ETHIOPIA:THE OLDEST PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST - Onyeji Nnaji
Those piles of ruins which you see in that narrow valley
watered by the Nile, are the remains of opulent cities, the pride of the
ancient kingdom of Ethiopia. ... There a people, now forgotten, discovered
while others were yet barbarians, the elements of the arts and sciences. A race
of men now rejected from society for their sable skin and frizzled hair,
founded on the study of the laws of nature, those civil and religious systems
which still govern the universe (Count Volney).
Because of the position of Ethiopia
in the Bible story as one remarkable black nation with ancient history, it
becomes almost impossible to see any other nation as being of more ancient than
Ethiopia. Ethiopia suddenly became the yardstick for the analysis of the Negro
race. And with the influence of Christianity in the inner part of Africa, the
adherents were provided with bold pictures of the cradle of the human race.
Ethiopia became seemingly hallowed, glorious and heaven-like-home to the
listeners. We had the same idea as children. In this sense, Ethiopia became the
most desired place to visit. Those glory became somewhat watered down when
findings began to become clearer about the origin of Ethiopia. Ethiopia no
longer appears like a people that grew from the ground like grasses to form the
beginning of the human race. The excerpt by Count Volney above reflects and
attempted to re-enact the nature of the ancient glory which Ethiopia had in the
time past.
Ethiopia was the first African
nation to have an empress. The involvement of a woman leader as empress or
queen appeared to create certain impression about their belonging to the
African cultural tradition. Africa in the early time gave no recognition to
female leadership. But this diversification of leadership instead attempted to
show Ethiopia contributions to the global civilization and Africa as well. It
is beyond question to ask whether Ethiopians were Blacks seeing their skin
which is ostensible. No nation of the world had Blacks without having
encountered Africans in the past. Colour then aided immensely in deciding who
was African and who was not, it doesn’t matter the part of the world the people
concerned may have found themselves. By that we may assert without recourse to
any faculty that Ethiopia had been, was and are Africans. J.G. Jackson noted thus:
Now that
we have straightened out ourselves on the issue of the classification of races,
we may properly turn to the main subject matter of this essay, i.e., the
ancient Ethiopians and their widespread influence on the early history of
civilization. In discussing the origin of civilization in the ancient Near
East, Professor Charles Seignobos in his History of Ancient Civilization, notes
that the first civilized inhabitants of the Nile and Tigris- Euphrates valleys,
were a dark-skinned people with short hair and prominent lips; and that they
are referred to by some scholars as Cushites (Ethiopians).
Regurgitating this nature of glory
and adornment ascribed to the ancient Ethiopia as the cradle of the human society,
especially Africa, the summary becomes not difficult to pinpoint that all
African nation originated from here. For as the western historians had esteemed
Ethiopia; associating the inhabitants as having originated from the direct
trace of Noah’s family, Ethiopia appeared before people eyes as the point from
where Africa as a people should be defined. Our discussion of Ethiopia here
shall cut across the various research works kept about Ethiopia. We shall
concentrate attention on what the oral tradition says; not the succinct history
adopted by the White race who would or may have undermined what Africa had said
about herself.
(i) Ethiopia at Inception.
Several research works have been carried out on the history of Ethiopia, especially when her contributions to global civilization are called to mind. We have pointed out some of these works in chapter one, especially those that proved false about the real issue about the nation. Prominent among our refuted claims is that which was suggested by Rudolph remarks thus:
There were
two Ethiopian nations in the ancient times (eastern Ethiopia and western
Ethiopia). There was an Ethiopian civilization in southern Mesopotamia
(Babylon), but the people in that area did not use their tribal name, Ethiopia,
to designate their nationality. They called themselves by the name of the city
they have constructed and inhabited, or they called themselves by the event
that happened there,... this is why the Ethiopian tribes called themselves
Babylonians, referring to the name to the name of the city they
constructed
We have clarified why we considered
no air of truth in this assertion. There was however instances of the coopting
of the inhabitants of Babylon at the end of the fall of the Babylonian empire.
As the first to settle at the region of the Nile River, Ethiopia stood a better
chance to civilize the rest of the Nile communities, even up to the Euphrates
and Tigris valleys. Their civil position exposed them to the descendants of
those who survived the flood in Noah’s ark (the descendants of Adam). We do not
doubt that there is spittle of this population that joined Ethiopia from
Babylon. We only insist that this handful number of people is not logical
enough to be defended as forming the source of Ethiopia or constituting another
Ethiopia at another location to give way to two types of Ethiopia.
