Early Muslims looked beseechingly to Ethiopia and sought refuge in its territory from their persecutors, the polytheist Arabians. But the Christian kingdom, besieged for 15 centuries by Islamic states that formed a formidable ring around it, refused to succumb to the new religion. Gamal Nkrumah explores the often contentious connection between Ethiopia and Islam

Since time immemorial Ethiopia has retained her supercilious air. Throughout the centuries, the rugged Nile Basin country, bound to Islam from the religion’s inception, has attracted scant attention compared to Egypt. Ethiopia’s seclusion, however, did nothing to dispel its mystique. Ethiopia’s ambiguous identity fascinated those outsiders who cared to take a closer look. Black, but not black enough. Christian, but only partially so. At once both primitive and civilised.

Numerous Arab and Muslim chroniclers have lavished praise on the only land beyond Arabia’s borders that Prophet Mohamed turned to in his hour of need — the only country that responded positively to his call for assistance. Perhaps the most important Arab treatise celebrating the special role Ethiopia played in early Islam was Jalal Al-Din Al-Suyuti’s seminal work Raf’ Sha’n Al- Hubshan (The Raising of the Status of the Ethiopians), written in the late 15th century. It was an earnest plea to reaffirm the equality of the races in Islam.

Ahmed Bin Ali Al-Maqrizi, who in 1435-36 wrote Kitab Al-Ilmam bi Akhbar man bi-Al- Habasha min Muluk Al-Islam (The Book of True Knowledge of the History of the Muslim Kings of Abyssinia), focussed on the mediaeval Muslim sultanates in the Horn of Africa, including those within the country today known as Ethiopia.

Jamal Al-Din Abu Farraj Ibn Al-Jawzi’s The Lightening of the Darkness: On the Merits of the Blacks and the Ethiopians, written in the late 12th century AD, was another mediaeval treatise emphasising the non-racist principles of Islam. Others were far less charitable, suspiciously eyeing Ethiopia as an enemy of Islam. Indeed, Ethiopia has long been mistaken for a Christian country.

“Although the medieval legend of the Kingdom of Prester John, Europe’s Christian ally beyond Islam, had been applied to various regions of Asia and Africa, Ethiopia as an exotic, remote mountain and Christian kingdom was an admirable candidate,” explained Martin Bernal in Black Athena: The Afro-Asiatic Roots of Classical Civilisation.

Interestingly enough, because Ethiopia is widely seen as an isolated bastion of the monotheistic religions in Africa — Judaism, Christianity and Islam — the ancient religious, linguistic, cultural and commercial ties that bind the country to ancient Arabia, Egypt and Nubia have often been overlooked.

“Furthermore, Ethiopia could very plausibly be linked to Ancient Egypt. It should, however, be made clear that the name Abyssinia was used precisely to avoid Ethiopia, with its indelible associations with blackness,” Bernal notes. Indeed, many scholars believe that some of the pre- Christian religious practices in Ethiopia were influenced by those of Ancient Egypt.

Geographical proximity and linguistic affinity ensured that Ethiopia’s history and culture were intertwined with that of Arabia since ancient times. Ethiopia emerged as a country of special symbolic significance at the dawn of Islam. “For Muslims, Ethiopia is synonymous with freedom from persecution and emancipation from fear,” wrote a former president of the Washington, DC- based Federation of Ethiopian Muslims in North America.

Furthermore, the rich heritage of Islam can be found among the Ethiopian people who speak the Semitic and Cushitic Afro-Asiatic languages, which includes Arabic. Among the Cushitic speaking peoples of Ethiopia who embrace Islam are the Afar of the desolate Danakil depression, the Somali, the Oromo — the most populous ethnic group in Ethiopia today, and the Sidamo. The Semitic speaking people of Harar are also Muslim.

The centuries-long legacy of Muslim arts is apparent all around the country, but especially in historical cities such as Harar. The people of Harar are culturally distinct from other Ethiopians — both Muslim and Christian. They speak Adari, a Semitic language closely related to Arabic and Amharic, and have been staunch Muslims for the past 500 years. Adari, derived from the Arabic word hadar, meaning urbanite or urbane, emerged as the language of scholarship and trade in a huge swathe of eastern Ethiopia. Today it is largely confined to Harar and the Ahmar (Red) mountain range surrounding the city.

ETHIOPIA IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF ISLAM:

Islam has deep roots in the land now known as Ethiopia, and which in the past was better known as Abyssinia. Baraka Umm Ayman, Prophet Mohamed’s nurse who raised him after the death of his mother, was Ethiopian. She remained his lifelong friend and loyal confidante.

Pre-Islamic cultural and commercial links between Abyssinia and Arabia go back a long way as attested in the Holy Qur’an. The Qur’an’s Sura of the Elephant recalls the pre- Islamic Ethiopian General Abraha’s attempt to capture Mecca and demolish the Ka’aba that was diverted by mysterious birds that filled the sky and pelted the Ethiopian army with stones. Those among the mighty elephant-mounted Ethiopian force not crushed to death quickly dispersed. Mecca and the Ka’aba were miraculously saved.

Pagan Arabians, clansmen of the Prophet’s own Qureish tribe, vehemently opposed the new religion revealed to their kinsman. They viciously and systematically persecuted his followers.

Among the oppressed was an Ethiopian slave, Bilal Al-Habashi, or Bilal the Abyssinian, who believed in the Prophet’s message. He was tortured by his master Omaya Ibn Khalaf for his beliefs. The Ethiopian had a beautiful and resonate voice and he became the first muezzin, or caller to prayer, in the history of Islam.

When the Prophet Mohamed instructed a small band of his early followers to flee Mecca and cross the Red Sea in 615 AD, he knew that they would find safe haven in the neighbouring Ethiopian Christian kingdom.

First 10 then 40 others crossed the Red Sea for the court of the goodly king known in Arab tradition as Ashama Ibn Abjar, or Al-Nagashi Ashama. The party included such notables as the third Caliph Othman Ibn Affan and his wife Ruqayya Bint Rasulillah, the prophet’s daughter. Among those given asylum in Ethiopia were two future wives of Prophet Mohamed — Ramla Bint Abi Sufyan, better known as Umm Habiba, and Sawda Bint Zama’a. Some Ethiopian Muslim traditions claim that the Ethiopian king bestowed a golden dowry on Umm Habiba when she became betrothed to the Prophet Mohamed. Islamic chroniclers maintain that the Prophet Mohamed corresponded with the Ethiopian monarch and that when the king died, the Prophet performed the Salat Al-Gha’eb, or prayer in absentia — the first such prayer recorded in Islamic history.

Interestingly enough, there is no explicit reference in the records of the Ethiopian Church corroborating the first hijra, or exodus, of early Muslims to Ethiopia. It is not entirely clear exactly where the early Muslims settled, but it is often assumed that they stayed in the vicinity of the ancient Ethiopian capital Axum. Neither the Ethiopian Church records nor king lists mention a king called Ashama, even though some Ethiopian sources traditionally name a Negus Adriaz as the righteous king in question.

Muslim tradition has it that the Ethiopian king converted to Islam and adopted the name of Ahmed, much to the consternation of his subjects, the court and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

Prophet Mohamed, as a token of his gratitude to the deceased king, urged his followers to especially revere the Ethiopians and treat them kindly. “Utruku Al-Habasha wa tarakukum,” Prophet Mohamed is said to have admonished his followers — “Leave the Abyssinians alone, so long as they do not take the offensive.”

The question arises as to why Ethiopia? The Prophet could have chosen a safe haven for his followers in any of Arabia’s other neighbours: modern-day Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Iraq or Iran. Instead he chose Ethiopia, largely, it is said, because of the righteous reputation of Ethiopia’s king, the Negus or Al-Najashi. “Go to Ethiopia, there is a king there that is just,” Prophet Mohamed told his followers. His counsel proved to be wise.

Iran, then known as Persia, was a pagan country and the far-flung provinces of the Byzantine Empire — Egypt and Syria — were teetering on the verge of rebellion. The Copts of Egypt asked the Prophet to intervene on their behalf and overthrow Byzantine rule.

Ethiopia, in sharp contrast, was a free and pietistic land ruled by a magnanimous monarch.

