By Fikre Tolossa
“The Tigreans had Aksum, but what could that mean to the Gurage? The Agew had Lalibela, but what could that mean to the Oromo? The Gonderes had castles, but what could that mean to the Wolayita?” Meles Zenawi
When I read the above statement made by the President of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia, Ato Meles Zenawi, in an interview with Professor Donald Levine (ER, September 1992). I started wondering whether it had some germs of truth. I asked myself, “In spite of their differences, don’t all Ethiopians have a sense of togetherness, some objects of pride which they share and common factors which bind them together or unite them, such as history, religion, culture, language, geography, socio-economic and political life? My answer to this question was in the affirmative.
For the sake of clarity, I will divide the peoples of Ethiopia into their two major component parts: Semitic and Hamitic, and see how they relate to each other. I will take the Tigre, the Amhara and the Gurage as examples of the Semitic group; the Oromo, the Somali, the Afar, and the West Sidama or Ometo as examples of the Hamitic. When we observe these groups closely, we realize that they are directly or indirectly related to each other.
The Tigre, the Amhara and the Gurage share the same ancestors. They are close relatives, so to speak. Northern Ethiopia, the original home of the two major Semitic Ethiopians, the Amhara and the Tigre, however, had been inhabited by Hamitic Ethiopians for at least three thousand years before the South Arabians, the other ancestors of the Tigre and the Amhara, immigrated from South Arabia to Northern Ethiopia, to what we today call Tigre and Eritrea.
The indigenous inhabitants of Tigre and Eritrea 4000 years ago were Hamitic Ethiopians. The Agew and the Beja, for instance, are the descendants of such Hamitic Ethiopians. Not only these Hamitic Ethiopians had their own civilizations built on kingdoms, according to some experts of African history, they were also the forefathers of the Pharaoes and the founders of the Egyptian civilization. Whether this is a fact or myth, one thing remains true. These Hamitic Ethiopians had their own civilization and a close relationship with the ancient Egyptians and the South Arabians. These Ethiopians had formed governments, wrote in their own alphabets and built stone houses, altars and statues. They worshiped their own and foreign gods and were engaged in commerce. According to Sergew Hable Selassie in his book, Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270. they exported to Egypt rare minerals such as Lapis Lazuli, electrum, silver, eye cosmetic known as kool (in both Ethiopian and Egyptian languages), gold, gold dust and antimony, as well as animals and their byproducts. Moreover, they exported to Egypt wood and wood byproducts such as incense, myrrh, balsam, boomerangs, ebony, gums, cinnamon and frankincense.
At least some time before 1000 BC, these Hamitic Ethiopians started mixing with people of Semitic stock from South Arabia. The Semitic settlers brought with them the products of their own civilization including agriculture, irrigation system, architecture, language and religion and blended them with those of the indigenous Hamitic peoples of Ethiopia. The blending of these two Hamitic and semitic peoples and their civilizations gradually created the ethnic groups that eventually evolved as Tigreans, Eritreans and Amharas, and formed the civilization of Ethiopia, with Aksum as its center. The word “Aksum” is a further evidence to the blending of the Hamitic and Semitic peoples of Ethiopia, for it is made up of both Hamitic and Semitic terms. “Ak” or “aku” in Hamitic or the Agew language, according to J. Tubiana (quoted by Sergew Hable Selassie) means “water.” Sum “which is closer to the Amharic” shum,” in Ge’ez and Tigrigna means “chief.” The literal translation of “Aksum” is, therefore, “The Water of the Chief.” It is said that to this day, there is a place not far from Aksum known as “Mai Shum” in Tigrigna and Ge’ez, meaning the water of the chief, referring to a water well. The fact that the word “Aksum” consists of Kushitic and Semitic terms proves and symbolizes the blending of the two Hamitic and Semitic civilizations and of the two racial groups which make up the majority of the peoples of Ethiopia.
Since Aksum is the cradle of Ethiopian civilization consisting of both Hamitic and Semitic elements, every architecture and each work of art in Tigrai, is therefore, the result of the mixing of both Hamitic and Semitic civilizations. Hence, both the Hamitic and the Semitic peoples of Ethiopia, including the Agew, the Beja, the Welayita, the Afar, the Oromo, the Somali, the Gurage and the Amhara, have every reason to be a part and a parcel of the Aksumite civiliza tion and to be proud of it. By the way, the Welamo (the plural of Welayta) have a special reason to relate to both the Gondere and Aksumite civilizations: Their first dynasty is supposed to have originated from Damot, near Gojam, during the reign of Yekuno Amlak around the year 1268; and their second dynasty, from Tigrai during the reign of Amde-Tsion were Mikael and Girma respectively. (G.W.B. Huntingford, History of the Galla of Ethiopia ) This chapter of the Welaita history is obviously overlooked by Ato Meles Zenawi.
The mixing of the indigenous Hamitic Ethiopians and the South Arabian immigrants, as mentioned above, resulted in the evolution of the peoples of Tigrai and Eritrea. The Amhara and Gurage belong to the two ethnic group. As I indicated on my article on Amhara contributions to Ethiopian civilization, the Amhara are the offshoots of the Tigreans, for they originated from Tigrai with their Emperor Dil Ne’ad, the last Aksumite emperor. Running away from the persecution of the Zagwe usurper, Mera Tekle Haimanot, in the 11th Century, Emperor Dil Ne’ad and a number of his people found their way to central Ethiopia and settled in Lasta, Gagn, Gonder, Gojam and Shoa. When they spread Amharic at the court of the Zagwe emperors and it was spoken by the imperial family and their soldiers from various ethnic groups, the Amhara started being identified with it.