Another aspect of the discussion on Ethiopian history was still masterminded by the suggestions of the white race that proved supreme even historically. These idealists suggested that Ethiopia descended from Noah. According to this idea, which had been fanned to flame even by some Ethiopians, Ethiopia descended from Cush. Ethiopians applauded this suggestion because it enlisted Ethiopia as the first people to exist among the Black race. We are yet to clarify this claim. But before this, we should ask; is history turning upside-down? Where then is credibility in the fact that the entire human race emanated in West Africa as proved by several researches including archaeology, anthropology, DNA reports and other? We found this claim in some history books that developed in the Northern part of Africa, especially Egypt and Ethiopia. The irony which had never been stated still boils down to the White’s xenophobic and hegemonic intention to label Africa accursed. Why is Africa associated with the very son of Noah whom the father had cursed?
Robert Bauval and Thomas Brophy gave the following explanation about the history of Northern part of Africa.
In the
Book of Genesis, Ham is one of the sons of Noah. Ham’s children are Mizraim,
Cush, Put, and Canaan, but in the Bible the names of Ham’s children are also
used to denote geographical places: Egypt (Mizraim), Ethiopia (Cush), Libya
(Put), and Palestine (Canaan). Many biblical scholars have proposed that the
name Ham meant, in ancient Hebrew, “black” and “hot,” implying that the Land of
Ham was a warm, tropical region populated by Black people (African
Genesis, 73).
Egypt (Mizram), Ethiopia (Cush);
that is the history as the connectivity with the white race could present it.
We have said this before that the Cushites may have been the population of
Ethiopia that came much later after the land had been inhabited by the Black
race. Otherwise, there is no possibility of any Cush found in the history of
Ethiopia of the earliest race, for the country had been inhabited by Black
population before the inception of Nubia and Egypt. Arthur Dyot Thomas, in the
1872 publication by M.A. of Balliol College,
Oxford, made the following remark about the origin of the Cushite idea.
According
to Arabian tradition, the old race or the Cushites, consisted of twelve tribes,
the name of the one of which, Amlik, is Biblical being the same as Amalek. Both the Ethiopian countries had adopted
the reform brought about under the name of Abraham. This was why the southern
Ethiopians pretended to be the descendants of the ancient Hebrews who practiced
the law before Moses wrote it (On Mankind,11).
How may we reconcile this with the
long lasted claim that Ethiopia was Cush? Africa generally had had certain
practices and tradition which the Arabians, especially Israel had copied and
sustained as having originated from them. Circumcision, for instance, was the
original practice of the African ancestors before the exodus of the Negro
fathers. The Igbo hold to the view that circumcision has to take place on the
eighth day from birth as a mark of assuming the fullness of flesh as a human
being. The highest level of spirituality to the Igbo is seven. And the Igbo
believe that a child remains spirit up till the seventh day. On the eighth day
the child turns human, and at such should be welcomed into the human world via
circumcision. The Igbo fathers were gods until the eighth generation of their days
when they had encounter with the daughters of the created humans and were
defiled. This belief akin to the biblical words thus, “And the LORD said, my
spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his
days shall be an hundred and twenty years” (Genesis 6:3).
It was to commemorate the evil day when the gods lose their godhood that circumcision was remarkable. There are other traditions that were copied by the westerners. That is what Ethiopia had defended. It is a restatement to indicate that they existed before even Cush himself who was claimed to have founded them. Should there be certain numbers of Ethiopians founded by Cush, then such people must be of the later population of Ethiopians; not the first.
Igbo (Africa) people did not construct a rigid and closely
argued system of thought to explain the universe and the place of man in it,
preferring the metaphor of myth and poetry, anyone seeking an insight into
their world must seek it along their own way. Some of these ways are
folks-tales, proverbs, proper names,
rituals and festivals.
In our
research on the Igbo (African) history and
neighbours, one of the elders told us that the Igbo history cannot be
completely documented without oral tales. To assist in the research, he advised
that we should ask for the original,
real or first name given to any people or things. According to him, “The first name gives information on the
origin and purpose of the existence of such a people or thing”(Reminiscence, 46)
The search for the original, real
name of Ethiopia took us to the discovery of the clan that settled first in
Ethiopia. According to the Wikipedia records and other sources, the oldest
tribe in Ethiopia is the inhabitants of the country which reside at the Afar
region. This tribe is known as Kambata. The Kambata are an ethnic group
dwelling on the lip of the rift valley about 350 miles south of Addis Ababa in
south-western Ethiopia. They are referred to as the boiling point of Ethiopia
because of the Afar region. The Kambata are bordered on the north by the Hadiya
and Alaba, on the south by the Tembaro and Wolayta, on the west by the Wolayta
and Hadiya, and on the east by the Billate River, which separates them from the
Arsi Oromo. They are predominantly sedentary agriculturalists cultivating
enseteedulis and some grains. Because of the Ensete cultivation, which is
carried out in close proximity to the residence, closely clustered villages
predominate throughout the area.
