State education in Ethiopia took an important step forward on April 27, 1925, when the Regent Ras Tafari Makonnen opened the Tafari Makonnen School despite opposition from traditionalists, who are said to have delayed the project for a couple of years. In his opening speech on May 2, he declared that the time was passed …
We saw last week that some of the earliest photographs to be taken in Ethiopia were those of the British expedition to Maqdala in 1867-8. Now read on:. In the late 1870s King Menilek of Shawa arranged to employ three Swiss craftsmen to help him in the modernisation of his country. Alfred Ilg The most …
We saw last week that the first photographs to be shot in Ethiopia were apparently shot by the Protestant missionary Henry Aaron Stern. These, as we shall now see, were followed by others, taken by the Napier Expedition of 1867-8, Now read on. The British campaign of 1867-8 was the first to take advantage of …
Reprinted from the “Guardian,” London The world’s largest transport planes are in line to bring home one of the biggest pieces of loot in the long history of imperialism. It is a giant granite pillar or stela, weighing roughly 170 tons, which presently stands in the middle of the Piazza di Porta Capena in Rome. …
Optical science made its earliest impact on the recording of Ethiopian images in the late eighteenth century. The first to make use of it was the Scottish traveller James Bruce, who obtained a camera obscura to assist him in sketching the country. The apparatus, a cumbersome affair, was constructed according to his own specifications by …
Dynastic marriage for at least the last half millennium, for which relatively good documentation is available, played a major, and well-attested, role in Ethiopian political life. Imperial rulers effected a number of important dynastic and other unions which freely transcended divisions of religion, ethnicity and class. The early sixteenth century Portuguese traveller Francisco Alvares, generally …
Readers will recall that Emperor Sarsa Dengel’s half Beta Esra’el, or Falasha, son Ya’qob was overthrown by the nobles and army, but was later recalled to power. Now read on! Yaq’ob’s second reign was even shorter than the first, for his power was shortly afterwards challenged by Abeto, or Prince, Susneyos, the notable future Emperor …
Readers will recall that Emperor Sarsa Dengel had four sons by his Beta Esra’el, or Falasha consort (or concubine) Emabet Harago. Now read on. After Za-Maryam’s death (mentioned in last week’s issue), the aging Emperor Sarsa Dengel informed the great lords that he had once more resolved to give the empire to his nephew Za-Dengel.That …
High up on a plateau in the S. Wollo area of Ethiopia sits an ageing bronze cannon, unmarked by any sign or engraving. This cannon is an enduring symbol of the reign of the Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia. The 13th of April 1999 marked the 131st anniversary of the suicide of that Emperor, who …
Dabra Damo monastery, which stands north of the road from Adwa to Adigrat, is one of Ethiopia’s most important historic sites. It was founded, according to tradition, at the beginning of the sixth century, by Abuna Za-Mika’el Aragawi, one of the famous Nine Saints. This early dating is confirmed by the building’s architecture, which is …