Ethiopia was also a black African kingdom. Europeans conceived it as such. For the Arabs, however, Ethiopia was a multi-racial land and hence they named it Al-Habasha, the Land of the Mixed Race People. Abyssinia, a term derived from the Arabic Al-Habasha, was a curious geographic construct. It was neither full- fledgedly black African nor was it thoroughly Arabised. It stood apart and always at the crossroads. It was an ancient Christian kingdom that had ruled huge swathes of the Arabian Peninsula. As such it had strong cultural and economic links with the people of Arabia, and especially those of Al-Hejaz (the region which includes Islam’s holiest cities Mecca and Medina) and Yemen.

Islam’s hold on Ethiopia was never absolute. Still, Ethiopia has the third largest Muslim population in Africa after Nigeria and Egypt. The country has between 30-40 million Muslims, although estimates vary considerably. Still there is a sizable Muslim community in Ethiopia, more numerous than the entire population of countries like Iraq, Algeria or Morocco. It is also a community that has long cherished its special bond with the Muslims of Egypt and Arabia.

In spite of the peaceful and idyllic characterisation of the country by the early Muslim exiles, Ethiopia at the time of the first hijra was a kingdom on the verge of dissolution. Its kings frequently had to go to war to reassert their authority in the outlying provinces, regain lost territory and meet the challenge posed by provincial rulers.

Ethiopia had just lost Yemen, which fell into Persian hands. This loss forced the Ethiopian armies to retreat to their mountain strongholds in northern Ethiopia.

With the spread of Islam, the old Christian kingdom of Axum in northern Ethiopia began a long process of decline. Not only were Axum’s fortunes reduced, but the kingdom’s territory diminished because tributary states and outlying regions seceded.

The Muslim world, following Prophet Mohamed’s injunction, largely left Christian Abyssinia to its own devices.

The first hijra to Ethiopia is considered by some scholars as Islam’s first true overseas adventure. A number of Muslim Ethiopian scholars claim that many words in Ge’ez are found in the Holy Qur’an. Both Ge’ez — the classical Semitic tongue of Ethiopia — and Arabic do share a strong and ancient linguistic affinity.

Today, in the remote northern Ethiopian hamlet of Nagash in eastern Tigray, a unique but unassuming mosque is said to stand on the exact location that was first settled by the early Muslim exiles to Ethiopia. Other parts of the country, however, contain important Muslim sanctuaries and holy shrines. In the town of Shek Husen in the old province of Bale, Muslim pilgrims from all over the Horn of Africa come in search of religious knowledge and blessings. The eastern Ethiopian federal city-state of Harar is another town considered sacred to Ethiopian Muslims.

ETHIOPIA AND THE MEDIAEVAL ARABIAN WORLD:

The ancient Christian kingdom of Abyssinia kept itself aloof from the Muslim world that engulfed it. The early eighth century, however, saw the mushrooming of Muslim communities which sprang up in different parts of present-day Ethiopia. These communities were not necessarily linked through politics or trade with Christian Abyssinia. Islam spread especially quickly among the nomadic peoples who inhabited the arid and far-flung corners of the country.

Arabian nomads lived similarly to the peoples of the Horn of Africa such as the Afar and the Somali peoples of the lowlands to the east and south of the Ethiopian highlands where the Christian kingdom flourished. Among the Oromo, another nomadic people whose language is related to those of the Afar and Somali people, Islam spread gradually. The Oromo shared the highlands with Christian Abyssinia, but the Oromo were predominant in the western, southern and eastern parts of the highlands, while the Christians were traditionally concentrated in the northeastern highlands.

The spread of Islam, as such, had no direct correlation with Axum’s demise. But all of Ethiopia’s neighbours — save Nubia for a few centuries — embraced the new religion.

Muslim traders monopolised the spice trade between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Even though Ethiopia was located at the crossroads of the spice trade, it isolated itself and was largely excluded from the lucrative trade. The Christian Ethiopian Zagwe dynasty (mid-12th to mid-14th centuries AD) and the successive Solomonic dynasty (mid-14th century to 1974) virtually cut off the country from its neighbours. Egypt, however, maintained its connections with Christian Ethiopia and thus somewhat moderated the country’s insularity.

Generally though, Christian Ethiopia in mediaeval times was a landlocked and largely self- engrossed kingdom. The Muslim sultanates of Ethiopia, however, were heavily involved in the spice trade. By the mid-16th century, there were 15 different Muslim sultanates in what is today Ethiopia. These Muslim states prospered tremendously because of their trading in coffee and spices. The most powerful and influential of these sultanates were Iffat (an Oromo sultanate in Shoa) and Adal (Afar). Other important kingdoms included Kefa, which was founded by the Sidamo people around 1400, and Jimma in southwestern Ethiopia. These latter two sultanates are reputed to be the original homeland of coffee.

The Arabic-speaking ports of Berbera, Massawa and Zeila on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden were springboards from which the new religion spread into remoter parts of the region. The spread of Islam among the peoples of the Horn of Africa took place over several centuries. Islam was quickly adopted by the Somalis, the Afar, the Sidamo and many Oromo — ethnic groups that are to this day predominantly Muslim. Ifat and Zeila became important Muslim sultanates, as did the Jimma and the Sidamo peoples, who had important commercial ties to Arabia and the Muslim countries bordering the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Tradition maintains that the mediaeval maltreatment of Copts in Egypt was reciprocated in Ethiopia by the persecution of the country’s Muslims. The Mamluke Sultan Jaqmaq’s (1438- 1453) correspondence with Emperor Zar’a Ya’qub showed how important the treatment of Muslim Abyssinians was to the rulers of Muslim states in the Middle East and North Africa, especially Egypt. Likewise, the treatment of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority by the Muslim rulers of the country was taken very seriously by the Ethiopians.

A letter written in 1290 by Ethiopia’s Emperor Yibga Zion (1285-1294) to the Mamluke Sultan Mansur Al-Qalawun of Egypt (1279-1290) was typical of the mediaeval correspondence between Egyptian and Ethiopian rulers. “I shall protect the Muslims throughout my kingdom and His Highness will do the same with the Christians of Egypt; so let us unite in mutual understanding and common action, and let us go on corresponding.”

The further strengthening of cultural ties between Egypt and Ethiopia during this period had a direct impact on the Muslim community in Ethiopia. During the reign of Emperor Dawit David (1380-1412), the translations made by Coptic monks from Arabic to Ge’ez made many Arabic texts readily available to the Ethiopians.

However, the co-existence of Islam, Christianity, Judaism and traditional African religions has not historically been an easy one. Sectarian tensions continued down the centuries, often erupting into deadly conflicts and devastating wars which marred the legacy of early Muslims in Ethiopia.

AHMED THE LEFT-HANDED AND THE RISE OF HARAR:

The legacy of the 1528-1560 Muslim-Christian wars that ripped Ethiopia apart was a mistrust between Christians and Muslims that never completely abated. Successive regimes have tried to gloss over the deep-rooted differences and have tried to foster a sense of national unity but the outcome of the wars continued to breed hostility.

At the heart of the jihad was the Muslim city of Harar, perched high in the Ahmar Mountains of eastern Ethiopia and long-regarded as the beacon of Islam and the holiest Islamic city in the country.

Harar became a Muslim power under Sultan Abu Bakr Mohamed in 1520. Its rise to prominence, however, was bloody and battle-ridden. Abu Bakr Mohamed was quickly toppled and killed by the religious zealot and military strongman Ahmed ibn Ibrahim, better known as Ahmed Gragn or Ahmed the Left-Handed.

The latter soon emerged as the scourge of Christian Ethiopia.

Ahmed Gragn’s ultimate aim was to unite the Muslims of the Horn of Africa by establishing an Islamic state in the region. To accomplish this aim, he launched a holy war or jihad against Christian Ethiopia. Gragn at first appeared to be invincible. His armies overran Shoa in 1529, Amhara in 1531 and finally Tigray in 1535. The ancient Christian kingdom of Ethiopia appeared to be mortally wounded. Only a miracle or divine intervention could save Christianity in the country. According to Ethiopian Church records, nine out of every 10 Ethiopian Christians were forced to convert to Islam as a direct result of Ahmed Gragn’s campaigns. His goal was the complete Islamisation of the country.

Relations between the Christians of northeastern Ethiopia and the thriving Islamic sultanates of eastern, central and southwestern Ethiopia were traditionally characterised by a tense co-existence. With Ahmed Gragn’s campaigns, open hostilities and conflict became the norm. At stake was the destiny of Ethiopia and the entire Horn of Africa, as well as the cultural orientation of an ancient multi-linguistic and multi-religious land.

Ironically, it was the timely intervention of Portugal — a Roman Catholic European power — that saved Orthodox Christian Ethiopia. Lebna Dengel, the reigning Christian emperor at the time, sent urgent dispatches to the Portuguese requesting their aid. In 1540, some 400 Portuguese troops arrived to train and arm the Christian Ethiopian army. For the first time in Ethiopian history, guns were used on the battlefield. The tables were turned and the Muslim forces fled. The introduction of firearms determined the course of battle and the future of the country. The Muslim armies, however, were still able to exile Dengel to the impregnable Monastery of Debra Damo in Tigray where he later died in 1543. His son Galawdewos ascended the Solomonian throne and died in 1559 during his siege of Harar, after which his head was paraded around the city on a stake.

The arrival of the Portuguese represented a reversal of fortunes for the Muslims of the Horn of Africa. They never fully recovered from their defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian Christians and their Portuguese allies. Despite the attempts of Gragn’s widow, Bati Del Wambara, to carry on his jihad, the Muslim Sultanate of Adal was finally destroyed by Christian Ethiopia in 1577. For centuries, Muslims were forced to play second fiddle to Christians.

Muslim traders and scholars from Harar, however, continued to have a tremendous influence on the Islamisation of other parts of Ethiopia and different ethnic groups of the country.

In 1647 Emir Ali Ibn Dawoud ruled Harar with an iron fist, and in a determined effort to Islamise the non-Muslim Oromo tribes surrounding the city, he embarked on a series of jihads. Today the bulk of Ethiopia’s Muslims are Oromo, but many of the country’s Muslims regard Harar as their spiritual centre and the guardian of Islamic culture and scholarship in the Horn of Africa.

Harar had its own currency and established diplomatic relations with a number of Muslim states in the region, but its autonomy was abruptly ended when Khedive Ismail of Egypt dispatched forces that occupied the city, and executed its emir. The Egyptian occupation of Harar was short-lived. In 1885 Emir Abdullah of Harar led a resistance movement that ended the Egyptian occupation.

Egyptian interest in the Nile Basin countries intensified after Mohamed Ali Pasha, the founder of modern Egypt, set his sights on the Sudan. In 1820-1821 Mohamed Ali’s armies conquered the entire Sudan and proceeded to expand into central Africa and the Red Sea Basin, thereby encroaching on territory under the control of the Christian Abyssinian kingdom. The Pasha’s expansion included clashes with Muslim sultanates in the Horn of Africa.

Mohamed Ali’s successors advanced even further into the African continent. The Pasha’s house greedily embraced the worst aspects of Western colonialism. The entire Nile Basin, with the notable exception of the Christian Abyssinian kingdom, was now in Egyptian hands. Certain kingdoms in the African Great Lakes region, like Buganda, also remained outside the Egyptian domain. The Egyptians soon adopted the European approach of condescendingly looking down on African cultural traditions and arrogating a civilising mission for themselves.

Khedieve Ismail’s designs on an African empire were checked by Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes IV in the events leading up to the Battle of Gura. Britain and other European powers were determined to check Egypt’s southward expansion. They wanted to make sure that Khedieve Ismail’s grandiose designs to create an pan-Nilotic empire were crushed. The Europeans saw Ethiopia as a key ally in a plot to dash Ismail’s plans.

The Egyptians were headquartered in the Red Sea port of Massawa, today the chief port of Eritrea. The stage was set for a showdown.

Khedieve Ismail deployed American mercenaries at the head of his 15,000-strong army. The Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes IV mustered some 60,000 crudely-armed warriors. After a series of battles, an estimated 8,500 Egyptian troops perished and beat a hasty retreat to Massawa. While Ismail retained control of Massawa and the Red Sea coastal strip, he pledged never to re-enter the Ethiopian highlands.

The Ethiopian victory at Gura in 1876 was the forerunner to the even more impressive and far- reaching Ethiopian defeat of the Italians at Adwa in March 1896. The Battle of Adwa was the first major victory of an African army over a European power. Egypt’s overwhelming loss paved the way for British occupation of Egypt in 1882.

The great powers of Europe, and especially Britain, took a keen interest in the Horn of Africa and the Nile Basin. Ethiopia too was fast changing and the Christian Solomonian rulers of the highlands were expanding their domain into lands towards the south and east — predominantly Muslim territories. In 1887, Harar lost its independence as an ancient Muslim sultanate when Menelik, the Prince of Shoa who would later become the founder of modern Ethiopia, defeated Emir Abdullah at the Battle of Chelenko. Menelik appointed Ras Makonen, the father of the future Emperor Haile Selassie, as ruler of the city. A new administration was set up which incorporated members of the deposed emir’s family.

As Harar was the birthplace of Ras Tafari, who was later to assume the imperial title Haile Selassie, the city developed a special symbolic importance. The respectful treatment of the city’s predominantly Muslim population by the new Christian rulers became a focus of Arab scrutiny and a catalyst for Muslim-Christian relations in Ethiopia.

ABYSSINIAN APARTHEID:

The first Ethiopians to embrace Islam did so during Prophet Mohamed’s own lifetime. Their descendants were historically known as the Jabarti or the Muslims of the Ethiopian highlands. The Jabartis lived relatively peaceably among their Christian and Jewish compatriots until an Ethiopian imperial decree was issued in 1668 which ordained that Jabartis (Muslims) and Felashas (Jews) would have to reside in separate quarters from the Christians. This effectively created a state of religious segregation.

The decree was no doubt inspired by the Portuguese, who began to meddle in the affairs of the country around that time. Portuguese mercenaries settled in the regions adjacent to Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, during the reign of Emperor Susneyos (1607-1632). Gradually gaining influence over the Ethiopian throne, the Portuguese in 1622 announced the official conversion of Emperor Susneyos to Roman Catholicism, much to the chagrin of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Solomonian aristocracy. Susneyos went on to persecute his Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish subjects. Thousands were butchered in massacres that were inspired by the Spanish and Portuguese inquisitions.

Susneyos surrounded himself with a protective ring of Portuguese mercenaries who soon came to dominate his court. His people, however, rebelled and in 1632 Susneyos was forced to abdicate and his son Crown Prince Fasilidos became Emperor.

This tragic episode in Ethiopian history had far-reaching repercussions. First, it galvanised the people of the Ethiopian heartlands around the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the ruling elites officially adopted Orthodox Christianity as the state religion. Europeans were viewed suspiciously and the country deliberately shunned outside influences. Roman Catholics, Muslims and Jews were precluded from ascending the imperial throne which became the exclusive prerogative of Orthodox Christians.

The Solomonic tradition continued well into modern times.

THE RECENT HISTORY OF THE SOLOMONIAN DYNASTY:

After the death of Menelik II in 1913, Lij Iyasu ascended Ethiopia’s Solomonian throne. Lij Iyasu, the grandson and designated heir of Menelik II, was viewed suspiciously by the imperial court and the Christian Orthodox aristocracy. He was regarded as overly friendly towards Muslims. Indeed, even though officially an Orthodox Christian, many of his courtiers suspected his secret conversion to Islam. Several of Lij Iyasu’s wives were Muslim and while his admirers saw these marriages as important political alliances that cemented ties with the far-flung and newly conquered Muslim regions of the empire, his critics felt that the country was in danger of becoming a Muslim dominated state. The Orthodox clergy and nobility conspired to remove Iyasu.

In 1916, Iyasu was ousted and he fled to the inhospitable and predominantly Muslim lowland region inhabited by the warlike Afar. Princess Zewditu, Menelik II’s daughter, was hastily crowned Empress of Ethiopia. Iyasu was captured by imperial forces five years later and was incarcerated in Fiche, northern Shoa. It was not the first time that an Ethiopian monarch suspected of being sympathetic to Muslims was politically sidelined. It simply reinforced a long- standing tradition.

Strangely enough, it is held that certain members of the Solomonian royal family were Ashraf – that is they claimed descent from the Prophet Mohamed. A relatively recent example was the Empress Menen, consort of Emperor Haile Selassie, who claimed she was descended from the Prophet Mohamed through her mother Sehin, daughter of Negus Mikael (alias Mohamed Ali) of the old province of Wollo.

AL-AHRAM http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/666/hr1.htm

A recent documentary on the History Channel suggesting that the churches of Lalibela were built with the help of aliens! And supposedly the aliens are going to reclaim the Ark of the Covenant from Axum when they return to earth?!?

” … There was then a woman queen of Egypt and Ethiopia; she was inquisitive into philosophy, and one that on other accounts also was to be admired. When this queen heard of the virtue and prudence of Solomon, she had a great mind to see him; and the reports that went every day abroad induced her to come to him, she being desirous to be satisfied by her own experience, and not by a bare hearing; (for reports thus heard are likely enough to comply with a false opinion, while they wholly depend on the credit of the relators;) so she resolved to come to him, and that especially in order to have a trial of his wisdom, while she proposed questions of very great difficulty, and entreated that he would solve their hidden meaning.

Accordingly she came to Jerusalem with great splendor and rich furniture; for she brought with her camels laden with gold, with several sorts of sweet spices, and with precious stones. Now, upon the king’s kind reception of her, he both showed a great desire to please her, and easily comprehending in his mind the meaning of the curious questions she propounded to him, he resolved them sooner than any body could have expected. So she was amazed at the wisdom of Solomon, and discovered that it was more excellent upon trial than what she had heard by report beforehand; and especially she was surprised at the fineness and largeness of his royal palace, and not less so at the good order of the apartments, for she observed that the king had therein shown great wisdom; but she was beyond measure astonished at the house which was called the Forest of Lebanon, as also at the magnificence of his daily table, and the circumstances of its preparation and ministration, with the apparel of his servants that waited, and the skillful and decent management of their attendance: nor was she less affected with those daily sacrifices which were offered to God, and the careful management which the priests and Levites used about them.

When she saw this done every day, she was in the greatest admiration imaginable, insomuch that she was not able to contain the surprise she was in, but openly confessed how wonderfully she was affected; for she proceeded to discourse with the king, and thereby owned that she was overcome with admiration at the things before related; and said, “All things indeed, O king, that came to our knowledge by report, came with uncertainty as to our belief of them; but as to those good things that to thee appertain, both such as thou thyself possessest, I mean wisdom and prudence, and the happiness thou hast from thy kingdom, certainly the same that came to us was no falsity; it was not only a true report, but it related thy happiness after a much lower manner than I now see it to be before my eyes. For as for the report, it only attempted to persuade our hearing, but did not so make known the dignity of the things themselves as does the sight of them, and being present among them. I indeed, who did not believe what was reported, by reason of the multitude and grandeur of the things I inquired about, do see them to be much more numerous than they were reported to be. Accordingly I esteem the Hebrew people, as well as thy servants and friends, to be happy, who enjoy thy presence and hear thy wisdom every day continually. One would therefore bless God, who hath so loved this country, and those that inhabit therein, as to make thee king over them.”

Now when the queen had thus demonstrated in words how deeply the king had affected her, her disposition was known by certain presents, for she gave him twenty talents of gold, and an immense quantity of spices and precious stones. (They say also that we possess the root of that balsam which our country still bears by this woman’s gift.) Solomon also repaid her with many good things, and principally by bestowing upon her what she chose of her own inclination, for there was nothing that she desired which he denied her; and as he was very generous and liberal in his own temper, so did he show the greatness of his soul in bestowing on her what she herself desired of him. So when this queen of Ethiopia had obtained what we have already given an account of, and had again communicated to the king what she brought with her, she returned to her own kingdom. …”

An ancient settlement has been discovered in the Ethiopian highlands with the help of a special instrument used in geophysical surveys. The find will help tell the story of ancient indigenous cultures in the Horn of Africa and their exchange with nearby civilizations.

In early May, geophysicist Jorg Fassbinder from the Geophysics Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) in Munich and his colleague Margaret Schlosser of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) took to a joint campaign.

Together, they surveyed the ground of a suspected settlement in the north-western Ethiopian highland region of Tigray, home to the town of Yeha believed to be a major centre of the Diamat Kingdom established around 700 BCE.

The team used a magnetometer to detect local anomalies in the geomagnetic field which could be indications of hidden objects beneath the subsurface including structural walls, graves, hearths and refuse pits. Such technology has been used only rarely in countries near the equator, however, as the magnetic field lines here run parallel to the Earth’s surface making it difficult to identify buried archaeological structures. Magnetometers are particularly useful, however, as non-evasive, non-destructive tools.

“The new evaluation method developed by Fassbinder’s research team was successful,” said the on-sight excavation director Pawel Wolf. “With the first test excavations, stone walls, burial sites and local waste items like animal bones and pottery shards were found dating back to different eras. Among them were also ceramic shards with characteristics from the Ethio-Sabaean Period dating back to the first millennium BCE.”

2008 discovery

In 2008, Ethiopian archaeologists made the astonishing discovery of a perfectly preserved sacrificial altar in neighbouring Meqaber Ga’ewa, a previously unknown location near the city of Wuqro. The altar bore a remarkable royal inscription in Old South Arabian bearing the name Yeha, located about 80 km from the find.

According to Kebede Amare, head of the Tigray Cultural Department, this is the southernmost find believed to belong to the Diamat Kingdom. Located in present day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, the civilization had sophisticated irrigation plans, made use of plows, grew millet and made iron tools and weapons.

Of particular importance to researchers, is whether the kingdom was comprised of indigenous peoples or a mix of indigenous peoples with the ancient Sabaeans who came to dominate the Red Sea.

Since very little archaeological research has been done on the Diamat Kingdom, the discovery of the royal inscription takes on special importance. According to Norbert Nebes of the University of Jena, the royal inscription is the first such recorded evidence of the ancient town of Yeha.

Since 2008, DAI archaeologists have excavated not only a temple dedicated to the Sabaean moon god Almaqah in Meqaber Ga’ewa, they’ve discovered additional sites of a previously unknown settlement from this important historical period. In Ziban Adi, one of the most promising sites uncovered, they excavated the foundation walls of another sanctuary atop a 3-meter high hill of ruins in 2010.

Countless pottery chards found in the surrounding grain fields suggest an intensive settlement was located around the ancient religious building. For the archaeologists, who are concerned not only with the cultural influence of the South Arabian Kingdom of Saba in the Horn of Africa, but in the study of indigenous African cultures, the settlement’s discovery raises high hopes that the remains of a town from this period will eventually be discovered. Thus far, only a few archaeological sites are known.

This research is part of the German-Ethiopian scientific cooperation between the DAI’s Orient Department, the Tigray Cultural Agency and the University of Jena. The geophysical measurements are based on cooperation between the DAI and the LMU München.

ADL documentary recording the unprecedented mission and rescue of exiled Ethiopian Jews to Israel in the early 1980′s.

Axoum, cette antique capitale commerciale et fief de l’orthodoxie regorge de trésors. Fouillée à plusieurs reprises depuis le dernier siècle le parc des stèles devenu le symbole de cette ville de 6000 âmes n’a toujours pas livré sont mystère. La forte chaleur n’est pas sans difficulté pour les européens mais elle est bien vite oubliée avec la joie de la découverte des traditions éthiopiennes autour de la légende de la reine de Saba, cette belle souveraine autrefois partie des pays du Sud pour se rendre au près du fameux roi Salomon afin d’écouter et éprouver sa sagesse. Les nomades avec leur caravane nous entraînent dans un paysage rude et montagneux. Elles passent comme ces rares nuages dans le ciel azur. Les chamelles, d’un pas mesuré tracent leur piste au milieu des cactus en fleur puis s’effacent dans la poussière et les sables. Et si elles se rendaient à Jérusalem? Un chamelier me répond ” Ce serait bien trop long et trop coûteux “. Il en reste que la souveraine du Sud l’a fait. Quelle aventure, à entendre le récit du Kebra Nagast, ce fameux texte du XIVème siècle racontant en 117 chapitres la gloire des rois d’Ethiopie tous descendants de la reine de Saba. En voici un extrait traduit à partir d’un manuscrits guèze en Ethiopie.