Our findings show that this name, Kambata, carries the expression that is purely Igbo. Kambata is an Igbo expression whose meaning is realized in the manner of a plea. As a plea, Kambata is relatively used to appease human beings and gods. It explains a circumstance where one comes to a place which had been inhabited by another person(s), to settle, he had to plead acceptance. On another condition, one may plead with a superior being or god; monster or spirit that had already inhabited a place beforehand. He pleads this way to let the superior being grant him the permission to dwell in the place. When translated, Kambata means “let me come in”. In the Ethiopia situation, I suppose this condition came into place following the situation the first inhabitants were confronted with at the time of inception. Tesfaye Habisso is an indigene of Kambata. In his account of the origin of Kambata, he remarked thus,
Oral
tradition recounts that the name Kambata was given by the first inhabitants of
thisarea themselves, known in Kambata oral history as the “Ambericho Seven”
(‘Ambericholamala’) who were a group of seven wondering tribes of the
Sidama-Omotic peoples, namely Gozuta, Ebbejena, Effegena, Tazuta, Hinnira,
Bazata and Saga. It is said that when these seven groups reached the area
around the Ambericho massif they found the place very suitable for human
settlement and decided to settle there. They said, “this is the place where we
shall live”, “this is a place of our choice” (in Kambata language “he’ nnami bu
kembata” and thus the name Kambata).
The vernacular expression in the
parenthesis above looks like the Igbo expression, I he mnasi bu kambata. This expression has the same meaning with
the Kambata local expression in the excerpt above. Looking at the translation
of the word Kambata thus, “this is the place where we shall live” or the second
translation, “this is a place of our choice” draws attention to the explanation
made above about the situation that could lead to the saying kambata in Igbo language. In line with
the above explanation, it was possible that the founding fathers of Kambata may
have been faced with difficult challenges at the time of inception such that,
in stating or declaring the reason they had to live there, they said so.
Retaining this name for so long despite the influx of many more population that
trooped into the settlement later clearly shows the irreplaceable role of the
word to the existence of the people of Kambata.
Another oral account states that the name ‘Kambata’ was first given by the Oromos and it meant, “we have surrounded you; how can you get out of your encirclement?” This encirclement by the Oromo may probably imply the period of the Oromo expansions and the numerous wars fought between the Oromos and the Sidama peoples. The expression here still follows the same line of meaning. “We have surrounded you; how can you get out of your encirclement” as mentioned here does not have to mean Kambata. If the situation presented by the Oromos oral tradition about Kambata is true, then it is evident that the meaning of Kambata is not buried in the expression; instead it came simply as a response to the challenge. In this case, the Oromos must have had Igbo origin. This second oral tradition cannot be true since it appears to present the Oromos on an elderly seat that the Kambata.
Again, the Oromos war with the Sidama people which was believed to have given birth to this name took place far later in the years 1550-70 and later. By this time Ethiopia had become a nation with established legendary monarchy for over one thousand years earlier. History even made us to know that Arabians entered Ethiopia before the days of the Oromos. They formed a greater part of the population of Habesha people in the earliest time. Habesha population formed the second earliest tribe in Ethiopia. With the influx of people from different directions boundary bound, Habesha has similar historical problem like the Kambata. The only difference is on the direct discovery of the term “Kambata” as the most possible trace to their original population.
Our discovering reveals that the first set of travellers to go beyond the eastern boundary via the North-Sahara outpost ended their journey in Kambata. Added to this suggestion are similarities in the ancient potteries found in the area. Among the potteries, we chose to sample this chair and examine the similarity between it and the Igbo traditional seat. The Igbo have several seats of this nature and with varying styles. It was the form of their craft.
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| Igbo |
It was the settlement of these
populations in the Lower Nile valley that encouraged the later populations that
followed that part. And as had been the Igbo tradition, new comers do not
reside with the old settlers in the same place. The instinct of every Igbo as
it concerns expansion tells him the needs of exploring a new ground. This was
the policy that guided the later emigrants that founded Nubia and Egypt
respectively. J.A. Bailey wrote on these later migrations, stressing the period
to be around 125,000 BC. In his words, “Around
125,000 BC a group of Africans moved northward towards the Nile.” (African
Bible Messages, Feb. 2014).
(ii) The Spread of Ethiopia Population
Centuries after the
arrival of Kambata in Ethiopia, the area became suddenly flooded by populations
of people from different places. Researches proved that the population that
marked the A Group, Nubia, first arrived the area and were beckoned to stay by the people in the land,
but the travellers turned down the offer and moved on to the place where they
finally settled. The ability of these two different set of people to
communicate and understand themselves in the manner of offer and rejection tells
a little, if not much about them belonging to a same language group. Ethiopia
was later populated by other groups of traveller; some which had travelled from
inner Africa and others belonging to the Arabic population. The Oromo were
significant because of their war with the later population, the Sidama, but
Habesha and Aksum appeared more popular.
