History of Ethiopia: Encyclopedia II - History of Ethiopia - Earliest History

History of Ethiopia - Earliest History

Ethiopia has seen human habitation for longer than almost anywhere else in the world, with modern homo sapiens perhaps evolving there.

There is some confusion over the usage of the word Ethiopia in ancient times and the modern country. The ancient Greeks used the word (Αιθιοπία) to refer to the peoples living immediately to the south of ancient Egypt, specifically the area now known as Nubia; modern usage has transferred this name further south to the land and peoples known until the early 20th century as Abyssinia. As a result, the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica states the connection between Egypt and Ethiopia is at least as early as the Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt was very intimate, and beginning with Piye, a ruler of the Twenty-fifth dynasty, occasionally the two countries were under the same ruler; however, the capital of these two dynasties was in the north of modern Sudan, at Napata.

It is now known that in ancient times the name Ethiopia was used to refer to the nation based in the upper Nile valley south of Egypt, also called Cush, which in the 4th century CE was invaded by the Axum from the highlands close to the Red sea.

The first records of Ethiopia proper come from Egyptian traders from about 3000 BC, who refer to lands south of Nubia or Cush as Punt and Yam. Detailed information about these two nations is sparse, and there are many theories concerning their locations and the ethnic relationship of their peoples.

The state of Sheba mentioned in the Old Testament is sometimes believed to have been in Ethiopia, but more often is placed in Yemen. Others believe it covered parts of both the Yemen and present-day Ethiopia. According to legend, Menelik I, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, founded the Ethiopian Empire.

Remains of a large stone temple dating to about 500 BC survive at Yeha, near Axum.

Under the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt the arts as well as the enterprise of the Greeks entered Ethiopia, and led to the establishment of Greek colonies. A Greek inscription at Adulis, no longer extant, but copied by Cosmas Indicopleustes of Alexandria, and preserved in his Topographia Christiana, records that Ptolemy Euergetes, the third of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, invaded the countries on both sides of the Red Sea, and having reduced most of the provinces of Tigre to subjection, returned to the port of Adulis, and there offered sacrifices to Zeus, Ares, and Poseidon.

In Ancient Greece the Ethiopians were viewed as a sacred people that was mostly loved by the Gods. Memnon was regarded as one of the noblest heros that participated in the Trojan war and as the handsomest man of his time, bested in battle only by Achilles. According to a version of the myth, the Gods admired him so much that after his death from the sword of Achilles they decided to grant him immortality. According to Greek Mythology Ethiopians acquired their dark colour when the sun came once very close to their country. During the Persian expedition against Ethiopia, Herodotus describes Ethiopians as the tallest, handsomest and strongest people of the earth. According to his historical accounts, the Ethiopian King gave his huge bow as a gift to the Persian King and advised him to reorganise an attack against the Ethiopian realm only after he has managed to draw it (Histories - 3.22.1).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Earliest History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki