lacks detail, leaving open a huge space for projections and arbitrary symbols, to be filled by listeners. And ...
- 80.2k
10
votes
Are the Sabean people of Cushitic or Ethiopian origin?
A few things that I think need to be cleared up here.
First: When the ancients said "Ethiopia", they generally meant the territory directly south of Egypt, what we today call Sudan. They were not ...
- 115k
9
votes
Accepted
Did Africans defeat Europeans in battle between 1850 and 1950?
One example of a clear and decisive European defeat is the Battle of Isandlwana in 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War. The British started taking the Zulus a lot more seriously after that, and won the ...
- 30.4k
7
votes
How were Aksumite ships constructed?
The Kingdom of Aksum is dated from 100–940 CE. The sailing technology of this time frame is way beyond Egyptian papyrus rafts. This begins almost 200 years after the battle of Actium ,one of the ...
- 37.2k
7
votes
Does modern scholarship accept an Ethiopian or Nubian origin for Egyptian hieroglyphs?
The earliest evidence for Egyptian writing as writing (used to record language) goes back to circa 3250 BC, in the city of Abydos. Traces of earlier symbol use in an accounting context (e.g., cylinder ...
- 2,193
6
votes
Accepted
Where was Haile Selassie's palace in the Ogaden Desert?
It was probably the one in Gode. More properly called a villa than a palace. But the locals referred to it as "palace" as it was still the biggest building for hundreds of kilometers around. Although ...
- 80.2k
5
votes
Why did Ethiopia not fight with Eritrea over coastal territory when giving them independence?
Just registered for the site, but I do know a bit about this! Following World War 2, Ethiopia wanted Eritrea, and the UN in 1950 came up with an agreement in which they would be a Federation together....
5
votes
Did Africans defeat Europeans in battle between 1850 and 1950?
An example in which the native forces were numerically inferior1 the colonizing forces was the Battle of Annual in Morocco in 1924.
Not in Africa, but still part of the colonial efforts, in 1857 the ...
- 12.3k
4
votes
Accepted
How were Aksumite ships constructed?
Presumably the ships of Axum were similar to the earlier ships of Egypt on the Red Sea. The ships were made of wood, and the ropes woven of papyrus.
You can find more here; the ships were dismantled ...
- 6,779
4
votes
What was the flower of Empress Taytu?
Though mostly recent works,several published books claim it was the bloom of the Mimosa Tree, also known as the Persian Silk Tree.
(image from The Mimosa Tree Complete Guide)
From the book
Ethiopia ...
- 37.2k
3
votes
Why didn’t Christianity spread southwards from Ethiopia in the Middle Ages?
I suspect that after the king of kings of Aksum converted to Christianity the government gradually converted all the people to Christianity. And whenever Aksum conquered a new region efforts would ...
- 18.4k
3
votes
What was the flower of Empress Taytu?
With the caveat that one arguably can't prove a negative, this doesn't seem to have gotten captured in historical records - or at least not those indexed by Google and Google Scholar. Seeing how there ...
- 23.1k
3
votes
What were the Ethiopians doing in Xerxes' army?
As summarized in the Wikipedia article on the Second Persian Invasion of Greece, Herodotus lists 47 diverse ethnic groups which together constituted 1.7 million infantry troops, a large share of ...
- 17.9k
3
votes
Accepted
How did the Falasha make contact with Jews outside Ethiopia?
I believe the letter to which the author is referring is in fact the "Letter to the Falashas", a public letter attributed to Hajji Seraya Khan Shapshal (a.k.a., Seraya Shapshal, Серая Бен ...
- 145
2
votes
What motivated the Eritrean separatist movement?
Eritrea had been a separate state for a long time and has a distant proud history. Ethiopia could not have forced federation upon Eritrea without the intervention of the UN (principally USA and GB). ...
- 21
1
vote
On the Ezana Stone, who are the black and red people that the Ethiopian king was referring to?
We don’t really know for sure who the Noba were, and as far as I can tell Ezana is the only source to distinguish Red and Black Noba. A footnote in this article cites an interpretation that the Black ...
- 17.9k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible