Lecture Series by Dr Nuur Hassan- Part one: Why is Ethiopia in perpetual conflict with itself?
Prelude to the Series:
Lectures are brief and precise- in that their aims are not and were not to be verbose, but rather intellectually grounding and thinking tools for the posed question.
The series consists of four lectures, the first lecture sets the scene by re-visiting the Ethiopian ancient history, the arrival of Christianity and the influence of the Byzantine Roman Empire on Ethiopia. The second lecture looks at what I call the birth of ‘Abyssinian thinking’ at the beginning of the Solomonic dynasty in the 13th century. The third lecture covers the modern history of Ethiopia from mid-to late19th century, which ushered territorial conquests, brutality and subjugation, which in turn led the birth of what I call ‘non-Abyssinian thinking’
The fourth lecture concludes with the disparity between Abyssinians and non-Abyssinians and their continued struggle for supremacy on one hand and counter-dominance on the other hand. Finally, I will attempt to provide an answer to the posed question using three pillars as a thinking tool.
The Conceptual Framework for the Series: ‘The Abyssinian and non-Abyssinian thinking disparity’
Before I start lecture1, I would like to introduce you to the guiding theory for my lectures. The theory I am going to use is inspired by my reading on Ethiopia and what is of Ethiopia over the years. It is hoped that by deploying the above theory as a thinking tool, superficial and surface analysis is avoided while aiming at more intellectually- grounded analysis.
Unpicking the theory
The fundamental premise of the theory rests on the following three pillars
1. Abyssinians are mainly Tigre and Amhara ethnic groups
2. Non-Abyssinians are the rest of Ethiopian ethnic groups
3. Ethiopia is a complicated political geography with unequal ethnic groups
Lecture One: The Ethiopian Ancient history, the arrival of Christianity and the influence of the Byzantine Roman Empire.
Ethiopia is among the oldest Christian nations in the world and certainly the oldest in Africa. As the Western Roman Empire started to disintegrate in 476 AD due to the invasions of Barbarian German tribes as well as moral and social decay in the empire, Christianity was already a State religion in the kingdom of Axum in the Northern region of Tigray.
Precisely when Christianity came to Ethiopia remains contested among historians. However, what is not disputed is that the Byzantine, (i.e. Eastern seat of the Roman Empire), which survived a millennium after its metropole in Rome died, is credited for the spread and socialisation of Christianity in ancient Ethiopia.
The kingdom of Axum grew in size and wealth in the intervening years by conquering nearby territories and nations. However, owing to some seismic pressures including the rise of Islamic Empire in the 7th century, and its unstoppable proliferation in 8th and 9th centuries, which results in vast territorial conquests, life in the Byzantine Empire, (which was holding well until then), became similar to Hobbes’s description of the English civil wars in 1640- ‘ Warre, Solitary, Poor, Nasty and brutish’. As a result of a loss of commerce, combined with demographic decline, life also started to crumble around the kingdom of Axum.
Fast forward to the 13th century, a new dynasty with ambition never seen before replaces the ageing and now-defunct Royal house of Axum. The new rulers called themselves the ‘House of Solomon’ claiming a lineal descent from the Biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
As we will see in lecture two, this newly acquired identity would usher the birth of what I call the ‘Abyssinian thinking’.
Stay tuned for Lecture 2: Solomonic Dynasty and the birth of ‘Abyssinian thinking’