Au sujet de la reine du Sud
Il y avait un brillant chef des marchands nommé Tamrin pouvant charger 520 chameaux et qui avait 73 bateaux. En ce temps, le roi Salomon voulut bâtir le Temple d’Egziabeher. Le marchand de la reine d’Ethiopie s’y rendit et remarqua la sagesse de Salomon. Il admirait et faisait attention à son jugement et aux réponses que prononçait sa bouche, à la douceur de sa parole, à sa démarche…
Après cela, désirant retourner dans son pays il alla chez Salomon, se prosterna devant lui et le salua en lui disant : ” Paix à ta grandeur, congédie-moi pour que j’aille dans mon pays auprès de ma maîtresse car je suis resté longtemps à contempler ta gloire, ta sagesse “.
Salomon entra dans sa maison et lui donna tout ce qu’il fallait de précieux pour le pays d’Ethiopie et il l’envoya en paix.
Arrivé auprès de sa maîtresse et lui remit tous les biens qu’il avait apporté…Jour après jour, il lui racontait toute la sagesse de Salomon et elle s’émerveillait de ce qu’elle entendait de la part du marchand, son serviteur. Dans sa pensée elle songeait à aller chez lui mais elle l’imaginait trop loin. Elle demandait encore et il lui racontait encore… et Egziabeher affermit son cœur pour partir. Elle rassembla les chamelles, les mulets, les chevaux, les ânes, les chèvres, les moutons, la gourde, la monture, les sacs de voyages, les récipients et les chariots. Elle ordonna à tous ses sujets de préparer un voyage d’une durée de 6 mois. Ils prirent également des sacs de voyage et rangèrent leur maison car le pays où ils allaient était loin.

Elle leur dit encore : ” Mon cœur recherche la connaissance, je suis mordue par l’amour de la sagesse. La sagesse est plus grande que tout ce qui est créé sur terre…Un royaume sans sagesse n’est pas stable et la richesse n’est pas gardée sans la sagesse…Honorer la sagesse consiste à honorer le sage et l’amour de la sagesse à aimer la sagesse dans l’amour du sage. Aime le sage et ne t’écarte pas de lui. Tu deviendras sage par son regard. Ecoute l’ouverture de sa bouche pour que tu deviennes comme lui…en l’écoutant, je l’ai aimé sans l’avoir vu car toute nouvelle de sa part pour moi est devenue aussi importante pour mon cœur que l’eau l’est pour la soif! “.
Ses notables, ses serviteurs, ses servantes et ses conseillers répondirent et dirent : ” Notre maîtresse, la sagesse ne te manque pas et par ta sagesse tu aimes la sagesse mais nous, où que tu ailles nous irons avec toi, et où que tu demeures nous resterons avec toi. Que notre mort soit avec ta mort et notre vie avec ta vie! “.

Son arrivée auprès du roi Salomon.
Elle arriva à Jérusalem, lui apporta ses cadeaux et lui fit beaucoup d’honneur. Lui aussi l’honora et se réjouit. Il lui accorda une résidence au palais royal près de lui…Il allait chez elle et se réconfortait de même qu’elle se rendait chez lui pour se réconforter. Elle observait sa sagesse, son jugement, sa gloire et la douceur de sa parole. Elle s’émerveillait dans son cœur et admirait la beauté en son esprit. Elle comprenait dans son intelligence et épiait de ses yeux ce qu’elle voulait…
A Salomon, rien n’est caché du langage des animaux et des oiseaux. Il asservit les démons par sa sagesse. Et tout ceci est fait dans l’art que lui avait donné Egziabeher car il n’a pas cherché la victoire sur l’ennemi et il n’a pas demandé de richesse, ni de gloire mais la sagesse et la connaissance pour rendre le jugement à son peuple et de quoi construire le temple d’Egziabeher.

Comment le roi parlait avec la reine.
La reine Makéda dit au roi: ” Loué sois-tu mon maître que la sagesse et la connaissance t’aient été donné. Je souhaitais être comme l’une de tes plus basses servantes pour laver tes pieds et écouter ta sagesse, comprendre tes connaissances et servir ton royaume et profiter de ta sagesse…Je rends grâce à celui qui m’a fait venir et m’a permis de te voir; qui m’a fait marcher dans les traces de tes pas et m’a fait entendre ta voix “.
Salomon répondit et lui dit : ” La sagesse et l’intelligence sont venus de toi-même, je l’ai dans la mesure où le Dieu d’Israël m’a accordé ce que j’ai demandé et j’ai cherché chez lui mais toi qui ne connaissais pas le Dieu d’Israël, cette sagesse, tu l’ as laissé émaner de ton cœur pour me voir, moi l’humble serviteur de mon Dieu et gardien de la tente que je privilégie et que je sers… je ne suis pas un homme libre, je ne [le] sers pas par ma [propre] volonté mais par la sienne…”

Et pendant qu’il racontait ceci à la reine il vit un ouvrier qui portait une pierre sur sa tête, une gourde d’eau à ses épaules, ses provisions et ses chaussures à son bras et en plus du bois dans ses mains. Ses habits étaient vieux et déchirés, la sueur coulait de son front et l’eau de la gourde gouttait sur son pied.
Le roi se tourna vers la reine et lui dit: ” Regarde ceci, en quoi suis-je plus grand? En quoi ai-je plus de mérite par rapport à celui-ci? Car je suis humain et demain je serais cendre, ver et pourriture et maintenant je peux paraître immortel à jamais…
Quand la reine entendit ceci, elle dit : ” Combien ta parole me plait! Mais dis-moi donc, qu’est-ce qu’il est mieux d’adorer? Nous adorons le soleil comme le pensaient nos pères, nous disons que le soleil est le roi des dieux, or nous entendons que vous, Israël, [avez] un autre dieu que nous ne connaissons pas. Il nous a été dit qu’il vous a envoyé une arche depuis le ciel et qu’il vous a donné l’arche de l’ordre des anges par la main du prophète Moïse. C’est ce que nous avons entendu. Il descend lui-même chez vous, il vous parle et vous montre son jugement et son commandement “.

Au sujet de ce qu’il a recommandé à la reine.
Le roi répondit et lui dit : ” En vérité, il est convenable que nous l’adorions lui seul avec crainte et tremblement, dans la joie et l’allégresse car il est le Seigneur de tout, le créateur des anges et de l’être humain “.
La reine dit alors : ” A partir de maintenant je n’adorerai plus le soleil mais j’adorerai le créateur du soleil, le Dieu d’Israël. Que l’arche du Dieu d’Israël soit ma maîtresse, pour moi et pour la génération après moi, pour tout le royaume de ceux qui sont mes sujets…”.
Après six mois elle désira rentrer dans son pays. Elle envoya [un message] chez lui en disant : ” J’ai cherché à rester avec toi mais maintenant je dois rentrer dans mon pays à cause de mon peuple. Qu’Egziabeher fasse fructifier dans mon cœur tout ce que j’ai entendu et dans le cœur de ceux qui ont écouté avec moi! “…
Lorsqu’elle lui eut envoyé [la nouvelle] qu’elle partait dans son pays, il réfléchit dans son cœur et dit : ” Une femme d’une grande beauté est venue chez moi depuis les extrémités de la terre; [comment] saurai-je si Egziabeher m’accorde une descendance d’elle? “. Comme il est dit dans le Livre des Rois : ” Salomon aimait les femmes …et le fait qu’il fasse ainsi n’était pas de la débauche mais la réflexion de sa sagesse donnée par Egziabeher et en souvenir de ce qu’il a dit à Abraham: ” je multiplierai ta descendance comme les étoiles du ciel et le sable de la mer “…
Mais il n’a pas été donné de décret à Salomon [concernant] les femmes…”.

Le roi Salomon envoya dire à la reine : ” Après être venue ici pourquoi pars-tu sans observer la loi du royaume? …Le roi prépara la nourriture selon la règle du royaume et la reine entra en tant qu’étrangère avec grâce et honneur et s’assit de côté derrière lui pour voir, connaître et tout comprendre… Avec sagesse, il lui envoya de la nourriture qui donne soif et des boissons mélangées au vinaigre, au poisson et des mets poivrés. Il prépara ceci et en fit manger la reine… Après le repas, il se leva et lui dit: ” Mets-toi à l’aise ici par amour [pour moi] jusqu’au matin! “.
Et elle lui répondit : ” Jure-moi par ton Dieu, le Dieu d’Israël de ne pas me forcer et si je venais à transgresser la loi humaine, je partirai en voyage [comme] une jeune fille dans la souffrance, la difficulté et le trouble “.