During their 800 years of “exile” outside Tigrai and Eritrea (formerly known as Baher Medir), the Amharas never forgot their original home, Aksum, Their emperors considered their dynasty as the continuation of the Solomonic Dynasty. They returned often to Aksum to be coronated in accordance with the tradition of their ancestors, the Tigrean emperors. Both the nobles and the common Amharas considered Aksum as the cradle of their civilization and as their holy city to which they went on pilgrimage whenever they could. What is more, in the same way as their Tigreans ancestors, the Amhara used Ge’ez as the language of their literature and liturgy. To the present day, the Amhara share with their Tigrean ances tors the same history, religion, church music, liturgy, culture, literature, customs, food, art, secular pentatonic music, clothes, agriculture, architecture, etc.
Contrary to Ato Meles Zenawi’s assertion, the Gurage too, have every reason to be proud of the Aksumite civilization or Northern Ethiopian civilization, because, according to G.W.B. Huntingford and other scholars, they originated in the 15th Century from Gura, Tigrai under the leadership of the Tigrean Azmach Sebhat who went to the south on a military expedition. The word “ge” means near. Gurage means near Gura, the area which still exists in Eritrea by that very name. Even if we disregard this version of the origin of the Gurage, there are other reasons why the Gurage could relate themselves to Aksum. Though their language, Guragigna, is not the same as Tigrigna, both Guragigna and Tigrigna belong to the same Semitic family. Those Gurages who were not Islamized share the same religion as the Tigre. They belong to the same Orthodox church of the Tigreans and consider Aksum as their holy city. Their priests speak and pray in Ge’ez. They celebrate the same holidays as the peoples of Tigrai and Eritrea. Both peoples share a number of cultural traits. Even the Hamitic Agew had a number of things in common, including religion, with the Tigre, Amhara and Gurage.
One of the descendants of the ancient Hamitic peoples of Ethiopia, the Agew, as pointed out earlier, were participants of the Aksumite civilization. Later, (between the years 1030 and 1270) when they were in power after having overthrown the Solomonic Dynasty, they became dominant once again. Their emperors, however, did not totally uproot their Aksumite heritage. They pursued Aksumite politics, religion and culture in central Ethiopia. Like the previous emperors and empresses of Aksum, they subscribed to the legend of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon. They were the adherents of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and as such, they practiced the liturgy and observed all the religious holidays including Meskel, Timket, Kedus Yohannes and all the days of the saints.
Some of their emperors were canonized as saints, the same category as Aksumite and, later, Amhara emperors. Their ecclesiastical language was Ge’ez. Their clergy were trained by the same traditional schools which educated the Tigre and Amhara clergy. Like Aksumite emperors, Zagwe emperors built churches in Aksum and Roha. The rock-hewn churches of Lasta and Lalibela, for instance, exhibit similarities with Aksumite architectures and were erected under their influence. For Orthodox Christian Oromos, Gurages, Welamos, Sidamas, Amharas and Tigreans, they are considered to be the second Jerusalem, and as such, a holy place of pilgrimage upto the present time. Since the Amhara held key positions in the Zagwe government during the reign of Lalibela the Great at the zenith of the Zagwe civilization, Lalibela occupies a special place in their hearts.
The Hamitic peoples of Ethiopia including the Oromo, the Somali, the Afar, the Sidama and the rest are related to each other and to the Semitic peoples as well, directly or indirectly. The Hamitic peoples share in common every Hamit ic heritage attributed to them. They share the same origin of language and religion. They also share the same history, economic and cultural life.
According to Oromo and Somali traditions of origin the earliest home of both the Oromo and the Somali was South Arabia until both of them migrated to Somalia. As a matter of fact, one version of the origin of the word “Oromo” is said to have been derived from the name of a tribal leader who was the son of Omer of Ghellad from Arabia, who crossed the sea to Berbera and settled in Africa. The Somalis, too, somehow trace their origin in Arabia. An important Somali tribe, the Ishaak, for instance, claim that they are the descendants of an Arab Sheik, Ishaak Ibn Ahmed, who arrived in Somali land between the 11th and 15th century. He married an Abyssinian woman and had four children who created the Habr Toljaala, an important Somali confederacy. The sons of the Abyssinian woman who established their own clan were Mohammed Abokr (Ibran), Ibrahim (Sambur), Musa Abokr (Jaalo) and Ahmed (Toljaalo). Thus in the veins of one of the most important Somali tribe flows a drop of Abyssinian (Tigre/Amhara) blood.
Regardless of whether the Oromos and the Somalis had migrated to Somalia from Arabia, it has been established by scholars that both of them had found themselves together in Somalia one time or another be it as friends or foes until the Oromo were driven from there under the pressure of Islam at least by the 12th Century. Both the Oromo and Somali had to live together in Ethiopia as well. As a matter of fact, the Arsi and Borena Oromos intermixed with the influential Somali tribe, the Geraa or Garre. The Bah Girei, one of the two tribes of the most important family of Southern Somalia descends from an Oromo mother. The Oromo and Somali now live together mainly in the Ethiopian provinces of Harer, Bale and Arsi sharing the same religion, economy and culture, using the same tools, and wearing more or less the same dresses, ornaments and hair styles as those of their Afar and Saho relatives and neighbors.
The Oromo did not mix and live together only with the Somali and the Afar the past 500 years. They also mixed with and influenced the Amhara, the Sidama, the Bale, the Gafat, the Hadiya, the Gurage, the Damot and many other peoples. Their impact particularly upon the Amhara religion, language, culture, politics and history was immense. The Oromo outnumber every ethnic group. The Amhara are next to the Oromo in number. Nevertheless, almost every Amhara has some Oromo lineage way down her or his genealogy. In Gojam, a person without an Oromo lineage is considered to be not a “real” Gojame. This holds true even for the Gojame nobles. Dejazmach Tulu, the governor of Damot around 1700, who was married to Woizero Welete Selassie, one of the daughters of Atse Iyasu I, was an Oromo, Dejazmach weld Abib, who was appointed as the governor of Gojam in 1745 during the reign of Atse Eyasu II, was another Oromo. His son, Dejazmach Yosedek, married Princess Welete Israel, the daughter of Etege Mentewab and Grazmach Iyasu. She mothered Ras Hailu and Ras Goshu, the two prominent rulers of Gojam. The Oromo rulers of Gojam claimed Abyssinian royal blood lineage through her.
