Chronology of Ethiopia

0. Human fossils close to 200,000 years old have been found in Ethiopia.  Kemetians went to regions around present day Ethiopia for trade.  Predynastic Kemetians got volcanic glass from present day Ethiopia.  The word Ethiopia is a Greek word, which means land of the sunburnt face.  Any kingdom full of dark skin people was called Ethiopia by the Greeks.  India and Arabia were known as Ethiopia because they are full of dark skin people.  Modern day Sudan was called Ethiopia by the Greeks as well.  They knew the Kemetic civilization came from Sudan.  Present day Ethiopia is east of Sudan (ancient Ethiopia) and south of Eritrea. Present day Ethiopia used to be known as Abyssinia.  This chronology is about present day Ethiopia. Ethiopia or somewhere close by is the birthplace of the Afro-Asian language family.               

1. The first known kingdom in Ethiopia is DMT.  It was created in the 800's BCE.  It lasted for several centuries.  DMT was influenced by the Sabaeans.  The Sabaeans are ancestors of the Habesha (Ethiopian Semites); they are the biggest minority in Ethiopia.  They run the government.

2. Aksum (Ethiopia) started around 300 BCE and lasted 4 more than a millennium.  It minted its own coins and was a superpower in the ancient world.  Aksum had an empire that encompassed Eritrea, Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt!  It became a Christian kingdom in the 4th century CE.  B4 it was a Christian kingdom it was a Jewish kingdom.  The Aksumites put the cross on their coin.

A Jewish king named Dhu Nuwas was persecuting Christians in his kingdom called Himyar (Yemen). Aksumite King Kaleb sent troops to stop the persecution.  Abraha was a general of Kaleb.  He led an army of 100,00 troops and many elephants to fight the forces of the Jewish king.  They got help from Byzantine's navy.  Dhu Nuwas committed suicide and a Christian named Sumuafa Ashawa became the king of Himyar. Abraha with the help of his troops' did a coup d'etat in defiance to Kaleb.  He ruled Himyar for 26 years. He had a church built in Himyar and he may have wanted to destroy the Kaaba in Arabia.  He kept Christians safe from Jews and pagans.  After he died the Persians conquered Himyar.  The Persians were in cahoots with the Jews, so they murdered a lot of Christians.  All of this happened around the time of Muhammad birth.  Aksum became a safe haven for Muslims when they were persecuted in Arabia.  Umar (caliph) sent a Muslim navy to attack Aksum but was unsuccessful.  Aksumite pirates occupied a city in Arabia in 702.  In response to this, Sulayman conquered the Dahlak Archipelago (chain of islands east of Eritrea).  The people that lived there were the first people in the Horn of Africa to convert to Islam.

Once Islam became popular Aksum fell off.  Arabs became more powerful and Aksum began to shrink in size.  There were some issues with rainfall for a century or 2, which contributed to the downfall of Aksum.

Mara Takla Haymanot became the Emperor of Aksum in 1137.  He founded the Zagwe dynasty.  The dynasty lasted about 300 years.  Rock-hewn churches were built at this time.  Aksum was very religious and peaceful.  The Ethiopians went Europe and spoke to the Pope and other Christians at the end of the Crusades.  The Christians were supposed to come with a way to defeat Muslims but never did.

Legend has the Queen of Sheba and Solomon had a child, which became a king of Ethiopia.  The dynasty after the Zagwe dynasty was the Solomonic dynasty.  Great art and texts were created at this time.  The Portuguese came to Ethiopia in 1490.  The Ethiopian Emperor sent a messenger to the King of Portugal to get help to defeat the Muslims.

Haile Selassie became Emperor in 1930.  He ruled until 1974.  Italians invaded in 1935.  The King of Italy became the King of Ethiopia.  During WWII the British defeated the Italians and Ethiopia became independent again.  In 1974 Communists tookover the country.  During the Red Terror, 500,000 people were killed.  Most of them were starved to death.  Militias came together and defeated the Communists.  In 1995 Ethiopia had their first elections.  It has been democratic ever since.                       

3. There was a Jewish kingdom in Ethiopia; it started in 4th century CE.  It was called Semien.  There was a Queen of Semien named Judith.  She destroyed Axum.  A lot of churches were burnt down.  She ruled Axum for 40 years.  Her descendants ruled after her.  They were overthrown by Mara Takla Haymanot. The tribe in this kingdom are called Beta Israel.  Beta Israel had several wars with Aksum and Adal Sultanate.   In 1627 the Jewish Kingdom was destroyed by Aksum. 