La promesse de Salomon.
Il lui répondit et lui dit : ” Je te jure que je ne te forcerai pas mais toi jure-moi que tu ne convoiteras rien [de ce] qui est dans ma maison “. La reine rit et lui dit : ” Toi qui es si sage pourquoi parles-tu comme un insensé? Volerai-je ou déroberai-je de la maison du roi ce que ne me donnerai pas le roi? Ne crois pas, ô maître que je sois venue ici par amour de l’argent! Mon royaume est riche en trésors et il ne me manque rien de ce que je désire. Je suis seulement venue chercher ta sagesse… Jure-moi que tu ne me prendra pas de force et moi je jure de ne pas convoiter tes biens “. Et il lui jura et la fit jurer. Le roi alla au lit d’un côté et pour elle un lit fut préparé de l’autre côté.
Il dit à un jeune serviteur : ” Nettoie le contenu du pot et verse-y de l’eau pendant que la reine le voit, ferme la porte et va dormir “. Il dit ceci dans une autre langue que la reine ne comprenait pas et il fit ainsi et alla dormir. Lorsqu’elle se réveilla au milieu de la nuit, elle avait beaucoup soif puis elle eut l’idée de boire l’eau qu’elle avait vue. Elle guetta et regarda vers le roi Salomon qui lui semblait dormir d’un profond sommeil. Or lui ne dormait pas mais attendait à ce qu’elle se lève pour voler l’eau pour [étancher] la soif.
Elle se leva sans faire de bruit et prit de l’eau pour boire. Soudain il lui saisit la main avant qu’elle ne but l’eau en disant: ” Pourquoi as-tu rompu le serment [dans lequel] tu as juré de ne rien convoiter de ce qui est dans ma maison? “.
Elle répondit avec crainte et dit : ” Est-ce rompre le serment que de boire de l’eau? “. Le roi lui dit : ” Est-ce que tu vois quelque chose de meilleur que l’eau sous le soleil? ” Et elle dit : ” J’ai péché contre moi-même mais tu es libre du serment, laisse-moi boire de l’eau pour ma soif! Et il la laissa boire. Après qu’elle eut bu de l’eau il fit sa volonté et ils dormirent ensemble.

Le lendemain, elle se réjouit et s’apprêta à partir. Il la salua avec beaucoup de dignité. Seul avec elle, il ôta l’anneau de son plus petit doigt et le donna à la reine en lui disant : ” Prends-le afin de ne pas m’oublier et si jamais j’ai une descendance de ton sein que ceci en soit le signe. Si c’est un garçon laisse-le venir à moi. Que la paix d’Egziabeher soit avec toi! Quand j’ai dormi avec toi, j’ai vu beaucoup de visages en rêve, le soleil brillait sur Israël, disparut et s’envola puis brillait sur le pays d’Ethiopie. Je ne sais pas si ton pays est béni avec toi, Egziabeher [seul] le sait… Qu’Egziabeher soit avec toi, va en paix! “. Et ils se quittèrent.

Comment elle enfanta et arriva dans son pays.
Elle arriva dans son pays Bala Zadisareya en l’espace de 9 mois et 5 jours lorsqu’ elle eut les douleurs et enfanta d’un petit garçon. Elle le laissa à ses nourrices avec beaucoup d’honneur et de joie et resta seule jusqu’à la fin des jours de sa purification. Puis elle rentra dans son pays avec beaucoup de dignité… Elle restaura son royaume et rien n’échappait à son commandement car elle aimait la sagesse et Egziabeher veillait sur son royaume.
Cet enfant grandit et elle l’appela Baïna Lehkem, le fils du sage. A 12 ans il se rendit chez sa mère et lui dit : ” ô reine ! Dis-moi qui est mon père? “. La reine fort surprise lui dit qu’elle ne voulait pas le voyage…Puis un jour, elle lui dit: ” Ne le cherche pas, son pays est loin et son voyage est long! “. Mais cet enfant Baïna Lehkem devint beau. Toute sa carrure, ses membres et la forme de son épaule ressemblait au roi Salomon son père. Ses yeux et ses jambes et toute sa démarche ressemblait au roi Salomon. Quand il eut 22 ans, il dit à la reine : ” J’irai, je verrai le visage de mon père et je reviendrai ici par la volonté d’Egziabeher, le Dieu d’Israël “.

Le départ du futur roi d’Ethiopie
Elle appela Tamrin le chef de ses marchands et lui dit : ” Prépare-toi pour ton voyage. Prends ce garçon parce qu’il me dérange beaucoup nuit et jour. Conduis-le auprès du roi et ramène-le en bonne santé …Elle leur ordonna de ne pas laisser son fils là-bas mais de le faire roi et de le ramener chez elle afin qu’il exerce le règne pour son pays. Car c’était une institution qu’une femme vierge règne en Ethiopie. Elle dit : ” A partir de maintenant un mâle provenant de ta famille sera fait roi et il ne règnera plus jamais de femme …”

Elle le prit à part et lui donna ce gage que lui avait donné Salomon sur ses doigts, l’anneau pour reconnaître son fils et pour se rappeler la parole et de la promesse qu’elle a faite. Puis, elle l’envoya en paix et ils commencèrent le voyage.

Son arrivée à Jérusalem
Lorsqu’il arriva à Gaza, tout le pays jusqu’au bord de Juda fut troublé car il ressemblait parfaitement au roi Salomon. Quand le roi Salomon entendit ceci, son cœur se troubla et il se réjouit dans son âme car il n’avait pas de fils en ce temps en dehors d’un enfant de 7 ans du nom de Jéroboam comme le rappelle Paul, qui disait : ” Car Egziabeher a rendu folle la sagesse du monde ” …
Quand il le vit, le roi Salomon se leva et l’accueillit…Il le couvrit de vêtements d’honneur qui éblouissent les yeux et le fit asseoir sur son trône pareil au sien et il dit à ses honorables d’Israël : ” Vous médisiez entre vous et vous disiez que je n’ai pas d’enfant, regardez celui-ci est mon enfant, le fruit de mon sein que m’a donné Egziabeher, le Dieu d’Israël de qui je ne [l'] avais pas attendu “.
Ses honorables répondirent et lui dirent : ” Que la mère qui a enfanté ce jeune homme soit bénie, que le jour où tu t’es uni à elle la mère de ce jeune homme soit béni. Car un brillant homme est sortit sur nous de la génération de Jessé qui pourrait être le roi de la tribu de nos tribus. De sa génération ils ne demanderont pas après son père, et personne ne se demandera d’où est venu le vrai israélite de la génération de David parfaitement créé à l’image de la ressemblance de l’apparence de son père. Et pour nous ses serviteurs, il sera roi “.
Quand ils étaient seuls, il donna à son père cet anneau que sa mère lui avait donné et lui dit : ” Prends cet anneau et souviens-toi de la conversation, de ce dont tu as discuté avec la reine. Et donne-nous le tissu qui couvre l’arche de l’alliance d’Egziabeher pour que nous nous prosternions devant elle en tous nos jours, tous ceux qui sont au-dessous de nous et ceux qui sont dans le royaume de la reine “.
Et le roi répondit et lui dit : ” Pourquoi m’as-tu donné l’anneau en signe? J’avais déjà trouvé ton apparence à mon image avant que tu me donnes un signe car tu es mon fils “.
Après cela, il lui envoya matin et soir de bons repas et des habits somptueux, de l’or et de l’argent et il lui dit : ” Il est mieux de rester ici dans notre pays où il y a le temple d’Egziabeher où est l’arche de l’alliance d’Egziabeher et là où Egziabeher vit avec nous “. Mais son fils lui envoya [un message] disant : ” Il y a de l’or et de l’argent; les habits ne manquent pas dans notre pays mais moi je suis venu pour écouter ta sagesse et voir ton visage, pour te saluer et servir ton royaume. Je me prosterne à toi, envoie moi chez ma mère dans mon pays car il n’y a personne qui hait le lieu où il est né et la langue de son pays…Les montagnes du pays de ma mère où je suis né sont mieux pour moi. Et si je sers l’arche du Dieu d’Israël là où je suis, cela m’honorera. Je regarderai [vers] le temple d’Egziabeher que tu as bâti; je sacrifierai et je la servirai là où je serai. Donne-moi la frange de la couverture de cette Sion l’arche de l’alliance d’Egziabeher, laisse moi me prosterner devant elle avec ma mère et avec tous ceux qui sont soumis de notre royaume… “.