Negus Tekle Haimanot, the descendant of Ras Hailu and Princess Welete Israel, was conscious of his Oromo background. After he was crowned Negus in 1881 by Emperor Yohannes IV, he fought against Menelik for power and territory. Though he lost the Battle of Embabo to Menelik, he became Menelik’s friend the rest of his life, remembering Menelik’s mercy capon him as a prisoner of war. The Gondere civilization would have been different without Oromo participation. Ever since the days of Emperor Susenyos (1571-1632) who appointed them to key government positions, the Oromo have taken part in building Gonder as administrators, soldiers, and clergymen. Hence, their affiliation with and pride in the Gondere civilization.
Regarding religion, a significant number of the so-called Amhara Christians exercise the indigenous Oromo religion, including the Atete, Borenticha, Irecha and Awulia rituals. As far as language is concerned, Amharic is heavy-laden with Oromo vocabularies, proverbs, sayings and tales. The Amhara have adopted the Oromo way of life to a great extent in the spheres of warfare, horsemanship, agriculture, clothing, handicraft, hair dressing, social relationships including the method of child adoption called Gudifecha and Mogassa, to mention just a few. Besides mixing with the Amhara common folks, the Oromo intermarried with the Amhara nobles and ruled Ethiopia for centuries as dejazmaches, rases, princes, kings, emperors and empresses. As a matter of fact, Ethiopia has been enriched by the Oromo, who, pumping fresh blood into the veins of the Amhara and introducing a rich and diverse culture among the rest of the ancient peoples of Ethiopia, strengthened to an immeasurable extent the demographic, political, linguistic, social and cultural dynamics of Ethiopia.
Reciprocally, the Amhara have exposed the Oromo to their language, culture, and religion so that some of them were converted to Christianity speaking Ge’ez and Amharic and leading the life-style of the Amhara. The Oromo language has been enriched by Amharic words, proverbs, sayings and folk tales which cry for a deeper examination.
An obvious Amhara Christian influence on the Oromo is the celebration of Meskel (the holiday of the founding of the True Cross) and Timket (Epiphany). Meskel is celebrated not only by the Oromo and the Amhara alike, but by many other Ethiopians including the peoples of Sidama, Kefa, Mao and Janjero. Timket is observed by numerous Ethiopians, except Muslims, who appreciate and enjoy each other’s songs and dances. A number of sacred places, however, are frequented by both Christian and Muslim Oromo and Amharas as well as other Ethiopians. These sacred places include Mt. Zuqualla, the Church of St. Gabriel in Kulubi and the tomb of Sheik Hussein in Bale.
Surrounded by the Somali, the Oromo, the Saho and some Eritrean ethnic groups, the Afar have kept their Ethiopian identity for ages. Like their fellow Tigreans, Amharas and Somalis, some of them claim their ties with South Arabia. According to both the Adoimara (commoners) and the Asaimara (nobles) traditions, they (the commoners and nobles) descend from an intermarriage of the indigenous Afar people with Yemeni Arabs. At the same time, I.M. Lewis mentions in his book, People of The Horn of Africa, that the Asaimara also descend from immigrant Abyssinians (Tigre/Amhara) of the Ethiopian highlands.
Whereas northern Afar tribes were associated with Tigrai and Eritrea, the Anfari of Aussa dealt with Central Ethiopia. In an attempt to create a good relationship with the leaders of the Aussa, some of the Amhara emperors sought to get married with them. The common Amhara merchants were engaged in salt trade with the Afar for a long time. The Afar and the Somali have a number of things which they share in common. Their physical features are the same. Both are predominantly Muslim. Their economy depends on camels, sheep and goats. Many of them are nomads. They share the same territories. Their tools and weapons are the same. Their food, dresses and hair-styles are the same. Their application and techniques of circumcision is the same. Both the Afar and the Somali practice sorcery to combat illness and use amulets to keep away diseases and evil spirits.
In the same way as the Afar, the Sidama people have attested once again to the fact that they are Ethiopians by refusing to be tagged by their ethnic names in these sad days of ethnic madness. And the Sidama people have a very good reason for not denying their being Ethiopians.
Among the segments of the Sidama populace, let us, for instance, take the most important ones, such as the Kefa, the Kembata, the Janjero, the Welamo, and the Hadiya. All of these peoples have direct or indirect lineage with the two major Semitic groups of Ethiopians, namely, the Tigreans and the Amhara.
The last king of the Keffa, Tato, claimed descent from Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. According to the tradition of the Kefa people, their ancestors came from Tigrai. Their original language was Tigrigna until they learned the Keffa language. The Kembata, too, believe that they have some Abyssinian blood and that their first king had been a member of the Solomonic Dynasty. The Welamo, as mentioned earlier, traced two of their three dynasties from Damot during the reign of Yekuno Amlak towards the second part of the 13 Century, and from Tigre during the time of Amde-Tsion in the 16th Century. Two of their first kings had Tigre and Amhara names: Girma and Mikael, as I indicated earlier. The Janjero ruling family, the Mwa, claimed that they were of Abyssinian origin and that they came from Northern Ethiopia. Since the beginning of the 14th century upto the rise of Ahmed Grang and the Oromo, the Hadiya were tributary to Abyssinia, which means that they were influenced by the Tigre/Amhara religion, culture and politics.
The peoples of Sidama, sharing the same religions, speaking the same Kushitic languages which have been enriched by each other’s vocabularies, and having existed under the same pre-industrial feudal order specializing in agricultural products unique to them such as Inset and coffee, and trading with each other for mutual benefits, have evolved into a homogeneous unit over a long period of time. At present, this background which they share in common has not only created in them a sense of unity and togetherness, but also a sharp awareness of Ethiopianism as a reaction to the current ethnic division which attempts to tear them asunder thus threatening the very existence of each one of them. That is why they have now allied themselves under the Southern Ethiopian Peoples Democratic Coalition which believes in Ethiopian unity based on equality.