Habesha, as mentioned earlier, has a complicated history in terms of their origin. Man mey scholars had insisted that Habesha had migrated from Yemen. According to Eduard Glaser, in The Academy, Volume 48, p. 415,
Habeshas
were originally from Southeastern Yemen who lived east of the Hadhramaut
kingdom in the modern district of Mahra.
He was of the opinion
that the etymology of Habesha must have derived from the Mahri language which
means “gatherers”, (as in gatherers of incense), for the Habeshas were
remarkable with their earliest trade on incense. He asserted that the Mahrites
and their language should be regarded as the descendants of the people and
speech of ancient Habeshas.
This claim by Glaser is conflicting a little to
ordinary historical analysis. The earliest relationship revealed between the
Habeshats and the Yemenites does not give ways towards believing that they may
have migrated from Yemen. Documents kept about the relationship of these two
people show that Yemen and Habesha were war partners. The explanation given in
the book, Aksum: An African Civilization
of Late Antiquity by Stuart Munro-Hay, 1991, p.73, reveals Habesha deal
with wars, alliances and peace treaties among rivaling Yemeni kingdoms.
Shamir
of Dhu-Raydan and Himyar had called in the help of the clans of Habashat for
war against the kings of Saba; but Ilmuqah granted ... the submission of Shamir
of Dhu-Raydan and the clans of Habashat.
Thinking of this, it is
clear that no normal clan anywhere in Africa is summoned to partner in the very
war that befalls the community. Instead, courtesy demands that a neighbouring
community or clan may partner with her neighbour in war when according to
demands. Even the Habeshats could not tell of their oral tradition, instead had
depended on the pieces of historical pointers found in their relationship with
neighbouring communities. A nation without oral tradition is not only lose to
her historical reality but also lose in her true existence as a people.
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| Ezana (king of the Land) |
Ezana,
king of Aksum, and of Himyar, and Kasu, and Saba, and Habashat, and Raydan, and
Salhen and Tsiamo, and Beja, the King of Kings (Cultural History;
49).
Ezana constructed an
obelisk in the heart of Aksum to sustain his name. This obelisk lived till this
day as the glory of his conquest.
It was in his days that
Christianity came into Ethiopia. Records showed that after the Ezana’s conquest
of the tribes, Habesha ceased to be heard of. Based on the inscriptions the
Aksumites left behind, they certainly did not regard themselves or their territory
as Habesha. For them, Habeshas likely meant people who collected incense in
South Arabia. Even Cosmas Indicopleustes, the famous Greek-speaking
Egyptian traveler who visited the Aksumite kingdom in 525 CE, made no reference
to Habesha. In reference to Ezana's inscription, Professor Max Müller, a German
philologist, believed the King of the Habashat had no common territory with the
King of Aksum and the fact that the two kingdoms were separate appeared to be
credible evidence to him.
He points out that since both the kingdoms named before and after Habashat are found in Arabia it was clear to him that the Habashats were in Arabia as well. It was not until long after Aksumite kingdom had ended that Arab travelers and geographers began to describe the Horn region and its inhabitants as Habeshas. The first among these travelers was Al-Ya'qubi, who visited the region in 872 CE. From his chronicles, we learn there were five independent and rivaling Beja kingdoms in present-day Eritrea and that Habeshas were living alongside them. He also mentions an important Habesha capital near the Eritrean coast called Ku'bar.
We may conclude here that any debate targeted at defending that Ethiopia was original Blacks, except for the earliest days of Kambata settlement in the Afar region, would hold no water. Also, the claim that Ethiopia was founded by Kush or any figure connected to the Arabian tribes, or the possibility of having another Ethiopia elsewhere as suggested by Dr. Spenser above and Rudolph R. Windsor shown in chapter one above will be dully fallacious. Every instance sampled here on Ethiopia history shows direct involvement of the Black, although instances of the handful number of Arabians in the later involvement is undisputable. Arthur Dyot Thomas, in the 1872 publication by M.A. of Balliol College, Oxford, made it clear in the excerpt below thus.
According
to Arabian tradition, the old race or the Cushites, consisted of twelve tribes,
the name of the one of which, Amlik, is Biblical being the same as Amalek. Both the Ethiopian countries had adopted
the reform brought about under the name of Abraham. This was why the southern
Ethiopians pretended to be the descendants of the ancient Hebrews who practiced
the law before Moses wrote it (On Mankind,11).
Brief Biblography
Basil Davidson, ed., The African Past (1964).
G. W. B. Huntingford, "The Kingdom of Axum".
Roland Oliver, ed., The Dawn of African History(1961; 2d ed. 1968).
E. Sylvia Pankhurst, Ethiopia: A Cultural History (1955).
Edward Ullendorff, The Ethiopians (1960; 2d ed. 1965).
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