Où Salomon interrogea son fils.
Salomon dit à son fils : ” Pourquoi veux-tu t’éloigner de moi? Qu’est-ce qui te manque pour que tu ailles au pays des païens? Qu’est-ce qui te déplait pour que tu abandonne le royaume d’Israël? “.
Son fils répondit et lui dit : ” Il n’est pas bon pour moi de rester ici! Laisse moi aller chez ma mère avec tes vœux de bénédiction car tu as un fils qui est plus grand que moi, Jéroboam qui est né légitimement de ta femme alors que ma mère n’est pas ta femme légitime “.
Et le roi répondit et lui dit : ” Alors si tu parle ainsi, je ne suis pas le fils légitime de mon père David car il a pris la femme d’un autre et le fit mourir au combat. Il m’engendra d’elle car Egziabeher le miséricordieux lui a pardonné…Toi mon fils, crains Egziabeher notre Dieu, n’oppresse pas la face de ton père pour qu’à l’avenir tu ne trouve pas le malheur de ce qui est sortit de ton sein et pour que ta descendance soit bonne sur la terre. Et lui, ce Jéroboam est un enfant de 6 ans alors que toi tu es mon premier-né qui est venu pour devenir roi et prendre l’épée de ton parent.
Mais moi, il y a maintenant 28 ans que je suis devenu roi et ta mère est arrivée chez moi dans la 7ème année de mon règne. Si Egziabeher m’accorde le même âge que mon père quand je rejoindrai mes pères toi tu seras assis [sur] mon trône. Les anciens d’Israël t’aimeront beaucoup et je t’organiserai un mariage. Je te donnerai des reines, des concubines autant que tu en voudras. Tu seras béni en cette terre promise qui est bénie…
Son fils répondit et lui dit : ” Maître ! Il n’est pas bon pour moi de quitter le pays de ma mère car ma mère m’a fait jurer le serment que je ne resterai pas mais que je revienne rapidement chez elle et que je n’épouse pas de femme d’ici. L’arche du Dieu d’Israël me bénira là où je serai et ta prière me suivra là où j’irai car je crains de voir ta face, d’entendre ta voix et de recevoir ta bénédiction. Laisse-moi aller chez ma mère en bonne condition.

Lorsque le roi décida d’envoyer son fils avec leurs enfants.
Après cela le roi Salomon retourna dans sa maison et réunit ses notables, ses serviteurs, les grands du palais royal et leur dit : ” Je ne peux pas faire dire oui à cet enfant! Maintenant écoutez-moi ce que je vais vous dire: faisons-le donc roi sur le pays d’Ethiopie avec vos enfants qui sont assis à ma droite et à ma gauche…Car Balthazar roi de Rome souhaite que je lui donne mon fils pour sa fille, pour le faire régner avec sa fille sur toute la ville de Rome puisqu’il n’a pas de descendant en dehors d’elle. Il a promis de ne pas couronner en dehors de la génération de David mon père. Ici nous serons trois rois: Jéroboam règnera ici sur Israël car ainsi [est] la prophétie de David mon père et la génération de Salomon sera de 3 chefs de royaume sur terre. Nous leur enverrons des prêtres et nous leur ferons des lois; qu’ils adorent et servent le Dieu d’Israël dans le principal royaume! Qu’Egziabeher soit loué par la famille du peuple d’Israël, qu’il soit honoré sur toute la terre!… Alors ils se préparèrent pour agir selon la loi et ils les envoyèrent dans le pays d’Ethiopie pour qu’ils règnent là-bas et qu’ils y restent eux et leur descendance de génération en génération.

Le couronnement le fils de Salomon.
Ils préparèrent du parfum d’onction pour la royauté et firent résonner le son des trompes et des cloches, des instruments, des cordes et des percussions entraînant au pays par des cris de joie. Ils chantaient et entrèrent dans le Saint des Saints et saisirent les cornes de l’autel. Le royaume lui fut donné par la bouche de Sadoq le prêtre et par la bouche de Joas, le prêtre ministre principal du roi Salomon. Il l’oint avec la sainte huile parfumée pour la royauté et il sortit du temple d’Egziabeher. Il l’appela du nom de David car il eut le nom de David selon la loi. Le roi Salomon le mit sur un mulet et ils le promenèrent en ville…
Le prêtre Sadoq lui répondit et dit : ” Ecoute ce que je te dis: si tu [le] fais tu vivras pour Egziabeher mais si tu ne le fais pas tu seras châtié par Egziabeher. Tu seras mauvais parmi les peuples et tu seras vaincu par ton ennemi. Il détournera sa face de toi. Tu seras effrayé, malheureux et malade dans ton cœur; ton sommeil [sera] sans paix et santé.
Ecoute la parole d’Egziabeher et mets-la en pratique, ne t’égare ni à droite ni à gauche de ce que nous t’ordonnons. Maintenant n’adore pas d’autres dieux…

La bénédiction des rois.
” Ecoute la bénédiction qui te trouvera si tu accomplis la volonté du Seigneur: tu seras béni en tous tes chemins, tu seras béni en ville, tu seras béni au champ, tu seras béni dans ta maison, tu seras béni au dehors, béni sera le fruit de ton ventre. Ceux qui étaient rassemblés dirent Amen. “

Haile Selassie, the former Emperor of Ethiopia. Tafari Mekonnen was his name at birth

Here’s a man-bites dog story from Cam Fitzgerald, a frequent contributor to Rick’s Picks who lived for a while in Ethiopia. Cam paints a picture of an African nation that will be unfamiliar to many readers; for in fact, even though Ethiopia has only begun to emerge from poverty, its economic prospects are as bright as you will find anywhere on the African continent. To understand why, read Cam’s first-hand report :

This is a growth story. A few years ago, I spent some time living in Ethiopia. I was in the suburbs of Addis Ababa, getting to know one terrific family in particular: the mother, who was the real head of the household; the father, Abba, a shoemaker; and his four single daughters, all in their thirties. What could possibly go wrong? OK, I am already getting off track. This is supposed to be an article about Ethiopia’s boom and the inflation that has come in its wake. I call the daughters “my gals” when I talk about them with friends, and we keep in touch almost daily via e-mail.  One is a student, and the other three work: as a translator, a seamstress and a secretary. They all have good educations, speak English and are in every way typical of women you might meet anywhere in the world: the same hopes and dreams, the same troubles with men and the same daily worries about meeting the bills, making ends meet and trying to save.

Well almost the same. You see, these women earn a grand total of 2900 Ethiopian birr in monthly income between them. That’s roughly $175 dollars for six people to share — a fairly typical income in Ethiopia.  However, I never thought of the family as poor during the time I knew them. They own a home, are well educated, eat well, and the girls were always “dressed to kill,” so on the surface it all looked pretty normal to me. Expenses are regional and relative, and so daily costs there are generally incredibly low. But come on! A buck a day per person is just not enough money! Nevertheless.

16.5% Devaluation Overnight

So the cost of living is low. At least it was. Until the Central Bank, in a surprise announcement last month, devalued the currency by 16.5% in a single day, making it the fourth devaluation in less than two years.  Monetary policy was being used as a means for the country to retain a competitive export advantage, and to manage its currency’s float against the U.S. dollar. A falling dollar in effect precipitated the action by the Ethiopian Central Bank. So, this was no stealth devaluation — it was all in-your-face.

Compounding worries for my girls is the recent commodity boom and an attendant, sharp price increase in cotton, coffee, cocoa, wheat, canola, and of course cooking fuel (kerosene). The problem they are facing is that commodities, while locally sourced, are not locally priced, as they are subject to global competition and speculative forces. Prices are set in the futures markets. So despite being an agricultural country and net food exporter, Ethiopia and its people face the same market dynamics and price hikes that we are about to experience in the West. (This story is indirectly about us, as you will see). And because Ethiopia is primarily an agricultural exporter, the new prices hit the streets almost as fast as they changed on the boards in New York and London. It is no joke that Ethiopians are now unable to afford buying some of the produce of their own country. Following this last price spike, coffee is almost out of the question.