Though each Ethiopian ethnic group exhibits its own unique features, which are a blessing in disguise because they contribute something to the formation of multi-ethnic Ethiopia, yet, the same ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious, social, historical, political, economic and geographical backgrounds which the various peoples of Ethiopia share in common, create in them feelings of unity and make them appreciate the cultural products achieved by them individually and collectively. That is why the Gurage can appreciate and be proud of the Aksumite civilization. That is why the Oromo can consider the civilization of the Agew at Lalibela as their own. That is why the Welamo could relate themselves to the civilization at Gonder and elsewhere. And this is reciprocal.
As far as autonomy was concerned, the states at the periphery had their own kingdoms and sultanates. The center, for the most part, needed only recognition and tributes. As long as these two were fulfilled, the center was satisfied. Whenever the periphery refused to pay tributes, the center took measures. Though some ambitious individuals waged wars to seize power from the center, and even though the peoples of the periphery rebelled some times against “central” injustice, they did not deny the fact that they were Ethiopians. This assertion was proved in 1896 at the Battle of Adwa when imperialist Italy waged war against Ethiopia, during the scramble for Africa. Ethiopians from both the center and the periphery understood the implications of Italy’s aggression and fought bravely to defend their motherland.
Aksum, as aforementioned, was built by both Semitic and Hamitic Ethiopians. It is therefore the pride of all Ethiopians. To question what the Gurage have to do with Aksum is to deny their historical contributions and to attempt to deprive them of a pride they share with other Ethiopians. The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela were built predominantly by the Hamitic Agew as well as other Ethiopians including the Amhara and Tigre so that Christian Oromos and others would not go as far as Jerusalem for worship. For the Christian Oromo, Lalibela is their Jerusalem. For the non-Christian Kushitic or Hamitic Oromo, the churches of Lalibela are symbols of their pride, for they were envisaged and materialized by the Hamitic Emperor Lalibela. It is probably by realizing this among other reasons that the Hamitic Ahmed Grang who had destructed so many other churches previously, spared the churches of Lalibela from annihilation. Lalibela is the pride of all Ethiopians. To question whether the Oromo care for Lalibela is to suggest that the Oromo are foreigners.
The peoples of Ethiopia have been so much interwoven over the past 6000 years racially, ethnically, religiously, psychologically, linguistically, historically, culturally, socially, geographically and economically, that no force can tear them asunder easily. The peoples of Ethiopia, regardless of their ethnic background, are kinsmen. The common factors which they share together can bind them yet tightly.
While the Marxist stand on the question of nationalities (which is the driving force behind Ato Meles Zenawi’s ethnic program), looks impressive as a theory, it is too simplistic and too narrow to be applied on the Ethiopian reality. The relationships of Ethiopians to each other are too sophisticated to be categorized too narrowly. The unique peoples of Ethiopia will find a unique solution to ethnic conflicts or any other problems which they encounter while striving to strengthen their unity based on equality and while attempting to build their impoverished nation.
(Fikre Tolossa, Ph.D., is Assistant Dean of Faculty at Columbia Pacific university in San Rafael, CA and Associate Editor of Ethiopian Review.)
28 thoughts on “Common Factors Uniting the Peoples of Ethiopia”
second page is missing
Thank you Dr. Fikre for letting us see the “other” side of the landscape. It is now or never to stop the kilil based infighting in the same country that serves to disintegrate us further. In a country where in Kaffa, a ukranian is more respected than a gurage, an oromo, an amhara or a tigre should not be called a country. Instead of trying to relive in a tried and failed experiment of tribalism, what other countries like the Germans experimented and declared as an insane experiment 300 years ago, we should prop up to the cultural demand of the 21st century. Otherwise we are in for a self consuming tribal barbarism the fire of which is the only job-legacy left for us to extinguish if only before it consumes us for good.
Mr Fikre, “the Welamo (the plural of Welayta)” were do you get this?
Well said. Thank you Doctor. It is a very interesting and real history of Ethiopia. every Ethiopian must read and understand, as well as memorize it. Meles can make division not only among Ethiopians but also with in a family as far as it helps for his power.
Fikre, you are totally manipulative by trying to entice and cause ethnic division in our country. You are completely out of your mind to dig into this silly political ideology. You seem to lose your clout in every sense. You also run out of ideas that matters most to Ethiopians as whole.
Please live up to good journalism instead of posting articles that might cause division amongst ethnic groups in unimaginable scale on your website. I think your motive is to entice conflict amongst ethnic groups rather than uniting them. Don’t you think the Ethiopian people had enough of conflict?
Dear Dr. Fikre Tolosa:
You really are one of the very few Ethiopian academicians that I respect the most. You are a very humble person who knows how to present history and political views in a very civilized manner. I have followed you for so many years and any thing your write is very educative and interesting. Please continue to write and educate us. At this critical time of Ethiopian politics, we see not only Woyane(EPDRF)but also many other Ethiopians embracing the divide and rule policy of EPRDF. This ethnicist mentality is really dividing Ethiopia probably in unprecedented way. At this time, everyone would rather stick to their ethnics. This is a very dangerous trend which has passed the threshold. Just the other day a very good friend of mine since childhood asked me where my parents were and it really shocked me. Why now, why didn’t he asked me before. I mentioned this to another good friend and he told me that that is normal now. Is the the end?
Dear Fikre,
I am grateful for the well written article on our history. It is excellently articulated. The only doubt I have is about historians’ claim that we are genealogically related with South Arabians. I am certain that this may not be true. According to recent genome advances, Ethiopians (Tigreas, Amaharas, Oromo, Afar, Sidama, Agew etc.) never come from Arabs. The origin and migration patter of human kind (worldwide) starts from Ethiopia/Ethiopians outwards. The Ethiopian genome (our y chromosome is the father of every one and all colors) is the basis for understanding how people migrated and spread all over the world. Genetically speaking we are actually more closely related with white people than Arabs.