4. Adal Sultanate was a Muslim kingdom in the Horn of Africa.  They went to war with the Jewish and Christian kingdoms of Ethiopia.  Adal Sultanate was created by Somalis.   It was founded in 1415 and lasted till 1577.  Several languages were spoken there.  Arabic was the most popular language. Adal Sultanate traded with many countries in 3 continents!  There were splendid buildings in the land.  The military consisted of swordsmen, archers, lancers, and gunmen.  Soldiers were helmets and armor.  Adal Sultanate conquered the highlands of Ethiopia in 1529 because they got canons from Ottomans.  Aksum defeated Adal Sultanate in 1541 because they got guns from Portugal.                                                                        
5. The Ethiopian government has a legislative branch, executive branch, and judicial branch.  The government punishes people that oppose them.  Protesters have been murdered in 2015-2016. Ethiopia has 9 states. The police are very brutal.  They killed 193 people in 2005.

6. The biggest religion in Ethiopia is the Ethiopian Orthodox.  It is a form of Christianity that is very Jewish. The Ark of the covenant is in Ethiopia.  Ethiopia has been a Christian kingdom for 1700 years! Muslims have been in Ethiopia for 1400 years!  Most Ethiopians are Christian followed by Muslims. There were Jews in Ethiopia, but now they live in Israel. Over 2% of Ethiopians follow an African traditional religion.  A few members of the Oromo tribe worship a god called Waaq.  He is a part of their monotheistic religion.  This religion was followed by Somalis b4 they became Muslims. Complementary pairs are important to this religion.  Similar to yin-yang. The practitioners of the religion must find a balance between the pairs.  The Kemetians called this Ma'at.

7. There are many tribes in Ethiopia.  I will list and describe some.

Aari: They are farmers and they number over 200,000.                      

Afar: They herd cattle, goats, and sheep.  They look like Kemetians.

Agaw: There Cushites that live in Northern Ethiopia.  The Zagwe dynasty came from them.

Amhara: The most powerful Semitic tribe in Ethiopia.  They help create Aksum and the Solomonic dynasty. They lived in Yemen over 2,000 years ago.  Their language is the most popular language in Ethiopia.  Haile Selassie was part of this tribe.

Anuak: They are a  part of the Luo people.  Obama's father was a member of the Luo tribe. They are farmers and herders.

Beta Israel: They lived in Ethiopia until the 80's.  They may be the tribe of Dan.  They lived in Yemen b4 they moved to Ethiopia.  They have been Jews longer than Ashkenazim.  They existed b4 the Pharisees because their form of Judaism is non-Rabbinic.  I think they had to convert to the new form of Judaism to live in Israel.  They donated some blood in Israel but it was thrown away.  Women of this tribe were given birth control but it made them infertile.  They are victims of racism.   

Gurage: They are the descendants of the Aksumite military.  They are farmers and Haile Selassie was part of this tribe. 

Hamar: They like to play a cattle jumping game.  The Minoans did something similar.  The Hamar tribe like to herd cattle and farm.  For a man to get married he has to pay a bride price.  

Oromo: They were Kemetians and Nubians.  They are the biggest tribe in Ethiopia.  They may be the ancestors of all Cushite people.  I read the Somalis come from them.  Haile Selassie was part of this tribe too.  They are my favorite Ethiopian tribe because they remind me of African Americans.  They had their own country called Oromia.  It was conquered by Ethiopia.  They created their own lunar-stellar calendar 2300 years ago!  They created their own religion.  They created an age system called Gadaa.  People changed occupations every 8 years.  I wrote about this tribe on my blog.

Tigrayans: They are closely related to the Amhara.  They have their own language, which comes from Ge'ez. Many Ethiopian Emperors were from this tribe.       

There are many other tribes, but this will suffice.

References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Ethiopia
http://www.opride.com/2009/11/02/abyssinia-to-ethiopia-from-obfuscation-to-confusion/
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-africa/aksum/a/the-kingdom-of-aksum
https://www.ias.edu/ideas/2011/bowersock-jewish-arabia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Semien
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolithic_church
http://www.meta-religion.com/World_Religions/Other_religions/oromo_religion.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_groups_in_Ethiopia
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gurage
https://www.academia.edu/5847718/Meroe_Oromo_and_Old_Nubian_Solving_the_mystery_of_Meroitic_language
https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/06/16/evidence-mounts-of-ancient-jewish-roots-of-beta-israel-ethiopian-jewry/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadaa
History of Ethiopia
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