Coffee a Luxury

Since the summer, the cost of a kilo of coffee has climbed from about$ 2.20 U.S. to more than $4 –a price spike of almost 100%.  Buying coffee on a daily budget of a dollar is not just prohibitive, it is a sacrifice and a luxury. This irony is not lost on the people living right in the midst of the country where coffee was originally discovered, and where it is still a primary exports.

The gals have been pretty worried lately. They are stoic, though, and rarely complain, even though the price of flour is also up over 70%, cooking oil by 50%, and onions (of all things) by an incredible 250%. And you thought we had inflation worries in the U.S.! Ethiopia’s Central Statistical Agency (CSA), meanwhile, reports for 2010 that tobacco has risen 34%, clothing 25% and rent, fuel and power have collectively risen by over 16%. Yikes! All of this is an outgrowth of a shifting, global  investment dynamic that has made paper investments risky; where bonds pay nothing; and where holding cash is a surefire way to go broke over the long run. There has been a shift, particularly amongst hedge funds, from certain equities and debt instruments and into hard assets, gold and resources.

Exacerbating this trend is the widespread belief that quantitative easing is leading to dollar devaluation.  This makes resource investments very appealing as a long-term hedge against inflation. Stimulus leakage itself, as well as the outcomes of investment changes that flow from quantitative easing, are now driving the African growth story even as they exert tremendous inflationary pressures. These are the sources behind some of the stresses the people there are now facing.

Inflation’s Hardships

An unfortunate outcome of the new dynamic is big price increases that negatively impact not only Ethiopians, but people who live in the poorest countries in the world. Keep in mind that in many countries across Africa and parts of Asia, food and transportation are the largest components of household budgets. Double-digit inflation therefore inflicts hardship in a way that very few North Americans can fully comprehend.  Today, Ethiopia is one of the largest coffee exporters in the world, and not so surprisingly, government revenues have surged on the back of commodity price increases and export growth. Increased incomes from both private and corporate sources including the VAT tax have reportedly shot up a staggering 150% in just the last three months, and the government is on track to fully exceed its wildest estimates.

To look at it one way, the price increases for food are coming out of the pockets of the average person on the street and then miraculously reappearing on government ledgers. While it is not quite simple, the differences between export revenues and increased consumption costs could hardly balance equitably. But this is not a bad-news story, and while Ethiopians are paying the price at the till, the country is experiencing powerful growth on the other. Why?  Because the country possesses abundant natural resources. Ethiopia is a veritable cornucopia, and China (amongst others) wants in on the action. So they have shown up with what the country badly needs: hard cash, engineering expertise and generous assistance with infrastructure improvements. They even send in their own people and equipment to get the jobs done. No hurry of course. Pay the bill later.

A Happy Surprise

The happy surprise is that the commodities boom is beneficial to Ethiopia in many ways. The country’s natural resources are only now being explored, even as known quantities of gold, potash and natural gas are being exploited beneficially. Diamond exploration is under way in Welega Province by an Australia miner, Nyota (ASX:NYO). From what I know, they are almost certain to find some there. As a result, employment numbers are up across the country and there has been a significant infusion of foreign investment over the last few years. Capital is flowing from India, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Australia and many other sources. Not so surprisingly, there has also been inflation to match the rapid growth, and this has made life difficult for the working man or woman.

The most recent inflation data show that the annual rate is above 11% even without considering commodities. This is on top of last year’s 9%, and an astounding rate of 45% in 2008.  If you can believe this, people there hold U.S. dollars as an inflation hedge! This actually makes perfect sense, since inflation is relative.  And when both Gold and Silver lie beyond the financial means of virtually everyone, then a store of greenbacks seems as good as gold itself. Especially when the value of your own currency is shrinking by the day. According to the CIA fact-book, Ethiopian GDP growth was running at 8.7% for 2009 while industrial growth exceeded 10%, making Ethiopia the world’s fifth fastest-growing economy. Exports were worth a paltry $1.6 billion U.S. versus $7 billion in imports. Obviously, there is much progress needing to be  made. However, as U.S. contributions to programs and aid have added to remittances from the Ethiopian diaspora, IMF forgiveness of some indebtedness and Chinese direct investment have made up the difference, bringing the country’s budget nearly into balance.

Chinese Investors

As noted above, the Chinese, among others, are taking a very serious interest in the region, which is enjoying a construction boom. According to The Economist, Ethiopia and Eritrea will be among the three fastest-growing economies in the world in 2011. Wow! Growth there is anticipated to exceed 10% annually. Surprise! And you thought it would be China, didn’t you? Nazret.com, the Ethiopian news portal, just reported Chinese investments exceeding $800 million in a wide variety of projects and activities, including cement factories that are creating thousands of new jobs. This might sound like chump change, but it is in fact very significant relative to Ethiopian export incomes.

Imagine for a moment that a single country invested in the U.S. a sum equal to half of America’s exports trade, and you can see what is happening to Ethiopia. In the background, up to 16 new universities are being constructed or are near completion, courtesy of the German government and related agencies. According to Wiki, nearly half of Ethiopia’s population is below the age of 14, and 60% of it is below 30. Quite a contrast to the burgeoning retiree population of Western nations. Furthermore, health initiatives from a multitude of sources including the U.S. Government, the Gates Foundation, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and a host of others are making the country stronger and healthier than ever. At 2%, AIDS rates are among the lowest in Africa and dropping due to education and health initiatives. Relatively low wages have also enticed some of Asia’s overheated economies into outsourcing to Ethiopia. This might seem surprising, since many people think of Asia itself as one monstrous factory. Rarely do we consider that production costs, particularly in China, have spiked due to the ongoing real estate bubble, and that the Chinese themselves are eager to hold down production costs by outsourcing. Much of Africa beyond Ethiopia has been benefiting from this development.

A Friendly Place

As a result, Ethiopia has been ramping up its textile business at a feverish pace, and factories have been springing up across the country. The government of Meles Zenawi has openly welcomed new investments, and resource rights are being sold to interested parties as exploration for minerals ramps up. The government is stable and has been for many years, and the country is more or less at peace. It would be hard to find a friendlier, warmer place to visit.

But there is so much more to this story. China’s growing demand for construction materials has seen them investing in no fewer than three cement facilities recently to supply voracious demand in Asia’s big cities, but also to build dams in Ethiopia. Dams? Yes.  Few of you reading this will know that the Nile River’s main source of water – as much as 85% of it, according to one recent estimate —  lies in the Ethiopian highlands. This has raised concerns that Egypt may someday receive less than what it currently believes is equitable. Ethiopia is by no means the parched wasteland that many imagine it to be. To the contrary, although almost devoid of trees, much of the country is wet and green, particularly in the highlands, and this is why hydroelectric  is such an obvious solution to the country’s growing power needs.

The rains unfortunately are not always predictable, and this has been at the root of some past disasters and famines, as irrigation has not been sufficiently developed to ensure steady agricultural productivity. But growth has been phenomenal, due in large part to the needs of a burgeoning Asia.  The Chinese in particular have moved into the country in a big way and are busy building roads, dams, irrigation systems and bridges across the country. Things are changing for the better, and quickly.  Thus, in a surprise twist, what is arguably the poorest country on Earth is actually one of the world’s biggest investment and growth stories of the year. Don’t believe me? Go and see it for yourself. Ethiopian Airlines is well known as the best carrier on the continent, sporting the newest fleet of Boeing 737’s and 777-200’s, as well as one of the safest flight records anywhere.

This year alone, Ethiopian Airlines have acquired or placed on order 38 new aircraft including ten state-of-the-art 787’s. An expansion of the Bole International Airport, which is considered Africa’s primary air hub and which hosts almost four million passengers annually, is ongoing to accommodate growing air traffic and congestion. The on-board food, incidentally, is terrific.

If that sounds like advertising, consider that fewer than 1.5 people in 100 have cell phones, according to a recent report. That is the lowest concentration in all of Africa, and among the lowest in the world. There is huge pent-up demand for technology of all kinds, a youthful population and a growing (although still tiny) middle class. Like much of Africa, Ethiopia has energy to burn and a desire to break from the bonds of the past. Demographics tell us there is tremendous potential there and a lot of future customers. Asian direct investment tells us that development is being fast-tracked. This is a country you will want to follow if you are an investor who is interested in emerging markets. And last, Ethiopians themselves are telling us they want to be an integral part of the global community. This is truly a growth story.