It would therefore be important that our history must be studied (a multi-disciplinary approach) and re-written based on recent scientific advances. This is a suggestion, not a critic to your article.
Regard
Hi Fikre,
Don’t waste your time. Due to historical reasons, we have something in common. It helps to some extent. But, having something in common is not a sufficient condition to live togther. Eriterians and Amhara have many things in common than the others. But, Eriterians chose independence. May be your mother is from Amhara ethnic, that is why you are advocating for such unity. Comparing those people, half oromo and half Amahara, with others, mixed group hate more than the others.
This is a great article
You said “The blending of these two Hamitic and semitic peoples and their civilizations gradually created the ethnic groups that eventually evolved as Tigreans, Eritreans and Amharas….”
Dr Fekre! is there an ethnic group call Eritrean???
If what Dr. Tolossa is saying is true, why does then OLF work hard to distance itself from the Amhara people? Why does this Oromo Liberation Front want to separate Oromia from the rest of the Ethiopian provinces? I don’t think it is enough to tell the Oromo people and the rest they have Amhara blood. I don’t think it is enough to tell them they were there as engineers, stone cutters, and water carriers when Axum, Lalibela, and the Gondar castles were built. In reality, what Dr. Tolossa is doing is simply and artificially to boost the morals of the Oromo people and the others by connecting them to the Amhara race by marrying the Amhara girls, by worshiping the Amhara God, by speaking the Amhara language, and by adopting the Amhara culture.
Dr. Tolossa testifies the Oromos are the first people to come to Ethiopia, and they have always been the majority until now. The Oromos have been great warriors; they have been kings and queens. If the Oromos have had this much power, this much knowledge, and tremendous influence on the Amhara people, why did they fail to build on their own land – Oromia – amazing buildings like Axum, Lalibela and the Gondar castle?
What Dr. Tolossa’s analysis telling me is the Amharas could not have built such magnificent buildings in Axum, Lalibela, and Gondar by themselves without the help of the Oromo people, without the help of the Oromo engineers, and without the help of the Oromo architects. I argue the Amharas were capable of doing any thing without the help of the Hamitic people. And that is true until now, and it remains true for the near future.
It is amazing that many people in the world want to be part of the Ethiopian history, especially the Arab Muslims, and in order to be part of this fascinating country, some of them, particularly the Arab writers, distort the true history of the Ethiopian people.
Dear Dr Fikre Tolossa:
I have a tremendous respect and admiration for you for always standing for the millions of voiceless people in Ethiopia. You have this immense talent in exposing this Tigrean Liberation Front (TPLF) mafia system that corrupts the entire country. The ethnic apartheid regime of the Tigrea mafia that runs the country now is committing several inhuman acts against Ethiopians. The west along with the Obama administration is one hundred percent behind this merciless people. China, the EU, Russia, India and Suadi Arabia are also working part and parcel with this hated regime. This Tigrean apartheid regime arrests, tortures and kills anybody. Moreover, they also confiscate lands and houses from poor farmers and give the land to Arabs, Indians, and Chinese. These merciless, uneducated and barbaric people control the lion’s share of the country’s economy. In addition to that they also control the army, the police, the Agazie, and the security apparatus. The Tigrea mafia group has also been able to successfully lobby the US senators and congressmen by bribing and corruption in order to get millions of tax payers money from the Washington administration.
So, Dr Fikre would you please do something together with Prof Al Mariam and Dr Fikade Shewakena so that you could do a letter writing campaign to senators and congressmen by exposing the hidden crimes of the minority Tigrean apartheid regime. Use your gifted knowledge in writing because as Americans say, “A mind is a tragic thing to waste.” You should be able to put sanctions on this tyrannical regime with you immense talent.
It is good to know history. Are you trying to tell us that we
Amharas are the extension of the Tigreans?
What is going on today is
different from yesterday. All the atrocities committed by
the Tigreans is not excepcted from the so called brothers.
Ok ,let’s say Tigreans are our brothers. But let try to live by
ourselves , we don’t want to live with them.
I think that is what everybody(olf,onlf,….) is trying to say.
Dear Dr. Fikere Tolosa,
Thank you for writing this talented paper in order to unite us especially in this time of division and crisis. You are a great Ethiopian and a world class scientist that should be respected with admiration. As always your writing is wonderful and clear that deserves world-wide respect but unfortunately some folks don’t get it. Perhaps, your level of articulation is much much above some folks, that is why they are not able to understand. I love you as a brother and very proud of your excellent analysis.
Down with the Woyane blood suckers!
Thank you Dr Fikre.
Ethiopia was not and is not a making of simplistic thoughts of narrow minded people like Meles Zenawi.
It rather is built by the constant interaction, cooperation and enrichment of its people.
Every Ethiopian has a cause to claim Aksum, Lalibela, Gondar, etc.
The only thing Ato Meles can keep to his sole ownership is the destruction he is inflicting on Ethiopia.
What have the Ethiopians done to deserve Mengistu & Meles at this point in history? Why have we become the poster people of curse in the age of technology, education and excess food? These are the the questions that must be asked constantly in the heart and minds of all Ethiopians. One should never listen to the incendiary and venomous comments coming out from our enemies whether they are from the North or elsewhere. The article above is a re-affirmation of the good that binds us together, recognizing and responding to decades old venom on the other hand – worthless.
As usual, I love reading Dr. Fikres messages. Sorry I haven’t completed reading but due to Meles’ such dividing messages, I hope Ethiopians all over are not buying into such negative anti Ethiopian messages. What is so different about Ethiopia anyway except it has kept itself independent of colonization because of our unity. However, Ethiopia is no different than any other country that have land marks all over Ethiopia. Take for example Kintampo Falls in Ashanti Ghana and its Castles in Accra. Is Mr. Meles saying, the falls do not mean to the Ghanaians in Accra and vise versa? Many nations have their landmarks all over their region and each people of countries are equally proud of the landmarks wherever they are located. As a result, Mr. Meles used this as dividing factor, making us wonder we are aliens from one another. Yet, people bought into this. I would like to hear from Mr. Meles, who claimed Axum does not mean anything to the rest of Ethiopans except to Tigrayans, I would like to know what Meles and its cronies are doing in South Region then using its resources for their own purpose? I would like to question then what Tigrayans are doing owning Harar Coffee businesses in Harar region if they don’t feel they are part of Ethiopia as a whole. Can someone ask this question to Mr. Meles? Landmark and resources belong to all within a country called Ethiopia. However, if the regions are not benefiting of the resources then there should be reform as simple as that.
By the way, Axum have everything to do for every Ethiopians, it is land mark for every Ethiopians because many Ethiopians have fallen there and won against colonization, it is an important region.
Adwa,
You are just criticizig the author without mention which part is wrong and you don’t have any input of what you have learned or know except send criticism therefor your comment has no basis. Therefore, because you have no input, it is very challenging or deep for you to learn about the history of Ethiopia. Of course you will reject this but do me a favor, don’t pick and choose but learn from different perspective of Ethiopia’s history.
Assta,
Let us remember why influence and modernization (castles, etc) naturally occurs in one region of a nation as supposed to other region. Location, location location has to do with it. It makes sense the intermarriage to occur from Arabs as well as from South (in this case hamitic) therefore Ethiopians in Northern region due to the location they live on through migration or otherwise, have been living in sea coast area. It is therefore natural for modernization, languages to occur. Check nations that live around coast their foundation for civilization is due to exchange and trading with other nations near by. So, we shouldn’t be surprised the influnece of Norther region throughout Ethiopia. Assta, you are a very polarizing factor, I don’t know what kind of Ethiopia you want to form?
Dr. Fikre,
I have always been curious of the Pharoes, who they are, it will be a great idea if you enlighten us the origin of Pharoes that no one seems to talk about with references. Arabs later came to Egypt. It is curious to see also how Amara became the influential factor through out Ethiopia. Again, I am not interested in the bickering, I am merely interested in the real history of Ethiopia without manipulation to protect one ethnic group over the other. HOwever, it is possible the influence of Amara must have occured from outside as you can see, some behavior of modernization especially during Haileselassie came from Western-type as we can see the type of clothes, interaction etc very much back then came from the West.
Tigrians claim they are the sole owners of the Axumite civilization. Their version of history is distorted because of their mind is ingrained with inferiority complex. Let’s take Addis Ababa. It is the center of government and Ethiopian from all walks of life contributed to its growth and civlization. Likewise Axum was the seat of the government accordingly people from all parts of Ethiopia lived there and contributed to its civilization. For Tigrians to claim that they are the sole owner of that civilization is to ignore and marginalize the Agaw, the Beja, and moreover the Sabeans who are the true owners of Axumite civilization. No historical record anywhere in the world can attest that Tigirians built the Axum Oblisques. In fact the Tigirans came late to Axum. Let’s take a look at one other factor. In what is Italy today we see many traces of Greek civilization. The fact that Italians live in the regions occupied by ancient Greeks does not entitle them to claim ownership to what were built by Greeks. So do Tigrians. Dr. Fikre missed one important point. There is no ethnic group known as Eritrean. It is a slave name given by Italians to the people known as Hamsien, Akale Guzay, Seraye, Tigre, Saho, Belien, etc. It is funny that some people prefer to be identified by by their slave name in stead of their own. It makes me wonder why modern Tigrians are so petty tribalists and ethnic peddlers. We should think and achieve great things than waste our time on one’s ethnicity.
Good analysis. My question is why didn’t you mention the OLF doctrine of their claim”they are not Ethiopians” while you only mention Meles’s view on this issue? Why do everyone afraid confronting OLF ambition? The same will happen if tribal OLF have power. That is what exactly happened when tribal TPLF had power 20 years ago. Professor! It is a very good reason why we Ethiopian are Ethiopians and should stay together with love and respect. It is necessary to fight ethnic based TPLF for the sake of unity of Ethiopia but I do not see anyone to mention about OLF an organization of anti unity the same as TPLF. Can you tell me why everyone scared of OLF or do not want to talk about them? or they considered less of TPLF if they have the power?
Dear Brother Fikre,
I respect you. There is alot of facts in your writings. Some of the things you wrote, I do not agree based on the following reasons:
1. Ethiopians did not come from Arab land. This is completely false. I read all these rubbish story only from Arabs. The reason is clear and the whole world knows, Ethiopian history predates any history in the world. According to recent scientific findings, Ethiopia remains the place where human origin. This can be proved even by studying the DNA of Ethiopian, and Arabs and race on this planet. you can not anymore twist history any more. Neither Meles Zenawi nor you can change or rewrite history in anyway because our histroy is written in our DNA. Let me tell you a real story. Recently a friend of mine deed DNA mapping. My friend believed his is pure Dutch. But now his DNA showed that he is half German and half Russina. This is printed in his DNA and no journalist or medical doctor or history can change his DNA.
It is possible to prove using DNA who lived in Ethiopian not only 10000 years ago, but 1 billion years ago. Thanks to Tosellena and Albert Eistein who have changed our world the way we live today.
I dispute with you with 100 % surity Ethiopians are not Arabs. They do not even look alike any way. Ethiopians very civilized people. Go to Gonder, Tigray, to the villages, you will wonder their life style. Leave alone in Arab countries, you cannot even find it anywhere such well organized life sytle. I have travelled and seen my lives styles. I still find the Ethiopian way very unique. Nothing related to Arab. Of course Ethiopians used to rule the whole Arab world and there is relationship because of such history. But Ethiopians descended from Arab is a fiction. Arabs still bury baby girls because they are not boys babies. you cannot compare such backward race with Ethiopians.
