Professor Richard Pankhurst writes: Mr Thomas Lampton, of Queensland, Australia, commenting on our recent article on Ethiopian National Archives(Addis Tribune, 7 May), says: “Why trouble yourself, Professor: You should take a more optimistic view of life: if they muddle together Ethiopia’s National Archives and Ethiopia’s National Library, and thus make a mess of both institutions, it …
Last week we drew attention to the deplorable state of the former palace and royal church at Danqaz, one of Ethiopia’s principal early seventeenth century capitals. Today we turn to the unique church of Bahrey Gemb, some thirty kilometres south of Gondar, just off the highway to Bahr Dar. This remarkable building, which dates back …
`We saw last week that the British Government, after several years’ inaction, had agreed to Emperor Tewodros’s request to obtain craftsmen for him, but that his renewed detention of the Europeans at his court had led, in the autumn of 1866, to a hardening of the British attitude. The Emperor’s attempt to pressurise the British …
We saw last week how Emperor Tewodros, recalling the treaty which Britain had signed with his predecessor, Ras Ali, wrote to Queen Victoria, on 29 October 1862. The British Government, apparently not wishing to become embroiled in Ethiopia’s relations with the Ottoman Empire, however, filed his letter, with the result that no reply of course …
We saw last week that Tewodros, from the very inception of his reign, sought the military unification of the Ethiopian empire. Being, as we saw, in a difficult position to import fire-arms, he soon conceived the ambitious plan of having them cast in Ethiopia itself. With a view to improving his military equipment he accepted …
The rise of Kasa, the future Emperor Tewodros II, marked the opening of a new, and, in the light of later events, crucially important, era of Ethiopian history. Most of his attempted reforms were never achieved, but nonetheless charted the course taken in the decades which followed. Kasa, who was born around 1818, was the …
The largest, noblest, and perhaps historically most interesting, of the Lalibala churches is that of MadhaneAlam, or Saviour of the World. Some scholars believe it may actually have been modelled on the old Church of St Mary of Seyon at Aksum, which was then extant. Madhane Alam Madhane Alam, which is no less than 33.5 …
Harbe, whose history we considered last week. was succeeded by his brother Lalibala. The best known of the Zagwe rulers he is renowned as a great builder, or, more exactly, excavator of rock-hewn churches. Lalibala and Legend Lalibala’s life is enshrined in legend. It is traditionally claimed that he was surrounded, shortly after his birth, …
Medical Developments at the Time of Menilek We saw last week how rivalry between the European powers in Addis Ababa led, during the reign of Emperor Menilek, to the establishment of clinics, at the Italian, French and British legation. They competed with the Russian hospital, a truly pioneering institution which had been established a few …
Menilek, Medicine and International relations We saw last week how foreign medicines gained increasing popularity during the reign of Emperor Yohannes. Now read on! Menilek The coming of modern medicine to Ethiopia advanced significantly further during the reign of Menilek, a period of relative peace, when foreign contacts expanded. This period also witnessed the founding …