The Somalians agree they Arabs. The only problem is with the Oromos, … while it is a known fact they are immigrants in Ethiopia, they tell us they had a country called Oromia before Ethiopia.
It is good we accept the true histroy and we live together. I do not care from where Oromo came, I am happy to consider them as my brothers and sisters like any Ethiopian. But because they do not have long history in Ethiopia and trying to rewrite Ethiopian history to suilts them is very annoying.
What is wrong to accept the Oromos and Somalia came from wherever they came and now they are in Ethiopia. Why try to twist and erase other people histroy because they do not have one?
Now, we live in the 21 century, I personally do not care from where Oromo or Somalians came. I do not care. But they must respect the history of Ethiopia as it is. They must to rewrite a history that is already written on stones and even underground.
Trust me my brother, neither TPLF nor OLF nor ONLF nor EPLF can change Ethiopian history. It will remain as it is. Meles will die sooner or later. He can hardly change anything forever. Mengistu tried to eradicate our history and culture and to adopt Russian communism. It did not work.
Meles Zenawi has only wasted his 17 years of age living in the caves of Tigray to do bring this dirty work of Ethnic politics. But his ethnic politics will go with him when he die.
My message to all Ethiopian:
Do not waste your time to rewrite the written history. Believe we are all mortal being and we all need bread, water, shelter, dignity. We must respect each other wherever we are until we die. It does not even matter who ruled Ethiopia 100 years ago or 1000 years ago. It is not important. No one is born to live anywhere. The earth belongs to God and we must live in peace wherever we are. I do not live in Ethiopia and I am happy wherever I am. I do not need to know ruled Canada 100 years ago. It is not important as long as I am respected as human and live with dignity.
Ethiopians are not Arabs. Ethiopian predates Arabian history. Arabs were nomads until 600 AD.
Ethiopians build Ships, boats even 40, 000 years ago.
Civilization: Ethiopia( includes Egypt) ==> Chinese, Persian, Greek ==Romans == > Arabs ==> Europeans
Dr. FIKRE:.It is not a comment on your article in the comment box rather it is a message to you. I think i was more than 15 or 16 years ago that i heard your poem in Deautches Welle Raido. it was a touching poem. you were crying while reading that poem… i think the title of that poem is ”Ethiopia hagerie”. how could i retrieve that poem and from where i retrieve it, Specifically..how could you help me to retrieve it
My address solomon dagnachew facebook..email [email protected] twitter @solorevo
What use is for us to know history or myth?
What is the objective of this person or writer?
Does he think that unity comes from sharing common history or myth?
What brings unity? In history Unity comes through powerful military combined with a social structure that is also stabilizing such as by encouraging gene flow. Now, what ever the uniting force if there are other factors that override it it will not be sufficient to bind people together. As everybody knows, Ethiopia lost Eritrea and through out history the boundaries of Ethiopia changed the biggest territory being that of Grang Ahmed followed by Menelik who sold Djibouti on contractaul agreement to French colonialists. Ethiopian Muslims are proud of Gragn for he united all Ethiopians. Ethiopian Muslims claim Axum as their own sacred city because of Ashama the Kingor Negashi who himself reverted to Islam.
It is good to talk about our Hamitic and Semtic heritage for the sake of curiousity but in the end what matters is good governance. Before I delve into that let me say somethings about some of the ethnic divisions the writer has mentioned. Who is the original Hamitic or Semetic people or in other words who is the oldest interms of origin? What is the term hamitic refering to??? I wish the writer more explicitly told us more about this controversial issue. Hamitic is a race sometimes used by Europeans to refer to part of Africa where pastorialists wonder in the desert for livelihood and are in their physiognomy similar to the Caucasians (white which includes of course Arab features) as opposed to Negro people such as that of Kenya Tanzania or west African Nigerians with thick lips. We know Ethiopia has remnant Negroid people such as the known Mengestu Hailemariam. Now this brings to the front the role of Agnwak, Gambela, Benshangul who are purely negroid in the hsitory of Ethiopia. Were they even earlier than the Hamitic or Semetic people of Ethiopia? We know Greeks refer to Ethiopia as burnt face and we know that name originally was meant for North Sudan civilization which included part of Gondar or Gojam with Ben shangul.
The various hypothesis give conflicting accounts of for example where the hamitic people such as Beja or Afar or Somali or Oromo people came from. But judging from their straight nose, narrow chins, and less kinky haris and thin lips not Negroid for sure.
We know both Hamitic and Semetic people at various times intermingled and have mixed facial features. Some have dark faces and some have light skins. Excepting the influence of Italian men on our women in producing half castes how do we explain the light skin of Haile Selassie and many Ethiopians and the curly hairs that is neither straight as Caucasians nor as kinky as Negroid. The readers of the website should evaluate themselves. We need more Anthropological studies by Ethiopian themeselves to arrive at a more conclusive evidence but this type of research is hampered by politicians who want their own version of myth or story so they can rule over us. I think academic freedom is the most important solution to know our real history. This does not mean that we will never know the truth. Most of Dr Fikre’s assumptions or writings are based on his own personal opinion and his views are not final because history unlike science is not something you can prove as it is based on past events.
For example, to say that Gurages somehow feel connected to the Axumite civilization does not make them the makers of that civilization. this is not to make them feeel inferior as has been the case in the past through our brutal leaders. What does it mean to be called “Ethiopian”?. To me the word Ethiopia has lost its meaning as in my life time I saw the spliting of this country into two. Why did not Eritrea call itself North Ethiopia but instead chose a colonialist name. Why not use Bahrel Negash? Anyways, history is an ongoing process. Let us forget this issue for now and come back to what I want to say about unity.
We know that our people are mostly peasants and don’t have any idea about the type of discourse that is going in the cyber world. As we know learned men are the ones who disseminate unity or disunity emotions on people especially these days such as the inspiring works of Marks or the scholars of the West Emperialists. Rarely some indegenous personalities may bring sometimes mythical stories to glorify themselves and end up uniting their territories under one Empire. We end up as one.
So various warriors and so called Kings and Sultanetes have contributed to the present state of what Ethiopia is. Some of them did worse than others. As we know it the most single factor that disintegrates unity is lack of fairness and justice as in the time of Haile selassie which cost us Eritrea. Meles may cost us more if injustice is the rule of the day. I am not here to evaluate Meles foe only history will tell us who and what worked best. We can discuss about the role of nationalities but in the end people need a jsut system inorder to stay together. Most Ethiopian schoalars deliberately or with ignorance ignore the role of religion in binding people. Unless we deal with realities on the ground what ever unity we have will crumble before our eyes.
So although Dr Fikre tried to show us the past which I like it much especially when he mentioned Ahmed Gragn’s in connection with sparing Lalibela church just because he was Hamite as the Agew. It is was interesting hypothesis but a bit far fetched. Rather I propose he proposed the Lalibela church for it was not built by Agew but by Arab people who came to help them.
There are many questions that we need to know as people of that country. For example, Semetic tigray and Amhara and Gurage are mailny settled and agriculturalist and lived in restricted to highlands. So the lowland nomadic people who lived in the lowlands are they not may be the ancestors to the highland people. If Semetic came from the Middle east how did the semetic people not encounter the lowland Hamitic??? There is no question that pastoralist came first followed by settlers.
So, where and how did the Semetic people come? I have no doubt that they came from the lowland Hamitic. We know Naoh had three sons: Sam, Ham and japhet. Sam is for semites, Ham was cursed through his son Canaan because he disobeyed Allah and Japhet is the source of Caucasians. Ham had three more children and we don’t know what their fate were. But the fourth son as I said already Canan is believed to be ancestor to the black skinned people mainly the sub-Saharan Africa. We don’t know if this is the intent of God as this idea was used by West imperialists to colonize Africa and promote Slavery.
At any rate I asked what little use is this past history? My answer is whatever much commonality we claim we have only our future vision will bind us as there are tensions from within and from without how ever small they are can be a precursor for future divisions as opportunists that vie for glory will eventually exploit it.
Dr Fikre Tolossa disappointed me by dwelling too much in the past and never gave us a single unitying idea that will keep us stronger and united. Having failed to do that he erks losing the attention of many who may not understand the value of our commonality.
As long as people are selfish we will see divisions. I ask every body to come up with new unifying commonalities in addition to our historical fate to keep us going.
it is good that you stated some points which indicate the relationship between different groups of people who make ethiopia as a nation. i think we dont have to forget the difference. both narratives of difference and similarity have been used by the ruling elites to rule with the iron fist. but my question is what is the philosophy that unites us all? why is it important to be an ethiopian, why cant i be the not ethiopian? moreover, there are a number of misrepresentations in the analysis, such as namings and others which might be related to an effort to rewrite history in a country where history and fiction are enmeshed.
Thank you DR. Fikre Tolassa for your narration! The existence of nations together couldnot solely due to historical and cultural accounts!
Although some of ideas seems oral traditions, not being supported by evidences; I guess interesting to read! We ought to uncover the truth to build solid foundation. I read your article that decribes Oromoo and Amhara share the same anecestor,”Aethiopis”; here you seems changed your mind stating they blend together by marriage and historical reasons!
You wrongly stated God of Oromoo ( “Waaqaa”- one God, creator of heaven and earth) of Oromoo with Egyptian gods
Dr Tolasaa; you also forgot to mention the Case of “WOLLO – Oromoo + Amahara” and “RAYA- Oromoo+ Tigre”tribe. I guess you emphasezed your lineage, Gojjam- Oromoo + Amhara!!
DR Tolasaa; You also forgot to state Quen of Sheba ( Genesis 10: 6-7 ), as cushitic unlike many of our past writings.
Dr Tolasaa, You also forgot to write what other fellow Ethiopians share the ‘Gadaa’ system of Oromoo!
This below quote is still a contested issue.I don’t agree with it, that is when I stop.
“For the sake of clarity, I will divide the peoples of Ethiopia into their two major component parts: Semitic and Hamitic, and see how they relate to each other. I will take the Tigre, the Amhara and the Gurage as examples of the Semitic group; the Oromo, the Somali, the Afar, and the West Sidama or Ometo as examples of the Hamitic. When we observe these groups closely, we realize that they are directly or indirectly related to each other.”
Fikre Tolossa
Amharas, Tigreans and Tigres, have a Cushitic origins. They are the decendants of the Agew. Yes there was some migration from South Arabia and brought some, but not all, ancient civilization to the Axumite Kingdom. The Geez language is more influenced by Semetic language it is mainly due to the trade relationship and also religion with the Semetic speaking people. The Axumite Kingdom had earlier their own ancient civilization. The South Arabians who were only one percent of the Axumite Kingdom population intermingled with the Agew who were 99 percent of the population. Let’s assume we mix one litre of milk with 100 litre of water, do we call this mixture water or milk? Definitely we call it water. So the Amharas, Tigreans and Tigres should be categorised as Cushitic not as Semetic.
your Articles tried to atract innocent people those whom do not have ancient history back ground. Axum is established by cush people and wollow the recent history of Oromo ”Elalibala ” any oromo person tell you the exact meaning.
please don’t mix the ancient history. the cushatic kingdom history hijacked .Genarly there is no name ”tigray” in ancient ethiopian history’, there were Kemet(kimaant),Agaw(zagwe) in ethiopian history both tribs are the part of cushite. you have a capacity to investigate it again. the name of tigray is the recent during the muslium war in ethiopia.your refrance are not a rialble ancient history sources.every regimes erase and bend the history but refrnces are only issued under expencive charges. the histry bearing the name of tigray in ancent is siply forged